Examination of Witnesses (Questions 220-228)
SIR JOHN
CHISHOLM
28 FEBRUARY 2006
Q220 Mr Hancock: You said 30% of your
effort is now directed to the American market. What proportion
of that 30% is carried out here in the UK?
Sir John Chisholm: The majority
of the volume of work is done in the US, but the research part
of the work is done predominantly in the UK.
Q221 Chairman: You drew a contrast earlier
when you were talking to John Smith about the approach of the
Defence Industrial Strategy to the manufacturing sectors and that
to research, technology and innovation. Could you describe that
contrast?
Sir John Chisholm: In allocating
government funds in the civil research sector, which are predominantly
allocated by the OST, their policies have become strongly focussed
upon placing the work in the country's strongest research centres;
that is a clear policy. There is not such a policy yet, for the
reasons that we have described, in the UK because the Defence
Industrial Strategy has not yet got to that stage. What we are
articulating in our evidence is that we would have expected a
policy of that sort to emerge both because it is consistent with
what the government's policy is on the civil side and also because
it is consistent with the rest of the DIS. When the DIS comes
to consider other sectors the DIS says that in order to preserve
sovereignty and the ability of the UK to provide the Armed Forces
with the best products it should focus upon the areas of real
capability in the country.
Q222 Mr Havard: Are you familiar with
this concept, which I am only just grappling with, that Lord Drayson
came out with about technology trees? It seems to me that the
technology he seems to be describing starts fundamentally at the
university level and then the laboratories will feed into it and
then the SMEs, up to the prime who will deliver the product. That
is the production process, turning a concept into a process. The
research part of that is implicit in it. Are you familiar with
this concept?
Sir John Chisholm: I am familiar
with the concept.
Q223 Mr Havard: Is that something that
is going to drive this research and technology sub-strategy?
Sir John Chisholm: It relates
to the answer I gave to Mr Hancock earlier on, that in order to
get from niches of technology into something which is useful to
soldiers, sailors and airmen at the end of the day you need an
integrating process and this is the tree that you referred to.
We play a role in that tree in bringing together technologies
from the niches at the bottom end, some of which we do rely on
our laboratories for but many we source from other people and
we bring that together into technologies which we ourselves insert
further up the tree into the equipment suppliers who often then
insert that into the prime contractors and the systems of systems
integrators. So there is exactly that tree where we play a role
which is near the bottom but not at the bottom because below us
are the niche providers in the SMEs and in the universities.
Q224 Mr Havard: So that is going to generate
in part the whole question about the placing of the funding and
the processes that go with the whole process then. Is that what
I am going to see out of a strategy that comes from research and
technology?
Sir John Chisholm: I assume that
that will inform the strategy.
Q225 Mr Hancock: This question is about
the relationship between your US customers and the British side
of the organisation. We are constantly told about the problems
of technology exchanges and the restrictions that the Americans
put on it. Are the same restrictions being put on you with regard
to British-based technology and the way you can share that with
the Americans?
Sir John Chisholm: We have to
seek export licences.
Q226 Mr Hancock: Is that easier for you
to get for the UK than it is for you to get from the US to bring
it to the UK?
Sir John Chisholm: I would just
make a general comment. My perception is that it is an easier
process to go from the UK to the US than from the US to the UK,
absolutely.
Q227 Mr Hancock: Is that going to cause
you problems as more of your market is in the United States?
Sir John Chisholm: We have a huge
capability in the UK and nowhere as strong a capability in the
US. So our strategy is very much focused on serving our UK customers
and also serving US customers from the UK. That is good for the
UK. Our predominant technology flow is in the direction from the
UK to the US. That is an issue for us because it sometimes limits
our access to the US and it limits what we can do in the US.
Q228 Chairman: Sir John, thank you very
much indeed. Is there anything you would like to add to what you
have said or do you think that in your memorandum and what you
have been able to say today you have covered the ground?
Sir John Chisholm: You have been
very generous with the time you have allocated to me, Chairman.
I am very happy.
Chairman: Thank you very much indeed
for your evidence.
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