Michael O'Connor

Michael O'Connor

I am currently on secondment from the Ministry of Defence to the Defence Industries Council Secretariat. I am based in SBAC's London office and I report directly to SBAC's Director General, who is the Secretary to the DIC. Although I lodge with SBAC, the four defence trade associations (SBAC, DMA, Intellect and SMI) all cover the costs of the Secretariat.

My role is to help facilitate getting industry messages into government, particularly through the National Defence Industries Council and its various working groups. I was fortunate that my arrival coincided with the launch of the Defence Industrial Strategy in June 2005, which led to step change in the relationship between MOD and industry. Consequently, the workload for my post has been very busy and at times we have been extremely stretched trying to meet all the competing demands for an industry input. It has provided a fascinating opportunity to contribute to policy both inside government and with industry. In many ways my visibility of what is happening inside MOD is far better in this post than it was when I worked inside the Ministry itself.

As a civil servant (working for industry) trying to persuade government to adopt more business friendly approaches, there are times when one could feel quite schizophrenic. I often find myself working outside the traditional comfort zone, but that is part of the challenge. It helps if one can work independently and can rely on one's own personal abilities, without the support system one normally has inside an MOD department. However, SBAC and the wider industry team have provided me with a great deal of support and I have learnt a lot from them about how they look to solve problems. Proof that I have enjoyed the secondment experience is the fact that I have agreed to stay for an additional year!