The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) has launched a competition for proposals on how to develop a capability in behavioural analytics in the defence and security sector.
It said it is looking for scientific and technological solutions that can provide context-specific insights into the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of individual, group and population behaviour, enabling predictions about how they are likely to act in the future.
The funding for the first phase amounts to £1.6 million to back a number of proposals, and the total for all phases is £5 million. However, DASA said this could increase due to rising interest in behavourial analytics.
At this stage it is limiting the scope to theoretical development, methodological advancement and proof of concept research, with the aim of funding research to get the foundations right. But it has asked bidders to consider future exploitation.
DASA – which works under the Ministry of Defence – indicated that it sees AI and data science as having a potential in the field and would welcome applications that take in more than one research discipline.
The competition is open for entries until midday on 5 December.
Image from GOV.UK, Open Government Licence v3.0
