To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 175 of the Levelling Up White Paper, how much funding the new expanded Defence Science and Technology Laboratory will receive per annum; what his timetable is for the opening of the Science & Technology Experimentation Hub in Newcastle; what steps he is taking to strengthen talent pools; and whether he has plans to include apprenticeships as part of his steps to strengthen talent pools.
Answered on
7 February 2022
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) is playing a key part in driving the modernisation of our defence and is delivering a substantial part of the £6.6 billion investment in Research and Development set out in the Defence Command Paper.
Dstl Newcastle is strategically located Science and Technology (S&T) Hub which will be formally opened in Spring 2022. Dstl Newcastle will specialise in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Science and will enhance Dstl's capabilities by recruiting and developing local expertise and by accessing skills and expertise from Industry, innovation partners and Academia across the North East.
Co-located with the National Innovation Centre for Data, Dstl Newcastle is the first established Dstl S&T Hub. It will provide a new and innovative route by which Dstl (as a whole) will deliverinvestment in AI and Data S&T over the next four years; the majority of which will be delivered by industry and academia.
Dstl has a long history of developing specialist expertise through research sponsorship and apprenticeships. Dstl Newcastle will build on existing relationships with the excellent universities in the region to explore suitable sponsorship opportunities. The quality of support and training offered to apprentices is critical to their success, and so Dstl will seek to expand its thriving and effective apprenticeship and graduate schemes into its Newcastle site when it is sufficiently established.