Darwin Plus: how to apply for project and fellowship funding.

DASA is launching the second phase of the Predictive Cyber Analytics competition to develop a deployable solution to predict and counter future cyber threats.

This competition is seeking novel approaches to cyber security to enable proactive defence in a hostile cyber environment. Ultimately these approaches could predict the most likely offensive cyber events and identify optimal cyber defences.

Proposals that focus on theoretical models, lack implementation to real data or ingest social media feeds or other public data of a personal nature are outside the scope of this competition.

For phase 2 of this competition, up to £850k of funding is available. We expect to fund up to three projects with durations of up to 12 months. Additional funding is anticipated for a future phase.

Further details about the competition can be found in the Predictive Cyber Analytics Phase 2 competition document.

This competition is now open and will close at midday BST on 12 August 2019.

Residents of Much Wenlock are being invited to a drop-in session to find out about flood risk in the town.

The Environment Agency completed two flood storage areas to help protect the town in 2017. But given the two brooks they serve, the Sytche and the Shyte, are rapid response catchments, they have limited effectiveness during periods of summer flooding as they fill very quickly during heavy rain in the summer and 400 properties are at risk of flooding.

Now the Environment Agency, supported by Much Wenlock Town Council, want to talk to residents about the risks, what they can do to help protect themselves and to discuss setting up a local Flood Action Group that would work in partnership with agencies tasked with managing flood risk to safeguard the community.

Adam Lines, Shropshire Environment Manager for the Environment Agency said:

We would like to use the drop-in session to highlight the fact that, while the risk of winter flooding has been greatly reduced, there is still the potential for flooding in the area because the brooks fill so quickly during periods of heavy summer rain.

Mayor of Much Wenlock, Councillor Bert Harper, welcomed this initiative by the Environment Agency. He said:

We cannot stress enough to residents of the town how important it is to be well prepared for the kind of flooding that we last saw in 2007 and 2008. It all happened so very quickly on those occasions, but the misery of the aftermath can last for a long time, particularly if homes are inundated with water.

Much Wenlock is designated as a Rapid Response Flood Catchment area at the highest level, on a par with Boscastle. It is the only such area at this level in Shropshire and we really do need to ensure we are prepared for severe flooding. This event will certainly help us all to do just that.

The drop in session is being held in Priory Hall in Much Wenlock from 6.30pm to 8.30pm on 10 July. Representatives from Shropshire County Council and the National Flood Forum will also be there to chat to residents.

Public drop in session is being held in Priory Hall on 10 July