Innovation, Standards and Sovereign Capability

At London Tech Week's Innovations: Land, Sea & Air panel, discussions ranged from advanced manufacturing and subsea technology to artificial intelligence, automation and aerospace. The conversation touched on several important topics, including the balance between innovation and standards, the challenge of scaling high-growth businesses and how the UK can remain competitive in an increasingly complex global marketplace.

Following the panel, one question prompted a particularly interesting discussion: how does the West of England's position as a hub for DNV-certified additive manufacturing contribute to sovereign capability?

The West of England is home to a unique concentration of aerospace, defence, subsea and advanced manufacturing organisations, supported by universities that continue to develop the engineers, scientists and technologists needed by industry. Together, they create an environment where new technologies can be developed, tested and eventually adopted within highly regulated sectors.

For manufacturing, sovereign capability is often associated with where a product is made. Increasingly, however, it is also about confidence in how products are manufactured, the standards they are built to and the resilience of the supply chains that support them.

Certification plays an important role in that confidence. When DEEP Manufacturing achieved DNV Approval of Manufacture for additively manufactured pressure vessels, it demonstrated that Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) could operate within rigorous certification frameworks for safety-critical applications. This is crucial for regulated industries that require evidence, repeatability and assurance.

Traceability is becoming equally important. Across defence, energy and critical infrastructure sectors, organisations are placing greater emphasis on understanding where materials originate, how components are produced and the controls applied throughout manufacture. At DEEP Manufacturing, we have traceability of our wire feedstock and right through design, manufacture, inspection and post-processing, creating a clear record throughout production.

These requirements are becoming increasingly relevant as countries and organisations seek greater resilience within their supply chains. Nations cannot always maintain every manufacturing capability domestically, particularly for specialised components and processes. Instead, sovereign capability increasingly depends on access to trusted manufacturing partners operating within strategically important regions and working to recognised standards.

This is reflected in DEEP Manufacturing's own growth. Alongside our Centre of Excellence in Bristol, we now have engineering and manufacturing capability in Houston, enabling us to support customers on both sides of the Atlantic while also supporting countries in Europe and the Middle East, where demand for certified manufacturing capability continues to grow.

The discussion at London Tech Week highlighted the strength of the UK's innovation ecosystem, but it also reinforced the importance of turning innovation into industrial capability. Advanced manufacturing technologies are creating new opportunities across multiple sectors, and their long-term value will increasingly be shaped by the standards, skills, traceability and trust that sit behind them.

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