We can all recognise the pace of global technology development and the consequent narrowing of technical differentiation between the West and its allies compared to our adversaries. New threats are constantly appearing – from inventive exploitation of commercial technology by small and agile groups, through to the implementation of vast resources by powerful and well-equipped nations.
Our adversaries are constantly probing, attacking, discovering, and evolving in a developing form of sustained warfighting that has been enabled by technological innovation.
This highlights a need for the UK to harness the best skills and technologies from across the defence and security industry, and apply them in support of the national mission. Fail to do so, and we will quickly fall behind.
To this end, the Defence and Security Industrial Strategy – among many other strategic documents – calls out a need for MOD and industry to collaborate much more closely. To reconsider how we assure sustainable competitive capability and expertise.
Harnessing national competitiveness
In today’s threat landscape, we like to think that we have a competitive edge. We have a capability head start, along with mature supply chains and security processes. But we also have a lot working against us; autocracies can rapidly allocate people, harness and redirect manufacturing industries, and act far more swiftly than we can.
Perhaps though, if we can bring Western attributes of freedom and diversity of thought through at pace, we will be able to innovate more effectively than our adversaries.
Some years ago, our national security organisations here and in the US realised this and started making concerted efforts to harness diversity by looking beyond traditional sources of talent. We need to progress that journey on a national defence and security scale. This will require a national effort and industry, from large primes through to SMEs, has its roles to play.
Of course, in practice it isn’t always so straightforward. For example, smaller companies often lack the time and resources to deal with the MOD’s many complex procurement mechanisms and processes. They are less likely to have the IT infrastructure in place to protect sensitive national security information, and simply may not be able to afford to ride the various programme delays and cancellations or the infamous valley of death that often accompany defence projects.
So we need to improve and find ways to support the SME ecosystem. Defence and security’s digital future is one of a long-term partnership where industry and MOD together have the complementary skills and mutual trust to implement positive change. This is where Primes have an important role to play.
In Prime position
As the biggest defence company in the UK, we passionately believe in the defence and security mission. Our people impart invention and ideas for both company and national benefit, not personal riches. We are committed to putting the nation’s defence and security first.
As well as being a direct supplier, our role as a Prime enables us to help build wider relationships and foster a thriving ecosystem. For example, through the administration of frameworks designed to bring SME invention to bear, which can have hundreds of suppliers across their taxonomies. Some invention of course comes from within the Prime through its own technologists, university sponsorships, skills development programmes and significant investments into fundamental and applied R&D.
Yet there is still more that Primes can do. We are still largely tapping into a defence oriented ecosystem. We must harness invention from outside defence if we are to really capture diversity. A Prime’s close collaborative relationship with MOD allows it to have insight into military challenges. That understanding allows a Prime to undertake horizon scanning in context, to discover transferability and apply its technical knowledge to the creation of broader supply ecosystems, helping suppliers refine their solutions to support military requirements. We can qualify technology early on, either providing confidence or sparing an SME from wasting time and money in pursuit of false hopes.
We can also help control and manage the flow of highly classified data. Access to data is essential for enabling much of future digital innovation. The Prime has the IT infrastructure, the vetted personnel and the data handling processes that many SMEs will lack – enabling it to govern security in a way that allows more diverse ecosystems to be created.
Preparing for the future
As sustained warfighting becomes more data oriented and as we increase the scale of the digital innovation required to secure advantage in that fight, so we inevitably open up the nation to greater threats from cyber-attack.
By exploiting the secure ways of working and infrastructure Primes have or can put in place, we can enable the UK’s defence and security ecosystem to expand safely and securely. This will provide the UK with a more agile, diverse and secure invention base from which to gain that all-important competitive edge.
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