Introduction from our Managing Director, Phil Williams

We really enjoyed meeting so many of you at Defence Information 2022 last month. After the pandemic, it was great to be anywhere! I was grateful to Charlie Forte for opening the conference by setting the scene with his two leads for Data and Integration, Caroline Bellamy and Claire Fry. Also, we’re grateful to our sponsors who filled the sports hall with their stands and helped create the collaborative atmosphere we were looking for. Well done everyone and well done to the home team!

As I mentioned last month, Ukraine looms large and I gave a talk in Seattle alongside our USA Trade Association counterparts, highlighting the importance of “logistics”. We have seen the images of what happens to an army when you get this element of your strategy wrong. As US General Omar Bradley famously said: “Amateurs talk strategy. Professionals talk logistics.”

With a Council meeting this week to round off June and many other events on the programme, I wish you a productive end of term and I hope you are all able to finally take those holidays we have been looking forward to for some time.

Support to Ukraine Innovation Fund – Update

Last month Defence Ministers launched a £25 million campaign fund for the design and delivery of equipment to Ukraine across the coming months. On 22 June, the Defence Secretary praised industry leaders for their offers of help. Read more here.

 

Future events

(check out the What’s On section of the website for the up-to-date list of events and links to register)

Operational infrastructure and the drive for self-sustainment conference – 26-27 September 2022 – Royal Engineers Museum, Chatham

The Institute of Royal Engineers and Team Defence Information are pleased to announce this conference. The event will take place over the 26-27 September at the RE Museum Chatham, with a light buffet and drinks for networking on the evening of the 26 September.

The conference seeks to analyse and address solutions to adapt and mitigate operational infrastructure impacts in deployed environments, focused on creating a self-sustained defence capability, providing operational freedoms and prolonged endurance enabled by a sustainable supply chain. We hope to bring innovators, designers, technologists, academics, and environmentalists from across all sectors together with defence personnel to explore solutions that can be applied today and drive the required change across defence. For more information email Dr Andie Mitchell-Johnson.

 

 

Date for your diary – Support Chain Seminar – 18-19 January 2023

 

 

• Following the Market awareness event for provision of online standards, databases and publications, the MOD is inviting all interested suppliers to partake in a Request for Information. Please respond by 18.00, 6 July 2022. Questions and instructions can be found here.  
• The Supportability Modelling and Analysis Working Group – 12 July 2022 10.00-15.00
• Trading Forum meeting – 12 July 11.00 – For more information, contact Andy Whatman.
• Defence Asset Management (DAM) CoP Task 1 Meeting – 13 July 2022 13.30-15.30
• Defence Asset Management CoP – 14 July 2022 14.00-16.00 – Following the meeting focused on Equipment Assets, this next meeting of the Defence Asset Management Community of Practice will be held at the Naval Base in Portsmouth and will focus on Infrastructure Assets.There is a limited number of spaces available for attending in person for this event with priority given to our guest speakers and co-chairs. So, please, ensure that you register early. To see the agenda and to register, click here.
• Information Security Forum (ISF) – 14 July 10.00-13.00 – As part of the meeting, the Secure by Design (SbD) team will present to the members. If there are any questions for the SbD team you would like answered, please email them to Andy Corbett before 7 July, so that the SbD team can consolidate and answer as many points as possible.
• Industry Customers Engagement Forum (ICEF) – 18 July 2022 13.00-15.00 – For further information, please contact Tony Butler.
• TD-Info Executive Team Meeting – 27 July 2022 10.45-13.00

In other News…

Other Nations Cyber Security Requirements – Industry Factfinder

UK MOD is conscious that other nations are seeking to place Cyber Security Requirements on the UK Defence Supply Base (DSB) and have already published an interim position on this (ISN 2021/03). In order to inform a variety of ongoing Government to Government discussions over Reciprocity and Mutual Recognition on DSB Cyber Security, which from a UK MOD perspective cuts across both Designated Security Authority (DSA) and Defence Cyber Protection Partnership (DCPP) remits, a Workshop under Chatham House Rules is being convened to allow UK Defence Industry to explain their concerns and views to MOD DSA / DCPP. This workshop is being hosted courtesy of Team Defence Information, but is open to appropriate representation from other Industry organisations. Microsoft Teams details will be available to all those who register on our website. If you have views you wish to share on this topic, please email Andy Corbett.

 

Team Defence 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). OIL in summary – Joint Strategy: Coherent, thought collaboration focal point for Industry engagement, consistent messaging, and communication across industry sectors About:Command focused and sponsored problems/opportunities that are outcome based to enable exploitation and acquisition of products, upgrades, and services. How? By the exploitation and utilization of the most appropriate existing Working Group or community Collaborating with: MOD problem owners and funders, Defence Primes and OEMs, Established tier suppliers, Solution architects and systems integrators, other sector supply chain, SMEs. Other pending activities also to be on everyone’s radar…

• Investigation into a Cloud based 3-D Printing Depository
• Investigation into ‘Smart’ Asset Tracking
• Formation of an Operational Energy Centre of Excellence
• Hydrogen Network Event– ‘Watch this space’, details, timings and location of this face-to-face event being developed  

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.

 

Team Defence Information (TD-Info) – Lunch and Learn for TD-Info members

The TD-Info Lunch & Learn is a 30-minute Microsoft Teams interactive session with a TD-Info membership relations manager to provide an overview of what TD-Info is, what the organisation does and how to get the most from being a member. The session is available to both existing and potential TDI-Info members.

In the session you’ll learn:

• What TD-Info is and how it operates
• How to get the most from the TD-Info website and its many resources
• How to navigate the various communities of practice, working groups and projects
• How to register for the website and get involved in activities

If you are interested in a TD-Info Lunch and Learn session, please contact Julian Dayment or Andy Whatman.

 

Multi-Domain Integration (MDI) Update

Successes:

• Excellent MDI focus and commitment at ACSC (Advanced Command Staff College), DI 2022 and AFCEA (previously known as Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association)
• Positive TD-Info mentoring support and red teaming of ACSC
• Excellent Learning from Experience Event from USAF and US Army.
• Positive progress on Enterprise 4.0 and incremental approach to MDI delivery, plus proposal of low – medium vignette
• Positive contribution to StratCom Enterprise Architecture and Integration Design Authority Work, plus StratCom/ DE&S Integration Diagnostic tool / assessment

Priorities

• Mid Term report, bring Phase 3a EI&DA to a closure.
• MDI by Design deep dive event
• Clarity and agreement of leadership with MOD and Industry
• Focus of working group and subgroup through remainder of 2022 Phase 3b EI&DA plan

For more information about MDI, contact Steve Worsnip.

Recent events

Defence Information 2022 (DI22) 8-9 June 2022

Thank you for attending DI22 last month whether as attendees, speakers, sponsors or exhibitors. Registered delegates can rewatch the presentations – login to the DI22 Event Platform on Kahootz.

Congratulations to the finalists of the TD-Info Excellence Awards!

This year’s impressive crop of Excellence Awards finalists included: Causalens’ AI optimisation engine; D2iQ’s agile, remote worker’s knowledge-sharing platform; Jet Engineering’s rapidly deployable 5G network; Logiq’s OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE-accredited SME services; and SecureCloud+’s (SC+) cloud-based, S-level, collaborative working environment. As well as providing a snapshot of the best leading-edge capabilities available to 2022’s information warriors, this closest-run competition in years gave the judges the difficult challenge of choosing between disparate hardware, tools, apps and service-based innovations. Ultimately, and after a great deal of deliberation between judges, Jet Engineering’s contribution to the maritime/littoral communications environment was chosen as the winner with, CS+, Causalens and D2iQ edged, by the smallest margins, by Logiq’s assured productivity toolkit. With thanks to judges Simon Foale, Ben Parrish and Nigel Stafford and congratulations to all finalists.

 

Recent publications

• Read the Strategic Command Support Operating Concept Paper here.
• Publication of the MOD Acquisition Pipeline – The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is delighted to announce that it has now published its first Acquisition Pipeline, which is a forward look of potential procurement activity across defence. Another iteration of the MOD Acquisition Pipeline will be published later this year and will be updated every 6-months thereafter. This is the first time MOD has published its Acquisition Pipeline. As such, it will review the number of procurements it is able to share with industry through future updates to the pipeline. This is a step change in transparency, which we envisage will enable suppliers to have more time to plan, innovate and deliver high-quality responses. It also allows newer entrants to the market to participate, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The Acquisition Pipeline can be accessed here.
• Future of UK Defence AI Strategy launched – read it here.
• Defence Science & Technology drive to deliver UK space launch – read more here
• Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) May Extra Newsletter – here.
• DCMS June Newsletter – here.
• Think Before you Link App which was launched in May also has training modules available. Read more here.
• Biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner has issued a letter in relation to use of equipment made by Chinese manufacturers. Read more here.
• VIMA is proud to announce it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by KBR. Read the full press release here.

 

External Events

Defence iQ’s Disruptive Technology for Defence Transformation Conference 27-29 September 2022 – discount for TD-Info Members

TD-Info is pleased to be a media partner for the Disruptive Technology for Defence Transformation Digital Conference. This online event is organised by Defence iQ and is not a TD-Info event. For more information, email Defence iQ. direct your queries to Defence iQ by emailing partner@iqpc.co.uk

TD-Info members can obtain a 15% discount by using the discount code TDINFO15. Register your place here. View the full conference agenda here.