New industrial collaboration tackles supply chain challenges

(London, United Kingdom, 20th August 2024): Digital Catapult, has today announced that leading technology businesses will join the Made Smarter Innovation Digital Supply Chain Hub programme to apply deep tech solutions to bolster the resilience of national supply chains. Each company will receive funding of up to £150,000 to address one of three supply chain challenges in cybersecurity, carbon management, and data governance, with a view to strengthening UK industry. 

The new initiative will build on the success of the Digital Supply Chain Hub, a programme designed to make UK supply chains more efficient, resilient and sustainable, which has already enabled over forty startups and SMEs to secure more than £3 million in funding. The new participating companies, Orpheus Cyber, Farm Carbon Toolkit and Icebreaker One will accelerate the practical application of deep tech in response to demand from industry, and concerns around future supply chain disruptions such as cyber-attacks, outages and regulatory hurdles.  

Orpheus Cyber will look to identify cyber-vulnerabilities and security breaches that could leave supply chains open to cyber-attacks, using data to effectively mitigate risks. By further enhancing its advanced capabilities, and working in collaboration with technical experts from the Digital Supply Chain Hub, Orpheus Cyber will be able to identify vulnerabilities within a supply chain, revealing exposure to data leaks both within an organisations’ own operations and throughout its supply chain network. As more UK consumers opt for locally sourced food over imported products, the demand for domestic agricultural products has increased, putting pressure on farmers to meet higher environmental standards. As such, Farm Carbon Toolkit, a farmer-led enterprise, will join the programme to enhance carbon sequestration, a process that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through absorption into the soil. The Digital Supply Chain Hub’s Food Testbed, which includes Contained Technologies and Lincolnshire Field Products, will partner with Farm Carbon Toolkit to achieve this with a view to developing secure digital tools and services for the fresh and perishable market. 

Icebreaker One, a nonprofit focusing on data and sustainability, will collaborate with experts from the Digital Supply Chain Hub to address the governance challenges of information exchange in digital supply chains. It will focus on building trust around sharing data between different organisations to foster more efficient and sustainable supply chains, helping to develop an advanced data governance system. 

The new programme comes as supply chain leaders and businesses across the country face regulatory hurdles, pressure to decarbonise, and cyber-threats to their supply chain. Research has found that almost three quarters (74%) of UK IT decision makers received notifications of an attack or vulnerability in their supply chain software last year, demonstrating the need for increased collaboration between businesses and technology leaders to mitigate this risk. 

A showcase event in March 2025 will provide the companies with the opportunity to present their findings to other companies enrolled in the Digital Supply Chain Hub programme, facilitating greater networking and collaboration opportunities to improve the UK’s digital supply chains. To get involved and connect with supply chain leaders, visit hub.digitalsupplychainhub.uk