WIREDGOV

Secretary of State for Defence John Healey yesterday announced the launch of the Defence Industrial Strategy, ‘inviting investors, innovators, industry and trade unions to give their views on how to grow a better, more integrated, more innovative and more resilient defence sector’. The DIS is intended to ensure that the defence sector is an ‘engine for UK growth’ while securing critical supply chains including semi-conductors.

In cooperation with the defence industry, the DIS will identify ‘opportunities to innovate at speed, with the resilience to deter aggression by adversaries, able to seize the opportunity presented by the technologies of the future, while growing the UK’s share of the exports market’.

In response to the announcement Julian David, CEO of techUK, yesterday said:

“techUK welcomes the Defence Secretary’s announcement this morning launching the Defence Industrial Strategy and the establishment of the Defence Industrial Joint Council. As the trade association for the UK’s defence technology sector, we will work with the Ministry of Defence to ensure that it has processes in place to develop, integrate and deploy advanced capabilities at pace, with the necessary digital skills at every level to exploit those technologies to their full advantage. techUK members are at the forefront of that technological revolution and we will work to ensure that the UK has the strong, dynamic Defence Technology sector it requires to defend itself and its allies.”

Last month techUK published its DefTech: Technology Transforming Defence report, offering practical recommendations on how the UK can build a dynamic defence technology industry and ensure the rapid integration of new capabilities into the Ministry of Defence.

The Defence programme will shortly announce how members will contribute to techUK’s response to the consultation.

Click here to find out more about techUK’s defence programme or contact:

Jeremy Wimble, Defence Programme Manager, Jeremy.wimble@techuk.org