1. Open Call for Innovation general FAQs

Q: Is there any preference for collaborative or solo submissions?

A: There is no particular preference for solo or collaborative submissions. It’s it up to you to resource the project as you see fit, documenting that within the feasibility and viability sections of the application form.

It should be noted that if you are planning on working in collaboration and are successful in your proposal, the contracting will be with a single organisation - the one which submits the proposal.

Q: Will you help me find a collaborating partner for my submission?

A: We cannot specifically recommend any individual organisation to work with on your submission. There are a number of places we would recommend using to help network with others across the sector.

DASA hosts an online networking Collaboration Platform, the Idea Marketplace for UK-registered innovators and organisations to discuss, collaborate and share ideas to meet defence and security challenges.

DASA is also part of the UK wide network of Regional Defence and Security Clusters (RDSCs), designed to improve collaboration and knowledge sharing across all organisations across the UK.

Q: Do we need a security clearance to submit a proposal?

A: No you do not need a security clearance to submit a proposal. We will however ask when submitting your proposal to provide a resourcing plan that identifies, where possible, the nationalities of those proposed research workers that you intend working on the project.

Before we can award a contract, we need each proposed research worker to complete a Form 388 that we will use to perform due diligence.

We also require that you keep your submission at OFFICIAL classification.

Q: Please can you define the TRL levels, as there are often different definitions?

A: Within our Open Call for Innovation competition documents we’ve linked the Technology Readiness Level definitions that we use at DASA, which should give you a clear insight of what to expect across all of our competition.

Q: We have not yet patented our invention and are hesitant to disclose details of how it works. Would the assessors need/want to understand how it works?

A: The assessors, who are subject matter experts from the MOD (including Dstl), Partners Across Government (PAG) and the front-line military commands, need to have sufficient detail about your solution in order to make a fair assessment as to whether to recommend a fund. Without that level of detail, we will not be able to assess your proposal.

All intellectual property rights stay with the innovator. We recommend familiarising yourself with DEFCON 705 and the terms and conditions of the Open Call for Innovation.

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.

Q: Is the Open Call only open to UK companies? Can non-UK registered companies receive funding?

A: The Open Call for Innovation competitions are open to bids from both inside and outside of the UK; these can be from sole traders, registered companies (both small and large), research technology organisations and universities.

Q: Can any profit be included in the project costs?

A: Yes, if you don’t already include a ‘profit’ in your labour rates, you can state the profit percentage that you would like to apply in the relevant section of the finance schedule. Please note that adding in a profit percentage is optional and at your discretion.

Q: How are project costs paid, e.g. are payments made per month / per work package, are expenses reclaimed?

A: Payments are made after completion of deliverables which have an associated payment milestone. You may have up to 6 of these within your project plan and it is up to you how you break the project down into deliverables. You must detail this within our online submission service.  You should ensure the last payment, entitled ‘satisfactory completion of all work under the contract’, shall be at least 20% of the total quoted firm price.

You will not get paid up front, all payments are made in arrears against those stated deliverables.

Your project can be delivered in multiple deliverables, please contact your local innovation partner for guidance.

Q: Is there anything that you will not fund within a proposal?

A: You can only include costs which directly relate to the delivery of the proposal. As part of the assessment, value for money will be taken into consideration. To help with this, prices in your proposal must be supported by a full cost breakdown. Therefore, all financial costs need to be justified to demonstrate why they are good value for money.

Q: We are a UK University, will 100% full economic costs be funded, including overheads and indirect costs? Are there ineligible costs?

A: DASA will fund 100% full economic costs (FEC), whereby university applicants can also include indirect costs (i.e. the contribution towards estate charges and other central university overheads). Ineligible costs will be those that are not involved with directly delivering the project, e.g. attendance at a conference to talk about your project. However, travel to meet the Dstl project team to attend a project meeting or demo event should be costed and included in your finance table DASA will not pay for any costs related to protecting your IP or commercialisation.

Q: Can I add attachments to my proposal?

A: Yes, within the online submission service you have the ability to upload images in either .jpg .jpeg or .png formats against the three assessment criteria; desirability, feasibility and viability.

Please do not provide textual information within attachments, use the function to supplement the information you have submitted within the text boxes in the submission service.

As an example, you should use the attachment functionality to upload  a Gantt chart to support your narrative against the viability section or a schematic diagram to support a narrative within the feasibility section.

You must not use the attachment functionality to upload company PR information (such as presentations, brochures, documents), journal papers or any other documents which contains textual information outside of the word limited input text boxes.

Q: What are the minimum requirements for a proposal into the Open Call to be formally assessed?

A: Your proposal must meet our mandatory pre-sift criteria as stipulated in the individual Open Call for Innovation competition documents.

These will cover aspects such as (but not limited to) high level content against the assessment criteria, key deliverables, competition proposal limits on value, length and idea maturity.

If you are unsure of the scope of your idea against the pre-sift criteria, then it is strongly recommended that you contact your local innovation partner.

Q: We would need to recruit someone to help deliver the project. How do we address this in a proposal?

A: Applicants are welcome to plan in work packages that focus on recruitment or identification of resource.

If you have yet to recruit a particular project role, then you should include the generic job title / job description in place of a named individual within the proposal.

As there is a risk that you may not be able to recruit to the role, then please also include the mitigating actions you will put in place within the Risk Register.

Please ensure you note any maximum project duration stipulated within the competition documents  and consider this accordingly when planning for recruitment.

Please contact your Innovation Partner for a more in-depth discussion about this.

2. Open Call for Innovation Defence Rapid Impact FAQs

Q:How do i know if my idea is relevant to Defence?

A: You should contact your local innovation partner who will be able to discuss your idea in confidence, and advise you on its relevance to the Defence Rapid Impact competition.

They may ask you to submit an innovation outline, used to socialise the idea across the MOD to further explore the relevance of your idea to the competition. Please contact your local innovation partner for guidance.

Q: Do I need a letter of support or a partner from the Ministry of Defence to submit a proposal?

A: You do not need a letter of support or a partner within the MOD to submit a proposal.

If you think your idea is of interest to a specific team, programme, project or individual across the MOD, then include any details of this within the desirability section of your proposal. If you are aware of a demand from an end user across the MOD, then it is important that you articulate this within any submission.

If you are unsure of the relevance of your idea to Defence, then it is strongly recommended that you contact your local innovation partner.

Q: Can I have access to a Defence platform or network to test my idea on?

A: Requirements for access to Government Furnished Assets (GFA), for example information, equipment, materials and facilities, may be included in your proposal.

However, we cannot guarantee that GFA will be available and in many cases, it is not practicable as the need has to be both substantial and pressing.

We require all proposals and subsequent funded projects to be at OFFICIAL classification and to end at TRL6/7. In the vast majority of cases, application to a specific defence platform or network will invalidate either of these requirements.

If you apply for GFA, you should include an alternative plan in case it is not available.