The UK Design Council has just launched the Mobile Phone Security Challenge, which is part of Design Out Crime, an initiative it runs in collaboration with the Home Office Design & Technology Alliance Against Crime.

The Mobile Phone Security Challenge, which is supported by the Technology Strategy Board (the UK innovation agency), is offering a total of £400,000 to designers and technology experts to come up with new ways of securing handsets, the data they contain, and their future use as electronic 'wallets' when m-commerce technology is introduced in the UK.

On www.designcouncil.org.uk/crime you can download briefing documents as well as visit the group discussion forum and workspace on Ning.com.

Tenders will be judged by a panel of experts, including Steve Babbage (Security Technologies Manager & Group Chief Cryptographer, Vodafone Group R&D) and Mark Delaney (Director, Connect Design, Nokia).