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45. Defence Equipment and Support

• Head of IT:
• Industry: Public sector
• Website: www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/MicroSite/DES/WhatWeDo

Employing 22,500 staff, Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) is charged with the important (and recently controversial) mission of equipping and supporting UK armed forces. The Bristol-headquartered organisation has a £13bn budget with facilities strewn across the nation and abroad.

DE&S buys and services everything from ships, aircraft and vehicles to food, clothing and medical aid via arms, information systems and satellite communications. It also has responsibility for HM Naval Bases, the joint supply chain and British Forces Post Office (BFPO).

DE&S works with suppliers through partnering agreements and private finance initiatives in compliance with the Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS).

Understandably cautious about what it discloses publicly, the website of DE&S's information systems and services team says it provides corporate business applications, support for command and battlespace management and "total situational awareness" to aid in modern warfare and network services.

DE&S's most recent business strategy (for 2008) says it is a key objective to show "outstanding technology management" and stresses that transforming the technology base would be a major objective in 2009 as set down in the DIS v2.0 blueprint. DIS v2.0 sets out a radical plan to make defence more nimble through halving acquisition cycles, "being upfront with industry" and "breaking down barriers to innovation" through R&D but also through supply-chain "entrepreneurship".

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