Emulated phone technology is being sought by the National Crime Agency (NCA) to support its work using multiple aliases to communicate with numerous people nationally and internationally.

In its latest challenge, HMGCC Co-Creation wants to hear from organisations which have an emulated phone solution to potentially help the NCA in its future work.

The solutions being put forward by organisations applying for this challenge should already be at mid to high Technical Readiness Level (TRL).

Organisations are being asked to apply if, over a 12-week period, they can develop and demonstrate a piece of technology to meet this challenge. HMGCC Co-Creation will provide funding for time, materials, overheads, and other indirect expenses.

Key information

Budget up to £60,000
Project duration 12 weeks
Competition opens Thursday 10 October 2024
Competition closes Thursday 7 November 2024 17:00hrs

Context of the challenge

This HMGCC Co-Creation challenge, launched on behalf of the NCA, is looking for an emulated phone solution.

The NCA’s mission is to protect the public from serious and organised crime. It operates across the UK and around the world. This requires NCA officers to be able to communicate securely, effectively and dynamically with officers and a range of partners 24/7, 365 days a year. Communications include voice, text, video and picture messaging.

Officers may use multiple aliases and several physical mobile phones to interact with numerous people, protecting their identity and the identity of those with whom they communicate. The NCA wants to reduce the use of physical handsets, in favour of simplifying operations by using a single approved device. The single device should be able to host a series of emulations that can be spun-up and decommissioned rapidly.

Due to the sensitivity of some operations, there must be minimal risk of emulation being linked, and any risks should be identified and clearly articulated for the risk owner.

Who should apply?

This challenge is open to sole innovators, industry, academic and research organisations of all types and sizes. There is no requirement for security clearances.
Solution providers or direct collaboration from countries listed by the UK government under trade sanctions and/or arms embargoes, are not eligible for HMGCC Co-Creation challenges.

Evaluation criteria

All proposals, regardless of the application route, will be assessed by the HMGCC Co-Creation team. Proposals will be scored 1–5 on the following criteria:

Scope: Does the proposal fit within the challenge scope, taking into consideration cost and benefit?

Innovation: Is the technical solution credible, will it create new knowledge and IP, or use existing IP?

Deliverables: Will the proposal deliver a full or partial solution, if a partial solution, are there collaborations identified?

Timescale: Will the proposal deliver a minimum viable product within the project duration?

Budget: Are the project finances within the competition scope?

Team: Are the organisation / delivery team credible in this technical area?

HMGCC Co-Creation supporting information

HMGCC works with the national security community, UK government, academia, private sector partners and international allies to bring engineering ingenuity to the national security mission, creating tools and technologies that drive us ahead and help to protect the nation.

HMGCC Co-Creation is a partnership between HMGCC and Dstl (Defence Science and Technology Laboratory), created to deliver a new, bold and innovative way of working with the wider UK science and technology community. We bring together the best in class across industry, academia, and government, to work collaboratively on national security engineering challenges and accelerate innovation.

HMGCC Co-Creation is part of the NSTIx Co-Creation network, which enables the UK government national security community to collaborate on science, technology and innovation activities and to deliver these in partnership with a more diverse set of contributors for greater shared impact and pace.

HMGCC Co-Creation aims to work collaboratively with the successful solution providers by utilising in-house delivery managers working Agile by default. This process will involve access to HMGCC Co-Creation’s technical expertise and facilities to bring a product to market more effectively than traditional customer/supplier relationships.