Open Innovation and Collaboration

Added:
Jul 10, 2014 11:17 am Open innovation is a methodology to capitalize on diverse, often non-traditional talents and insights, wherever they reside, to solve problems. Commercial industry has proven open innovation to be an effective and efficient mechanism to overcome seemingly impossible technology and/or new product barriers.

AFRL has actively and successfully participated in collaborative open innovation efforts. While these experiences have demonstrated the power of open innovation in the research world, existing mechanisms do not allow AFRL to rapidly enter into contractual relationships to further refine or develop solutions that were identified.
This BAA will capitalize on commercial industry experience in open innovation and the benefits already achieved by AFRL using this approach. This BAA will provide AFRL an acquisition tool with the flexibility to rapidly solicit proposals through Calls for Proposals and make awards to deliver innovative technical

solutions to meet present and future compelling Air Force needs as ever-changing operational issues become known.
The requirements, terms and specific deliverables of each Call for Proposals will vary depending on the nature of the challenge being addressed. It is anticipated that Call(s) for Proposals will address challenges in (or the intersection between) such as the following technology areas:
Materials:
- Exploiting material properties to meet unique needs
- Material analysis, concept / prototype development, and scale up
Manufacturing Processes that enable affordable design, production and sustainment operations
Aerospace systems:
- Vehicle design, control, and coordinated autonomous and/or manned operations
- Power and propulsion to enable next generation systems
Human Effectiveness:
- Methods and techniques to enhance human performance and resiliency in challenging environments
- Man - Machine teaming and coordinated activities
Sensors and Sensing Systems:
- Sensor and sensing system concept development, design, integration and prototyping
- Data integration and exploitation

Added:
Nov 22, 2016 8:44 am Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) - Call 1 Request For Information (RFI)

Response Date/Time: 10 January 2017 - 2:00PM
This is a Request for Information (RFI) and not a solicitation. The United States Air Force (USAF) would like industry participation in an Integrated Systems Engineering Team (ISET) that will be focused on reducing risk and life cycle costs for a future DARC acquisitions program. The ISET will run in parallel with government research efforts to prove out a potential architecture for the DARC system, further reducing technical risk and advancing technology maturation. This RFI seeks information on the level of interest and availability of qualified participants within industry.
Following are primary and alternate Points of Contact (POC) for Call 1 ONLY:
Noreen F. Bennett, Contracting Officer,
noreen.bennett@us.af.mil, 937-713-9803
Cassi Ballinger, Contract Negotiator,
cassi.ballinger@us.af.mil, 937-713-9981

Added:
Apr 13, 2017 9:49 am Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)- Call 1 Initial Announcement

Proposal Due Date/Time: 12 May 2017 - 3:00 PM (Eastern)
Call 1 Description - The DARC ISET will consist of several members all of which have experience with ground-based radar and space situational awareness. The objective of the ISET is to identify technical and programmatic risks associated with the development of a ground-based radar to perform detection and tracking of various objects in space. Team members will work together to develop reports addressing government defined technical concepts and risk areas. Periodically, the ISET will meet to present information contained in their reports and discuss future work in a non-proprietary forum. In parallel to the ISET, a group of government laboratories will be developing a DARC government reference architecture (GRA); the intent of the ISET is to supplement that effort by addressing risks that are not specifically addressed by the GRA development and testing. Together, the outcomes of the GRA and the ISET will be used to inform a request for proposals (RFP) for the DARC program of record system in FY19/20 timeframe.