HMGCC Co-Creation Challenge: Detecting Changes in Authorship Within Online Communication
Closing: 25 September 2025
Summary of Challenge
When talking online, how do we know that the person we’re talking to is who we think they are? Can we tell if a piece of writing has been changed by a different author?
These questions are at the heart of the latest national security challenge launched by HMGCC Co-Creation, which is looking for tech solutions founded in forensic linguistics, to help ensure the identity of online authors. A key requirement is to automate processes with explainable and defensible decisions.
HMGCC Co-Creation will provide funding for time, materials, overheads and other indirect expenses for applicants successful in phase 2 of the competition.
Context of Challenge
HMGCC Co-Creation is launching a challenge on behalf of national security to find a solution that detects changes in authorship within online communications and provide a detailed explanation of the detected differences.
UK government departments, like many private sector organisations with a global reach, conduct significant communication online. By communicating only via online text, there is a need for assurance that the person being messaged is the intended recipient, using writing style, motivation, mood and attitude changes as clues to their identity, with any changes needing to be understood in the context of national security concerns.
The Gap
Specialists can analyse written online communication and may be able to spot inconsistencies across multiple messages from an individual, for example changes in linguistic style, tone, mood and motivations. However, this can be labour intensive and does not scale for many different online interactions.
It is believed that writing patterns of an individual can be learnt by a machine, giving the capability of automated anomaly detection. The machine’s explanation of why a change has been detected can then be investigated further.
Dates
- Competition opens: Monday 1 September 2025
- Clarifying questions published: Friday 19 September 2025
- Competition closes: Thursday 25 September 2025 at 5pm
- Applicant notified with feedback: Monday 6 October 2025
- Phase 2 competition opens: Tuesday 7 October 2025
- Phase 2 competition closes: Friday 24 October 2025
- Applicant notified: Tuesday 4 November 2025
- Pitch day in Milton Keynes: Wednesday 12 November 2025
- Commercial onboarding begins*: Wednesday 19 November 2025
- Target project kick-off: Late November/early December 2025
*Please note, the successful solution provider will be expected to have availability for a one-hour onboarding call via MS Teams on the date specified, to begin the onboarding/contractual process.
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.
Application and Evaluation Criteria: Phase 1
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.
Applications must be no more than one page or one slide in length. The assessment panel will only read the first page or slides if the page limit is exceeded.
All proposals will be assessed by the HMGCC Co-Creation team. Proposals must include the following criteria, and will be scored 1 – 5:
- Applicant details: Contact name, organisation details, and registration number
- Scope: Does the proposal fit within the challenge scope, taking into consideration cost and benefit?
- Innovation: Is the technical solution credible, will it create new knowledge and IP, or use existing IP?
- Deliverables: Will the proposal deliver a full or partial solution, if a partial solution, are there collaborations identified?
Following assessments, the successful applicants will be invited to submit a more in-depth proposal in phase 2. There will be feedback given to the successful applicants to aid their full proposal submission.
Challenge Documents
