There are a variety of existing fora for engagement between MOD and industry and academia, involving other
government departments including BEIS and DIT as appropriate, outside of specific commercial arrangements and partnerships. We will build on these by:
• Increasing transparency and improving communication of longer-term government priorities, requirements and pipelines,
identified through cross-government collaboration and the development of
‘road maps’ for the pull through of projects. As noted below, this is important for all security focused departments not just the MOD.
• Driving implementation of the MOD Strategic Partnering
Programme (SPP) to enable greater collaboration with industry and using it to support implementation of this strategy with our strategic suppliers.
The SPP aims to unlock mutual benefit, improve value to UK society, and underpin long term economic prosperity and was recognised by the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply as the “Best Supplier Relationship Initiative” in their 2020 awards.
• Refreshing MOD’s commitment to SMEs and reducing barriers to entry: the MOD has undertaken a wide-ranging review of its
procurement practices to encourage more SME participation in defence procurement with SME spend already improving from 13.5% in Financial Year 16/17 to 19.3% in Financial Year 18/19. The MOD will publish a refreshed SME Action Plan which will set out how we will further improve access toopportunities for SMEs to do business with the department.
• Strengthening the Defence Suppliers Forum (DSF) as the primary MOD-industry engagement mechanism on strategic topics. We will maintain a balance of industry representation to ensure that primes, mid-tiers (who form a vital part of the defence supply-chain) and SMEs have a voice in the development of our approach to the UK defence sector. This includes the creation of a DSF SME Working Group alongside the other existing DSF groups and the SME Forum chaired by the Minister for Defence Procurement.
The DSF will drive a common focus on the challenges ahead, including supporting a sustainable future for the defence industry, and its role in supporting the delivery of this
strategy and the defence and security industries’ contribution to broader national economic success. To support this, we will revisit the ‘DSF vision 2025’ and its key supporting deliverables.
• At the same time, and jointly with industry, the MOD will conduct a strategic review of the Defence Growth Partnership’s work on exports and economic growth, and strengthen links with other sector groups such as the Aerospace Growth Partnership, and related bodies such as the Security and Resilience Growth Partnership and Cyber Growth Partnership.
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MOD-Industry Engagement
The MOD engages with UK defence suppliers through two main fora.
The Defence Suppliers Forum (DSF) enables strategic engagement between Government and its suppliers to share information effectively, align objectives and optimise delivery of Defence capability from the available budget.
The DSF is co-chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence and Chief Executive BAE Systems. It has several dedicated Steering and Working groups focussing on our key joint challenges through a number of workstreams, including Commercial Enterprise and
Acquisition, Capability Management International and Innovation, People and Skills, and Digital. Across its sub-groups, membership includes senior officials from MOD and other government departments and representatives from MOD’s strategic and mid-tier suppliers, as well as SMEs.
The DSF is central to delivering the improved pace and agility required for a joint approach to meeting Defence capability needs. Its work aims to create a more collaborative, but also demanding, approach to MOD’s relationship with its industry suppliers as expressed in our Joint Industry Vision 2025.
DSF has collectively responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, and has been an effective engagement mechanism to ensure continuity of delivery to the MOD and cashflow to
industry. A recent survey of members found that: ‘collaboration was very good’ and ‘Defence seemed to be leading the way in many areas both in supporting the response to the crisis and in its relationship with its supply chain’.
The Defence Growth Partnership (DGP) is a partnership between Government and Industry that works to grow the UK’s defence sector by strengthening its global competitiveness to achieve international success.
Sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the DGP membership includes MOD, Department for International Trade, thirteen leading defence primes, and ADS, the trade association.
It has established the UK Defence Solutions Centre to provide market intelligence, capability and market development, innovation and aligned investment jointly for the UK government and defence industry; designed to enable UK companies to win significant new business in export defence markets. Its government/industry “Team UK” approach seeks to appeal to international customers by offering a collaborative approach to developing capability solutions. The DGP also works to access the UK’s complete value chain and on skills initiatives in areas which support competitiveness in international markets.
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Examples of government-industry security sector engagement Aviation Security
The government promotes the UK’s aviation security objectives at an international level, through multilateral bodies such as the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), and by working in partnership with industry and likeminded international partners to pursue joint approaches on priority issues. We have recently been successful in securing new ICAO Standards to address the risks from insider threat. 2021 is the ICAO Year of Security Culture, during which we will work in partnership with ICAO, the aviation industry and partner countries to deliver practical and sustainable initiatives that will result in positive change to security culture at airports around the world.
Crypt-Key
The government has used an open and evidenced based approach to identify competent companies capable of developing Crypt-Key solutions. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) brings these companies together on a regular basis to discuss common issues, sector challenges and explore the government’s expected direction of travel and likely future requirements. Together, government and industry seek to identify improvements in working practices that meet the needs of both parties to ensure successful delivery of Crypt-Key projects. This includes the sharing of risks as appropriate, collaborative and collegiate working between teams and including industry partners as much as possible when articulating the problems that government wishes to solve. In doing so, the NCSC actively encourages innovative ideas and ways of solving problems to develop effective solutions for future Crypt-Key capabilities.
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