Notice

Competition Document: Sample Preservation, Analysis, and Attribution (SPAA)

Updated 8 April 2024

1. Introduction:

This Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) competition is seeking proposals that can address challenges associated with sample surface collection/preservation, analysis and attribution (SPAA) of hazardous chemical and biological (ChemBio) materials. New technology options or technical approaches could ultimately help both the successful identification of material and directly/indirectly aid in bringing perpetrators to justice. As well as addressing this diverse set of technical requirements, one of the goals of the “SPAA” is to engage with a non-traditional ChemBio supplier base in order to yield innovative solutions. Up to £1 million is available to fund multiple innovations at Technology Readiness level (TRL) 2-4 to deliver fieldable prototypes/software (TRL6+) to support investigations into CB incidents. This includes sample collection all the way through to the tools used for identification and attribution. We are expecting to fund 3 to 4 proposals.

This competition is jointly funded by the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the US Department of Defence (DOD), and will operate under an extant memorandum of understanding between both nations. Both the MOD and DOD will have equal rights of access to information submitted under this competition.

2. Competition key information

Submission deadline

12:00 Midday on Tuesday 30 April 2024 (BST)

Where do I submit my proposal?

Via the DASA Online Submission Service for which you will require an account. Only proposals submitted through the DASA Online Submission Service will be accepted.

Total funding available

The total possible funding available for this competition is £1 million (excluding VAT), DASA expects to fund 3-4 proposals. However, DASA reserves the right to fund one outstanding bid up to £1 million (excluding VAT) that demonstrates value for money, provides high quality supporting evidence to deliver on the competition focus. 

2.1 Supporting events

Dial-in session

19 March 2024 – A dial-in session providing further detail on the problem space and a chance to ask questions in an open forum. If you would like to participate, please register on the Eventbrite page.

26 March 2024 – A series of 20 minute one-to-one teleconference sessions, giving you the opportunity to ask specific questions. If you would like to participate, please register on the Eventbrite page. Booking is on a first come first served basis.

11 April 2024 – A series of 20 minute one-to-one teleconference sessions, giving you the opportunity to ask specific questions. If you would like to participate, please register on the Eventbrite page. Booking is on a first come first served basis.

3. Competition Scope

3.1 Background:

The production, stockpiling or use of hazardous chemical and biological (ChemBio) materials for nefarious purposes represents an enduring and often high profile issue for both the Defence and Security Sectors. Activities of this nature would be considered a breach of either the Chemical Weapons Convention or the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. Investigation into events involving ChemBio materials have many technical challenges; starting from the initial point of collection by the attending first responder, all the way through to the screening and analytical tools used to identify and/or potentially attribute the material of interest. “SPAA” is an industry competition that is being joint funded by the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) and US Department of Defence (DOD). The competition is being administered by the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA).

“SPAA” seeks novel and innovative approaches in order to address challenges associated with sample collection (Surface), the preservation of sample/evidence during storage or transportation and potential exploitation to aid attribution of ChemBio materials (Table 1). Ultimately, effective new approaches could help either a successful identification of ChemBio materials and/or bring perpetrators to justice. As well as addressing this diverse set of technical requirements, one of the goals of “SPAA” is to engage with a non-traditional ChemBio supplier base in order to yield innovative solutions to current problems.

The sampling of hazardous materials needs to be a low burden, technically simple activity which can be undertaken by a diverse range of operators, from first responders, to military personnel and/or scientists. Moreover, the samples may need to be recovered from a broad range of contexts, including from within austere environments with potentially extreme climatic conditions through to urban populated areas. This poses a number of challenges including stabilising the material from degradation in transit to the laboratory for analysis. Crucially, the quality of the sample submitted to the laboratory directly dictates the level of analysis that can be undertaken on that material and, in turn, the quality of the resulting analytical data that can be produced. Therefore techniques that maintain the physical integrity and stability (i.e. chemical) or viability (i.e. biological) for the duration of transport are key to a successful analysis and attribution capability. Parallels may be found, from a Science and Technology perspective, in the medical and/or biomedical device sector (e.g. stabilisation of blood products and/or stem cells).

Table 1. Summary of the technical requirements that forms the basis of the “SPAA” Competition. Novel technologies are being sought that can address the screening (S), collection/preservation (C/P) and exploitation (E) requirements outlined.

Upon submission of the samples to an analytical laboratory, triage represents a key safety requirement in order to identify the contents of an unknown sample. It is vital that the identification of hazardous ChemBio occurs correctly at this stage in order to ensure that handling and manipulation of the material is undertaken in a safe and controlled manner. Therefore technology options that can rapidly and correctly identify agent classes and the nature/properties/characteristics of the hazard will be key to increasing the safety and the speed of analysis.

Finally, attribution activities help to bridge the gap between the laboratory and traditional forensic approaches by providing information of the provenance of the ChemBio material. Principally of interest here is the ability to identify the agent present (e.g. based on breakdown products), how the material was made/produced/stored (e.g. based on impurities, trace or background contaminants) and potentially linking materials derived from different sources (i.e. from release site of a terrorist event to an improvised laboratory). Parallels, from a technical perspective, may be found here in approaches used by seemingly unrelated sectors (e.g. in the authentication of high value food/drink or in materials used in the aerospace industry, or in investigations into the provenance of valuable art).  

Recent examples of sampling and analysis undertaken in this area include:  

• Fact-finding-mission and analysis undertaken by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Fact Finding Mission (FFM) in Syria
• Samples collected during Operation Saddleback
• OPCW sampling and analysis of CW by Daesh in Iraq OPCW sampling and analysis of mustard produced and used by Daesh in Iraq

It is anticipated that work for this competition will reach higher maturity than work funded in a previous DASA ChemBio competition and the bids we funded.

3.2 Scope:

The challenges outlined in this competition are diverse in nature, therefore it is anticipated that proposals will address either the screening, collection/preservation or exploitation challenge (i.e. rather than covering multiple requirements).

Key current limitations of applying screening, collection/preservation and exploitation technologies to these challenges include:

• collection technologies can sample materials from surfaces but do not protect and stabilise the sampled materials for storage and transport (i.e. without cold chain support that are often unavailable in austere environments or in a non-permissive operational context)
• screening technologies are predominantly focused on identifying specific (known) or well-characterised ChemBio Hazards. Screening for a wider range of materials is restricted due to the limitations of handheld or field-based screening technologies being able to detect a broad range of undefined compounds. The ability to detect a broader range of chemicals requires significant laboratory equipment/expertise/time
• exploitation technologies are in their infancy in the field of attribution and often require data intensive approaches taking weeks or months to undertake. New ways of working that expedite the process and/or identify new signatures to enable the source material to be attributed across the timeframes traditionally associated with analysis (i.e. hours, days) are required.

What innovations or ideas can proposals be based upon?

We are seeking novel and innovative technologies and approaches that will overcome these limitations and enhance the range of tools available when undertaking an investigation following an Overseas or Homeland ChemBio event. We expect that these tools will ultimately enhance the capabilities of the International Community to contend with many technical challenges associated with sample screening, collection/preservation and exploitation for attribution purposes following a ChemBio event. Promising technology options identified here will improve the capability, benefit and likelihood of success of an investigation into ChemBio incident.

What technology areas or deployment scenarios will the innovation or idea focus on?

We are looking for innovations that will form the basis of the next generation of screening, collection and exploitation approaches that will be utilised during the investigation of a ChemBio event. Fundamentally, your proposed solution must improve an element of the investigative system into hazardous ChemBio materials but must not increase the risks to either the Operator, the wider population or laboratory. We are also interested in proposals that develop or repurpose existing technologies used in other sectors.

4. Competition Challenges

This competition has 3 challenges:

The challenges outlined in this competition are diverse in nature, therefore it is anticipated that proposals will address either the screening, collection/preservation or exploitation challenge (i.e. rather than covering multiple requirements). Typical examples of hazardous materials that are required to be analysed are Bio (e.g. bacteria, virus, protein toxin) and Chem (e.g. materials covered by the Chemical Weapons Convention, Toxic Industrial Chemicals, and pharmaceutical based agents). The ChemBio materials can also be submitted in different forms including environmental (e.g. soil, vegetation) or biomedical (e.g. whole blood, urine) in composition.

There are three main challenge areas where innovative solutions and approaches are being sought:

4.1 Challenge 1: New screening technologies for rapidly detecting or identifying the presence or class of hazardous ChemBio materials in a sample

The principle goal for this challenge is to enable the rapid classification of “unknown” hazardous substances in the case of not being able to detect or identify a specific ChemBio agent. In essence, these technologies will aid in the initial screening and triage of samples submitted to the laboratory for analysis (i.e. a key safety feature of any analytical laboratory). Crucially, in order to achieve this later requirement, technologies should screen for the presence of Chemical and/or Biological materials down to the lowest sensitivity levels. All technologies must meet the TRL6 requirement at the end of the 24 month contract.

We are looking for techniques or approaches that can achieve at least some of the elements of the following:

• provide additional information on ChemBio through the substances physical or biological/chemical properties aiding classification
• either a single, a combination of orthogonal approaches, or an adjunct to existing commercial-off-the-shelf technology
• identification of target analytes (or biomarkers of exposure) through the analysis of environmental or biomedical samples
• work rapidly (i.e. provide a results in up to 60 minutes)

There are also two principle concepts of use for the approaches of interest here:

• these fieldable techniques should be operable by non-specialist users (deployed systems should be fast, light, mobile, ruggedized and simple to use)
• laboratory-based techniques operated by Suitably Qualified Experienced Personal (SQEP)

During the process of Test and Evaluation  – the technique will be required to detect the presence of ChemBio hazards within Operationally-relevant sample matrices (i.e. as outlined in Table 1; including the associated performance criteria). In order for the innovation to progress towards TRL6, it is anticipated that the innovation will therefore be able to identify a minimum of two different biological (i.e. ideally from Biosafety Level II and III) and/or classes of chemical hazard (i.e. as covered by the Chemical Weapons Convention). Further more detailed guidance will be provided through technical partnering on the contract. If Government Furnished Assets/Items/Facilities (i.e. GFA) are to be required to complete any element of the work this requirement needs to be clearly articulated within the proposal and will be taken into consideration during the evaluation process.

4.2 Challenge 2: New sample collection/preservation systems that better maintain the integrity and viability of hazardous samples

The goal of this challenge is to retrieve samples from an Operational setting (Overseas or Homeland) using a system(s) that preserves the properties of the materials collected. All technologies must meet the TRL6 requirement at the end of the 24 month contract.

Solutions should fulfil at least some of the following criteria:

• include a device that safely and appropriately contains and stores hazardous chemical and/or biological materials that can be transported easily back to the laboratory
• immediately self-stabilising for carriage upon sampling and/or are a “collection system” (i.e. materials/solutions that can added/mixed with a sample in order to maintain integrity during transport)
• technology should be compatible with chemical and/or biological material
• approaches that support biomedical and/or clinically-relevant samples are also of interest (e.g. maintaining the cellular composition/viability, genetic, proteomic material)
• easy to use (i.e. can be put in the hands of collectors with minimal specialist training)
• can be operated easily within PPE (e.g. chemical resistant butyl gloves, respirator)
• once fully developed the technology must be able to comply with International Transport Regulations (e.g. be safe for air travel)
• must stabilise materials for a defined timeframe (i.e. minimum 14 days; stretch target = 90 days)
• defined environmental conditions for stability studies (i.e. basic condition = ambient room temperature; stretch target = up to 50°C)
• materials to be stabilised without any form of cold chain storage requirement
• defined area of collection for performance assessment (i.e. Classic swabbing = 10 cm2)
• defined high efficiency collection (e.g. minimum acceptance might be greater than 30 – 50 % recovery from an agreed standardised surface; stretch target = greater than 90 %)

During the process of Test and Evaluation the innovation will be required to meet the performance criteria (outlined above and summarised in Table 1) and stabilise ChemBio hazards within Operationally-relevant sample matrices. To progress towards TRL6, it is anticipated that the innovation will stabilise at least two different biological organisms (i.e. Gram-positive, Gram-negative, virus, protein toxin or equivalent) and ideally with some testing being undertaken upon from Biosafety Level II and III organisms. Similarly, for the stabilisation of the reactions processes involving at least two classes of chemical. Testing involving chemical weapons (i.e. as covered by the Chemical Weapons Convention) is advantageous. Further more detailed guidance will be provided through technical partnering on the contract. If Government Furnished Assets/Items/Facilities/Information (i.e. GFA) are to be required to complete any element of the work this requirement needs to be clearly articulated within the proposal and will be taken into consideration during the evaluation process.

4.3 Challenge 3: New analytical approaches to improve the forensic exploitation and the attribution of ChemBio materials and/or recovered chemical/biological weapons material (RC/BWM)

The goal of this challenge is to maximise the information and breadth of approaches that can be used to analyse a sample enabling its underlying properties to be determined. By acquiring this level of detail about a sample increases the opportunity for the perpetrators of the use of ChemBio materials to be identified during an investigation. All technologies must meet the TRL6 requirement at the end of the 24 month contract.

We are looking for techniques, technologies or approaches that enable attribution by:

• being able to determine the original or source (i.e. provenance)
• provide information on how the target of interest or agent was produced
• how it was stored and/or who made the material
• determine the target of interest or agent used based on other related analytes detected in the sample
• facilitate the potential for “batch matching” (e.g. linking samples collected from different sites or sources)

During the process of Test and Evaluation the innovation will be required to meet the performance criteria (outlined above and summarised in Table 1). Further more detailed guidance will be provided through technical partnering on the contract. However, if Government Furnished Assets/Items/Facilities/Information (i.e. GFA) are to be required to complete any element of the work this requirement needs to be clearly articulated within the proposal and will be taken into consideration during the evaluation process.

5. We are interested in…

We want novel ideas to benefit end-users working in UK Defence and Security. Your proposal should include evidence of:

• development pathway so that prototypes and/or software are at TRL6 or above and are ready for field/lab use within 24 months of contract award
• innovation or a creative approach
• clear demonstration of how the proposed work applies to any defence and security context
• consideration of how would a different industry might address this problem? (i.e. application of existing techniques in the new context of investigating a ChemBio event)
• proposals that address at least one of the specified challenges (i.e. proposals do not need to address all three) for either Chem, Bio and/or Biomedical materials
• a robust supply chain for the key elements or aspects of the proposal to ensure there is enduring availability
• that the approach is robust enough that it can be feasibly technology transfer into other analytical laboratories if required
• have the potential to be fully validated and accredited to an appropriate quality (i.e. ISO17025)
• theoretical development, method of advancement or proof of concept research which can demonstrate potential for translation to practical demonstration in later phases

6. We are not interested in…

We are not interested in proposals that:

• will not meet a minimum of TRL6 within 24 months of contract award
• are an identical resubmission of a previous bid to DASA or MOD without modification
• offer demonstrations of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products requiring no experimental development (unless applied in a novel way to the challenge)
• offer no real long-term prospect of integration into defence and security capabilities
• offer no real prospect of out-competing existing technological solutions
• are unaffordable (for example a single-use sacrificial system which is cost-prohibitive)
• cannot demonstrate feasibility within the timescale of the phase of the competition
• are completely unproven ideas/concepts (i.e. TRL1)
• are for the procurement of standard pieces of analytical equipment from a commercial supplier or third party distributor
• constitute consultancy, paper-based studies or literature reviews which just summarise the existing literature without any view of future innovation
• are for the procurement of any form of COTS product or service without any form of testing or planned testing to support their application for one of the challenges outlined above

7. Accelerating and exploiting your innovation

It is important that over the lifetime of DASA competitions, ideas are matured and accelerated towards appropriate end-users to enhance capability. How long this takes will depend on the nature and starting point of the innovation. Early identification and appropriate engagement with potential end users during the competition and subsequent phases are essential in order to develop and implement an exploitation plan.

All proposals to DASA should articulate the expected development in technology maturity of the potential solution over the lifetime of the contract and how this relates to improved operational capability against the current known (or presumed) baseline. Your deliverables should be designed to evidence these aspects with the aim of making it as easy as possible for potential collaborators/stakeholders to identify the innovative elements of your proposal in order to consider routes for exploitation.

7.1 A clear route for exploitation

For DASA to consider routes for exploitation, ensure your deliverables are designed with the aim of making it as easy as possible for collaborators/stakeholders to identify the innovative elements of your proposal.

Whilst DASA recognises that early identification and engagement with potential end users during the competition and subsequent phases are essential to implementing an exploitation plan, during the competition phase there should be no correspondence between suppliers and DASA other than via the DASA helpdesk email at accelerator@dstl.gov.uk, or their Local Innovation Partner.

All proposals to DASA should articulate the expected development in technology maturity of the potential solution over the lifetime of the contract and how this relates to improved capability against the current known (or presumed) baseline.
How to outline your exploitation plan
Include the following information to help the assessors understand your exploitation plans to date:
- the intended defence or security users of your final product and whether you have previously engaged with them, their procurement arm or their research and development arm - awareness of, and alignment to, any existing end user procurement programmes - the anticipated benefits (for example, in cost, time, improved capability) that your solution will provide to the user - whether it is likely to be a standalone product or integrated with other technologies or platforms - expected additional work required beyond the end of the contract to develop an operationally deployable commercial product (for example, “scaling up” for manufacture, cyber security, integration with existing technologies, environmental operating conditions) - additional future applications and wider markets for exploitation - wider collaborations and networks you have already developed or any additional relationships you see as a requirement to support exploitation - how your product could be tested in a representative environment in later phases - any specific legal, ethical, commercial or regulatory considerations for exploitation

7.2 Is your exploitation plan long term?

Long term studies may not be able to articulate exploitation in great detail, but it should be clear that there is credible advantage to be gained from the technology development.

Include project specific information which will help exploitation. This competition is being carried out as part of a wider MOD programme and with cognisance of cross-Government initiatives.  

Ultimately this research, if successful, has a clear and obvious exploitation and potential integration within the existing Operational Capability. In addition, given the wide range of stakeholders that require support during an investigation into a ChemBio event there are clearly opportunities to exploit any successful research developments and/or tools across Defence, Homeland Security and with International Organisations. Finally, given the global nature of the research challenges being presented, we are undertaking this competition as a burden sharing with US DOD therefore there are clear partnering opportunities with appropriate agencies within the US.

8. How to apply

8.1 Submission deadline

12:00 Midday on Tuesday 30 April 2024 (BST)

8.2 Where do I submit my proposal?

Via the DASA Online Submission Service for which you will be required to register.
Only proposals submitted through the DASA Online Submission Service will be accepted.

Total funding available

The total funding available for this competition is £1 million (excluding VAT). If successful, contracts will be awarded for a maximum duration of 24 months.

How many proposals will DASA fund

We are expecting to fund around 3-4 proposals. Additional proposals may be funded if further funding becomes available during the competition. 

However, DASA reserves the right to fund one outstanding bid up to £1 million (excluding VAT) that demonstrates value for money, provides high quality supporting evidence to deliver on the competition focus.

Contracts will be awarded and must be completed within 24 months from the contract start date (although proposals of shorter duration will also be accepted).

For further guidance

Click here for more information on our competition process and how your proposal is assessed.
Queries should be sent to the DASA Help Centre – accelerator@dstl.gov.uk

9. What your proposal must include

• your proposal must include a clear plan that demonstrates how your proposal will reach a minimum of TRL6 within 24 months. Proposals that are not anticipated to reach TRL6 will be rejected as non-compliant

• the proposal should focus on the competition requirements but must also include a brief (uncosted) outline of the next stages of work required for operational capability
• when submitting a proposal, you must complete all sections of the online form, including an appropriate level of technical information to allow assessment of the bid and a completed finances section
• completed proposals must comply with the financial rules set for this competition. The upper-limit for this competition is £1 million (excluding VAT). Proposals will be rejected if the financial cost exceeds this capped level
• you must include a list of other current or recent government funding you may have received in this area if appropriate, making it clear how this proposal differs from this work

• a project plan with clear milestones and deliverables must be provided. Deliverables must be well defined and designed to provide evidence of progress against the project plan and the end-point for this phase; they must include a final report

• your project plan must include Test and Evaluation milestones and the results must be included in your final report
• you should also plan for attendance at a project kick-off meeting ideally within 1 month of the contract start date, a mid-project event and an end of project event, as well as regular reviews with the appointed Technical Partner and Project Manager. Regular meetings will be virtual unless face-to-face is required by the project needs. All in person meetings will be in the UK unless mutually pre-agreed with the supplier and/or if an onsite supplier assurance meeting is required. Technical updates will include presentation of results and planned experiments, plus provision of reports and slide sets.
• your proposal must demonstrate how you will complete all activities/services and provide all deliverables within the competition timescales (i.e. within 24 months of contract award). All subcontracted work must also be made clear in your proposal. Proposals with any deliverables (including final report) outside the competition timeline will be rejected as non-compliant

9.1 What your resourcing plan should include

Your resourcing plan must identify, where possible, the nationalities of proposed employees that you intend to work on this project.
All proposals to DASA should articulate the expected development in technology maturity of the potential solution over the lifetime of the contract and how this relates to improved operational capability against the current known (or presumed) baseline. (Must meet TRL6+ by end of contract). 

During the process of Test and Evaluation the innovation will be required to meet the performance criteria (outlined above and summarised in Table 1).

9.2 If your proposal is recommended for funding

In the event of a proposal being recommended for funding, the DASA reserves the right to undertake due diligence checks including the clearance of proposed employees. Please note that this process will take as long as necessary and could take up to 6 weeks in some cases for non-UK nationals.
You must identify any ethical / legal / regulatory factorswithin your proposal and how the associated risks will be managed, including break points in the project if approvals are not received.
MODREC approvals can take up to 5 months therefore you should plan your work programme accordingly. If you are unsure if your proposal will need to apply for MODREC approval, then please refer to the MODREC Guidance for Suppliers or contact your Innovation Partner for further guidance.

Requirements for access to Government Furnished Assets (GFA), for example, information, equipment, materials and facilities, may be included in your proposal. DASA cannot guarantee that GFA will be available. If you apply for GFA, you should include an alternative plan in case it is not available.

Failure to provide any of the above listed will automatically render your proposal non-compliant.

9.3 Export control for overseas partners

All relevant export control regulations will apply if a company ultimately wants to sell a developed solution to a foreign entity. All innovators must ensure that they can obtain, if required, the necessary export licences for their proposals and developments, such that they can be supplied to the UK and USA. If you cannot confirm that you can gain the requisite licences, your proposal will be sifted out of the competition.
Additionally, if we believe that you will not be able to obtain export clearance, additional checks may be conducted, which may also result in your proposal being sifted out of the competition.

9.4 Cyber risk assessment

Supplier Assurance Questionnaire (SAQ)

On receipt of a ‘Fund’ decision, successful suppliers must prove cyber resilience data before the contract is awarded. The start of this process is the submission of a Supplier Assurance Questionnaire (SAQ). The SAQ allows suppliers to demonstrate compliance with the specified risk level and the corresponding profile in Def Stan 05-138, and the level of control required will depend on this risk level.

To expedite the contracting time of successful suppliers we ask all suppliers to complete the SAQ before they submit their proposal. The SAQ can be completed here using the DASA Risk Assessment RAR-397424311 and answer questions for risk level “very low”. In the form, for the contract name please use the competition title and for the contract description please use the title of your proposal.

Defence Cyber Protection Partnership

The Defence Cyber Protection Partnership (DCPP) will review your SAQ submission and respond with a reference number within 2 working days. The resulting email response from DCPP should be attached (JPG or PNG format) and included within the DASA submission service portal when the proposal is submitted. You will also be asked to enter your SAQ reference number. Please allow enough time to receive the SAQ reference number prior to competition close at midday on 30 April 2024 (12:00 BST).

If the proposal is being funded, the SAQ will be evaluated against the CRA for the competition, and it will be put it into one of the following categories:

1. compliant – no further action
2. not compliant – if successful in competition and being funded, the innovator will be required to complete a Cyber Implementation Plan (CIP) before the contract is placed, which will need to be reviewed and agreed with the relevant project manager

Innovators can enter a proposal without all controls in place, but are expected to have all the cyber protection measures necessary to fulfil the requirements of the contract in place at the time of contract award, or have an agreed Cyber Implementation Plan (CIP).

The CIP provides evidence as to how and when potential innovators will achieve compliance. Provided the measures proposed in the Cyber Implementation Plan do not pose an unacceptable risk to the MOD, a submission with a Cyber Implementation Plan will be considered alongside those who can achieve the controls.

A final check will be made to ensure cyber resilience before the contract is placed. Commercial staff cannot progress without it. This process does not replace any contract specific security requirements.

Additional information about cyber security can be found at: DCPP: Cyber Security Model industry buyer and supplier guide.

9.5 Public facing information

When submitting your proposal, you will be required to include a title and a short abstract. The title and abstract you provide will be used by DASA, and other UK and USA government departments, to describe your project and its intended outcomes and benefits. They may be included at DASA events in relation to this competition and in documentation such as brochures. The proposal title will be published in the DASA transparency data on GOV.UK, along with your company name, the amount of funding, and the start and end dates of your contract. As this information can be shared, it should not contain information that may compromise Intellectual property or be above UK OFFICIAL security classification.

9.6 How your proposal will be assessed

At Stage 1, all proposals will be checked for compliance with the competition document and may be rejected before full assessment if they do not comply. Only those proposals that demonstrate compliance against the competition scope and DASA mandatory criteria will be taken forward to full assessment.

Mandatory Criteria
The proposal outlines how it meets the scope of the competition, innovation meets TRL6 by end of project.	Within scope (Pass) / Out of scope (Fail)
The proposal fully explains in all three sections of the DASA submission service how it meets the DASA criteria.	Pass / Fail
The proposal clearly details a financial plan, a project plan and a resourcing plan to complete the work proposed.	Pass / Fail
The proposal clearly details a test and evaluation plan including final report.	Pass / Fail
The proposal identifies the need (or not) for MODREC approval.	Pass / Fail
The proposal identifies any GFA required for the SPAA challenge, or an alternative if GFA is not available.	Pass / Fail
Maximum value of proposal is £1 million (excluding VAT).	Pass / Fail
The proposal demonstrates how all research and development activities / services (including delivery of the final report) will be completed within 24 months from award of contract (or less).	Pass / Fail
The bidder has obtained the authority to provide unqualified acceptance of the terms and conditions of the Contract.	Pass / Fail

Proposals that pass Stage 1 will then be assessed against the standard DASA assessment criteria (Desirability, Feasibility and Viability) by subject matter experts from the MOD (including Dstl), other government departments, US DOD and the front-line military commands. You will not have the opportunity to view or comment on assessors’ recommendations.

DASA reserves the right to disclose on a confidential basis any information it receives from innovators during the procurement process, which includes the full proposal, to any third party engaged by DASA for the specific purpose of evaluating or assisting DASA in the evaluation of your proposal. In providing such information you consent to such disclosure. Appropriate confidentiality agreements will be put in place.

Further guidance on how your proposal is assessed is available on the DASA website

After assessment, proposals will be discussed internally at a Decision Conference where, based on the assessments, budget and wider strategic considerations, a decision will be made on the proposals that are recommended for funding.

Innovators are not permitted to attend the Decision Conference.

Proposals that are unsuccessful will receive brief feedback after the Decision Conference.

9.7 Things you should know about DASA contracts: DASA terms and conditions

Please read the DASA terms and conditions which contain important information for innovators. For this competition we will be using the Innovation Standard Contract (ISC), links to the contract: Terms and Conditions. We will require unqualified acceptance of the terms and conditions; if applicable, please ensure your commercial department has provided their acceptance.

More information on DEFCON 705 can be found by registering on the Knowledge in Defence site.

Funded projects will be allocated a Project Manager (to run the project) and a Technical Partner from the UK. In addition, the DASA team will work with you to support delivery and exploitation including, when appropriate, introductions to end-users and business support to help develop their business.

DASA will also request information from suppliers after completion of the projects for business metric purposes.

We will use deliverables from DASA contracts in accordance with our rights detailed in the contract terms and conditions.

For this competition, £1 million is currently available to fund proposals. Where a proposal meets the fundable requirements for a competition, but is not funded, DASA will continue to seek funding from partners across government and shall consider your proposal fundable for 12 months from the date of the decision release. We will share the abstract and title of your proposal with any other UK government departments that may express an interest in funding the proposal through DASA, in accordance with the competition document. If a budget holder within the MOD wishes to read the full proposal to decide if they will fund it, we will share it with them under these circumstances. If it is within 60 days of the original NOT FUNDED decision release date, we will share the full proposal with them without seeking your permission. If it is over 60 days since the original NOT FUNDED decision we will seek your permission before sharing the full proposal with them.

For other potential funders, we will seek your permission before sharing the full proposal regardless of the number of days since the original NOT FUNDED decision release.

In the event that funding becomes available, DASA may ask whether you would still be prepared to undertake the work outlined in your proposal under the same terms. Your official DASA feedback will indicate if your proposal was deemed fundable, but not awarded funding at the time.

10. Key competition dates

Competition Launch	5 March 2024
Dial-in	19 March 2024
Pre bookable 1-1 telecom sessions	26 March 2024
Competition closes	12:00 hrs (BST) 30 April 2024
Feedback release	5 July 2024
Contracting	July 2024 for a maximum of 24 months

10.1 Help: Contact the DASA Help Centre

Competition queries including on process, application, commercial, technical and intellectual property aspects should be sent to the DASA Help Centre at accelerator@dstl.gov.uk, quoting the competition title. If you wish receive future updates on this competition, please email the DASA Help Centre.

While all reasonable efforts will be made to answer queries, DASA reserves the right to impose management controls if volumes of queries restrict fair access of information to all potential innovators.