Ministers open UK DSC and announce £10m 'DGP Innovation Challenge'
As part of the opening Philip Dunne announced a £10m ‘DGP Innovation Challenge’, to be led by the UK DSC. The challenge will enable next-generation solutions and technology to meet 21st Century global defence needs, with the winners announced in September 2015.
The UK Defence Solutions Centre is an industry-first, bringing together the very best minds from across the defence industry to develop world-beating products and services for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and international customers.
Today’s opening marks the launch of a key initiative set out by the DGP as part of an implementation plan announced by the Prime Minister at the Farnborough International Airshow in 2014. The DGP is a partnership through which industry and Government seek to ensure that the UK continues to develop a thriving defence sector capable of delivering security, growth and prosperity.
Recognising the need for greater cooperation across industry, the DGP identified the UK Defence Solutions Centre as a way to better address the major challenges facing the sector, and develop innovative defence solutions for customers around the globe, including the MoD. The UK DSC will engage the entire defence value chain, from large multinational primes, mid-tier companies, the impressive diversity of small and medium sized companies as well as academia and technologists.
Operating as a ‘hub’, the UK DSC will work to maximise the potential of existing research and development, and manufacturing support. It will bring together experts from leading companies throughout the sector so that they can work collaboratively in a pre-competitive environment to deliver tailored services and products which meet long-term requirements of international customers - enabling the UK to grow its global market share.
Business Minister Matthew Hancock said: “The UK is respected as a world-leader in delivering innovation, high performance and reliability within defence. We are Europe’s largest exporter of defence equipment and services, second only to the US.
“Strengthening global competitiveness is crucial to the UK’s economy; with the defence industry alone contributing £8.2 billion gross value added a year to the UK economy and 87 per cent of companies generating revenue through exports.
“This new centre in an important step and shows just how closely Government and industry are working together to secure the long-term future of the sector”.
The Minister for Defence, Equipment Support and Technology, Philip Dunne MP said: “The opening of the UK Defence Solutions Centre is an important milestone for the DGP, spearheading a new approach to the way we develop defence capability in the UK. The UK DSC will be the friend of innovation, harness the entire value-chain and act as Britain’s showcase to our international partners and customers.
“To underline the Government’s commitment to innovation and the entire value-chain I am today announcing the UK DSC will run a £10m ‘DGP Innovation Challenge’, funded by the MOD, which will be 100% compliant with the SBRI. The challenge throws down the gauntlet to innovators the length and breadth of the country to find next-generation solutions and technology to meet 21st Century global defence needs.’
Steve Wadey, Co-chair of the Defence Growth Partnership said: “The opening of the UK DSC today, and some of the work on display from the Growth Opportunities, represents concrete progress and shows the commitment of Government and the defence industry to the DGP. The UK DSC provides Britain with a unique capability for industry to work collaboratively to solve customers’ needs, both now and in the future.”
Steve Brittan, CEO of the UK Defence Solutions Centre said: “Today marks the start of a very exciting development for the UK’s defence industry. We’re creating a world-class team who bring with them considerable experience, ingenuity and insight. Together, we will make the UK DSC the place to understand and explore the needs of defence customers, both in the UK and abroad.”
The UK DSC is an integral component of the DGP jointly resourced by Government and industry, with BIS providing £5.4 million and industry providing people resource to support the establishment and operation of the Centre up until 2017/18. It will have a permanent central core of staff, with around 25-30 people, operating independently of the partner companies.
As a centre for coordinating strategic planning, the UK DSC will facilitate new ways of working and business models to better meet the challenges of a changing economic environment; and it will provide technology and skills road maps to enable more effective business planning across the industry.
The UK DSC is open to involvement from organisations across a range of sectors. It aims to ‘unlock’ Britain’s wider industrial infrastructure in order to maximise research and development opportunities, manufacturing support, expertise, and capability. Many SMEs are already involved in projects and studies underway.
In order to engage with a broad customer base the Centre will work closely with the UKTI’s Defence and Security Organisation. A dedicated Customer Advisory Group is to invite customers from around the world, as well as the UK MOD, to explore future needs and requirements.
During today’s visit, the Ministers were also given updates on the progress being made on other initiatives launched by the DGP including:
- Skills: a Systems Engineering Master’s Apprenticeship which is a direct response to a skills gap identified by industry and the MOD. During the recent National Apprenticeship Week BIS announced that the Defence Apprenticeship Trailblazer Standard for the Advanced Systems Engineering at Level 7 had been approved. This September, 100 apprentices will start the course which is key to enabling the business objectives of the DGP
- Value Chain Competitiveness: the defence industry’s value chain is made up of numerous suppliers of equipment, technology and support. The DGP has worked to enhance the global competitiveness of the industry’s value chain by making it more responsive; creating cross-sector opportunities, and opening communication between organisations of all sizes
- Operational Training Integrating Synthetics: creating training programmes - quickly and in response to specific need - that simulate environments and scenarios.
