CDE Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Can we only submit our proposal electronically using the online portal?

A. Proposals in response to our ‘open’ or themed calls should be submitted using our online portal (www.innovative.ideas.mod.uk) as this allows us to deal with your ideas promptly and efficiently.

Q. How do I register for a portal account?

A. A first step should be to read the information provided on this website about single or multi-user accounts. To register for an account please select the log in button on the home page or go to innovative.ideas.mod.uk

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Q. How long does it take to develop and submit a proposal?

A. The portal is designed to encourage clear and concise technical responses and to produce a pdf file which is approximately 10 pages in length, including attachments. For an experienced user, a proposal could take anything from half a day to a couple of days to complete. For those new to the portal, it is advisable to obtain a user account and complete the proposal form up to two weeks before any deadline to allow time for any difficulties to be addressed.

Q. I want to set up a multi-user account, but I have been informed to contact the CDE, why is this?

A. A mulit-user account may already exist within your organisation. The CDE will inform you of who the Enterprise Authority (the account manager) is within your organisation. They can set you up with an account role.

If no multi-user account exists within your organisation, the CDE will check that you have the correct authorisation levels within your organisation to act as the Enterprise Authority, they will also request contact details from you.

Q. I have received my portal generated password and I am unable to log in – what should I do?

A. You may have incorrectly typed in your portal generated password. The portal generated password may be complex in its combination of characters to manually type in. It is advisable to copy and paste the portal generated password into a new word document, enlarge the font size, to assist you to accurately type in the password.

A. You may not have changed your portal generated password. Your first action should be to change your portal generated password to a password of your choosing (note the password should be 10 characters long with a non-alphabetic character).

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Q. Can I get practical or technical help from MOD before I submit my idea?

A. Yes. To gain practical help on how to use the portal, please contact the CDE to receive more guidance on how to submit a proposal. In order to submit your proposal before a deadline (if applicable), please contact us in good time before the deadline.

A. If you would like technical advice relating to a themed call, please contact the point of contact listed on the Invitation to Tender or the call document relating to that call.

Q. Can I submit with only partial parts of the Technical Proposal Template completed?

A. Your submission must contain the necessary information that allows us to issue a contract on successful selection. This includes both technical and commercial information.

Q. Is there a deadline for submissions?

A. For our ‘open’ call there is no deadline as such, however there will be a cut off point (0900 on the first Thursday of the month) for submissions, if you do not submit in time for that month, you will be able to submit next month, prior to that month’s cut off date.

A. For a themed call, i.e. proposals in response to a specific call document or Invitation to Tender, there will be a specified deadline for submission. Proposals submitted after this date will be assessed as part of the ‘open’ call process and will not have access to the ring fenced funding of the themed call.

Q. I want to submit my proposal, however, I cannot see the submit button?

A. You will need to ensure that the Publish As option is set to Final, followed by the Publish button in the Options task box. The Submit button will then be visible to select in order to submit your proposal, see the Technology Application Reference Manual.

Q. Are the MOD staff who will be assessing my idea qualified to do so?

A. Yes. Assessors are carefully selected tailored to the technical area to be assessed. All proposals will be allocated and assessed by panels built up directly from experts from the military, the Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (Dstl), Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), and other MOD science and engineering experts. The assessors will be experts in the area of the proposal they are evaluating.

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