Can UK DefTech help solve our defence challenges?

Our defence forces face big challenges — and an urgent UK DefTech drive will help address them.

With techUK’s first Defence Campaign Week (DefTech: Technology Transforming Defence) kicking off on Monday 25 November in London, it’s worth reinforcing why the UK MoD needs to do more to engage with its innovative DefTech sector.

The backdrop and urgency are well understood: shifting geopolitics and other issues mean western defence forces face a lot of challenges:

• We are living in what is possibly the most precarious world we have seen for generations
• The need to make better use of technology is a burning issue. The UK MoD is not alone in having spent billions over the years on equipment and systems that either didn’t work as planned or were not designed to evolve to meet the changing demands
• We hear regular calls to increase defence spending, yet the reality is that defence budgets face significant pressure
• Armed forces’ recruitment and retention is dropping, certainly in the UK, and is at an all-time low
• The pressure to do more with less budget and fewer people has never been greater.

CONSIDER THE POSITIVES

However, there is cause for optimism, so let’s put this into perspective

• The UK actually has the sixth largest military/defence spend in the world according to 2022 figures — 68.46 billion US dollars per annum*
• It’s what you do with a defence budget that counts
• The UK has a tech sector that is arguably the best on the planet per capita (even if, thus far, we have not adequately supported and nurtured the DefTech subsector)
• SMEs like 2iC and many other tech companies, independently and as part of techUK, are doing a huge amount of work to get UK DefTech SMEs due attention, recognition and engagement. I know this, because as chair of techUK’s SME Forum for over a decade, I, and 2iC as a company, have driven this vital initiative from the very beginning.

Moreover, General Sir Roly Walker KCB, DSO, the British Army’s Chief of the General Staff, has made it clear he wants to double the army’s lethality within three years, in the face of very real and converging threats. Sir Roly stated: “My focus in the near term will be making what we’ve got work even better. Essentially the software that exploits the data to turbocharge our modernisation — and in this way I think we can make huge gains in our ability to sense threats, make decisions and change the facts on the ground to our advantage.”

He is clear on how to achieve this, too. In a powerful and important message to the UK defence industry, he continued: “We cannot do this alone; we need a new partnership with you [the defence sector]. For us, a partnering mindset and role for healthy challenge therein.”

A meeting I attended with the Secretary of State for Defence, the Rt Hon John Healey MP, alongside a select group of UK SMEs and mid-tier companies, was also very encouraging. There was a clear focus on where the department can build on progress and where they need to accelerate change.

CLEAR THE OBSTACLES

The will is there but, of course, challenges remain. Defence is still hardware constrained and must change to be software enabled, as Sir Roly alluded to. This change has been seen across most other sectors.

Most certainly we have a group at the top of Defence who really understand what needs to happen. We also have the innovative talent in the UK DefTech sector to deliver the benefits of connected and interoperable technology. We just need to free the hamstrung innovators from the monolithic structure and layers of bureaucracy that slow and obstruct the urgent and rapid advances needed.

That’s why I have been both an instigator and champion of the UK DefTech drive. And that’s why techUK is focusing its first Defence Campaign Week on DefTech: Technology Transforming Defence.

You can be assured that I, as part of both 2iC and techUK, will continue to lobby hard — and at the highest levels — promoting the importance UK DefTech and the critical role of UK DefTech SMEs.

Specifically, I will continue to emphasise the urgent need for the defence sector, particularly the Ministry of Defence (MoD), to adopt a mindset, policies and actions for DefTech similar to those that encouraged and enabled the success of the fintech sector.

This focused approach will enable the MoD to spearhead new initiatives, allowing the UK to harness the innovative potential of its small and medium-sized enterprises in the DefTech sector.

If you’d like to join me on the UK DefTech drive, then get involved in techUK’s first Defence Campaign Week. You can also drop me a line in the comments box or connect with me on LinkedIn

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*Source: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute figures for 2022 from www.theglobaleconomy.com

Graham Booth is co-founder and CEO of 2iC, and the elected chair of the techUK Defence & Security SME Forum, which represents members to wider industry and government, including ministers. Graham also represents UK high-tech business as a member of the MoD DSF SME Working Group and also works with the MoD on the UK Generic Soldier Architecture (GSA) Technical Working Group.