Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) Open Call for Innovation
The Open Call is looking for innovative ideas to improve the defence and security of the UK. Your idea could be a concept, product or service, at various levels of maturity.
Documents
Details
The only way to submit a proposal to the Defence and Security Accelerator is online via our submission service. To access DASA’s services and apply for funding, you must have an account. We recommend you use a Google Chrome browser when accessing the Enterprise Collaboration Service.
For more information on the Open Call and how to apply for funding, please read the Competition Document: Open Call for Innovation above.
For more information on the Open Call innovation focus areas, please read the Open Call Innovation Focus Areas document above.
Updates to this page
Published 21 May 2018Last updated 19 November 2024 + show all updates
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IFA042 – Unlocking the true potential of Test and Evaluation for Defence: updated with note on the upcoming pause to the IFA, after the close of Cycle 4. Competition Document - Open Call for Innovation: updated the Open Call schedule with upcoming cycle dates and removed past dates. Statement regarding Security Rapid Impact re-opening has been updated. References to Defence Rapid Impact being closed have been removed. Open Call Innovation Focus Areas front page: updated with note on the upcoming pause to the IFA, after the close of Cycle 4.
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The cycles for which IFA042 will be open for, has been updated
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Removed Defence rapid impact on pause messaging
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Open Call Innovation Focus Areas - IFA041 - Revolutionizing Biosensing: Instant Detection within Aerosol Collector Substrates has been moved to Past Innovation Focus Areas.
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Competition Document: Open Call for Innovation amended to reflect Defence Rapid Impact will not be opening for FY24/25 Cycle 2. Also Section 2, What are we looking for? Reference to three sections amended to 2. IFA042 updated to state it will remain open for submissions until at least FY24/25 Cycle 2.
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Removed wording around DASA transparency Data. Also removed from editable PDF
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IFA042 – Unlocking the true potential of Test and Evaluation for Defence - HTML attachment has been updated to include links back to the Open Call Competition Document that includes Cycle dates relevant to the IFA.
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New IFA added - (IFA042) Unlocking the true potential of Test and Evaluation for Defence
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Updated link to offline proposal template
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Uploaded a new version of the 'Open call generic proposal template'. The changes are: - Removed the Security Open Call Questions - Removed references to Excel files in preparation for their expected removal from the eligible file options
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Updated link to Security Rapid Impact section
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Uploaded a HTML version of the Security Rapid Open Call document. Removed the document version, and updated the link within the Open Call for Innovation document.
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Cycle updates, and Important update for Security Rapid Open Call. ARCHIVE - Security Rapid Open Call Competition Document - file attachment added. Open Call Innovation Focus Areas updated to reflect: IFA035 - Making Science Fiction a Reality: Future Directed Energy Weapons pausing until further notice IFA041 – Revolutionizing Biosensing: Instant Detection within Aerosol Collector Substrates Closing. IFA041 – Revolutionizing Biosensing: Instant Detection within Aerosol Collector Substrates Attachment updated to state IFA is closed. IFA035 - Making Science Fiction a Reality: Future Directed Energy Weapons Attachment updated to state IFA is paused.
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Updated funding guidance for Defence Rapid Open Call New FY24/25 Cycle Dates for Open Call have been added
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Open Call Innovation Focus Areas updated - to remove IFA040 A Bridge To Fall as this has closed permanently. IFA035 will pause from close of FY23/24 Cycle 5 (6th March 2024) until further notice. IFA035 Making Science Fiction a Reality: Future Directed Energy Weapons - HTML attachment - note added to advise IFA will pause from close of Cycle 5 onwards until further notice. IFA040 A Bridge To Fall HTML attachment deleted and moved to Past Innovation Focus Areas.
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Updated Public facing information and Competition process and assessment sections to include the sharing of PVPS as well as the abstract and title
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IFA041 updated to state it will close after FY23/24 cycle 5
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Competition Document: Open Call for Innovation - Statement relating to sharing of proposals at Section 7. Competition process and assessment updated. Open Call Innovation Focus Areas updated to remove IFA039 and update IFA041 with statement regarding being open for its second cycle. IFA040 A Bridge to Fall - Statement added regarding this IFA currently being closed. IFA039 - AI for Defence Document deleted as IFA is closed and will not re-open.
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Open Call generic proposal template has been updated with instruction on page 20 relating to profit percentage box being visible and pages 27 and 28 added referencing Security Rapid Impact additional questions.
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IFA039 added to the Open Call Innovation Focus Areas page for visibility, with clarification that the IFA is now closed. Attachment for IFA039 added to the Open Call for Innovation page.
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Upload a new version of 'Open call generic proposal template', which includes formatting changes to make it more accessible.
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1. Uploaded a generic copy of the open call submission portal form 2. Added new IFA - IFA041 – Revolutionizing Biosensing: Instant Detection within Aerosol Collector Substrates 3. Updated IFA035 - It has been re-opened in Cycle 4 4. Reopen of the Security Open Call
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IFA038 Advanced Materials for Defence has been removed from current Innovation Focus Areas. IFA038 Advanced Materials for Defence Attachment deleted.
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Minor updates to text for IFA035 ahead of it reopening in the next Cycle. Some dates for FY23/24 Cycle 4 have been amended.
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Added the following copy to IFA035 - Making Science Fiction a Reality: Future Directed Energy Weapons This IFA will reopen for submission of proposals from the 05 September 2023 (FY23/24 Cycle 4). Please note there may be updates to the competition scope when compared to that stipulated in previous cycles .
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IFA039 has been updated to reflect that cycle 3 will be the final cycle - end date 5 September. References to other AI DASA competitions have been updated, to reflect which competitions are currently open.
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The Open Call competition document has been updated. The following competitions are now closed; Security Rapid Impact Open Call, IFA036 Beyond Line of Sight Communications and IFA040 A Bridge to Fall.
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IFA036 - Beyond Line of Sight update. The IFA will be closed after Cycle 2.
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Further detail has been added about the Security Open Call funding.
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Section 8.2 2023/2024 Dates - amended from 'Decision date' and 'Feedback released' to 'Decision released by' and 'Feedback released by'
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IFA038 Advanced Materials For Defence is now not re-opening for Cycle 3 and will remain closed until further notice. Open Call for Innovation 'Decision date' and 'Feedback released' now stated as 'Decision released by' and 'Feedback released by'
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With the opening of Cycle 2 the following changes have been made: Open Call Innovation Focus Areas - HTML attachment IFA040 - A Bridge to Fall - Updated to reflect the IFA will pause after Cycle 2 until further notice. IFA039 - AI For Defence - Updated to reflect IFA is open for Cycle 2. IFA038 - Advanced Material For Defence - Updated to reflect this IFA has now paused for Cycle 2 and expected to resume for Cycle 3 with revised requirements. IFA035 - Making Science Fiction a Reality: Future Directed Energy Weapons - Updated to reflect this has now paused until further notice. IFA034 - Countering IEDs by Novel Technology and Techniques - removed from list of current IFAs. IFA040 - A Bridge To Fall - HTML attachment Requirement for Proposals submitted to IFA040 must now complete within 5 months. IFA040 will pause until further notice from the end of this cycle. IFA039 - AI For Defence - HTML attachment Scope updated to reflect current DASA competitions with an AI theme to ensure proposals are submitted to the most appropriate competition.
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Innovation Focus Area IFA038 Advanced Materials for Defence will pause from close of FY23/24 Cycle 1. No submissions will be possible during FY23/24 Cycle 2.
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Removed the warnings regarding the temporary closure of the submission service Removed the unlocked offline proposal template document
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Uploaded new versions of the unlocked proposal template. The text files have been replaced with a single Excel table for ease of use when entering text.
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1. Attached the unlocked proposal template form 2. Removed the locked proposal template form 3. Updated pages with the extention date
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Updated submission service reopening date, now 29th March.
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Link to Application Forms included against Open Call Competition Document and all Innovation Focus Areas.
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Updates to notification regarding system upgrade - now re-opening 16th March 2023. IFA039 attachment updated with full requirement. Innovation Focus Areas attachment updated with notice of pause to IFA035. Open Call Defence Rapid Impact, Security Rapid Impact and Innovation Focus Areas Locked Application Form PDFs added to allow offline creation of proposals.
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IFA034 has been removed from this page as it will no longer re-open.
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Documents updated to reflect three submission areas of Open Call; Defence Open Call, Security Open Call and Innovation Focus Areas. Innovation Focus Areas (IFAs) added as individual attachments.
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DASA's Security open call competition has updated the future cycle dates
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IFA 1.2 Advanced Materials for Defence - Updated the clarification table, added an extra row for Air.
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IFA038 Advanced Materials for Defence - Added, this IFA has opened. IFA033 Human Augmentation - Removed, this IFA has closed. IFA034 Countering IEDs by Novel Technology and Techniques has been paused, notes Added to this IFA to reflect submissions cannot currently be made. 2022/2023 Past Cycle Dates Removed, 2023/2024 Cycle Dates Added.
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Added a notification that IFA034 will be paused upon completion of the current cycle.
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The security open call competition document has been updated to provide guidance for proposals submitted into cycle 4, which now have a suggested duration of 9 months.
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Closing date for Human Augmentation IFA now set as 23 November 2022
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Launch of IFA 035 Making Science Fiction a Reality: Future Directed Energy Weapons Launch of IFA 036 Beyond Line of Sight Communications Closing of: Double Act: National Security Technologies (IFA032) Simulating Future Battlespace Complexity (IFA024) Defence People – Skills, Knowledge and Experience (IFA023) Operate and Deliver Effects in Contested Domains (IFA022) Delivering Agile Command and Control (IFA021) Integrate Information and Physical Activity Across all Domains (IFA020) Announcing closing date for Human Augmentation IFA033 for 23 November 2022
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Double Act: National Security Technologies (IFA032) is closing 20th September
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The innovation focus areas webpage has been updated to outline that the following IFAs are likely to be suspended at end of this call (20 September 2022): • Simulating Future Battlespace Complexity (IFA024) • Defence People – Skills, Knowledge and Experience (IFA023) • Operate and Deliver Effects in Contested Domains (IFA022) • Delivering Agile Command and Control (IFA021) • Integrate Information and Physical Activity Across all Domains (IFA020)
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An additional bullet point added to the innovation outline section, to describe what innovation outlines are used for.
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Closing date for Open Call Cycle 3 has changed from 14 September 2022 to 20 September 2022 Closing date for Double Act: National Security Technologies (IFA032) is now 20 September 2022
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The Security Open Call competition document has been updated with guidance for the proposal duration advised for each open call cycle.
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Update of Open Call Cycle Dates and IFA031 removed
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Double Act: National Security Technologies IFA has been updated to clarify that an innovation outline is required prior to submission of a full proposal.
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Updated the decision and feedback release dates for Cycle 5 to 6 and 13 June.
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New IFA (IFA034 - Countering IEDs by Novel Technology and Techniques) launched.
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New Innovation Focus Area added - Human Augmentation
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A new Innovation Focus Area has launched - Double Act: National Security Technologies
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Included a closing date for IFA031 Next Generation Wearable Technology
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Removed MSIA IFA 030
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Removed ARCD from the IFA list as it is now closed. Added the closure date for MSIA. 27 Apr 22.
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Open Call cycle dates updated, with a footnote added to 2022/23 Cycle 1
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Open Call competition dates added for 2022/ 2023
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Changes to the Open Call Innovation Focus Areas document: Removed RCAS. On ARCD added ‘This IFA is open for submissions until 02 March 2022 when it will close.’ Added: Open Call Cycle 5 competition category ‘Emerging Innovations’ is currently not available for submission however we are accepting submissions for Security and Defence Rapid Impact and any Innovation Focus Area.
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Added closure date for the RCAS IFA (05 January 2022) to the Open Call Innovation Focus Areas document.
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On the Open Call Innovation Focus Areas page, the following updates were made: Added closure date for IFA029 Reducing the Cyber Attack Surface (RCAS): 5 January 2022. Added closure date for IFA028 Autonomous Resilient Cyber Defence (ARCD) - Intelligent Agents: 2 March 2022. For IFA028 Autonomous Resilient Cyber Defence (ARCD) - Intelligent Agents, added information for suppliers to submit a Innovation Outline prior to their full submission.
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Added New Attachment - Security Open Call, Rapid Impact: Webinar Q&A
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Added Open Call Security Rapid Impact Webinar to Section 5.
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IFA031 - Wearable Tech IFA has been added to the Open Call IFA page
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Added new IFA030 Military Information Systems Assurance (MISA). Added further direction on what should be included in a IFA proposal.
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Addition of 2 new IFAs - Autonomous Resilient Cyber Defence (ARCD) Intelligent Agents - Reducing the Cyber Attack Surface (RCAS)
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FY20/21 Cycle 5 and Cycle 6 Decision and Feedback dates have been removed.
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Security exploitation section added
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Updated the wording to show that Emerging Innovations proposals will be contracted under the Innovation Standard Contract.
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New Security Rapid Impact competition open
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IFA026 - Armoured Fighting Vehicle Short Gap Crossing Capability has now closed. Have now removed the description of IFA026 from the Innovation Focus Area document.
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Details that funded Suppliers must submit a Supplier Assurance Questionnaire (SAQ)
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- IFA025 - Reducing Reliance on Global Navigation Satellite Systems Quantum Augmented Position, Navigation and Timing Sensing Capability, now closed and specific wording removed. - Emerging Innovations is now open for submissions removed note that stated it was closed.
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Closing date for IFA026 - Armoured Fighting Vehicle Short Gap Crossing Capability updated to 2nd June 2021. Link to details of past innovation focus areas included on IFA webpage.
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Open Call dates for FY2021/2022 were added to the Open Call for Innovation Competition document.
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IFA026 Armoured Fighting Vehicle Short Gap Crossing Capability - new Innovation Focus Area added.
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Closing date added to IFA025 description. IFA025 will be closing at the end of cycle 6 - 31st March 2021
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Updated the wording for IFA025 to explicitly state that suppliers should use engineering tools provided.
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Added details explaining Emerging Innovations is currently not available for submissions, to the Open Call Competition Document and IFA webpage. Removed IFA018 Reduced-Burden Area Biosurveillance wording - IFA now closed.
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- Added details of IFA025 - Reducing Reliance on Global Navigation Satellite Systems Quantum Augmented Position, Navigation and Timing Sensing Capability to IFA webpage - Added The ESL and SWaP Matrix attachment
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- Details of IFA025 - Quantum Augmented Position, Navigation and Timing Sensing Capability added to Innovation Focus Area webpage. - ESL and SWaP Matrix tool added
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IFA023 wording updated
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Closing date for IFA018 added. IFA013 Text removed. FY19/20 Open Call Cycle dates removed.
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IFA013 now shows 1st October close date
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Five new innovation focus areas added to the Open Call for Innovation
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aviation security innovation focus areas closing 28 May
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Open Call for Innovation - COVID-19 Fast Track now added
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Removal of Regenerative Medicine IFA. Edits to Bank of England IFA wording. Edit to rapid sanitising technology IFA wording
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additional links and information added to IFA019 COVID-19: Rapid Sanitising Technology to help prospective bidders including timescales and current decontamination guidance
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New Innovation Focus Area: COVID-19: Rapid Sanitising Technology - closing 1st April
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Additional Open Call cycle dates added for 2020/2021
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regenerative Medicine IFA closing date added.
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new innovation focus areas - Reduced-Burden Area Biosurveillance, Detecting firearms and ammunition through scent, Next generation aviation security
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Removed IFA001, IFA003, IFA014 and IFA015
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Added a close date to IFA014 and IFA015 - midday on 30 January 2020
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Removed IFA008 and added close dates to IFA001 and IFA003
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Removal of 2018/2019 dates, addition of cycle 6 dates and amendment to feedback release dates. Note added to IFA008 - removal of IFA due on 12 Dec 19
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New innovation focus area added - IFA013 Innovative security features for bank notes
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IFA data added and TRL altered.
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IFA011 - advancing less lethal weapons innovation focus area added
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New IFAs published and removal date added (2 October 2019) to IFA002 and IFA009
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Due to technical issues the decision and feedback dates have been changed for Cycle 1
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Addition of new Innovation Focus Area for regenerative medicine - funding available.
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Addition of new Innovation Focus Area - Delivering an open data sharing solution - Funding available
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update on Innovation Outline, and removal of Outline Proposals
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New IFA - Developing novel radar concepts and technology
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Rapid Impact funding limits have been changed. Guidance now reads: No funding limit is specified, however we would typically expect to fund bids between £100K - £350K. Proposals that demonstrate value for money or present a collaborative funding approach will be viewed favourably.
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Amalgamation of emerging innovation requirements for security and defence in to 'overall requirement' section.
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Removal of the Defence Innovation Focus Areas
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Change to cycle 6 closing date.
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Open Call dates for year 2019 - 2020 added
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Added two new innovation areas for defence.
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Open Call Cycle 3 will now close on 4 September 2018.
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Please note we have an updated message regarding proposals on our old submissions service, which will closing on the 31 August 2018.
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We have added a new document to publicise innovation focus areas of interest to some of our defence and security customers.
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We have updated the decision release and feedback release dates for some of our DASA Open Call cycles.
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We recommend bidders use a Google Chrome browser for setting up their new submission service accounts and for submitting proposals.
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We have redesigned the Open Call pages, to make things clearer. Many thanks The Defence and Security Accelerator Team
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Please note we are now aiming for Open Call Cycle 3 to be available from midday on Monday 02 July 2018. Many thanks The DASA team
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Please note there is a new notification on the delay to the next Open Call cycle launch, with some recommendations on what to do next.
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We are making improvements to the DASA Submission Service, which means we need to delay the launch of Open Call Cycle 3. Open Call Cycle 3 will be available from midday on Monday 11 June 2018. Because we are moving to a new system, we recommend you do not commence drafting proposals in the current Submission Service, but prepare them off line so they can be uploaded when Cycle 3 opens on our new system.
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First published.