I’ve hit my 100th day as CEO UKDSC! How time flies as they say, which has most definitely been the case during my initial three months at the UKDSC.
A major highlight in the month of March was the signing of the Grant Offer Letter (GOL), which extends UKDSC operations through FY18/19. The business case has already been prepared to extend UKDSC for a further period and I look forward to that being approved and funded as quickly as possible.
We are actively preparing the ground for a Defence Sector Deal (DSD), which will support our longer term strategic plans and cement the position and role of UKDSC in the defence ecosystem. Sector deals are partnerships between the government and industry on sector-specific issues that can create significant opportunities to boost productivity, employment, innovation and skills. We know that these partnerships can work and an ambitious DSD is high on my agenda.
The UKDSC Liaison Board and DGP Steering Committee meetings also took place during March. UKDSC progress was reviewed at both sessions, with particular emphasis placed on recent international collaboration initiatives with key strategic partners for the future. Approval was also given with respect to UKDSC: supporting the development of a future Combat Air strategy, further developing ‘Team UK’ capability themes, and exploring Underwater Autonomy systems as part of the Cross Sector Innovation Framework (CSIF) initiative.
In conclusion, we are actively building a UKDSC team for current and future operations. In particular, I have interviewed a number of candidates for the Executive Director Operations and Executive Director International Markets roles during the last month. I’m hopefully of making appointments to both positions in the coming weeks and will obviously share such news as and when the appointments are made.
Regards
Mark
