DASA recognised as Investor in Innovation
DASA has been benchmarked and accredited by the Institute of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange (IKE Institute) - the UKs professional body for innovators - achieving the Investor in Innovations standard aligned to the ISO 56002 international guidelines for innovation best practice.
Image courtesy DASA
IKE accredits, certifies and benchmarks innovation in such sectors as construction, defence, education, energy, electronics, nuclear, security, technology and transportation.
The review panel, chaired by Professor Sam Medhat, IKE Institute Chief Executive and member of the ISO International Innovation Committee, assessed DASA’s innovation position in six categories: Strategic Alignment; Organisational Readiness; Core Capabilities and Technologies; Horizon Scanning and Industry Foresight; Customer Awareness; and, demonstration of Impact and Value.
Professor Medhat said: "Since its launch in December 2016, DASA continued to surprise us with its active role in challenging business as usual to create and support the development of a more disruptive innovation capability in defence and security. It is refreshing to see such a highly progressive, well organised and dedicated team, delivering innovation services and stimuli at an industrial scale.
"I am very pleased to say that DASA has pushed the boundary in many of these assessment categories, and set itself a new benchmark record. So, many congratulations and well done to the DASA tenacious team for being an exemplar Investor in Innovations organisation."
Anita Friend, Head of DASA said: "DASA continues to build ecosystems of customers and suppliers that ensure the identification and development of innovative solutions to security and defence challenges, thus underpinning the UK’s prosperity agenda. Our approach brings together a combination of frequently staged open and thematic competitions that explore the collective innovation talent and capability, particularly of those from Small and Medium Enterprises to explore and demonstrate the art of the possible.
"Harnessing the power of technology and having it inextricably linked to capability in defence and security is a primary driver for us. During last year, we’ve invested some £146 million in projects from about 1,700 organisations. DASA’s annual report 2020/21 outlines many of the achievements and provides case studies across many domains."
IKE Institute’s Innovation Manifesto highlights its commitment to support the development of innovative people and organisations. The IKE Institute is represented on the UK Scientific and Parliamentary Committee and the BSI/ISO Technical Innovation Committees amongst other innovation related boards, to influence the inter-relationship between education, business and government through collaborative networks and knowledge exchange.