Notice

Delivering Operational Advantage through Self Suffiency and Operational Energy Innovation:Webinar Clarifications

Updated 21 June 2024

Clarifications from Webinar and Supplier one-to one events

During Webinar and Supplier one-to one events , the following points were raised and clarifications were provided. To ensure transparency for all potential bidders, we are sharing these details here. The clarifications have been categorised by subject.

1. DASA Process

1.1 Organisations

Q) Is the competition open only to UK companies? Can non-UK registered companies receive funding?

A) DASA is open to bids from those outside of the UK.

Q) Are sole traders open to submit into this competition?

A) We accept bids from sole traders and businesses/organisations of any size. We recommend reaching out to your local Innovation Partner who can provide further advice and guidance.  

Q) Are there any benefits for small innovators to work with a collaboration partner or research organisation?

A) You do not need to have a collaboration partner or research organisation as part of your submission. You should describe in your proposal how your organisation will be able to deliver the described outputs. This can include working as a collaboration or by sub-contracting, if necessary. We do accept proposals that are a product of multiple innovators collaborating. Please note, one organisation must be identified as the lead proposer and other organisations collaborating with the lead proposer will be identified as sub-contractors.

Q) Are there any restrictions on the selection of project partners and subcontractors?

A) In general, there are no constraints. However, if you are successful for funding and have partners from high risk countries, it may be flagged by the commercial team for further investigation.  

Q) You state you would enable collaboration between applicants. How do you plan to do this?

A) There is a collaboration survey for this competition where you can state what you can offer to potential collaborators. This mechanism will allow you to reach out to people who have strengths in areas that you do not. There will be other opportunities to collaborate, e.g. at the Spotlight event where you can have conversations with other teams. However, this would be post contract start.

1.2 Submission and assessment

Q) Will DASA provide an offline template that can be used to develop the submission before completing the online template?

A) An offline form for the competition can be found here.

Q) Is it necessary to incorporate the feedback from defense users in the final product proposal?

A) We do not mandate the use of letters of support but if they available, you are welcome to provide them.  

Q) Can I attach videos to my submission?

A) We do not accept video attachments in our submission but supporting diagrams can be used.

Q) This is a very broad competition, how will you prioritise which proposals will be funded?

A) We recognise the breadth of the competition and are engaging with defence colleagues who will assess the proposals, to ensure the right proposals are taken forward. We would like to build engagement with defence from the start. Defence colleagues will also be at the spotlight event. This will allow us to take forward technologies that will be particularly useful to defence.

Q) We have more than one project idea and are interested in submitting multiple proposals. Is this acceptable?

A) You are welcome to submit more than one proposal but you will need to consider that if more than one proposal is funded, we would expect all work to be delivered within the relevant timescales.

Q) What is the marking criteria for and who will be marking?

A) The generic DASA marking criteria can be found on our website on the Assessment process and criteria page, this details what proposals will be assessed on across viability, feasibility and desirability. Assessors from across Dstl and MOD will be assessing the proposals.

Q) If we have submitted our innovation into a previous competition, and it was deemed Fundable Not Funded (FNF), are we able to submit into this competition?  

A) If you’d like to submit into this competition it would need to be a significantly amended version of your previous proposal, tailored specifically to this competition. You should talk to your Innovation Partner who will be able to help tailor the submission to this competition.

Q) If you think a proposal is out of scope but fits other competitions, do you recommend other routes to collaborate with MOD?

A) If your proposal is out of scope, we recommend discussing it with your local Innovation Partner as there may be other current and future competitions that fit your technology. We are open to receiving brief Expressions of Interest which we will use to explore other funding options.

Q) Is there an opportunity for collaboration with Defence e.g. end user product testing/insight?

A) We have military advisors as part of the process and they will be providing insight as required. Attendance at the spotlight and demonstration events will be opportunities to receive further information from these experts

1.3 Commercial

Q) How is Intellectual property handled in this DASA competition?

A) This competition (as are most DASA competitions) are contracted under DEFCON 705 which means the innovator retains ownership of intellectual property. We recommend looking at the DASA website for more information or contacting your local Innovation Partner.

Q) Is any cost share required?

A) 100% of costs are paid for but the proposal must show value for money. Suppliers can part subsidise the work but consideration should be given to how the project may be impacted should additional funding not be made available.

Q) How do we detail costs in the submission if the total funds required is more than the maximum allowance for a bid?

A) You are able to line item the costs in the submission process, as long as the total does not exceed the maximum of £500,000 per proposal you will be in scope. You can declare other sources of funding in the body of the proposal; but do not list it as a finance item. We want to see what we are paying for.

Q) Are we able to get funding early in the project to buy capital items before we have any substantial results to deliver?

A) Yes, funding can be provided early within the project timescales for the purchasing of equipment and materials as long as evidence can be provided. These costs must be evidenced with either receipts or invoices for the necessary items, before payment can be released.

Please also note that per the terms and conditions published alongside the competition document under section 22 the following applies to the purchase of equipment.

“Contractor Acquired Material

Upon purchase, legal title in any items costing £10,000 or more and with an economic life of more than 12 months purchased by the Contractor within the total contract price for the purposes of performing the contract shall vest with the Authority. Such items shall become Government Furnished Equipment provided to the Contractor by the Authority on loan in accordance with DEFCON 611 (ISC) (Issued Property).”

Q) We have been developing our technologies with funding from the Department for Education (DfE). Does the DfE funding affect our ability to bid into this competition?

A) No, as long as you highlight previous funding in the proposal. You should explain the start and end point of the previous work and be explicit in the fact that you are no longer being funded. We need to ensure that there is no duplication in government funding.

Q) What costs should be avoided?

A) 3rd party conference attendance and patenting costs cannot be listed as finance items. Labour, capital items & overheads can all be included. The cost of attending the Spotlight and final demonstration event can be included in your proposal.

Q) Will this project include the pipeline to procurement or will it have the traditional DASA structure? Are there direct follow up funding opportunities with DASA?

A) We do support exploitation of projects but this will be contingent on the nature of the project and what is available at the time. This competition will have a conventional competition structure and follow-on work is not guaranteed.

Q) Where can we read examples of previous proposals?

A) We do not share examples of previous proposals as they contain commercially sensitive data. We recommend getting in touch with your local Innovation Partner for further advice.

2. Technical Scope

2.1 General

Q) What is the minimum starting TRL level?

A) We are looking at TRL 1-5. Output must be at TRL 3-6 and you must move through at least one TRL during the contract

Q) Who do we direct the Expressions of Interest to?

A) We recommend contacting your regional Innovation Partner.

Q) If I am unsure as to which Challenge I should submit against, what should I do?

A) You will need to bid into 1 challenge which should reflect the main focus of your technology. Talk to your Innovation Partner who will be able to talk with you about how to address challenges within your bid and how to articulate which challenges you are addressing.

Q) Do proposals need to specify the challenge it is for? Circular economy solutions may have links between other parts/challenges?

A) There is usually a lead technology and we would recommend submitting your proposal against that. If that is not case, then we recommend picking one challenge and we will be able to identify if it is circular economy. There is a specific section in the submission service to explain any links to the other challenge areas. #### Q) Will the project need to develop a specific product or technology upon its completion? Will the project require field testing of the innovation?

A) We are looking for technologies across various Technology Readiness Levels, including very novel technologies and those further developed. We are keen for projects to progress as quickly as possible within the timeframe, with proof of concept or demonstration achieved by the end of the contract. There will be a Spotlight Event at five months into the contract which will involve a presentation to demonstrate your progress. There are no trials within the competition but we are encouraging innovators to run their own trials to get to the demonstration phase.

Q) Are you interested in test and validation methodologies and facilities, or only technology solutions?

A) We are only interested in technology solutions.

Q) Is there a need to focus on a specific domain?

A) Ideally your innovation would work across all domains; it will have to be particularly good in at least one domain to be taken forward. Your proposal will have more weight if usable across multiple domains.

Q) Is the Space domain out of scope for this competition?

A) We do not deploy to space but there may be ways the technology could be modified to deployed locations across air, land and sea. If your innovation is applicable to the space domain, that would be beneficial but we are not looking solely for space solutions.

Q) Could we do a test trial with soldiers?

A)  If you are planning to do testing around food and recipients, you need MODREC approval. Time will need to be allowed for this within the project plan.

Q) Is there a desire for a digital twin framework, or battlespace management in the future? Would work in this area be in scope of this competition?

A) Although an interesting concept, it does not fit the criteria of this competition which is looking towards deployable self-sufficiency.

Q) In terms of scalability, we would be looking at developing a single unit to demonstrate. Do we highlight the scalability aspect in the application?

A) We would like it to be scalable, sufficient detail as to how it would be scalable needs to be provided e.g. the science and reasoning behind it being scalable and at what TRL that would happen. We would also recommend stating what else would need to happen in order for it to become scalable and the limits of that scalability.

Q) How competitive do you expect the competition to be? Do you have a projection of the number of bids you are likely to receive across the challenges?

A) This is a broad competition and there is lots of overlap with these technologies in the civilian sector. We are expecting a high number of proposals - expect the competition to be very competitive.

Q) Would models that predict the impact of solutions across the supply chain fit the scope?

A) No, we are interested but not for this competition. Contact you local Innovation Partner to discuss other DASA opportunities.

Q) There are 7 challenges. Do you expect to fund projects in every challenge?

A) We hope to fund at least one proposal from each challenge, as most of these areas need to be addressed for self-sufficient deployment to be successful. However, depending on proposals received, we reserve the right to fund those that would be most impactful. Every challenge is a priority, with none being more prominent than the others.

2.2 Challenge 1

Q) Should we focus on the production of a single meal (main meal) or more than one to highlight the adaptability of the concept/food manufacturing method?

A) Details of the standard Operational Ration Pack are included in the Challenge Details document. Deployed forces also eat standard meals produced in theatre. We suggest concentrating on one meal as proof on concept. We would require meat based, vegetarian, kosher, vegan for the deployed military in the future. If you can incorporate ingredients that promote good health, that would be of interest.

2.3 Challenge 2

There were no questions asked during Webinar and Supplier one-to one events specific to Challenge 2.

2.4 Challenge 3

Q) Challenge 3 states you are not interested in Robotic and Autonomous System (RAS). Do you see any scope for such systems in the other challenges?

A) Autonomous robotic systems are generally not in scope but if a proposal can articulate step change in self-sustainability by adopting a specific RAS, that would be of interest. Consider a holistic approach against other themes. We are not looking for a single bespoke platform.

If your solution will meet the needs of RAS better than other systems, that would be in scope of Challenges 5 and 7.

See this site for further information on RAS

Q) If we are able to use our technologies across different classes of materiel, would that increase the desirability of our proposal?

A) Yes. Look to the competition document and see if your innovation has a wider applicability in more classes of materiel; and then articulate those additional use cases in your proposal.

2.5 Challenge 4

There were no questions asked during Webinar and Supplier one-to one events specific to Challenge 4.

2.6 Challenge 5

Q) Challenge 5 is mostly focused on energy supply technologies. Are systems that reduce power consumption in-scope?

A) Probably, as long as it is broad. We would be interested in technologies that are broadly applicable across a range of platforms and would provide greater endurance.

Q) Is a hydrogen solution in scope?

A) A hydrogen solution is in scope but you should note the concerns with the energy density of hydrogen stated in Challenges 5 and 7. You would therefore need to show how to avoid the endurance or logistic burden of hydrogen.

Q) The competition document states you are not looking for combustion engines and instead looking for alternative fuels.

A) We are not looking at combustion engine technology e.g. new engines for vehicles. However, as an example, we would be interested in an electric generator that is fuel flexible and a large step change in the gravimetric or volumetric energy density.

2.7 Challenge 6

There were no questions specific to Challenge 6.

2.8 Challenge 7

Q) Can you share some actual numbers – how much is 70% of non-aviation fuel?

A) The competition document contains information on the necessary quantities to support deployed troops. While we cannot disclose precise figures, focusing on the general requirements is more beneficial, for instance, for smaller camps.

Q) Are there any specific applications you are considering for clean energy generation?

A) Not specifically. Although clean energy is desirable, it is not the major outcome of this particular challenge. For reducing logistics within challenge 7, we are focused on energy at camp infrastructure. The clean energy is desirable but it is mostly about reducing that fuel going forwards, which could be achieved by green energy such as renewables but does not need to be clean energy if you can reduce that logistic footprint.

Q) What about collecting bio gas from waste and converting to useful power? Would this be acceptable?

A) This is in scope for Challenge 7. You need to have enough waste in that deployed space to make useful power. The size of the kit needed to convert that waste into useful power would also need to be sensible for the scale of deployments we are considering. If a huge amount of waste generates a small amount of power and requires a large machine to do so, that is less in scope. You should consider whether the deployment, sustainment and recovery burden on the logistics chain would be less, the same, or worse.