Furthering Innovation - DTEP funding boosts two more innovative SMEs
DASA announces funding for two further SMEs to develop cutting-edge projects with higher-tier partners through the Defence Technology Exploitation Programme.
- The newly announced small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) are Kognitiv Spark and NquiringMinds
- Both SMEs will work with larger firm company sponsors that already have experience of working with defence to develop innovative new solutions
- The £16m Defence Technology Exploitation Programme (DTEP) aims to boost defence innovation while supporting the technology supply chain
Two further innovative SMEs have received funding through DTEP. The companies, Kognitiv Spark and NquiringMinds will each receive a government grant, worth 50 per cent of the project value. The SMEs will partner with a larger supplier with the aim of developing innovative new solutions that meet defence challenges.
Kognitiv Spark is deploying a Mixed Reality (MR) platform as a service on a defence network, while NquiringMinds is developing an advanced data analytics and multi-source information processing system for the marine domain.
DTEP, which seeks to improve the competitiveness of the UK Defence supply chain, is sponsored by the MOD’s Directorate of Industrial Strategy and Exports (DISE) and delivered through the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), Innovate UK, and ADS.
An important element of DTEP is collaboration between an SME supplier and a higher-tier partner that already has experience of working with defence. The sponsoring higher-tier partner will contribute time, effort and resources to work with the SMEs in these collaborative innovation projects.
Anita Friend, Head of DASA, said:
It is a great pleasure to see two further SMEs receive DTEP funding as they continue their journey in supporting the UK defence supply chain, with the help of their higher-tier business partners.
Through this exciting and important programme, their projects will develop technologically advanced innovative solutions that ensure our future defence and security operations continue to be successful.
Congratulations to the successful SMEs:
Kognitiv Spark is deploying a Mixed Reality (MR) platform as a service on a defence network, initially for Equipment Support (ES) and Medical Support (MS) uses. MR is the merging of real-world and computer-generated environments, allowing real-time access to support and training.
This initiative will enable the use of MR on defence networks, empowering personnel with digital assets backed by specialist guidance, significantly enhancing operational tempo. The project is supported by Serco, which has been collaborating with Kognitiv Spark to identify use-cases and impact.
Duncan McSporran, a British veteran and co-founder at Kognitiv Spark, said:
As a team, we are acutely aware of the unique demands faced by servicemen and women to give life-saving support to another soldier, or bring mission-critical equipment back to full serviceability. Our software has had a profound impact on them, as it creates a knowledge and support advantage at the Defence Edge.
NquiringMinds is working with its higher-tier sponsor, BAE Systems, to develop advanced analytics for BAE Systems’ combat system in the marine domain to augment the human decision process when there is a large amount of incoming information to process. This information comes from multiple sources, or agents, including humans, computing devices and servers. The sources of the information include radar, satellite data and the Automatic Identification System (AIS) - the coastal tracking system used on ships.
NquiringMinds uses machine learning and algorithms originally developed for a DASA cybersecurity project to combine data from many sources – agents – to increase automation and reduce the burden on personnel. The multi-agent analytics system makes recommendations on the trustworthiness of incoming data, which it can dynamically adjust based on new information received.
Dr Nicholas Allott, CEO of NquiringMinds, said:
Making optimal decisions, when facts change and trust relationships are in constant flux, is incredibly difficult. But this complexity is what NquiringMinds platform has been designed to solve. We look forward to the opportunity to demonstrate this capability in these mission critical scenarios.
The £16 million DTEP initiative aims to inspire companies to win new business, develop industrial capabilities and provide new and cutting-edge answers to defence problems. The two newly-funded SMEs will be followed by more projects selected through further DTEP Cycles during 2023-24.
DTEP offers grant funding of up to 50 per cent of total project expenditure for projects up to 18 months in duration – up to a £500,000 grant for a project up to £1 million.
Applications to DTEP can be made by UK-based SMEs looking to form a collaboration with a UK-based higher-tier supplier to help integrate and take the novel solution to market. The key areas of interest for proposals are set out in detail on the DTEP portal and are aligned with the recently published Defence Capability Framework. DTEP guidance can be accessed here.
For further background see the articles DASA launches DTEP and £670k shared by two innovators in first round of DTEP funding.