HMGCC Challenge: Synthetic Environment Tools to Predict Behaviour
Summary of Challenge
Crisis contingency is about predicting people’s responses to threat or danger, to help keep them safe in the future. HMGCC Co-Creation’s latest challenge is seeking to evaluate tools that provide a synthetic environment to simulate how populations might respond to scenarios such as widespread disinformation or terrorism.
Organisations are being invited to apply for workstream one, workstream two, or both.
- Workstream one is to undertake paper-based landscape mapping to evaluate synthetic environment tools (landscape mapping).
- Workstream two is to provide the evaluation environment for these tools.
- Experts who have a tool they would like to be evaluated as part of the challenge can register their interest.
HMGCC Co-Creation will provide funding for time, materials, overheads and other indirect expenses.
Context of Challenge
National security needs the right tools to help it predict population responses, in a bid to be more resilient and to help protect the nation against threats such as terrorism or disinformation. All use of this technology needs to be legal, necessary and proportionate.
For this reason, HMGCC Co-Creation wants to find and evaluate tools that can create a synthetic environment of a population, with a varying degree of market maturity, to simulate responses to certain scenarios and help in crisis planning.
To assure that national security invests in the tools that give the greatest chance of success, HMGCC Co-Creation are co-ordinating a challenge to landscape map tools available or in development, in parallel to capability evaluation.
The gap
There is an ever-present threat from radicalisation and extremist ideology. It is difficult to predict the effect of world events and what disinformation may have, both in the UK and globally.
This challenge is exploring whether research and developments into advanced synthetic environments and AI could be used to help national security resilience.
Dates:
- Competition opens: Monday 4th August 2025
- Online Briefing Call (see link here for registration details): Tuesday 26th August 2025 @ 10am (UK time)
- Clarifying questions deadline: Tuesday 26th August 2025
- Clarifying questions published: Wednesday 27th August 2025
- Competition closes: Thursday 04th September 2025 at 5pm (UK time)
- Shortlisted Applicants notified: Tuesday 16th September 2025
- Pitch day in Milton Keynes: Tuesday 23rd September 2025
- Pitch Day outcome: Monday 29th September 2025
- Commercial onboarding begins*: Friday 3rd October 2025
- Target project kick-off: Monday 03rd November 2025
Eligibility
This challenge is open to sole innovators, industry, academic and research organisations of all types and sizes. There is no requirement for security clearances.
Solution providers or direct collaboration from countries listed by the UK government under trade sanctions and/or arms embargoes, are not eligible for HMGCC Co-Creation challenges.
Routes to Apply
HMGCC Co-Creation is working with a multiple and diverse set of community collaborators to broadcast and host challenges. Please follow this link for the full list of community collaborators.
If possible, please submit applications via a community collaborator.
If the community collaborator does not host an application route, please send applications directly to cocreation@hmgcc.gov.uk including the challenge title with a note of the collaborator network where this challenge was first viewed.
All information you provide to us as part of your proposal, whether submitted directly or via a collaborator platform, will be handled in confidence.
How to apply
Applications must be no more than six pages or six slides in length. HMGCC Co-Creation reserve the right to stop reading after 6 pages if this limit is breached. The page/slide limit excludes title pages, references, personnel CVs and organisational profiles.
There is no prescribed application format, however, please ensure your application includes the following:
- Applicant details: Contact name, organisation details and registration number.
- Scope: Describe how the project aligns to the challenge scope.
- Innovation: Describe the innovation and technology intended to be delivered in the project, along with new IP that will be generated or existing IP that can be used.
- Deliverables: Describe the project outcomes and their impacts.
- Timescale: Detail how a minimum viable product will be achieved within the project duration.
- Budget: Provide project finances against deliverables within the project duration.
- Team: Key personnel CVs and expertise, organisational profile if applicable.
Challenge Documents
