Business Minister Matthew Hancock and Defence Minister Philip Dunne opened the Defence Growth Partnership (DPG)’s UK Defence Solutions Centre (DSC) at the Cody Technology Park in Farnborough, Hampshire, at the end of last month.
The DPG is an industry- and Government-led support organisation which seeks to ensure that the UK defence sector is capable of “delivering security, growth and prosperity”.
Mr Dunne described the UK DSC as “an industry first, bringing together the very best minds from across the defence industry to develop world-beating products and services for the Ministry of Defence and international customers”. He said that it will “engage the entire defence value chain”, from large multi-nationals to SMEs — plus academics.
Mr Hancock said: “The UK is respected as a world leader in delivering innovation, high performance and reliability within defence. This new centre is an important step; it shows just how closely Government and industry are working together to secure the long-term future of the sector.”
At the opening ceremony, Mr Dunne announced a £10 million Innovation Challenge to be led by the UK DSC, with the winners announced in September. He said: “This ‘throws down the gauntlet’ to innovators the length and breadth of the country to find next-generation solutions and technology to meet 21st-century global defence needs.”