ONR seeks Partnership Intermediaries to work with NavalX; apply by November 18

The Office of Naval Research is looking for potential partnership intermediaries to work closely with NavalX, the Department of the Navy's Agility Cell, via a Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA). Interested entities are invited to submit Capabilities Statements by 4 p.m. ET on November 18.

NavalX is specifically requesting Capabilities Statements from entities that are interested in partnering with the Department of the Navy, have experience with successfully aiding non-traditional and diverse small businesses and academia, and are eligible to enter into a PIA.as defined in the United States Code, Title 15.

NavalX explicitly reaches for transformational change instead of incremental advances, the Request for Information states. To accomplish this, they must work with innovation ecosystems that include academic, corporate, and governmental partners, with a constant focus on national security challenges.

Under any PIA resulting from the RFI, the partnership intermediary will identify ways to facilitate NavalX specific outreach, events, programs; education to break down barriers to entry; and technology transition to facilitate collaborative or joint activities between the Navy, small business firms, and educational institutions. The partnership intermediary will assist NavalX with stimulating and promoting diverse performers to engage in technology development; ease communication and understanding of unique government requirements; and transfer technology from across the Navy to the private sector and/or other branches of the government.

A potential agreement holder should be able to demonstrate a proven track record of assisting small businesses scale their businesses; transfer dual-use technology to and from local and/or federal government; maintain meaningful engagements with a large network; facilitate and generate meaningful exchanges between disparate stakeholders; dutifully manage fiscal investments of private and public funds; and generate value for academic, commercial, and government-affiliated stakeholders. The PIA partner should also have a strong working relationship with the innovation industrial base in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia region (DMV).

The full RFI, including detailed submission requirements, can be found here: https://federallabs.org/sites/default/files/onrpia.pdf Completed submissions, as well as any related questions, should be sent to Mary Helen Dent at [email protected] and Jessica Young at [email protected]. Please refer to "NavalX Partnership Intermediary Agreement RFI" in all correspondence.