Written question asked by Gerald Howarth (Conservative) on Thursday, 16 February 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 27 February 2006. It was answered by Adam Ingram (Labour) on Wednesday, 1 March 2006 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Niche Technologies

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department is taking to assist the development of niche technologies through small and medium-sized enterprises.

Answer: As part of the Defence Industrial Strategy, the Ministry of Defence is working with industry and universities to identify sources of innovation and to identify where technologies of vital strategic importance are located. We recognise that we must work together more effectively with industry (including small and medium-sized enterprises) and universities, to stimulate innovation and exploit research and technology to meet defence needs. Specifically, we are developing a better understanding of the innovation process and mapping out the technology trees for major capabilities, systems and platforms.MOD has placed at least an estimated 10 per cent. by value of its extramural research and development contracts with SMEs in recent years as laid out in the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) performance figures for 2003-04 and 2004-05 a copy of which is in the Library of the House. This exceeds the SBRI target for Government Departments of at least 2.5 per cent.

Secondary information