Defence finalizes 160 contracts for its Competitive Projects innovation program

The Department of National Defence finalized contract awards for the first round of proposals for Competitive Projects under the Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security Program (IDEaS) program. Launched in April 2018, the IDEaS program will invest $1.6 billion in innovations for defence and security over the next 20 years, in areas such as surveillance, artificial intelligence and remotely piloted systems. To date, the program has awarded innovators with a total investment of $26.8 million for 160 contracts. The department issues IDEaS challenges via three rubrics: Competitive Projects, Innovation Networks and Sandboxes. In a separate email to participants and potential contractors, the IDEaS team also announced that it has almost concluded its first call for proposals for Innovation Networks on Advanced Materials.