4th November 2021
We are delighted to announce a new DASA Themed competition that is running for MOD and DOD. There are a number of challenges outlined in this competition that are diverse in nature, therefore it is anticipated that proposals will address either the screening, collection or forensic exploitation challenge.
- Screening technologies are predominantly focused on identifying specific (known) or well-characterised ChemBio Hazards. Screening for a wider range of materials is restricted due to the limitations of handheld or field-based screening technologies being able to detect a broad range of undefined compounds. The ability to detect a broader range of chemicals requires significant laboratory equipment/expertise/time.
- Collection technologies can sample materials from surfaces but do not protect and stabilise the sampled materials for storage and transport (i.e. without cold chain support that are often unavailable in austere environments or in a non-permissive operational context)
- Forensic exploitation technologies are in their infancy in the field of attribution and often require data-intensive approaches taking weeks or months to undertake. New ways of working that expedite the process and/or identify new signatures to enable the source material to be attributed across the timeframes traditionally associated with analysis (i.e. hours, days) are required.
The competition has funding of up to £1M (ex VAT), but individual proposals cannot exceed £100K (ex VAT). If successful, contracts will be awarded for a maximum duration of 12 months.
- There will be a virtual launch/Q&A event on 16 November, book to attend here.
- You can book 1-1s with the technical team on the 17 and 18 November. Click here for the 17th and here for the 18th.
DASA encourage collaboration between organisations for this competition. To support this, they have a short survey to collect details of those who wish to explore collaboration possibilities. If you are interested in a collaboration, please complete the survey here and your details will be circulated among other potential suppliers who have completed the survey and are interested in collaborating. If you choose to complete the Supplier collaboration survey, please be aware that all of the information you submit in the survey will be provided to other Suppliers who also complete the survey.
