Guidance

Open Call Innovation Focus Areas

Updated 5 February 2021

What are innovation focus areas?

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.

This page will be changed as new innovation focus areas are added, or old ones deleted or amended, in response to the evolving needs of our defence and security stakeholders. It is therefore recommended that you set up an alert for this page so you are aware of when such changes are made.

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Emerging Innovations - is currently not available for submissions. Further information will be provided as soon as this category becomes available again. Please note, you will be able to submit into the Rapid Impact and all IFA categories here. If you have any queries or questions please email accelerator@dstl.gov.uk

Reducing Reliance on Global Navigation Satellite Systems Quantum Augmented Position, Navigation and Timing Sensing Capability

Unique Identifier IFA025

Closing date 31/03/2021, end of Open Call cycle 6

The UK Defence and Security sector has demanding requirements for accurate and resilient Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT). When Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are either absent, denied, degraded or unreliable, a platform’s Inertial Navigation System (INS) will drift; PNT uncertainty will grow, and mission success may be compromised. As the future operational environment becomes increasingly congested, cluttered, contested, connected and constrained, advances in current navigation technologies will be required to avoid mission failure.

It is envisaged that a route to a robust and enduring PNT solution will involve advancements in complementary military PNT technology and/or augmentation of current INS with advanced next generation quantum sensing capability. Dstl is currently investigating the challenges posed when integrating and operating the next generation of PNT sensing technologies in harsh and restrictive environments.

Examples of sensor technologies are atomic clocks and high performance oscillators, enabling frequency combs, and quantum enabled accelerometers, gyroscopes, gravity sensors, and magnetic field sensors or gradiometers thereof.

We seek proposals on short term (≤6 months) feasibility studies that provide evidence for advancing technological sensing performance and/or enhanced environmental operational capability over a 5 year time frame. Individual proposals are expected to be in the range £100-£150K.

We are not seeking proposals that:

• provide solutions which are already commercial products
• literature reviews

Examples of desired low Technical Readiness Level (TRL 4 to 6) technology sensing performance and environmental operational capability advancements;

• greater sensitivity, bandwidth and data-rate
• reductions in dead-time, bias and drift
• functioning within greater SWaP constraints
• reliability within a harsher environment

This call is specifically focused on the development of quantum technology to provide enhanced PNT capabilities. Other, ‘non-quantum’ technologies are being looked at elsewhere under the Dstl S&T Programme. Feasibility studies will provide evidence to support assertions of advances of technological sensing performance and/or enhanced environmental operational capability via demonstration of a technology prototype, corroborated theoretical modelling and/or simulation. In support of the feasibility proposals a realistic technical comparison with current state-of-the-art commercially available solutions should be included.

Dstl has generated a set of engineering tools to support mapping next generation PNT technology capabilities across all military operations.

These tools are the Engineering Severity Level (ESL) Matrix and the Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) Matrix. The ESL and SWaP tools provide a mechanism for suppliers to communicate the current and future (≤5 year) operational capability of proposed technology in increasingly challenging operational conditions. All proposals submitted under IFA025 need to clearly state how they relate to the ESL and SWaP tools.

Suppliers are expected to submit feasibility proposals that utilise the engineering tools provided. This exercise is to assist discussions between Dstl and its suppliers and identify early exploitation opportunities noting that some information may be unknown or speculative at this stage. Note also that The ESL and SWaP tool figures do not represent mandatory technology development requirements. The inability to meet all or some demanding requirements does not immediately disqualify any technology proposal.

Suppliers must utilise the engineering tools provided to meet the minimum requirement for proposal submission. All proposals submitted under IFA025 need to clearly state how they apply to the ESL and SWaP tools.

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

Submit a proposal

Integrate Information and Physical Activity Across all Domains

Unique Identifier IFA020

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.

Communication capabilities underpin all aspects of modern military operations as they allow multiple operators to coordinate in order to maximise their combined effectiveness. Ultimately, all communications are vulnerable to adversary disruption which introduces significant operational risk.

We 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

All proposals should be created with the aim of increasing our ability to orchestrate activity, provide protection to military personnel and their equipment and in doing so, deter hostile action by our adversaries.

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

Submit a proposal

Delivering Agile Command and Control

Unique Identifier IFA021

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.

In order to achieve a more agile Command and Control process we are looking for proposals which promote a shift from more traditional chains of command to more dynamic, lateral networks, with greater delegation of authority and allow exploitation of relevant information at speed.

We 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

All proposals should be created with the aim of transforming military capabilities to be information centric, which will enable future forces and platforms to be designed around an information architecture to enable widespread access to and sharing of 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

Submit a proposal

Operate and Deliver Effects in Contested Domains

Unique Identifier IFA022

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.

Freedom to use our information networks and the electromagnetic spectrum is essential as this is the medium for communication between forces during operations and for our most effective sensors. These mediums can be used by adversaries as a source of information and can also leave us at a tactical disadvantage were they to be disrupted or disabled.

Proposals should consider we need to be robust and resilient and have the ability to disrupt/degrade adversary capabilities. We 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 we are looking for

Submit a proposal

Defence People – Skills, Knowledge and Experience

Unique Identifier IFA023

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.

We are seeking proposals which exploit novel contracts and employment models and consider that individuals may need to learn new skills many times in their careers.

We 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

All proposals should consider the use of simulation to personalise training, maximise human potential and create realistic operational environments.

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

Submit a proposal

Simulating Future Battlespace Complexity

Unique Identifier IFA024

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.

We 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

All proposals should be created with the aim of enabling faster insertion of new capability and must inform and be informed by wargames and simulations investigating emerging threats.

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

Submit a proposal