§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on defence knowledge transfer to civil manufacturing. [157714]
§ Mr. IngramThe Government is committed to assisting industry to maintain and increase its competitiveness for the wider economic benefits to this country. Transfer of defence knowledge to civil manufacturing is a key facet of this commitment.
520WThe MOD has a key role in delivering the Government's agenda on promoting wealth creation through the science base and has been active in technology transfer. Changes in the way Science and Technology is funded following the privatisation of QinetiQ will result in defence research investment reaching commercial markets. In addition, The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) is involved with a number of joint ventures which contribute to knowledge and technology transfer. The setting up of the Defence Diversification Agency in 1998 also helped work towards greater two-way technology transfer between the defence and civil sectors.
Getting mature technologies in to the supplier base at the right time to support our acquisition plans is one of the key outputs of the way the MOD manages its research programme.