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Industry
Information Exchange Opportunities
USJFCOM
employs a number of traditional and new avenues to both
distribute and receive important information regarding
new concepts and capabilities.
The
command has some unique-to-USJFCOM vehicles such as:
• Focused
Forums provide the command an opportunity to
disseminate conceptual information on a focused joint
warfighting technological capability area. Focused Forums
are half-day intensive briefings explaining specific
transformational initiatives that are needed to develop
enabling capabilities. Briefings are followed by a Q&A
session.
• Capability
Presentations are the vehicle used to present
ideas and potential solutions to USJFCOM. They are unique
in that they allow industry and academia to participate
in focusing USJFCOM conceptual needs and solutions.
To
learn more about capability presentations, click here.
• Industry
Symposium (IS) - The USJFCOM Industry Symposium
is an annual two-day event, developed around a predetermined
joint
warfighting
capability
theme,
to
broadcast general
USJFCOM long range research and development capability
areas to industry. By comparison, Focused Forums are
intended to publish short term USJFCOM conceptual needs.
These
include traditional contract vehicles like:
• Requests
For Information (RFI, FAR 15.201(b)): USJFCOM
uses this tool to determine what technologies are available
in the marketplace. RFIs are used to gather information
from industry without any promise of a current or future
requirement. Respondents to RFIs will not be reimbursed
for the information they provide. This is not a request
for offers and information provided cannot be used to
create a binding contract.
• Requests
for Proposals (RFP, FAR 15.203): RFPs are intended
to solicit offers from industry regarding fixed government
requirements, which may be accepted and result in a binding
contract.
• Unsolicited
Proposals (USP, FAR 15.600): The USP is a tool
industry can use to present unique and innovative ideas
to the government. They are prepared without government
endorsement, direction or involvement. USPs must include
sufficient detail for the government to make a determination
that the product or service offered is worthwhile and
supports the current needs of USJFCOM. The USP may not
be an advance proposal for a known agency requirement
that is planned for future acquisition.
• Broad
Agency Announcements (BAA, FAR 35.016): The
BAA is used to advertise the research and development
requirements for a specific program and solicits proposals
on how to meet those R&D requirements. Contracts
may be awarded on the basis of the proposals received.
BAAs may remain open for long periods of time with the
ability of having multiple contracts awarded on the basis
of responses received. The BAA process may only be used
for the acquisition of basic and applied research. The
focus is not specific hardware or system solutions.
• Federally
Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs):
An FFRDC is a university, consortium of universities, other not-for-profit
or non profit organization, or an industrial firm as an autonomous organization
or as an identifiable separate operating unit of a parent organization that
performs for a sponsoring Federal agency a special long-term research or development
need that cannot be satisfied as effectively by existing in-house or contractor
resources. The sponsor agency may permit non-sponsor activities, such as USJFCOM,
to place work with the FFRDC, if the proposed work is within the purpose, mission,
general scope of effort or special competency of the FFRDC, which cannot be
fulfilled by competitive contracting. You can find a master list of FFRDCs
maintained by the National Science Foundation: www.nsf.gov/sbe.srs/ffrdc.
• Research
With Educational Institutions and Nonprofit Organizations
(FAR 35.015):
When R&D work is not defined precisely, the contract states only a period
during which work is conducted (i.e., results during a specified period are
not required), and the contractor bears primary responsibility for the research.
If the contract is based on the particular research effort and management efforts
of a principal investigator or project leader, they must be identified in the
contract.
• Cooperative
Research and Development Agreement (CRADA 15 USC 3710(a)): A
CRADA is a legal agreement between USJFCOM and one or
more non-government parties, such as private industry
and academia. CRADAs offer both parties an opportunity
to leverage each other's resources when conducting mutually
beneficial research and development (R&D). However,
no government funds may be used to support a CRADA partnership.
The objective of a USJFCOM CRADA is to establish a collaborative
partnership that accelerates research and development
to meet joint warfighting capability requirements.
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