Birmingham bin strikes are just the latest example of the military stepping in to keep essential services running
When local authorities are stretched, whether due to bin strikes, flooding or public health crises, it is now increasingly common for the Armed Forces to be called in.
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The military’s reputation for speed, reliability and discipline makes it the go-to solution when no one else has the capacity to respond.
The bin strike in the West Midlands is the latest example, where local authorities have turned to military personnel to step in and keep essential services running.
While these deployments speak to the professionalism of our Armed Forces, they also raise an important question: are we doing enough to equip them not only for defence, but also for the broadening scope of civic support they’re now expected to deliver?
Deep tech innovation could represent the next frontier in operational support, ensuring that the military is not only equipped to act, but empowered to lead, enable and enhance national resilience across a wide range of challenges.
Technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and distributed ledger technology (DLT) can be adapted to civilian challenges such as flooding, weather-related crises, and infrastructure disruption, as more of these events occur.
To fully realise this potential, the military must focus on how these technologies can enable smarter coordination, data sharing between organisations, and decision-making across both military and civilian responders.
Imagine the impact if local responders had secure access to environmental datasets as well as logistics data, detailing which organisation was best placed to act and when, whether that be building defences, moving equipment, or transporting bin bags and waste.
Perfecting this type of coordination offers a major opportunity to enhance national preparedness, allowing for faster, more efficient deployment of resources.
Delivering this vision, however, requires stronger collaboration between military organisations, local government, startups, and technology providers.
Organisations like Digital Catapult are vital to this effort, bridging the gap between these groups. Partnering with local authorities, regional innovation centres, defence and security leaders, and SMEs, accelerates the practical application of deep tech across key industries, and enables early-stage deep tech companies to scale successfully.
Many of these innovators already have solutions with relevance to military needs, particularly around supply chain resilience, operational coordination, and crisis response.
By convening the right expertise and identifying high-impact applications, the Armed Forces can be equipped not only for defence and security, but to support the nation through any future crisis, military or civil.
Steven Wood is the Aerospace, Defence and Security Lead at Digital Catapult, learn more about their work here.
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