Competition for new ideas will provide up to £2 million funding for development over two phases
The Home Office and Defence and Security Accelerator have launched a competition to fast track new digital technology to combat terrorism.
They are making up to £2 million available to fund the development of what they judge to be the best ideas to reduce the threat from terrorist attacks using weapons or explosives.
The competition is part of the science and technology programme within the Government’s current counter-terrorism strategy and is being run in a partnership between the Home Office, the accelerator – which is part of the Defence Science and Research Laboratory – and the Royal Society.
Security Minister Ben Wallace said: “In light of the horrific attacks in London and Manchester, the Government has committed to review its counter-terror strategy and further to this I am announcing today that we are making up to £2 million available to fund research into cutting edge technology and behavioural science projects designed to keep people safe in crowds.
“The threat from terror does not stand still so neither will we, which is why we are calling on the best and the brightest from the science and technology sector to come forward with their ideas and proposals to support our ongoing work to keep people safe.”
The first part of the competition will be staged by the Defence and Security Accelerator with a focus on ideas to use the crowd as a sensor in public spaces. It comes in response to the recent attacks in London and Manchester and is looking at ways to identify a threat by detecting a crowd’s conscious and sub-conscious reaction, training people to spot threats and enabling the crowd to report threats.
It is open until 20 September and will provide funds of up to £1 million.
Details of the second phase are to follow.
Image from GOV.UK, Open Government Licence v3.0
