UK Defence Innovation has reopened the Security Open Call, with Stage 1 submissions open from 3 August 2026 to 12:00 midday on 27 August 2026. According to the GOV.UK launch notice, the competition is intended to find proposals that address security challenges across public safety, national security, border security and protective security, with up to £350,000 available per successful project. (gov.uk) For policy readers, the relaunch matters because the call reads less like a general research fund and more like a demand-led competition tied to named government users. UKDI’s competition document begins with Home Office and National Protective Security Authority priorities in 2026 Cycle 1, and it says further cycles through 2026 and 2027 are planned, subject to stakeholder funding. (gov.uk)
The Home Office strand is centred on problems such as secure information sharing across policing and government, responses to online harms and cyber-enabled crime, resilience against cyber and hybrid threats, and the disruption of organised immigration crime. The NPSA strand is more tightly drawn around protective security, including vehicle screening, crowd screening, hostile reconnaissance detection, extended reality applications, AI-enabled training and intrusion detection or wide-area monitoring. (gov.uk) In practical terms, applicants will need to write to an operational problem rather than to a broad technology trend. A proposal built around AI, sensors or data tools will not be enough on its own; the competition document requires clear alignment to a defined Challenge Area, and proposals touching more than one focus area must be submitted separately. (gov.uk)
The funding conditions point to later-stage development rather than early exploratory work. UKDI says funded projects must end at Technology Readiness Level 6 or 7, with a prototype or technology demonstrator shown in a relevant environment and a realistic route to operational impact within two years of project completion. (gov.uk) The competition document sets three routes: a project of up to 12 months and £350,000 reaching TRL 6; a project of up to 18 months, still capped at £350,000, where an optional testing and trialling phase takes the work from TRL 6 to TRL 7; or a testing-and-trialling-only project of up to six months and £150,000 for ideas already at TRL 6. For suppliers, that narrows the field to teams that already have a credible technical base and a plan for adoption, not paper studies or off-the-shelf demonstrations with no development work. (gov.uk)
The application process is intentionally built around a short first step. Stage 1 is an overview proposal, reviewed by UKDI and the relevant government challenge owners, and only invited bidders move to a full Stage 2 submission. In the competition document, UKDI describes Stage 1 as an idea overview of up to 1,000 words and Stage 2 as a detailed proposal of about 9,000 words. (gov.uk) The published timetable is tight. For 2026 Cycle 1, Stage 1 closes at midday on 27 August 2026, outcomes are due on 30 September 2026, invited Stage 2 bids open on 1 October and close at midday on 29 October 2026, with final decisions due on 14 December 2026. That gives innovators only a short window to convert an accepted concept into a fully costed delivery plan. (gov.uk)
Eligibility and compliance sit at the centre of the design. Applications must come from UK-based organisations, or from UK-registered entities of international organisations carrying out the work in the UK. The pre-sift also checks that each bid selects only one focus area, stays within the stated budget and duration caps, and reaches the required end TRL. (gov.uk) The process also brings governance issues into the bid at an early stage. Stage 1 bidders are asked to flag legal and ethical matters, including data protection and any approvals that may be needed, while Stage 2 bidders must provide a risk register and an alternative plan if they need government-furnished information or assets. UKDI also says an approved AI tool may assist with pre-sift checks, with any output reviewed by a human decision-maker before a progression decision is made. (gov.uk)
For innovators, the clearest message is that UKDI wants evidence of user need, delivery realism and a route into government use. UKDI’s wider guidance says its competitions are open to businesses of all sizes, including firms that have not previously worked with defence, but this call still expects applicants to think early about exploitation, integration, procurement pathways and measurable security outcomes. (gov.uk) For policymakers and public sector stakeholders, the Security Open Call offers a structured way to pull commercial and academic capability into live government priorities without moving straight to full procurement. If the first cycle performs as planned, the published schedule points to a continuing pipeline into late 2026 and 2027, with future focus areas able to change as departmental demand changes; UKDI also says Stage 2 bids that meet fundable requirements but miss out on immediate award may remain fundable for 12 months while further funding is sought. (gov.uk)