The UK, US and Norway have issued the following joint statement:

The members of the Troika (Norway, UK and US) welcome the 29 January joint declaration of the AU, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the UN, on South Sudan. It expressed deep concern about the continuing spread of fighting and the risk of inter-communal violence escalating into mass atrocities, and the dire humanitarian situation in the country. We too call for an immediate cessation of hostilities in South Sudan.

We applaud the declaration’s call for a political solution emphasizing inclusivity and an active role for the AU High Representative toward ensuring that result. We echo the commitment of the AU, IGAD, and the UN to the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), and to further strengthen and enhance international cooperation in support of the South Sudan peace process.

Further information

Suppliers attending the event will be able to hear presentations about the Innovation Fund challenge which is aimed at revolutionising the human-information relationship for Defence.

If you cannot attend the event, sign up for our webinar which will take place on 27 February 2017.

The competition is seeking new technologies, processes and ways of working to improve the way we analyse and exploit data. With the relationship between human and information at the centre of war-fighting we need Defence leaders to have access to the right information on critical issues to enable decision making that outpaces our adversaries.

The challenges of this Accelerator competition are to:

• free up personnel through the application of innovative use of machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence to maintain military advantage
• allow for the rapid and automated integration of new sensors
• improve operator cognitive capacity and greater human machine teaming

Up to £6 million is available in total across phase 1 and 2 of this Innovation Fund competition.

At the event in London, Harriett Baldwin MP, Minister for Defence Procurement, launched the Innovation Initiative’s £6 million Accelerator Enduring Challenge, in her keynote speech.

The Enduring Challenge is run by the MOD’s new Defence and Security Accelerator and will fast-track the best ideas by funding their development, matching suppliers with expert Innovation Partners, and boosting supplier access to defence. The competition will run regularly, with up to 12 rounds a year.

Enduring challenge overview

In the opening session, the Accelerator’s Rob Solly introduced the Accelerator and gave an overview of the Enduring Challenge and how it differs from the previously-run Centre for Defence Enterprise enduring competition.

This was followed by the Accelerator’s Jim Pennycook, who explained the transition to the Accelerator and gave an overview of proof-of-concept research funding opportunities for innovative science and technology providers.

Further detail was then provided by the Accelerator’s Bruce Hardie, who explained the specifics of the challenge, how the competitions would work and the practicalities of submitting a proposal.

Defence and Security perspectives

In the second session, military advisers and technical experts from the security services, air, land and sea sectors gave their perspective of how the Enduring Challenge will meet the defence and security challenges.