Stewart Miller

The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) have launched a new Themed Competition called ‘Delivering operational advantage via improved self-sufficiency and operational energy innovation’. This competition is funded by the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) Chief Scientific Advisor (CSA). We are seeking proposals for novel technologies that will enable defence to achieve greater self-sufficiency and operational endurance for a deployed force, allowing the force to be more resilient, agile and self-sustaining. The aim is to increase deployed self-sufficiency and endurance across the maritime, land and air domains whilst reducing logistical burden and optimising power and energy. Solutions to this competition’s challenges will need to be in the form of technologies e.g. machinery, equipment, items of subsistence etc. either singular or in a system. We will also consider novel technologies which could reduce the environmental risks and impact of defence’s activities.

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Austin Elliot Consultancy was well-represented at the Accelerated Capability Environment (ACE) Community Briefing and Networking Event yesterday by Defence Director Steve Deith, Homeland Director Kavit Shah, and Senior Consultant Jay Kaminski.   We extend our thanks to the organisers for a well-attended event, the packed room was a testament to the community's interest and enthusiasm for collaboration and innovation within our industry.   The briefing from Bethan Page-Jones of the Home Office's Public Safety Group provided insights into current challenges, highlighting the complexities of public safety efforts.   James Cooke and Rob Paver, also from the Home Office, discussed the new Science, Innovation and Technology Strategy, noting similar implementation challenges as those faced by the Public Safety Group.   These challenges underscore the importance of collaboration across government departments and with operational and delivery partners. This formidable task highlights the essential need to enhance our collaborative efforts across sectors and domains.   The Institute for Collaborative Working (ICW) is making significant progress in how we can achieve better collaboration, which requires a change in mindset. At Austin Elliot, we are exploring ways to support this drive to improve how we collaborate, recognising the critical importance of evolving our approaches to meet these challenges head-on.   This event offered a valuable opportunity for our team to connect with industry peers and gain insights into future directions. We appreciate the chance to be part of these discussions. The spread of food they put on was pretty good too!   #ACECommunityBriefing #NetworkingEvent #TeamAustinElliot #IndustryCollaboration #PublicSafety #Innovation

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A good grant funded programme to review for SMEs looking for a collaborative pathway with Defence higher Tiers, such as Primes and OEMs. Small and medium-size UK enterprises (SMEs) funded through the DASA-delivered Defence Technology Exploitation Programme (DTEP), which aims to improve the competitiveness of the UK defence supply chain, are forging ahead with their innovation projects. UK SMEs such as Filtronic, Kognitiv Spark, Nquiring Minds and VRAI are demonstrating the success of DTEP, which aims to foster UK collaboration between small tech companies and sponsoring ‘higher tier’ suppliers that already have experience of working with defence. The sponsoring higher-tier partner contributes time, effort and resources to the SME projects. The programme allows the larger partner companies to benefit from early access to innovative technologies, materials, or processes from the partner SMEs that they can also help commercialise. #SMEs #Collaboration #BusinessGrowth

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https://lnkd.in/eQuKqMnT An interesting article from ADS Advance the industry magazine from ADS Group Ltd representing the aerospace, defence, security and space sector. Interesting reading with the over arching sentiment being the urgent need for the GOV.UK to take strategic actions to enhance the value and capabilities of the UK aerospace sector, focusing on sustainability, innovation, and economic growth. With the UK's premier airshow taking place next week, I wonder to what extent the topics raised in this article will be key themes. It was interesting to read some of the thoughts and insights from Dave Edwards FRAeS Chief Executive of the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS). The article highlights the importance of modernising aviation infrastructure with sustainable technologies.  This is crucial because it addresses environmental concerns while ensuring the UK's aerospace sector remains competitive and secure.   Is there a clear answer at the present time? I attended an event this week; Perceptions, Interests and Fears: Public Opinion on the Climate Crisis, organised by The British Foreign Policy Group. An opinion was expressed to me that the only answer is to basically ban (or at least severely restrict) air travel.  I'm not convinced that would be the answer. I'm confident that leaders at the helms of companies such as Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems, aerospace policy advisors, industry consulting firms and sustainability consultants will be curious to see how the new Labour government prioritise and allocate resources to balance immediate defence needs with long-term sustainable development in the aerospace sector?  I guess that's a question and a priority for John Healey MP and the UK Ministry of Defence, Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO). Can these two priorities be mutually beneficial to each other in achieving the overarching imperative of UK economic growth? #uksecurity #aerospace #defence #innovation #sustainability

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https://lnkd.in/e2s2R7tm More good work by Defence and Security Accelerator who have already been helping establish Regional Defence and Security Clusters. Bringing Academia amd SMEs closer to UK Ministry of Defence and Defence Primes amd improving sovereign sourced capability. This promotes retention of intellectual property on shore in these uncertain times which is key to national defence and security strategies. It is also another way of making these capabilities attractive for investment, helping to mature TRL ready for market.

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Defence and Security Accelerator and academia should prosper working together to the benefit of retaining sovereign capability. The importance of sovereign capability is something that Martin Rowse discusses in his recent ADS Group Ltd article. Therefore accelerating the route to market for academic innovation is of increasing importance. Government and industry professional support to the R&T, R&D process and facilitating supplier registration are easy wins. More complex initiatives might include: - Access to markets via UK prime contractors. - Less onerous flow-down of contract terms and obligations in development contracts. - Access to PV funding to accelerate TRL maturity. - Provision of access to manufacturing and production facilities. None of this is easy but all of it is achievable. Defence and Security Accelerator has established a network of academia and industry through Defence and Security regional networks and the Space sector is even further advanced with regional initiatives, commercial initiatives and PV involvement. Promoting and facilitating the benefits of academic innovation for Defence is the next step and I look forward to supporting where I can.

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Recommended read! A well authored report based on high quality data inputs from leading UK defence businesses, with good year on year trend analysis and comparisons to the wider UK industrial base. Given the lag time to collate full annual year data the latest data set relates to 2022 and still shows supply chain challenges from a post-pandemic state of flux. The next year's data sets will be insightful as the real gearing up of defence spend worldwide starts to print through into the data. Nevertheless, some key trends already: productivity and wages remain higher than than the UK industry average; supply chain engagement is rising; employment and training are both growing and a younger workforce is coming on stream.

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Have you heard the latest exciting news from Spire?! ✨ The UK Space Agency has awarded significant funding through the National Space Innovation Programme, supporting cutting-edge projects to advance space technology and research. Here are the highlights of projects Spire was awarded with: 🌐 Operational Hyperspectral Microwave Sounder-Satellite (OHMS-Sat): Spire Global, in collaboration with STAR-Dundee Ltd, the Met Office, and RAL Space, will advance the Hyperspectral Microwave Sounder towards operational use. This will enhance weather forecasting by providing unique data to global numerical weather prediction centers. 📡 Direct Detection Receivers for Millimetre Wave Radiometry: This project, involving Spire’s Glasgow facility and the University of Glasgow, will develop advanced technology for atmospheric remote sensing, benefiting weather prediction and security imaging. Spire is proud to be a leader in innovation, advancing space technology and contributing to the Scottish space sector's growth. Read more about this exciting development here: https://lnkd.in/e8PQPhSM #SpaceInnovation #WeatherTech #ScottishSpaceSector

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Seen this, which i was made aware of this week? https://lnkd.in/dTSuuUy6 "The Satellite Applications Catapult has researched and produced a guide to companies working across different markets in the UK Space sector. It includes almost 200 companies, and details their main products and services, alongside a comprehensive introduction to space specialisms in the UK." 2 points: - The structure of the document makes no sense to anyone but a consultant who doesn't work on the ground in the space sector, imho - The list is full of holes - e.g. how can they list Black Arrow, but not Orbex? Example companies i can't see listed: - most of the ESA BIC - my company Plastron UK - only been around 4 years - Quantum Dice - SaxaVord Spaceport UK - Most of Westcott Space Cluster I hope Satellite Applications Catapult asked for a refund, its' really not a great or useful piece of paper.

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Here goes the final week of three at Shrivenham ACSC, a fascinating module covering a breath of topics around Managing the Defence Enterprise.

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This latest piece from Andrew Turner CB CBE raises the often quoted issue of attitudes to risk in the UK space sector. I agree that this is an issue, so thought I’d try and unpack it a little based on my experience. Back in the early 2000’s, when Public Private Partnerships were in vogue, I was involved in discussions relating to Skynet 5 and the Galileo concession. There was a very mature discussion between all actors involved about the full spectrum of risks, from technology development through to system construction and entry into the market, and who was in the best place to manage each of them. For Skynet 5 in particular, I think this was one of the keys to success. Since then, little such dialogue has taken place, and the high-level of common understanding has been lost - just at the time we need it the most. Currently, actors in both public and private sectors all feel they are being asked to take more than their fair share of risk, because they don’t properly understand the risks their counterparts are exposed to. It’s time for a new conversation about risk.

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The inaugural Space-Comm Expo Scotland highlighted Scotland's rapid growth in the space sector and its potential to solve everyday problems using space data. Collaboration is key, spanning global, local and cross-sector partnerships. Investment is also critical, with a 65% rise in total income within the space sector in Scotland and a 31% growth in venture capital investments recorded at the end of 2023. As the sector scales, companies must prepare for investor partnerships by ensuring regulatory compliance, IP protection and solid financial models. Scotland's space future looks promising, with vertical launches and spaceport developments on the horizon. Read more in Erin Findlay’s latest article: https://lnkd.in/eNfmM4B5 #SpaceIndustry #Corporate

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Interesting article on Digital Intelligence. Anyone that has seen and spoken with us, will hopefully know about CDS Defence & Security's enthusiasm for promoting the effective use and management of Data through all stages of the CADMID lifecycle, and the benefits that can be achieved.

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Webinar: The future of defence in and from space This webinar provides an analysis of the threats facing our nation today and tomorrow and how we can address these using space. Additionally @UKSpace will look at the new security opportunities being created by new space and other developments above the Karman line. Space is a warfighting domain and it is believed the first shot in the next global conflict may come from space. This webinar explores these issues and considers what we should be doing today to prepare for tomorrow The FREE webinar is part of Aerospace & Defence, 25-29 November. Register free now ⬇️ LINK: https://lnkd.in/eUYkBRaz #Aerospace #Defence #Engineering #Space #Defence #Future #UKSpace

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Andy Hatten, our Defence Customer Success Manager has been working with Andy Corbett, a Principal Cyber Consultant at Team Defence Information on the Secure By Design programme. Read more here: "The Secure by Design (SbD) promises to underpin this transition in a world where digitally enabled products must reach users quickly but the information systems must be appropriately protected. By replacing rigid accreditation processes with proportionate, risk-based security assessments, SbD is designed to enable more agile collaboration across the defence enterprise chain while driving more robust and continuously evolving security standards. This evolution in security thinking concerns more than efficiency, operational advantage, and sovereign flexibility. In an era where technological edge can come from rapid innovation rather than just scale, defence must protect the whole enterprise across the traditional prime contractors, new entrants and their extended supply chains. The core challenge is to harness this innovation while ensuring security remains fundamental rather than becoming a barrier to entry."

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Earlier this year, Alistair Garfoot presented on the challenges of operationalising AI at the Undersea Defence Technology conference, exploring these key themes… - AI is not an innovation opportunity - The realities of working in defence - Procurement and process challenges Read more about how to accelerate AI's impact ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/ehPRDedY

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A Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) competition is now open for proposals that deliver operational advantage via improved self-sufficiency and operational energy innovation. The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Chief Scientific Advisor (CSA) are making £3.1 million (excluding VAT) available for this competition. DASA is seeking proposals for novel technologies that will enable defence to achieve greater self-sufficiency and operational endurance for a deployed force, allowing the force to be more resilient, agile and self-sustaining. The aim is to increase deployed self-sufficiency and endurance across the maritime, land and air domains whilst reducing logistical burden and optimising power and energy. Solutions to this competition’s challenges will need to be in the form of technologies such as machinery, equipment, items of subsistence, either singular or in a system. DASA will also consider novel technologies which could reduce the environmental risks and impact of defence activities. Submissions for this competition close at 12 noon on Tuesday 2 July 2024. Full details can be found by following this link on the GOV.UK website ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eF-SsAPK #DASA #DASACompetition #MOD #BusinessOpportunity #Innovation #Technology Michelle McClean Sally Thompson Chris Burchell

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