GAN Communications & Netwroks - FAQ
Updated 24 May 2023
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dasa-competition-generation-after-next-communications-networks/gan-communications-netwroks-faq
1. Submitting into DASA
Q. Can overseas companies submit into the competition?
A. Yes – we accept bids from all over the world.
Q. Are collaborations welcome?
A. Yes. When submitting a proposal please ensure one supplier is the principal/lead.
Q. Is there a standard format to submit ideas?
A. There is a template on our online submission service that you should use to apply. Suppliers should be able to submit to the new template easily and efficiently.
2. Project Content
Q. How will DASA GAN Comms and Network overlap or integrate with Dstl Intelligent Ship program?
A. There may be overlap as the team works closely with that programme. If your idea has opportunities to integrate then please do explore and cite that in your proposal. This allows the team to see the utility of the proposal in other places.
It would be preferable if the proposal is aimed more at the Comms and Network side, but if the exploitation overlaps then it is useful if it is outlined. We don’t want to build something that is tuned to a particular algorithm, but if it helps us understand why it is developed, that is broadly helpful to aid understanding.
Q. Can a project that is likely to be over 12 months be submitted as two Phases, encasing both Discovery and Development?
A: You should stick to the 6 month project first. The team designed the phases to align the demo day with the discovery phase so it can link with the launch of the development phase. If we have projects are over 12 months, it would be unfair for other innovators going into the development phase.
Q. How can one best survey the current generation and next generation of defence relevant communications before submitting ideas for the Generation After Next competition?
A. The team would look to the supplier’s understanding and interpretation of what that consists of. If a supplier doesn’t have an understanding of this, consider partnering or on-boarding people to the project that do have an understanding.
The term ‘Generation After Next’ is used frequently around Defence research at the moment. It can be thought of as technologies which are not yet available for Defence to buy off the shelf. Note that this doesn’t necessarily mean that they are far off from being available.
Q. To what extent are the existing Link 16 and Link 22 tactical data systems to be preserved, integrated or mirrored?
A. Link 16 and Link 22 are existing systems and we are not interested in just incremental changes to those systems. However, the fundamental functions those systems offer for fast moving platforms in environments to - more resilience/improved capability - would be of interest.