Corporate Plan 2013-2018 - Dstl

Our expert level of scientific
and analytical advice has been
available, without interruption,
to military commanders in
Afghanistan since the summer
of 2005. This is the longest
ever continuous deployment
of scientific personnel to an
overseas operational theatre
since World War II
An exercise involving 190 soldiers
as part of the British Army’s largest
ever virtual battle simulation
(URBAN WARRIOR 5), used our
advanced science and technology
advice and analysis to help the
Army better understand the
battlefield of the future
As Chief Executive, I am proud that we:
• act with integrity as the interface and agent for S&T suppliers to engage with MOD
• have an excellent track record of solving our customers’ problems with diverse and
innovative thinking and delivering timely, relevant and impartial solutions
• are flexible and agile with the ability to respond quickly to new and changing
challenges
• possess a unique breadth and depth of threat knowledge, gathered over decades
• have extensive and diverse networks of the brightest minds, continually expanding our
trusted relationships and reaching out nationally and internationally
• are strategically positioned and play a central role in influencing wider Government
defence and security S&T policy and strategy implementation
• make a difference through our committed and dedicated staff
• have a reputation as one of the most significant Government employers of S&T
professionals and regularly recognised in the Times ‘Top 100 Graduate Employers’, the
Guardian ‘UK 300’ and Job Crowd’s ‘Top 100 Companies to Work For’ polls
• have impact in the UK and overseas beyond our traditional MOD customers
• have demonstrated quality outputs and efficiency over 12 years and have been
awarded the 2012 PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Building Public Trust award for
excellence in reporting in the public sector.
We also recognise areas where we need to make improvements: to integrate
programmes designed and implemented across our portfolio of work; to increase our sharing
of knowledge and best practice across a wider community; to strengthen our procurement
capability, capacity and awareness to meet the growing demand; and to better manage our
relationships with our suppliers.
In developing this year’s Corporate Plan, we have again considered the wider external
environment and strategic context in which we operate. While the priority risks described in
the 2010 NSS remain as relevant today as when that strategy was published, the character
of each of those risks continues to change. These themes of continuity and change are
relevant to Dstl; our overriding Purpose endures but the challenges and opportunities
that we face are changing.
The main contextual challenges we face include: the ongoing efficiencies and streamlining
within MOD, central Government and the wider public sector (Transforming Defence and
the Civil Service Reform Plan); how we balance and prioritise against the reduction in
Government spending with subsequent reduced funding from our current customers, while
demand for our services remains strong; the changing nature of the wider National Security
environment (with the planned cessation of combat operations in Afghanistan in 2014);
and the potentially reduced recruitment pool of Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics (STEM) skills in a competitive market for talent.
Since 2011, we have funded
56 PhDs and intend to fund a
further 20 PhDs in 2013. This
year, we are particularly interested
in Doctoral-level research
programmes on topics to improve
our understanding of human
performance and cognition
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