MOD initiative to incubate innovation

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE - 20 March 2008

MOD initiative to incubate innovation. Pilot likely to take place at HARWELL in the Oxford to Cambridge (O2C Arc)

A new pilot Centre for Defence Enterprise (1) will invite inventors, scientists and academics to join forces with private investors and develop new defence technologies to aid the Armed Forces, Baroness Taylor announced today.

Building on the success of the Grand Challenge and Competition of Ideas, the Centre for Defence Enterprise will stimulate wider entrepreneurial interest and look for innovative proposals, the best of which will be taken forward as research contracts to produce the next generation of military equipment and technology.

Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, Baroness Taylor, said:

"We have worked hard to remove barriers to innovative concepts and change ideas. Industry, big and small, academia, inventors, entrepreneurs, engineers and investors all have something to offer in developing the next generation of military technology. The Centre for Defence Enterprise will provide a vehicle for exposing these
opportunities.

"This is an exciting pilot to gauge the level of engagement we can expect from the country's innovators and investors. I am confident that building on interest in Competition of Ideas and Grand Challenge the Centre will be used to full effect."

Applicants will submit proposals for assessment and the Centre will support those ideas that have the potential to meet current and future operational requirements. The pilot centre will aim to capture these ideas and develop them into solutions we can quickly apply to the frontline. Regular seminars at the Centre will bring together
academics, industry and potential investors.

MOD is to open the pilot Centre for Defence Enterprise at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Oxfordshire (2). This further delivers on commitments made in the Defence Industrial Strategy and the Defence Technology Strategy to engage with a wider supplier base and encourage innovation to deliver technology that gives the
battle-winning edge to the font line.

Notes:

1. The Centre for Defence Enterprise will be a physical centre modelling itself on commercial science parks and incubators, bringing together inventors, investors, entrepreneurs, and academics to incubate new businesses and technologies with defence and other applications.

2. Basing the pilot at Harwell reflects its location within the recognised Oxford-London-Cambridge 'Golden Triangle' for private investors and its access to MOD.

For further information please contact the MOD Press Office on 020 7218 7950