17th August 2021
Whilst the Open Call welcomes a wide range of innovative ideas to solve problems faced by our defence and security customers, DASA is keen to share insight on specific topics of interest. Innovative solutions for any innovation focus area should be channelled via the Open Call for Innovation.
Each innovation focus area has a unique identifier to help us ensure that your innovation is seen by the appropriate parts of Government. You will be able to choose this identifier when you submit your bid and should use it in all communications with DASA.
Reducing the Cyber Attack Surface (RCAS)
The Defence Enterprise is an expansive, diverse and continually changing construct with a large integrated network of cyber technologies, many of which are legacy. This presents a large and diverse surface for cyber enabled attack.
DASA expects to fund proposals within Technical Readiness Level 4 – 7 (TRLs) up to £300K for a 9 month contract. Proposed technologies should demonstrate by providing a roadmap describing how they would achieve a technical demonstrator by end of Financial Year 2023 if further funding was made available.
This IFA will run 2 cycles following the DASA Open Call closing dates for cycle 3 and 4 (See Para 9.1). Further competitions may be advertised.
Find out more about how to apply
Contact a DASA Innovation Partner if you have an idea but are not sure if it is what they are looking for
Autonomous Resilient Cyber Defence (ARCD) Intelligent Agents
In response to operational demands, military networks and systems are becoming more complex and interconnected, both internally and with allies, and with commercial and civilian infrastructure. In parallel, attacks are becoming more sophisticated, with potentially more impact on military operations. Identifying, selecting and carrying out cyber defence responses in a timely manner is essential.
DASA is expecting proposals with low Technical Readiness Level (TRLs 1- 4). We have two levels of funding:
- Less than 6 month contract: up to £150K
- 6 to 12 month contract: up to £300K
This IFA will run 2 cycles following the DASA Open Call closing dates for cycle 3 and 4 (See Para 9.1). Further competitions may be advertised.
Find out more about how to apply
Contact a DASA Innovation Partner if you have an idea but are not sure if it is what they are looking for
Simulating Future Battlespace Complexity
Current live exercises cannot represent many modern offensive and defensive systems and the anticipated complexity of the battlefield. Using live platforms also places a demand on scarce resources and implies a financial and environmental cost through the use of fuel and other consumables.
We must therefore endeavour to create more effective training environments through the use of simulation and synthetic environments which will enable more frequent training, greater challenge and greater availability. There is a requirement to work with civil partners to pursue technologies and approaches to training within a simulated environment that is compatible with the constraints of our budgets, training facilities and legislation.
DASA seek novel ideas that can be used by UK Defence to do one, or several, of the below:
- Apply procedures and solutions that provide effective training and evaluation capabilities
- Integration and fusion of data from, and between, distributed training and experimentation systems
- Provide training for operators to perform in complex or high stress environments
- Adoption of Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality into training
- Capture and exploitation of performance information collected during training
Find out more about how to apply
Contact a DASA Innovation Partner if you have an idea but are not sure if it is what they are looking for
Defence People – Skills, Knowledge and Experience
In the current environment it is increasingly important to ensure we have access to people with the skills, knowledge and experience to exploit information and allow us to adopt cutting edge technologies. This will involve a collaborative approach where we work with other parties, be it other government departments, academia, industry or internationally to ensure we have Suitably Qualified and Experienced Personnel (SQEP) across science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
DASA seek novel ideas which could be used by UK Defence to do one, or several, of the below:
- Attract and retain SQEP with niche specialities and technical skills.
- Tracking and managing important skillsets across the workforce
- Provide technologies/services and other opportunities to improve welfare standards, workforce health and wellbeing
- Provide alternative approaches to contracting or seconding specialist staff
- Identify and collaborate with organisations with experience in the above areas
- Suggest novel approaches to improve the sharing and assimilation of knowledge across organisational boundaries, whilst respecting intellectual properties considerations
Find out more about how to apply
Contact a DASA Innovation Partner if you have an idea but are not sure if it is what they are looking for
Operate and Deliver Effects in Contested Domains
UK Armed Forces currently face heavily contested environments across the air, land, sea, and particularly the space and cyber domains, which is of significant threat to the security of our information and could lead to disruption in the use of our space-based capabilities.
Proposals should consider we need to be robust and resilient and have the ability to disrupt/degrade adversary capabilities. DASA seek novel ideas which could be used by the UK Armed Forces to do one, or several, of the below:
- Communicate and synchronise activities in contested environments
- Monitor contested environments
- Manufacture methods and design concepts to deliver alternate explosive/electromagnetic/chemical effects and protection from these effects
- Manage fleets of remote or autonomous systems and use these systems to undertake tasks normally completed by human operators
Find out more about how to apply
Contact a DASA Innovation Partner if you have an idea but are not sure if it is what they are looking for
Delivering Agile Command and Control
Mission Command is a style of command historically used by the UK Armed Forces to plan and orchestrate operations effectively to achieve desired outcomes. Mission Command is essential to achieving the adaptability required to respond quickly to the complexity in the modern environment, allows delegation and operational awareness across all levels of seniority, and enables personnel to carry out missions with the maximum freedom of action.
DASA seek novel ideas that could be used by the UK Armed Forces to do one, or several, of the below:
- Technology based data analysis e.g. use of machine learning
- Collaboration between human and technology based decision making processes
- Systems and processes to analyse and visualise real-time data
- Merging in-house and commercially available information services to establish situational awareness
Find out more about how to apply
Contact a DASA Innovation Partner if you have an idea but are not sure if it is what they are looking for
Integrate Information and Physical Activity Across all Domains
Our Armed Forces have a requirement to be better integrated: with each other, with other government departments and with new and existing international allies and partners. Integration will enable units to work together harmoniously to deliver winning impact across several domains; sea, land, air, space, and cyber.
DASA are seeking proposals which provide field communication capabilities that are resistant to attack, but continue to perform if degraded and are secure. We seek novel ideas that could be used by the Armed Forces to do one, or several, of the below:
- Manage significant volumes of data from remote or autonomous systems
- Information services that integrate formatted or unformatted data
- Collaborative data sharing internationally with classified information
Find out more about how to apply
Contact a DASA Innovation Partner if you have an idea but are not sure if it is what we are looking for