Introduction from our Managing Director, Phil WilliamsHello TD-Info World As the year races on apace and our gaze is still hard fast on Ukraine, we reflected at SupportNET 22 with MP and Minister for Defence Procurement, Jeremy Quinn, and Lt General Richard Wardlaw the importance of the defence wide enterprise and the growing realisation by the public at large that a government’s first role is the defence of the realm and assistance to friends and allies. All our endeavours around improving through life support for our military equipment has a renewed sense of urgency and with Defence Information 22 just around the corner, I am sure the MOD CIO, Charlie Forte and his team will be keen to accelerate delivery against the various published strategies spawned by the last Integrated Review. As ever, TD-Info has myriad activities ongoing and these only achieve success thanks to the contributions from both MoD and Industry. If anything piques your interest, then please feel free to get involved and build the relationships so crucial to our work. As was said last month, in times of strife we, “cannot surge trust”, we need to be constantly working together. |
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Changes in Team Defence InformationThis month we say goodbye and thank you to Bob Simpson who coordinated our communications and Kevin Atkins who was responsible for membership. Ciaran Dodd will take over Bob’s role and support Sue Russell and Suzette Payne with communications. Julian Dayment will take over from Kevin. Sarah Outterson has joined us from Babcock on secondment as Project Management Graduate until July. Philippa Arter has also joined us on secondment from BAE Systems and will take charge of the Programme Management Office as Will Tuohy’s time with us comes to an end. We also have our new website so if you haven’t yet done so, please take a look here. You can also view our latest organisation chart here. |
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The Professional Development Working Group (PDWG)As part of her role within TD-Info, Dr Andie Johnson-Mitchell is reviving the Professional Development Working Group (PDWG). To date there have been three meetings to set some underlying principles to achieve our proposed objectives. These objectives are to:
We will publish the date for the next meeting and invite all members to attend and shape the outcomes they want to see. For further information email: Andie Johnson-Mitchell. |
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New membersThis month we’re pleased to welcome Defend3d, Crime and Fire Defence Systems Ltd, Military Compliance Services Ltd and Gibson de Maisie Ltd |
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Future events – click here to see the Web Calendar |
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Defence Information 2022 (DI22) – Mobilising the Defence Digital Backbone – 8-9 June 2022, Active Conference Centre, Thornbury, Bristol, in person and live online.DI22, a hybrid two-day conference with a packed programme, will deliver updates from Defence Digital, Multi-Domain Integration (MDI), Cloud Services, Data Digital, Support Services, TD-Info Vanguard and more. There will be panel discussions, interactive workshops, the exhibition with over 40 physical and virtual stands from the defence industry and MOD, as well as the TD-Info Excellence Awards. Registration is now open, and all tickets include Day 1, Day 2 and the extra networking session at the end of Day 1. See below for our exciting line-up of speakers and book your ticket now. Note: You can book the networking session, and choose your workshop, when your DI22 ticket purchase/registration is complete. Click on the ‘MyPortal’ link to book your extras! Tickets (excluding VAT):
DAY ONEInformation Strategy & Information Enablers – chaired by Phil Richardson, Google CloudData, Cyber Risk & Cloud Services – chaired by Mark Hughes, DXC TechnologyDigital Innovation – chaired by Dr Roger Hood, NEDCharlie Forte, Chief Information Officer (CIO), MOD | John Fitzpatrick, Director Digital Enablement, MOD | Caroline Bellamy, Director Chief Data Officer MOD | Hugh Tatton-Brown, Head of Cyber Security Architecture | John Able, Technical Director, Office of the CTO, Google Cloud | Kevin Brown | Maj Colin Williams | Peter Van der Putten, Director Decisioning & AI Solutions, PEGA | Tony Purpuri, Head of Consulting Delivery – Defence Digital, VIMA Group | Al Bowman, Director UK Public Sector for Dataminr and Johnny Pinney, MoD Account Manager for Dataminr | Paul Homan – Distinguished Engineer, CTO Industrial – IBM Services | Steve Bell, Technical Director – Atkins | Ben Parish, Head of Innovation, Defence Digital, MOD
EXTRA NETWORKING SESSION – HOT BUFFET AND BAR – 1700-2000 (note this session must be booked after registration)
DAY TWO Support, Services & Support Information Strategies Session One – chaired by Bill Mead, Boeing Defence Session Two – chaired by Dr Tim King, Babcock
Gen Rob Anderton-Brown, MOD | Dr Richard Drake, Managing Director Babcock Missions Systems, Group Chief Technology Officer | Simon Harwood, UK Capability Director, Leonardo | Richard Puttick, Hd CIO, Defence Support, Joint Support, MOD | Roger West, Director Logistics & Support, Logistics & Support Operating Centre MOD | Cdre Chris Cook, Head of Strategy – MOD Defence Digital | Shaun Goodman, SM&RT, Supply Chain Resilience Control Tower Lead, DG Commercial | Jim Scott, Head of Strategic Engagement, Strategic Systems, Lockheed Martin UK | Andrew Smith, MOD IS Programme Lead, Boeing Defence UK | Adrian Baguley, DE&S Deputy CEO Team Defence VanguardPresented by Members of TD-Info Vanguard – Hybrid Warfare – 2 sessions
Interactive Parallel Workshops• Workshop One – Rob Wright, Nexor – Nexor plan an interactive workshop that will start with a panel of 3 MOD and 1 Industry experts who will give their views on the question, “Based upon the MDI work already underway within Defence, what do you believe is the most important aspect and is there something missing that will be essential for success? Also, do you think MOD and industry can help accelerate MDI?”. There will then be a breakout for attendees to brainstorm their views before everyone comes back together to draw conclusions from the discussions. • Workshop Two – Cranfield University – Details to follow • Workshop Three – Decisions on the Edge: thinking differently about getting the most from data in Defence with AI-enabled ‘mission command’ for warriors – Shaun McGirr, EMEA Director of AI Strategy, Dataiku, Helga Kaminski, Senior Sales Executive, Dataiku, Tony Butler, Team Defence Information • Workshop Four – Andrew Floyd, AVP A&D Presales, IFS Aerospace & Defense – “Total Asset Readiness: Guarantee operational agility & mission preparedness – Are you mission ready?”. After setting the scene attendees will be able to break into groups to discuss the question before coming back together to draw conclusions. FOLLOWING TICKET PURCHASE, PLEASE LOG IN TO ‘MYPORTAL’ TO BOOK YOUR WORKSHOP. This year your visits to our sponsors’ and exhibitors’ stands (physical and virtual) will again raise money for SSAFA. Many thanks to DI22 Event sponsors: Appian, IFS, Google, VIMA Group, Mastek, Salesforce and IBM (Gold), Dataiku, Atkins, D2iQ, DXC, Motorola Solutions, Cisco, Fortinet (Silver) and Camcode, Whitetree, PEGA (Bronze), exhibiting are Garrison, Allan Webb, Caci, TVSSCS, Adarga, Mulesoft, Nexor, Anzen plus Virtual Stands – MEGA, SSAFA, Fujitsu, TLMNexus, Kahootz, Oracle, Project4 Labs, UK National Codification Bureau, MOD Commercial Services, MOD Architecture Team with support stands from Women in Defence Charter, CUPA, TD-Info, DAMA UK and the Excellence Awards finalists. Virtual stands are available from £250 plus VAT, please contact Sue Russell. Virtual stands are open to both virtual delegates (estimate 400 +) and in person (350+) delegates and continue to be open on the event platform for 30 days plus post event. |
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Other future eventsDIO 2022 Procurement Pipeline Webinar 0930-1130 Wednesday 11 MayTHIS EVENT HAS MOVED FROM GOTOWEBINAR TO MICROSOFT TEAMS. JOINING LINK IS BELOW Microsoft Teams meeting – Click here to join the meeting Or call in (audio only) +44 20 3443 8728 Phone Conference ID: 44707085# DIO spend around £3 billion each year and the Procurement Pipeline gives potential suppliers details of what we plan to buy on behalf of our Armed Forces customers in the coming years. The object of this Webinar is to assist by providing a more detailed understanding of the new-look Procurement Pipeline and focus will be on the following six months procurements as DIO recognise the importance of having time to adequately plan strategic alignment, bidding resources and working resources against work packages suppliers are interested in. It is DIO’s current intention to hold these Webinars every six months going forward. DIO are the first Defence organisation to publish a procurement pipeline and we intend to increase frequency of this new look document, with the next publication planned for early April 2022 to ensure that the most up-to-date information is available to our suppliers.
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Ask Me Anything SeriesTeam Defence Information is please to confirm the next three instalments in our Ask Me Anything series of webinars run in collaboration with Defence Digital. These open forum sessions allow the audience to quiz our panel of speakers on the topics most important to them, exploring each aspect of the 2021 Digital Strategy for Defence. Click here to access the event calendar, links to register will be issued shortly. 19 May at 1000 – TD-Info will sit down with General Richard Spencer, Director Delivery: Intelligence and Expeditionary Services; Defence Digital and Brigadier Mark Purves, Head Deployed Platform Services to discuss Project and Service Delivery Professionalisation. 7 June at 1400 – We are delighted to be joined by AVM David Arthurton, the incoming Director Strategy and Defence Digitisation for Defence Digital to review the Digital Strategy 12 months on. 10 June at 1600 – We will explore the move from ATLAS to Agile constructs with Phil Jones the Executive Director for Defence Digital’s Service & Delivery & Organisation
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Call for Expressions of Interest to support the future of MOD engineering support servicesSimon Galt, Managing Director, Aurora Engineering Partnership It’s nearly two years since our last call to industry to refresh the membership to the Provider Network for the Engineering Delivery Partner (EDP) programme. It is now the right time for us to again review and strengthen our membership, with the intention to further progress collaboration and innovation in the next phase. Collaboration and innovation have always been part of our approach to supporting Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) and the MoD Front Line Commands. Now, as we look to refresh the Provider Network, we are looking to build an improved and diverse community of providers that share our vision for agile, assured and cost-effective Engineering Services. This will help us innovate and meet the ever-changing needs of the front. Since its launch in December 2018, the Provider Network and Aurora Engineering Partnership have together delivered engineering that matters to DE&S and those on the front line. As a collective we continue to grow and support DE&S and the wider MoD for engineering service delivery on key national defence programmes. We have learnt a lot in the last three and a half years and have improved the transparency in how we work with our Customers, Partners and Provider Network. So, as we enter the next phase of the EDP programme, we are calling for companies in and outside of the defence sector who are innovative, adaptable, and agile, to register their interest in the Provider Network and help deliver high quality and cost-effective solutions for our teams on the front line. To read more about the Aurora Engineering Partnership providers, visit our website. |
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Robot Dog Olympic Hackathon 16-17 May 2022 – 0930-1700 – Innovation Bridge, ABW, Stoke Gifford, BS34 8JHTD-Info developing support for MOD DE&S Future Capability Group (FCG)TD-Info continues to actively support and assist the FCG in kick-starting key initiatives identified jointly by DE&S and MOD Front Line Commands (FLCs). This is called the Open Innovation Laboratory (OIL). As a digital native innovator with strong programming and Dev Op skills, this is your chance to collaborate! Using open-source libraries enable your Team’s robotic dog to outperform the competition! Join us for this two-day event with 40 competitors, 10 tasks, 4 teams, 4 robot dogs. Which team will be victorious and win gold? Robot dogs, high performance computers, Dev Ops environments, refreshments, spot prizes, t-shirts and camaraderie all provided. With thanks to our sponsors: Google MCL DI2Q IBM Red Hat Plus…
If you would like more information on OIL please contact either Steve Green or Darin Tudor. |
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Exploring Ideas on How to Exploit Technological Change and Make Better Use of Data to Assure Logistic Support to a Globally Dispersed Force – 17 May 2022 – 0900-1700 – Engine Shed – University of LincolnExploring Ideas on How to Exploit Technological Change and Make Better Use of Data to Assure Logistic Support to a Globally Dispersed Force 17 May 2022 0900-1700 Engine Shed University of Lincoln Read here to find out how to join this event or contact Steve Green.
AFCEA UK Southern Chapter – May 2022 – Bombay Sapphire Distillery – Wed 25 May 22 – 1830–2230At this event DSTL and Nexor will present on the work done towards creating a Single Information Environment. Apart from the fact that the event is in a gin distillery, and that there is a tasting session included, this might be of interest to the MDI Group. The single services are doing much of the work within MOD and aims to solve interoperability problems for individual domains. The Serapis work has focussed on the cross / multi domain problem, looking at how we get information from other domains, including NATO, into the hands of users in a time sensitive manner. DSTL has been tasked to share their work so that MOD, and indeed industry, can take it forward. Click here to find out more and book your place. |
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CDLS Additive Manufacturing as a Service – Exec Group & Work Stream Meeting – 26 May 2022 – Thales Reading CDLS has tasked the Defence SpTx Innovation team to assess the feasibility of pursuing ‘Additive Manufacturing (AdM) as a Service’, to:
This is to be explored via the CDLS Additive Manufacturing Challenge. Running in parallel to the ‘AdM Challenge’, there are a series of joint industry / MOD co-chaired work streams to make sure that we identify the correct questions and challenges particularly related to: certification, IPR, inventory management and the digital thread. The next meeting will be on the 26 May at Thales UK, Reading. There will be a briefing session from the Defence SpTx team, together with case study presentations from Thales and other MoD/Industry members, followed by individual co-chair-led work stream activities on:
If you wish to attend, please email Stu Olden stating your preferred work stream for the breakout session and any dietary requirements. Thales UK are kindly providing lunch and refreshments. |
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Trading Forum 1100 – 14 June 2022Contact Andy Whatman for more information.
ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English (STE) Training – 4-7 July 2022The next ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English (STE) online training course will run from 0900-1230 daily between Monday 4 July and Thursday 7 July 2022 on MS Teams with Ciaran Dodd, ASD-approved STE trainer. To register for the training please email Sue Russell.
Date for your diary: Market Accessibility and Value Proposition workshops for start-ups and SMEs in the defence technologies sector – 20-22 September 2022Oxentia and Porton Science Park have partnered to deliver a highly interactive and tailored market engagement workshop for innovative companies operating in the Defence Security Sector (20-22 September 2022). The goal of this workshop is to provide SMEs with practical guidance and support to build a robust marketing plan and gain a unique understanding of the Defence Security sector value chain and potential marketplace. This workshop will be held in person over three half-days at the Porton Science Park. To find out more, email Irene Dal Poz. |
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Recent eventsMODCloud Event – 22 March 2022Following meetings held with Dave France and Nigel Shaw to re-engage and re-energise the industry connection, we held an industry engagement event on 22 March. TD-Info and techUK jointly facilitated the event with Kevin Brown leading the MOD team. The event was very well attended, both physically and virtually and will become a quarterly event. The next steps are for Kevin Brown (MOD owner) to produce the roadmap and challenges that MOD need industry to help with. TD-Info will then facilitate the MOD and industry to find the solutions. For more information, email Andy Whatman. |
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SupportNET 22 – Delivering Better Availability – 28-29 April 2022If you were able to attend SupportNET 2022, you’ll know how amazing it was to see so many people at a single event after the last two years. This well-executed conference gave us an opportunity to hear clear presentations about what is already happening to deliver availability, and also what the challenges are and a vision for the future. The breaks and exhibitions gave further topics for discussion and networking opportunities. Also at the conference we saw the signing of the Support Advantage Industry Charter, which we understand will be published on a government website. Once we know more, we can share this information with you. The initial feedback on the event has been extremely positive. In next month’s news bulletin we’ll have a full report on the event and in the near future, the MOD and event organisers will send a link to all attendees that will give access to the presentations. Also at the conference, TD-Info Vanguard organised a Support Innovation Challenge event where 8 selected applicants had 10 minutes to present their ideas to a panel of ‘dragons’ that included Lieutenant General Richard Wardlaw, Chief of Defence Logistics and Support within Strategic Command. Oracle and Leidos sponsored the event and prizes. Thank you to everyone involved in this fun and interesting evening. The winning team – David Thompson (Defence Account Executive) and Vijay Thiagarajan (Solutions Consultant) from Appian. Their winning idea was called Automated Intelligent Maintenance System (AIMS). |
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Recent publicationsThe Defence Supplier Forum (DSF) will now publish their newsletter every two months so we will add a link here when we have the next newsletter. The Defence Supplier Forum (DSF) enables strategic engagement between government and the defence industry to facilitate the effective sharing of information, aligning objectives and optimising the delivery of defence capability. The DSF is the primary MOD-industry engagement mechanism on strategic topics. Alongside its role in delivering the agreed programme of work, the DSF is central to supporting agile joint government/industry responses to significant national issues, including epidemics and emergencies. |
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Cranfield University to launch a new MScCranfield University will launch a new MSc in Digital and Technology Solutions in October 2022. What is the course? The Digital and Technology Solutions MSc is a world-leading programme developed by Cranfield University in collaboration with industry sectors such as defence, aerospace and rail. This course is unique and innovative because of its applied approach to designing and developing digital technologies and solutions including:
During the course we will blend technical and managerial skills to promote the creation, adoption, and evolution of digital technologies and solutions. We will deliver the course with cutting edge blended learning methods. Who is it for? The course is designed for industry professionals to fit around demanding careers. We are particularly focusing on the context of developing skills to lead change in business through digital technologies. Students will learn the skills to design and develop commercially viable digital solutions. Students will need to solve challenges set for them in collaboration with an industrial sponsor. This course addresses the need for highly capable professionals that rely on digital technologies and solutions required to transform operations into a world-class business. It is suitable for:
Read about the course here or email Prof. John Erkoyuncu. |
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