Dstl has made the code freely available to make it easier for suppliers and partners to adopt and help develop this standard for autonomous sensor systems

Sensing for Asset Protection with Integrated Electronic Networked Technology (SAPIENT), created by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) in partnership with industry, is an open standard for combining and integrating data from various heterogeneous autonomous smart sensors into a single consolidated picture for the user.

Dstl hopes that by making the test harness and middle-ware code available for free, it would spur more organizations—both domestic and foreign—to use SAPIENT.

Sensor manufacturers will be able to verify that their component complies with the SAPIENT interface control document thanks to the test harness software (ICD). Dstl makes this content available for use by anyone under the terms of the Apache License, Version 2.0.

Many high-profile international exercises and experiments have used SAPIENT, which has led to a wider acceptance by industry and partners.

It is being considered as a prospective NATO standard for counter-drone systems and has been chosen by MOD as the benchmark for counter-UAS (uncrewed air system) technology.

Industry and partners are encouraged to participate in the SAPIENT project by Dstl.