On the 11th day of December

On the 11th day of December, the BattleLab gave to me, a sausage roll and a cup of tea!

Obviously there is more to the monthly meet and greet than food and drink. At the BattleLab on Dorset Innovation Park, we take advantage of networking opportunities, discussions around collaboration and sharing of information.

Fabulous to see lots of my existing network, but also great to meet Mark Turner from DMG MORI, Jason Holt from Motion Applied and Tommy Sedgwick from UK Defence Solutions Centre.

Tommy Sedgwick spoke about JEDHub, which has been established to improve our understanding of the defence sector’s contribution to the UK economy through better, consistent and impartial data. Based in the UK Defence Solutions Centre, the JEDHub is a joint endeavour between the UK Ministry of Defence and members of the Defence Growth Partnership (DGP), working collaboratively with stakeholders across Government, industry, trade bodies and academics.

As an SME, it’s important that we support this work, and we can all do that by taking the opportunity to participate in their survey. To do so, you can log in at app.jedhub.org by scrolling to the bottom and clicking ‘Log in to JEDHub’.

It was also great to hear from Finn Morgan from Bournemouth University about KTP (Knowledge Transfer Programmes), Alex Clancy from Yeovil College about their support and connections with industry, and Gary B. with an update on UKDI Defence and Security Accelerator and the long-awaited Defence Investment Plan.

I never miss an opportunity to promote the South West Regional Defence & Security Cluster, and for those of you who don’t know, the 21st January is the next event at Porton Down https://lnkd.in/ejM4AJHy

Finally, for some of us, it was Christmas jumpers to the ready, as today is #NationalChristmasJumperDay, in support of Save the Children, UK. Thanks to Dorset Council UK for helping me to promote this. Chris Wardman - you didn't have to take leave just to swerve wearing a jumper lol!