There are three new SBRI competitions that have just been added to the Technology Strategy Board website, being run by the Centre of Defence Enterprise. Two of these are being run for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the other is part of the INSTINCT programme of the Home Office.

It is difficult to detect terrorists in crowded places because they can easily conceal themselves within the crowd. The Office for Security & Counter Terrorism (OSCT) is seeking innovative approaches to understand, characterise, detect and influence intent in crowded places with a view to reducing the risk of terrorist attacks. Proposals are sought across a range of domains e.g. contextual, behavioural, physiological and neurological. Novel, inventive and lateral thinking is particularly welcome. Successful proposals will be sponsored by INSTINCT, the OSCT Innovation Programme.

There was a briefing seminar, hosted by the Centre of Defence Enterprise at Harwell, Oxfordshire on 3 June and the competition was opened for applications at the seminar.

The second competition is for technologies to go into a lightweight battle tank. The MoD are looking for highly innovative ways of delivering the same capability as current Main Battle Tanks, but in a significantly lighter package that is more easily transportable, fuel efficient and less reliant on the supporting military infrastructure.

The call is for technologies that can significantly enhance mobility over demanding terrain with the benefits of good fuel efficiency and high reliability. Creative ideas that will provide the overall systems architecture that will host all military vehicle functions should also be included. A number of contracts will be awarded to demonstrate proof of principle of innovative technologies and applications of technology that will improve the mobility and overall effectiveness of the Future Protected Vehicle.

Lastly there is a new SBRI competition for Lightweight Personal Protection. The physical burden on our soldiers is significant and innovative solutions are sought to reduce it dramatically. Personal protection (including body armour and helmets) is a major contributing factor to the load carried by our troops and this call will seek novel lightweight solutions whilst maintaining a high level of physical protection. While reducing weight is the prime objective, solutions that significantly reduce the burden by reducing heat stress or improving ergonomic factors such as load distribution, flexibility and reduced bulk, are encouraged.

Two separate briefing events will take place on the 25th June for these calls where the MoD will outline the problems faced and challenge attendees to develop innovative solutions.

For more information, all competitions are listed on a new section of the Technology Strategy Board website, dedicated to SBRI. This website explains the SBRI mechanism for running open competitions to businesses, based on a specific department challenge. It shows how the process works and then has a dedicated area for all SBRI competitions, with an individual page for each competition.