As well as “celebrating” yet another birthday during the course of June, there was also some other good news to reflect upon during the month. Firstly, the UKDSC received an extension to our existing funding horizon, which saw timeframes extending from March 2019 to March 2020. This additional year was provided via a BEIS letter of assurance and provides greater stability in terms of planning, continuity and developing longer term plans. Secondly, as a result of this extension we’ve already seen a significant upturn in applications for permanent UKDSC permanent roles, with a series of interviews planned in June and hopefully nominations to follow in the not too distant future.
From a personal perspective I’ve continued to engage with a variety of stakeholder from across the UK Defence community. Specifically, I had a very interesting day at an ADS Member Forum which was hosted by Leonardo at their Yeovil facility. Not only was this an excellent opportunity to support an ADS event, but also provided a great opportunity to personally meet with a variety of SMEs. From the ensuing discussions I’ve agreed follow up sessions with a few of these organisations and will continue to support such engagements throughout the year.
On a more general front the June UKDSC Liaison Board was held during the month and we’re now in the process of preparing for the DGP Steering Committee during early July. In addition, the Shared Information System pilot was a success whilst the team also furthered dialogue around TeamUK opportunities. Finally, with RIAT and Farnborough 2018 now on the horizon I think it’s safe to say that July is going to be an exciting period for the UKDSC, DGP and ADS.
