Mark Barclay, who joined the UK Defence Solutions Centre (UKDSC) on 2nd January, 2018 shares his views on his initial month in role.
When asked how things had gone during his initial first few weeks he said, “I’ve had the pleasure of meeting with every UKDSC team member during my first fortnight. I was keen to get a deeper understanding of employee roles and responsibilities as well as gain their views as to how the DSC operates. I was immediately impressed by the level of professionalism, expertise and energy shown by each of the employees which augurs well for future developments”.
On engaging with other key stakeholders he replied, “I’ve also managed to engage with almost all of the UKDSC’s industry members, ADS, government and academia stakeholders in the period. I am enthusiastic about meeting new and existing stakeholders at all levels, including the UK’s SMEs who play a pivotal role across the UK Defence industry exports”.
Aside from high volumes of engagement, the UKDSC is currently going through a very busy period in other areas. The team have just received approval from DGP Steering Committee to progress with the proposed new organisation, whilst in parallel they have been working with DGP members and other parties in developing a Defence Sector Deal (DSD). It was on the latter point that Mark commented, “Supporting the development of a compelling DSD is absolutely critical to our Team UK approach. This will require a cohesive and collaborative approach across multiple stakeholders and will ultimately shape how UK Defence identifies and then exploits capabilities via collaborative innovation.”
While summarising he concluded, “It’s been a very busy but enjoyable period. I’ve been delighted with the support, engagement and open welcome I’ve received to date. I’d also be happy to engage more widely to get a broader understanding of the UK Defence landscape and its various moving parts. February is looking equally as busy and I look forward to a highly productive month”.
