Seconds out

This article discusses how the UK-based company, QinetiQ Ltd., has built its reputation as one of the key players in the defense and security technology arena in its brief existence. But the challenge still remains to shed its image as the Ministry of Defense´s research and test institute and firmly establish itself as a financially successful market driven company. During its first years into the commercial technology arena, QinetiQ divided its core competencies into four divisions: integrated services, sensors and electronics, knowledge and information systems, and future systems and technology. In order to develop an effective dialogue with industry and build revenue streams in the commercial sector, it appointed managing directors for the key technology streams whose key mission was to understand where the company fitted in terms of the needs of those marketplaces. With its secure base of MoD research, test and evaluation contracts, the company is in a unique position to benefit from key emerging technologies as well as opportunities across the Atlantic where driven by heightened security concerns, the company is making inroads into the lucrative US market.