Her Majesty's Government Communications Centre (HMGCC) is a small group tasked to provide electronics and software to support the communication needs of the British Government. It is closely linked with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the British intelligence community.

History

It used to have a communications centre at Signal Hill near Gawcott

Gawcott

Gawcott is a village about southwest of Buckingham in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. The village is in the civil parish of Gawcott with Lenborough.The toponym is derived from the Old English for "cottage for which rent is payable"...

, also in Buckinghamshire. Hanslope Park is just east of the M1. The Midshires Way

Midshires Way

The Midshires Way is a long distance footpath and bridleway that runs for through Middle England from Bledlow in Buckinghamshire to Stockport, Greater Manchester....

 passes nearby.

Dr John Widdowson was the head of the organisation from 2000-5; from there he moved to GCHQ. Stephen Ball was Chief Executive until 2001. He is now CEO of Lockheed Martin UK

Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area....

.

Structure

The organisation employs approximately 380 personnel and the solutions it provides are bespoke to fit the needs of the government, its organisations, and specifically its intelligence assets. HMGCC is responsible for research and design in the following disciplines:

• Radio frequency engineering
  Radio frequency engineering
  Radio frequency engineering is the analysis and design of circuits at frequencies where transmission lines are comparable to the wavelength. It includes the study of amplifiers, oscillators, mixers, demodulators and antennas. This is relevant to RFID, broadcasting, radar, wireless computer...
  
  
• Signal processing
  Signal processing
  Signal processing is an area of systems engineering, electrical engineering and applied mathematics that deals with operations on or analysis of signals, in either discrete or continuous time...
  
  
• Software engineering
  Software engineering
  Software Engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software, and the study of these approaches; that is, the application of engineering to software...
  
  
• Acoustics
  Acoustics
  Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of all mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician while someone working in the field of acoustics...
  
  
• Audio engineering
  Audio engineering
  An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
  
  
• Operating systems
• GUI
  Gui
  Gui or guee is a generic term to refer to grilled dishes in Korean cuisine. These most commonly have meat or fish as their primary ingredient, but may in some cases also comprise grilled vegetables or other vegetarian ingredients. The term derives from the verb, "gupda" in Korean, which literally...
  
   design
• Embedded systems
• System engineering
• Manufacture and application of microcircuits
  Integrated circuit
  An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
  
  
• Study of power sources
• Operational research
• Mechanical engineering
  Mechanical engineering
  Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
  
  

External links

• Official HMGCC Website
• Hi-res aerial photography (UK Secret Bases, Jan 2007) reveals £30 million expansion project

News items

• Telegraph March 2008