Introduction from our Managing Director, Phil Williams
Dear TD-Info members
We’re heading towards the mid-year point, and what a year it has been. We are busily preparing for the third of our major conferences this year, Defence Information ’22. Post-Covid, we are really looking forward to gathering our MoD and industry partners under one roof to hear the MOD CIO, Charlie Forte, and his team, lay out plans for the delivery of the Digital Backbone. I hope to see many of you there!
In light of the on-going situation in Ukraine, the work we began with Lt Gen Wardlaw, CDLS, last year on the Support Advantage Charter remains firmly in focus and I would seek your support for this venture.
Support to Ukraine Innovation Fund
Proposals by 10 June 2022
Please direct all proposals and enquiries to: dcmcukraineinnovationproposals@mod.gov.uk
Defence Ministers are calling on UK industry to accelerate the development of equipment for the Ukrainian armed forces, launching a £25 million campaign fund for the design and delivery of equipment to the country across the coming months. The competition will be focused on bolstering the existing provision for artillery, coastal defence and aerial systems.
The Government believes drawing on UK expertise across the defence industry, including from innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), could provide battle-winning solutions for the Ukrainian forces.
The requirements fall into four categories:
- Artillery – Procurement and manufacturing proposals to support the resupply of ammunition and the maintenance of Soviet calibre 152mm and 122mm weapon systems.
- Coastal defence – Supporting the deterrence of hostile naval forces, persistent surveillance, and delivery of attacks at range, including from autonomous or remotely-controlled vehicles.
- Military logistics and resupply – Maintenance and development of infrastructure for supply lines by sea and land, including waterways, overbridging and general Ukrainian engineering capability.
- Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) – The provision of UAS capabilities across a broad spectrum of capabilities, from lethal effects to surveillance, electronic warfare and heavy lift.
The UK has already committed more than £2.8 billion to support Ukraine through humanitarian aid and grants, as well as military kit including 120 armoured vehicles, air defence systems and more than 6,500 anti-tank missiles.
Industry organisations will need to submit proposals by June 10, when a sift will take place to access the funding, with at least £25 million available.
The initial focus is on equipment that can be sourced and supplied in the next four months, with longer-term capability development in scope where applicable.
New TD-Info Members
This month we’re pleased to welcome Hadean Supercomputing Ltd, Crime and Fire Defence Systems, Arqit Ltd and The Woodhouse Partnership Ltd.
Defence Information 22 – Mobilising the Defence Digital Backbone
8-9 June 2022
Active Conference Centre, Thornbury, BS35 3JB
We are excited to offer an interesting and thought-provoking programme at this year’s DI.
On Day One, the panels are based on Information Strategy & Information Enablers, speakers are Charlie Forte, Caroline Bellamy and Claire Fry. Data, Cyber Risk & Cloud Services, speakers are Hugh Tatton-Brown, John Abel and Kevin Brown, the afternoon panel – Digital Innovation, the speakers are Peter van der Putton, Tony Purpuri, Paul Homan and Steve Bell. Individual presentations from Duncan Johnston-Watt (Blockchain Technology) Thales (TBC) and Ben Parish.
On Day Two, the panels are based on Support, Services and Support Information Strategies, speakers Steve Hyde, Dr Richard Drake, Richard Puttick, Roger West, Cdre Chris Cook, Shaun Goodman, Chris Hammick with individual presentations from Jim Scott (LM) and Andrew Smith (MOD). The afternoon features a session from TD-Info Vanguard and 4 interactive workshops hosted by Cranfield University, Nexor, IFS and Dataiku. Our finale speaker is Adrian Baguley.
We have 5 finalists for the Excellence Awards, Jet, D2IQ, Causalens, Logiq and SecureCloud+, judging takes place throughout the event; the winner and runner up are announced before the conference closes.
Event sponsors:
- Gold: IBM, Mastek, VIMA Group, Appian, Google, IFS and Salesforce
- Silver: D2IQ, Cisco, DXC, Dataiku, Fortinet, Atkins and Motorola International
- Bronze: Cambode, PEGA and Whitetree
- Exhibitors: Allan Webb, Nexor, Garrison, CACI, TVSSCS, Anzen, MOD Architecture, MOD Commerical Services, WiDC, Adarga, SecureCloud+ and Babcock
- Virtual Exhibitors: MEGA, SSAFA, TLMNexus, MOD UKNCB, Project 4 Learning Lab. Armour Communciations and Denodo
We would like to thank all our event support organisations; and Fujitsu and Kahootz for support services.
PLEASE NOTE, THERE ARE NOW LIMITED ‘IN PERSON’ TICKETS LEFT. TO BOOK PLEASE REGISTER HERE.
Ticket prices (plus VAT):
In person – £450 Members, £750 Non-Members, MOD £250
Virtual – £100 Members, £200 Non-Members, MOD £50
Future Events – For a full list of events please click here
PLEASE NOTE – Ask me Anything – 10 June 2022: From ATLAS to Agile Constructs – this webinar has been postponed until further notice.
Health Check of Defence Industrial Base – 10:00-15:00 hrs – 13 June 2022 – TD-Info offices or on Teams
Defence Digital has been asked to undertake an assessment of the state of the Defence’s Digital Industrial Base as part of a wider assessment led by the Defence and Security Industrial Strategy (DSIS) team. The aim is to establish a baseline, considering the Integrated Review and Command Paper decisions, of the health of the defence industrial base. In turn, this will help inform investment choices and decisions. This work has been briefed to the Defence Board, who is keenly interested, as are Ministers and colleagues from across-government. The US report that inspired the work can be found on the US DoD news website.
The DSIS team has developed an analysis template to collect the information and Defence Digital would like to invite TD-Info industry members to a workshop on 13 June 22 to collect views directly from industry. Ideally, the workshop will be in-person to encourage a lively discussion, although a virtual option will be available. The workshop will cover: a sector overview (description and characteristics); risks and issues; changes to the market structure, policy and regulation and programmes; and a sector outlook. The template and information collected to-date will be circulated in advance.
For more information and to register, click here.
Industry Customer Engagement Forum – 13:00-15:00 hrs – 13 June 2022 – TD-Info offices or virtual – this meeting has been moved from 6 June 2022. Click here to register.
Social Value – 12 Months On Webinar 10:00-10:30 hrs – 14 June 2022
Social Value is the consideration of the social, economic and environmental impact of our projects and programmes and the MOD Social Value Centre of Expertise is soon to be a year old. Peter Coy, Head of the MOD SV CoE will speak about emerging lessons and feedback from his team’s work with government and industry colleagues. There will be an opportunity for Q&A. Register here.
Trading Forum – 11:00hrs – 14 June 2022 – Contact Andy Whatman for more information.
The ISF Management team will meet on 14 June preparatory to a full ISF meeting on 21 June – Please contact Andy Corbett for more information.
TD-Info Strategy Group – 9:45-12:30 hrs – 15 June 2022 virtual on MS Teams – Click here for more information.
Integrated Product Support (IPS) CoP (formerly SCSEWG) – 10:00-12:00 hrs – 16 June 2022 – Click here to register.
UK Simplified Technical English Working Group – 13:30-15:00hrs – 16 June 2022 – Find out more here.
Ask Me Anything Series – Digital Strategy 12 Months On – 11:00-12:00 hrs – 21 June 2022 – (This event moved so if you have already registered, your registration is still valid, and the Teams Live Link is the same.) We are delighted to welcome AVM David Arthurton, the incoming Director Strategy and Defence Digitisation for Defence Digital, to review the Digital Strategy 12 months on. Register here.
Fuel Transformation Programme Industry Event – 28 June 2022 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm – Following the Fuel Transformation Programme Outline Business Case approval, an industry event is planned for 28 June 2022 at which the Authority will share an update and brief on progress. Register here.
High Value Manufacture Centre of Expertise (CoE) – 10:00-16:00hrs – 29 June 22 AMRC, Sheffield
ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English (STE) Training – 4-7 July 2022 – The next ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English (STE) online training course will run from 09:00-12:30 hrs 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.
Recent Events
A CUPA meeting was held on 13 May in which it was raised that, in order to maintain momentum and move towards a deliverable product, we need more engagement from industry. It was suggested that the Defence Suppliers Forum (DSF) may be a good vehicle for raising industry awareness and engagement. Major Colin Williams from the Cyber Advisory Team at Defence Digital will give a short presentation on CUPA at DI22. Email Andy Corbett for information.
#DE&S hosts coders for Robot Dog Olympics 16-17 May 2022
Read the press release here. Read more about it in DE&S Desider magazine here.
Human Machine Teaming (HMT) – Find a Tender (find-tender.service.gov.uk)
PQQ: https://www.contracts.mod.uk/go/193582850180F80E720A
Team Defence developing support for MOD DE&S Future Capability Group (FCG)
The extraordinarily successful ‘Spot the Dog Olympics’ event took place on May 16 and 17 where teams got involved with the latest Robotic and Autonomous Systems (RAS). They ‘plugged and played’ into a system of systems, using a device agnostic application store. This allowed user-centric workflows and enabled human machine teaming to deliver a step change in RAS capabilities and operational effects.
Calling for contributors – As a result the production of a paper to inform Robotic and Autonomous System API and Integration Strategy will be produced. This will be a joint MOD and industry activity building on the Spot Olympics. The paper will shape FCG strategy for RAS API and Dev Ops.
Who and when? – Volunteers will need experience in Mulesoft, IBM, D2IQ, Google, Microsoft, Red Hat and Pega. Some of the implementor joining the Task Team will be Thales, Babcock and some of the consultancies will also be in the mix. The MDI community would be very welcome. The next TD-Info news bulletin will give an exact start date and a link to sign up.
Other activities to have on your radar are:
- Investigation into a Cloud based 3-D Printing Depository
- Investigation into ‘Smart’ Asset Tracking
- Formation of an Operational Energy Centre of Excellence
These activities build upon the new engagement approach outlined in the FCG Industry Engagement Strategy released in July 2021, If you would like more information on OIL please contact either Steve Green or Darin Tudor.
Recent Presentations, Publications, Surveys and Updates
Through Life Sustainability Toolset
Has your company ever applied toolsets to evaluate sustainability? Have you ever worked on sustainability related topics? Do you know any related policy?
We’re looking to promote sustainability within Defence through the use of tools! We’re incredibly eager to collect use cases, case studies or thought leadership in this area.
We’re looking for evidence-based case studies on these subjects:
- Capability Horizons: What are the different considerations across the planning and investment horizons we need to consider for sustainability? What are the no regret actions that we must take today? What will need influencing over the longer capability development lifecycle?
- Sustainable Acquisition: This section describes best practice and decisions from across sectors. We need to identify best practice, process, methodologies, standards, policies and tools used to generate evidence so that we account for sustainability in investment decisions.
- Compliance: How do we verify and validate what we proposed to do for sustainability?
- Product Development: When Defence develops products, how are we building in sustainability from the start? How does we measure this? What can Defence do during the in-service phase?
Email your contributions to Ethan Harwood
New Support Charter outlines UK Defence and industry’s joint commitment to achieving Support Advantage – Signed at SupportNET 22
Building on the cooperation and transparency commitments within the Defence and Security Industrial Strategy (DSIS), a joint-team from Team Defence Information (TD-Info) and MOD, with support from the Defence Suppliers forum (DSF) and the trade organisations ADS and Tech UK, set about creating the Support Advantage Charter.
On 28 April 2022, The Support Advantage Charter was formally signed by:
- Lt Gen Richard Wardlaw, CDLS, on behalf of the MOD Support Function,
- Adrian Baguley, Deputy CEO & Director General Strategic Enablers Defence Equipment & Support, on behalf of MOD Enabling Organisations, and
- Dr Jon Hall (Chief Innovation & Technology Officer Babcock International Group on behalf of the Defence Suppliers Forum).
Read the full Support Advantage Charter here. You can also read more in the DSF newsletter.
Update to CMMC Working Group from Andy Watkin-Child on the progress of NIST CMMC 2.0 – 28 April 2022
On 28 April, the CMMC Working Group received an update from Andy Watkin-Child on the progress of NIST CMMC 2.0, which is in plan to go live in May 2023 and the implications of the US Department of Justice legal actions under the False Claims Act, where contractors to the US Department of Defence have misrepresented their Cybersecurity management capabilities. These have already resulted in significant fines. He also drew our attention to the announcement in March 2022 by the Securities and Exchange Commission that Cybersecurity Risk Management disclosure will become mandatory for businesses on US Capital Markets. Boards will have to demonstrate cybersecurity experience and oversight and assurance of cyber risks. Material Cybers Incidents will need to be reported to the SEC within 4 days. This data will be available to market participants, including investors, researchers, credit rating agencies, insurance companies and legal teams.
The Defence Supplier Forum (DSF) newsletter – May 22
DE&S publish the DE&S Digital Engineering Transformation Strategy – Outline strategy and implementation plan – May 2022
“This strategy, and the associated change programme, will start to pull together an agreed view on the scale, pace, approach and focus for DE [Digital Engineering] in DE&S and the wider Defence Enterprise.” (p 4)
Cyber Resilience Strategy for Defence published 9 May 2022
The Cyber Resilience Strategy for Defence outlines the Ministry of Defence’s vision to build a stronger, cyber-resilient Defence. This is more important than ever in an increasingly uncertain world with its fast evolving technological and military challenges. Read more here.
Land Industrial Strategy published – 18 May 2022
Sets the conditions for long-term collaboration between the MOD and industry, supporting co-investment in capability delivery and innovation. Read more here.
New Defence BattleLab to drive innovation – 18 May 2022
A new hub designed to spark innovation and push the boundaries of technology used by UK Armed Forces has been officially opened in Dorset today. Read more here.
Defence and Security Industrial Strategy: reform of the Single Source Contract Regulations Updated – 24 May 2022
This Command Paper sets out a series of proposed reforms to the Single Source Contract Regulations (SSCRs) and seeks stakeholder views. Read the Government response’ here.
Forthcoming Events – Non-Team Defence-Information
Data Exploitation in Defence: Powered by Tableau – 14 June 2022
“Our ambition to ‘unleash the power of data’ is stronger than ever. Our future will be shaped by how we protect and exploit Defence’s assets. Data will become our second most important asset only behind our People. This is the clear intent of our Data Strategy.”
Charles Forte, MOD Chief Information Officer, Digital Functional Lead
In this session, we will share relevant insights from Tableau’s use in the Defence sector, discuss some of the key elements of the ‘Data Strategy for Defence 2021’, and showcase how Tableau can have a significant impact in day-to-day operations for the MOD, across:
– Driving accurate decision making
– Providing data transparency through the organisation
– Providing Project, Programme and Supply Chain visibility
– Laying the basis for a data culture
By invitation only – Please register at https://dataexploitationindefence.splashthat.com
Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) Meet the Buyer Event – 27 June 2022 at DMS Whittington, Lichfield WS14 9PY
Suppliers – 18 of DIO’s Tier 1 Suppliers in attendance (Construction, TSPs Hard & Soft FM)
Attendees – 100 SME spaces available
Registration – by emailing: DIOComrcl-PGSRMTeam@mod.gov.uk
Through DIO, suppliers provide a range of infrastructure services to the Ministry of Defence. By value, we rely on our suppliers to deliver 95% of our infrastructure services. This event will help to ensure DIO is pursuing and aiming to reach as much of the market as possible, increasing competition and achieving our corporate objective of making it easier to do business with DIO. It will also contribute to DIO creating a more transparent procurement environment/process and emphasise that DIO are actively seeking to encourage new suppliers and entrants, including small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to maximise innovation opportunities. Read more here.