Consolidated Agency Technology Transfer Services (CATTS) Request for Information (RFI)
NASA is hereby seeking information from potential sources that can provide Consolidated Agency Technology Transfer Services (CATTS), whereas CATTS will provide technology commercialization expertise and personnel necessary to support NASA's Technology Transfer Program (T2P) activities at NASA Headquarters and its field centers.
T2P ensures that innovations developed for exploration and discovery are made broadly available, maximizing the benefit to the Nation, by working to enable the commercialization of NASA technologies. In support of this, the future CATTS contractor shall:
Assist with evaluation and processing of New Technology Reports (NTRs) from NASA civil servant employees, contractors, and grantees to meet legal reporting requirements and to identify inventions with commercial potential that ultimately become NASA's next patented technologies.
Provide subject matter experts (SMEs) across a broad range of technical areas (e.g., aeronautics, aerospace, materials, electronics, mechanical and fluid systems, sensors, optics, instrumentation, environmental technology, biotechnology, information technology, software, etc.) to evaluate and provide compelling written evidence of the commercial potential of NASA-owned invention disclosures and make recommendations for patenting decisions. The evidence of commercial potential will be documented in detailed screening reports (which documents a comprehensive inventor interview along with other primary and market research) and assessment reports where the contractor uses a non-enabling description of the invention or sets up a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to gauge commercial interest with specific companies for that technology.
Provide personnel skilled in marketing and licensing NASA's Patent Portfolio (see: https://technology.nasa.gov/patents) of over 1200 patents and 850 software packages to industry by generating and following up on leads in aerospace and non-aerospace industries. In support of this capacity, NASA is seeking a contractor that can provide:
Innovative approaches to locate and encourage pre-entrepreneurs, serial entrepreneurs, investors, and existing businesses to license NASA technologies; and
Effective approaches to utilizing social media to raise awareness and interest in licensing NASA patents and software.
Develop marketing collateral and conduct direct and indirect marketing activities to industry on behalf of T2P. Examples include cold calls, email campaigns, and webinars. In support of this capacity, NASA is seeking a contractor that can provide suggestions of effective ideas to utilize social media, advertising, and/or other activities such as reverse pitch entrepreneurial events to raise awareness and interest in availability of NASA commercially available technologies.
Work with NASA software developers to process new software codes and tools through the NASA Software Release System for release to the public through the NASA Software Catalog (see: https://software.nasa.gov). In support of this capacity, NASA is seeking a contractor that can provide innovative ideas on how to transfer NASA code to the commercial sector for use in emerging areas and other consumer software-based markets. Once NASA software has been approved for release in the NASA Software Catalog and Repository, the contractor shall disposition incoming requests for software using the template Software Usage Agreements (SUA). The contractor shall use the agency-approved identity credentialling tool and supplemental procedures to develop confidence in the authenticity of requestor identities. The contractor shall document each individual release of software in the Software Release section of the NASA Technology Transfer System (NTTS). If an electronic copy of the original signed SUA or release record is maintained by the designated Software Release Authority (SRA), the original paper copy may be discarded. A backup copy shall also be attached electronically to the appropriate NTTS record.
Design, write, and publish NASA's Spinoff publication, provide engaging content and marketing collateral for patents and software listed on the T2P web portal, and for use in targeted social media campaigns.
The contractor shall provide personnel capable of performing data entry, database queries, contact management, and reporting for all manner of intellectual property transactions in the NTTS relational database and automated workflow system.
The contractor shall have the capability to support both virtual work and onsite work at multiple geographic locations.
Current services are being performed via Agency Contract 80MSFC18D0007, with a period of performance set to expire July 11, 2023.
In relation to this CATTS request for information (RFI)/sources sought notice, NASA is specifically looking for interested firms having the following capabilities:
Technology Commercialization and Licensing Support
The contractor shall:
Provide Intellectual Property (IP) management services to assist NASA with patent licensing support including: new technology report marketability triages, commercial technology assessments, market research and technology sector analyses, valuations, and licensing to support negotiation communication strategies.
Deliver New Technology Report (NTR) Screenings of specific NASA innovations and technologies in order to identify appropriate commercial licensing opportunities, technology readiness level and hardware/software development status.
Deliver in-depth commercial technology assessments, when requested of individual inventions, group of inventions, patents or patent pending technologies as requested by NASA.
Develop, conduct, and maintain a training program for new Licensing Executives.
Provide assistance to NASA in developing and implementing innovative and effective strategies for communicating licensing opportunities to start-up entrepreneurs and industry.
Support a weekly telecom to review technology screenings and/or commercial assessments performed by the contractor on selected NASA technologies.
Maintain an Open Action List which shall include the status of any open actions from previous meeting(s) and document the closure of such actions.
Document the final recommendation of NTR screenings and assessments by entering the contractor delivered screenings and assessments with any final decisions/comments by NASA (e.g., Pursue Licensing Partnership, Publication Decision, Patent Filing Decision, Hold/Follow-up) and any supporting data on the technology in NTTS (as directed by NASA).
Facilitate meetings with potential partners, inventors, other government agencies, and other interested parties (as requested) and establish NDAs (as requested).
Respond to inquiries from potential licensees through phone, email, the NASA T2 Portal, the Automated Licensing Application System (ATLAS), and referred by the Agency Licensing Concierge within 2 business days.
Document contact with potential licensee’s interest in NASA technologies in the NTTS as directed by NASA. As a minimum, the information shall include the contact’s name, address, phone number, and identification of the technology.
Facilitate submission of qualified licensee applications.
Support the customer in the vetting of all license applicants to ensure they are upstanding and qualify for the license using sam.gov and other resources as appropriate. The contractor shall follow all government policy in determining if the applicant is suitable for licensing government technologies.
Assist NASA in evaluating potential licensee’s assessment plans or commercial plans and income pro forma statements to assist NASA in evaluating/determining appropriate royalty rates, upfront fees, and annual minimums. The contractor should use such tools as, but not limited to, Hoover’s, Dun and Bradstreet, Manta, Crunchbase, Royalty Source, press releases, Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) findings and primary and secondary market research information as necessary to accomplish this task.
Provide any additional publicly available information about the Technology Opportunity Sheet, patent or software where the potential licensee has expressed interest. Facilitate NDAs as needed for non-public information or discussions about patent pending technologies. Upload signed NDAs to NTTS Tech Transfer Module, then arrange conversation(s) with inventor(s) about patented technologies and/or software releases as needed.
Describe to potential licensee what licensing options and field(s) of use are available to them from NASA (research, non-exclusive, exclusive, partially exclusive field of use, Startup license and/or any future options). Gather feedback from the licensee as to their priorities and business model and research how NASA has already licensed the patent(s), then recommend a license type and sufficient field of use for their intended business plan.
Explain to potential licensee the costs of licensing (if fixed fees) and/or structure of royalties in NASA license agreements (e.g. initial fee, recurring royalties (percentage of gross sales), and annual minimum).
In consultation with the NASA Technology Transfer Officer (civil servant), propose an initial royalty fee structure for proposed license, communicate counter-offers from licensee to NASA Technology Transfer Officer, and communicate NASA approved-royalty terms that will be listed in the draft license agreement.
Generate Draft License Agreement using NASA standard license templates (most common templates are automated in the NTTS database.
Send Draft License Agreement to Center Patent Counsel and SRA, if applicable, for review prior to sending to company for signature. Record relevant dates and information in NTTS License Module.
Communicate any proposed changes to terms and conditions within Licensing Agreements to Center Patent Counsel for approval. Communicate disposition of proposed changes to Licensee and document in updated License Agreement.
Follow up with licensee until Signed License Agreement and initial fees/ royalty payments have been received by NASA. Notify NASA Technology Transfer Officer if licensee will not respond or loses interest in the license.
Prepare center license signature package in accordance with center specifications, ready for e-signatures. Documents may include License Application, initial Royalty Payment receipt, Recommendation to Grant Memo, Determination to Grant Memo, Software Usage Agreement coordination, and licensee-signed license agreement. Provide to authorized NASA official in Center Technology Transfer Office to sign and route signature package.
Once license signature package documents are signed, upload all to License Record in the NTTS Licensing Module and update any other date fields required to log the license. Set up appropriate royalty schedule in NTTS License Module for automated reminders. Transmit NASA-signed License Agreement to licensee for their records.
Communicate with Licensee to set up a Kickoff Meeting with NASA inventor and Licensee (as needed) to transmit patent related information and answer questions. Ensure relevant software, if any, is processed for release and received by licensee
In-Reach
The contractor shall:
Maintain/promote NASA contacts with relevant NASA personnel and inventors identified by NASA.
When requested, plan, manage and execute training sessions/ workshops to promote awareness of Technology Transfer/Commercialization Licensing Process and to inform the attendees of the benefits of and instructions for participating in the New Technology Reporting (NTR) Process and the Commercial Licensing Process.
Technology Awards and Recognition
The contractor shall:
Assist in the nomination of Center technologies for internal and external technology awards and recognition including Quarterly NASA Inventions and Contributions Board Award submission, NASA Invention of the Year and Software of the Year Competitions, Space Technology Hall of Fame, R&D100 Awards, etc. This involves identifying award activities that are desirable to participate in, screening candidate technologies, preparing, processing, and submitting nomination packages for approval on behalf of the Centers for the nominations.
Support the planning and implementation of a yearly Technology Awards Ceremony.
Portfolio Marketing
The contractor shall:
Identify, evaluate, and engage potential licensees for portfolio technologies. The contractor shall define marketing approach in collaboration with NASA for group(s) of inventions
Perform the following tasks as appropriate for portfolio management and marketing/outreach activities:
Conduct company research to identify potential licensees for NASA patents.
Manage marketing/outreach in coordination with NASA.
Travel to company sites or arrange their visits to NASA Field Centers.
Coordinate with NASA prior to participating in various workshops or national conferences to market inventions, etc. and travel to site as appropriate.
Coordinate technology workshops/briefings/webinars to be held either at NASA Field Centers or hosted during an industry event elsewhere.
Assist in partnership development activities in support of licensing agreements, which may include facilitation of Space Act Agreements (SAA).
Participate in and contribute to meetings to discuss and brainstorm new methods of innovatively marketing NASA technologies.
Conduct, as directed and approved by NASA, pilot project(s) or special studies to evaluate technology transfer best practices across government, industry, and academia, and to develop ideas for more effective and low-cost marketing. The contractor shall summarize the results in a report and/or presentation and make recommendations for improvements.
Special Studies
Studies can include specific strategies for approaching industries or engaging the emerging commercial space industry. These special studies are those tasks that fall within the requirements defined above or where NASA may prefer or choose to handle as a separate task order due to business and planning purposes. For each "Special Study" a separate task order is envisioned. No Task Order will be approved until a negotiated price is obtained and approved by NASA.
The contractor shall:
Provide a proposed price for each Task Order (e.g., hours, travel cost (if any), any other expenses associated with the task). The contractor shall provide the planned start and completion date for the task. Upon approval from NASA, the contractor shall initiate the Task Order.
Support special studies related to evaluating the commercial potential and uses of technologies developed by NASA and other federal agencies, such as NOAA, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, NSF, NIST, etc.
Conduct pilot project(s) or special studies to evaluate technology transfer best practices across government, industry, and academia, and to develop ideas for more effective and low-cost marketing. The contractor shall summarize the results in a report and/or a PowerPoint presentation and make recommendations for improvements.
Spinoff
NASA Spinoff has been published as a print book every year since 1976. During that time, the book has served as the publication of record for documenting successful examples of commercialized NASA technology and reporting on the technical details of Spinoffs.
The contractor shall:
Assign technical researchers/writers to gather Spinoff leads, interview companies and NASA experts, perform research, and translate complex scientific and technical information into an accurate, readable abstract of approximately 300-500 words that will document each Spinoff for the historical record.
Add at least 40 new Spinoffs to the Spinoff database annually. The Spinoff database will be hosted on the Technology Transfer Program’s NTTS system, and the contractor shall take the primary responsibility for maintaining the content of it.
Work with NASA-appointed NTTS developers to upgrade the Spinoff database. This work should include adding new metadata categories, adding new types of content (for example, images), and reworking how database results display on the website so that the new information is accessible through searches and is made more readable and useful to website visitors.
Write, edit, and publish at least 24 web features covering companies selling commercialized NASA technology annually as an ancillary product to new database entries. These web features shall be drawn from database content but should include expansions and elaborations, including (for example) quotes from companies and NASA SMEs, additional imagery, and compelling narratives that make the details of the technology and its history more accessible and interesting to a wide audience. There should be a mix of article types, with some articles focusing on a single company and product and other articles incorporating multiple companies and products under a unifying theme or trend.
Work with NASA field centers, engage industry, conduct Internet searches, exploit program data, and use other methods to obtain story leads, then evaluate the leads to determine appropriateness for publication.
Develop a new schedule for publishing Spinoff database entries and web features and other ancillary products. The production schedule, to be approved by NASA, shall proceed on a rolling basis for Spinoff articles, with articles being published online regularly throughout the year.
Manage the technical vetting and approval processes appropriate for database entries and web features. This shall include giving the companies profiled an opportunity to request edits, obtaining approvals from NASA SMEs (when appropriate), and facilitating a review by the Technology Transfer Office at the NASA field center where the technology originated. Prior to articles being published on NASA’s main website, the contractor shall work with a NASA-appointed public affairs officer to secure appropriate agency approvals of the content.
Publish all new Spinoff web features on the Spinoff website. The contractor shall use a NASA-provided content management system to create, and maintain an archive of, these articles.
Publish new web features on nasa.gov up to twice a month. The contractor shall coordinate with a NASA-appointed public affairs officer to decide on the number and timing of new articles published on NASA’s main website, place the articles in layout for final review, and promote the articles on launch. The contractor should coordinate with NASA headquarters social media specialists to place Spinoff articles on the agency’s social media calendar, enlist support from around the agency to amplify Spinoff content, and develop products to promote high-profile web features.
Collect and publish the content created during the previous calendar year in HTML format in one place as a new issue of Spinoff, with the articles hosted in a central location and an HTML landing page for the publication. Each issue’s landing page should be added to the part of the Spinoff website hosting all previous editions of the publication.
Develop an annual print product to carry forward the Spinoff name in a print book. This print product shall contain a selection of articles from those being published online each year. The product shall represent annual highlights, and its design should have an emphasis on imagery and creative elements. It shall also include materials promoting the Technology Transfer Program, as directed by NASA. The annual due date for a review-ready copy of Spinoff is September 1 of the year prior to the book’s publication.
Research, write, or otherwise develop up to twelve presentations, reports, articles, posters, flyers, brochures, and other promotional materials that showcase NASA technologies.
Travel to up to six trade shows and conferences per year in order to collect leads for Spinoff articles. These trips are at the discretion of the Technology Transfer Program executive.
Travel on up to four other trips at the discretion of the program executive. These may be to events that showcase NASA Spinoffs or the Technology Transfer Program, face-to-face meetings with program leadership, or events where the contractor shall speak on NASA Spinoffs.
Store content, research documents, imagery, and correspondence related to each Spinoff article for future retrieval purposes.
Provide expertise, information, images, data, and other resources to accommodate specific questions from NASA and (when approved by NASA) the news media.
Maintain a social media presence for NASA Spinoff, including Facebook and Twitter accounts. Fresh content should be posted to these accounts regularly. The Spinoff accounts shall also support agency-wide campaigns and amplify content from related NASA programs.
Technology Transfer Commercialization (T2X) Strategy Support
Under NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), NASA’s Technology Transfer Program ensures that innovations developed for exploration and discovery are broadly available, maximizing the benefit to the Nation. The Technology Transfer Program aims to commercialize NASA technologies and launch new products. In support of the Technology Transfer program commercialization objectives, NASA desires consultation to aid in strategy development and identification of target regions.
The contractor shall provide:
Strategic recommendations, spanning the entire U.S., for commercialization activity target regions. Contractor shall provide recommendations based on comprehensive analysis of regional ecosystems including, but not limited to, the following:
Innovation Ecosystem
Incubation and Acceleration Programs
Regionally Based Startup Resources
Access to Capital for Business Startup and Expansion
Regional Need for NASA Involvement
Workforce and Talent Pipeline
Regional Connectivity and Technology Focus Areas
Regional Ecosystem Leadership and Players
Acceleration Support Pipeline
Regionally Based Challenges for NASA Commercialization
Creating/building strategic engagement with academia and other federal, state, or local government agencies.
Personnel with specialized experience working with government technology transfer, academia, startups/entrepreneurs, economic development entities and investor communities.
Initial high-level analysis to NASA program management, including presentation summaries and briefings.
Assistance to NASA program management to determine regions requiring deep-dive analysis.
Deep-dive entrepreneurial ecosystem analysis for determined regions of interest.
Strategic recommendations, including validation for such recommendations, and shall assist NASA program management with ecosystem integration.
Knowledgeable staff for Exhibits/Tradeshows as required.
Statement of Capabilities:
NASA is seeking capability statements for a total small business set aside, across all socioeconomic categories of small businesses and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Institutions (MIs), as well as from members of the underserved communities as defined by Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity And Support For Underserved Communities Through The Federal Government, for the purposes of determining the appropriate level of competition for CATTS. The Government reserves the right to consider a Small, 8(a), Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SD-VOSB), Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB) or Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) business set-aside based on responses received.
Schedule of Requirement:
This effort is contemplated as having a two-year base period, followed by three one-year option periods.
Response Instructions:
No solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on sam.gov. Interested firms are responsible for monitoring this website for the release of any solicitation or synopsis.
Interested firms having the required capabilities necessary to meet the above requirement described herein should submit a capability statement of no more than ten pages (limited to 1" margins, having double spaced lines, utilizing 12-point Times New Roman font) indicating the firm's ability to perform all aspects of the effort.
Interested firms shall advise if this requirement is considered to be commercial services. A commercial item (i.e., commercial services) is defined in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 2.101.
All responses shall be submitted electronically, to Jesica Pugh Henderson, via email at: jesica.p.henderson@nasa.gov, no later than November 17, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. Central Time.
The subject line of the email submission should be "Response to CATTS RFI 80MSFC22STST221027 from <insert submitting firm's name here>." Email attachments shall be limited to Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or Adobe PDF format(s). The email submission shall be less than 20MB in size to ensure transmission, and shall request confirmation of receipt by NASA.
Reponses shall contain the following information:
Name of submitter, name of the interested firm (to include any parent firm or ownership affiliation), and appropriate contact information (e.g., phone number, email address, mailing address of firm).
Identification of interested firm's business size under anticipated NAICS code 541990 - All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services.
The interested firm's Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code and Data Universal Numbering system (DUNs) number. Note: Interested firms may propose alternate NAICS codes, provided the interested firm additionally submits rationale for each alternate NAICS code recommendation.
The interested firm's number of years in business, along with a list of its customers for the past five years, in order to demonstrate the firm's capabilities and experiences. Note: Interested firms may opt to additionally present a subset of its past customers the firm believes is most relevant to this requirement.
A discussion of the interested firm's experience and performance relevant to the requirements above.
A description of what the interested firm believes the qualifications of a Subject Matter Expert (SME) should be, necessary to support SME requirements specified above.
A statement of the interested firm's current capabilities and qualifications that addresses the firm's ability to provide support which meets the requirements specified above.
Additionally, in support of the Executive Order (EO) 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, NASA is seeking to advance equity or remove barriers for members of underserved communities related to this requirement. As defined in the EO, Underserved Communities refers to populations sharing a particular characteristic, as well as geographic communities, that have been systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life, as exemplified by the list in the preceding definition of "equity." Equity means the consistent and systematic fair, just, and impartial treatment of all individuals, including individuals who belong to underserved communities that have been denied such treatment, such as Black, Latino, and Indigenous and Native American persons, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other persons of color; members of religious minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons; persons with disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; and persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality.
As part of the interested firm's response, NASA seeks input in the following areas:
To support the requirements identified in this RFI/sources sought notice, what barriers or opportunities exist to engage subject matter experts from industry and academia, and how can those barriers be overcome? How can underserved communities be leveraged?
To support the requirements identified in this RFI/sources sought notice, what barriers or opportunities exist to partner with subcontractors that employ members of underserved communities, as defined above?
What other recommendations would you make to enhance diversity and inclusion?
What should be considered to encourage full participation and contribution of organizations and individuals (e.g., outreach efforts, innovative partnerships) in performance of this requirement?
Please note information provided describes only the currently contemplated possible scope of services and may vary from the work scope in a final Performance Work Statement (PWS) included in any potential future solicitation.
This RFI/sources sought notice is for information and planning purposes only, and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor will the Government pay for information solicited. NASA intends to review all responses submitted. Respondents will not be notified of the results of this market research. Interested firms are notified that a lack of response to this RFI/sources sought notice does not preclude participation in any future acquisition for these services, if solicited.
NASA is not requesting proprietary information in response to this RFI/sources sought notice. The Government shall not be held liable, nor suffer any consequential damages, for any proprietary information submitted, that is not properly identified. Any proprietary information submitted will be safeguarded in accordance with applicable Government regulations.
NASA intends to publicize a listing of respondents in order to facilitate teaming arrangements. Should your firm desire not to be included in this listing, clearly indicate this desire in your response.
80MSFC21ST221027 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Marshall Space Flight Center
10/27/21, 1:49 PM