Defence and Security Accelerator

The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) finds and funds exploitable innovation to support UK defence and security quickly and effectively, and support UK prosperity. Their vision is for the UK to have strategic advantage through the most innovative defence and security capabilities in the world. They achieve this by welcoming ideas from innovators small and large, providing support to those who have not previously worked with Government.

The Open Call for Innovation

The Open Call is one of the funding competition mechanisms DASA uses to find proposals that address challenges faced by government stakeholders. It gives bidders the opportunity to present their ideas to defence and security stakeholders at any time, without waiting for a relevant Themed Competition.

What are they looking for?

The Open Call is looking for innovative ideas to improve the defence and/or security of the UK. Your idea could be a concept, technology or service. The Emerging Innovations category is for less mature innovations, and the Rapid Impact category is for innovations that are more developed. The Open Call is open for proposals all year round, with assessment dates scheduled across the year. More information on assessment dates can be found here.

Emerging Innovations

Emerging innovations are viewed as those which will deliver a proof of concept at around Technology Readiness Level 3 or 4. Proof of concept might include component and/or sub-system validation in laboratory-style environment.

Rapid Impact

Rapid Impact innovations are viewed as those which will deliver a technology model or prototype demonstration at around Technology Readiness Level 6 or 7. This demonstration should be at a limited scale, in the hands of end users, and in the context or environment which it is expected that the solution would be used.

Innovation Focus Areas

Whilst DASA are interested in funding all sorts of projects, they also have some innovation focus areas which are enduring challenges faced by the defence and security customers. They are often broad in scope and will always be open for a minimum of two open call cycles.

Case Study

Deeper Scan – a game changer in hardware validation, threat and anomaly detection

Airports are at risk of falling victim to a wide array of threats, but one that is persistently challenging to overcome is detecting explosives inside baggage. Both from an operational and a governance perspective, airport security is incredibly complex. Authorities need to provide effective, efficient and passenger friendly screening systems, whilst staying ahead of evolving security threats.

Airports employ reliable processes and technologies to detect threats in baggage, however, these are invasive for passengers and resource intensive for airlines and airports.

In 2018, DASA launched a themed call: Finding Explosives Hidden in Electrical Items as part of the Future Aviation Security Solutions (FASS) programme managed by the Home Office and the Department for Transport.

Bedfordshire based NWPRO Ltd received £80,000 to develop Deeper Scan - a whole object detection system which uses innovative artificial intelligence and x-ray technology to scan airline baggage and identify electronic contents, with accurate results ready in less than 15 seconds.

Deeper Scan has received significant interest from major airports, and NWPRO Ltd are working to integrate Deeper Scan with off-the-shelf CT scanning capabilities, to reduce the resource burden for airlines and airports.

The technology has also found an additional use in cyber security. Deeper Scan can be used to validate electronic assets, scanning and identifying components within new electronic devices to detect tampered and counterfeit hardware.

This is hugely beneficial for government departments and other official agencies who handle and rely on sensitive information every day, and need to ensure that it is secure at all times. NWPRO Ltd has already received great feedback on their contribution to a safer cyber resilience through the supply chain from Government agencies.

In June 2021, the Department selected as one of the UK’s most innovative cyber security products in a competition run Deeper Scan for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), highlighting its capability need."During the early stages of product development, it’s difficult to get feedback from end users and stakeholders. Being part of a FASS project enabled us to form a bridge between our business and the user which ultimately helped us to develop a better product for their needs."

For more examples of work they have funded, see here.