T R A D E W I N D S S O L U T I O N S M A R K E T P L A C E

ANNOUNCEMENT

version 10.0 (superseding all previous versions)

Ef fec t i ve May 1 , 2026

[I] Welcome to the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace

The Department of War (DoW) Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) in conjunction with its marketplace manager, the Applied Research Institute (ARI), is initiating this long-term, open call solicitation for solutions to support the DoW in advancing research, development, experimentation, prototyping, test, procurement, and sustainment of artificial intelligence and machine-learning (AI/ML), digital, and data hardware, software, and service solutions. Specifically, the CDAO seeks to obtain solutions or potential capabilities that fulfill requirements, close capability gaps, or provide potential technological advancements. This initiative, entitled the “Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace” will solicit, collect, assess, and curate AI/ML, digital, and data solutions, and make those solutions available through rapid acquisition pathways.

https://www.tradewindai.com/tw-marketplace

The Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace is a digital environment of post-competition video pitches. The video solutions housed within the marketplace have been assessed through competitive procedures that conform to the competition requirements of 10 USC 4021, 10 USC 4022, 10 USC 4023, 10 USC 3458, FAR/DFARS Part 35, and DFARS Subpart 212.70, and are readily available to be viewed, selected, negotiated, and awarded by DoW activities (and federal agencies that share the relevant authorities underpinning the TSM program), without further competition. The Marketplace provides a venue for government organizations to search, view, review, compare, contrast, contact, negotiate, and procure AI/ML, digital, and data capabilities through rapid acquisition pathways, including relevant pathways described under the Adaptive Acquisition Framework. For industry, academia, and individual solution providers, the Marketplace is a valuable tool to promote AI/ML, digital, and data solutions, products, software, and services to the DoW in an environment with multiple rapid acquisition pathways.

[II] What is the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace?

[III] What are the Goals of the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace?

The goals of the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace are to establish a centralized location where DoW can assess the state of the art in available AI/ML, digital, and data solutions, and where industry, academia, and individual solution providers can promote their research, technologies, and related products and services to the government. Further, the structure of the solicitation and assessment functions of the Marketplace allow for streamlined procurement of available solutions, addressing an impediment to large business, small business, traditional and nontraditional contractors, and research institutions. Finally, by leveraging the statutory and regulatory authorities available, the Solutions Marketplace model provides technology transition pathways from idea to research, research to prototype, prototype to test and evaluation, through production, fielding, and sustainment of a given solution.

https://www.tradewindai.com/tw-marketplace

All US-based companies, traditional and non-traditional, large business and small business, universities, non-profit companies, and individuals are welcome to participate. In addition, foreign universities, research institutions, and entities may submit video pitches for their related solutions provided that such submissions are compliant with international law, including export laws for both the country of origin of the technology provider and the United States.

[V] Why Participate in the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace?

The CDAO, as the primary sponsor of this initiative, seeks to establish the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace as its premier entry point for industry, academia, and individuals to identify technology solutions, service solutions, ongoing research efforts, and proposed future development activities that are relevant to the DoW. Participating entities will have their proposed solutions assessed by a peer panel of DoW and supporting industry and academic Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and will receive feedback on the technical merit of their solution. Further, by submitting against this open call for solutions, all submitted solutions that are deemed “awardable” by the Government Selecting Official (GSO) will be considered “post-competitive” pursuant to 10 USC 4021, 10 USC 4022, 10 USC 4023, 10 USC 3458, FAR/DFARS Part 35, and DFARS Subpart 212.70, and will be eligible for award of further research, prototyping, procurement for experimental purposes, and even production.

Some of the benefits of participation in the Solutions Marketplace include:

Exposure and marketing of solution(s) to relevant DoW and federal government customer organizations.

Access to the TSM’s streamlined submission process requesting only the minimum required organizational and technical information.

Fast track assessment timelines for solution submissions with notifications made within 30 calendar days from the end of each collection period (subject to submission volume).

Contract pathways for award of research, development, prototyping, test and evaluation, procurement for experimental purposes, and even production.

Avenue for marketing and transition of prior Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR), and successful prototyping efforts.

Fully negotiable award terms including payment, intellectual property and data rights license terms, schedule, milestones, and pricing.

Potential for multiple awards with single customer or across multiple customers with flexible funding ceilings and duration of effort, based on a single video solution submission.

[IV] Who can Participate in the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace?

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[VI] Strategic Focus Areas

As identified by the CDAO, and based on its current set of customer interests, the government is seeking video solution pitches which are relevant to one or more of the following strategic focus areas which are derived from the DoW’s direction to provide next-generation capabilities that increase the effectiveness of U.S. forces and support department-wide efforts by addressing critical operational and business challenges. This current list of strategic focus areas will evolve as the customer base and mission focus areas supported by the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace evolve.

The current Strategic Focus Areas for the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace include:

Improving situational awareness and decision-making. AI/ML, digital, and/or data solutions applied to surveillance, reconnaissance, and/or perception tasks such as imagery analysis to extract useful information from raw data and equip leaders with increased situational awareness.

Increasing safety of operating equipment. AI/ML, digital, and/or data solutions that enhance the safety of operating aircraft, ships, and vehicles in complex, rapidly changing situations by alerting operators to hidden dangers.

Implementing predictive maintenance and supply. AI/ML, digital, and/or data solutions that predict the failure of critical parts, automate diagnostics, and plan maintenance based on data and equipment condition.

Streamlining business processes. AI/ML, digital, and/or data solutions which reduce the time spent on highly manual, repetitive, and frequent tasks.

Assuring cybersecurity. AI/ML, digital, and/or data solutions which preserve the ability to use friendly cyberspace capabilities and protect data, networks, net-centric capabilities, and/or project power in and through cyberspace through the employment of cyberspace capabilities.

Developing a digital-age workforce. AI/ML, digital, and/or data solutions for training, education, and immersive programming that supports development of a modern, AI/ML, data, and digital-competent workforce.

AI Agent Networks for Mission Superiority. AI/ML, digital, and/or data solutions that unleash AI-enabled agent development, evaluation, and integration to enhance the autonomy and interoperability of DoW systems, strengthening battle management and decision-support for surveillance, reconnaissance, and the joint targeting process from campaign planning to kill chain execution.

Advancing the modernization of digital infrastructure. Modernization and advancement of platforms, cloud environments, and decentralized data architectures to build secure, scalable systems that support the development and sustainment of a modern AI/ML and data-competent workforce through the application of a robust machine learning operations (MLOps) pipeline and integrated adversarial testing.

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Reliable Data, Store and Compute, Power. Solutions which support computing, data storage, transfer, power and/or utilize AI/ML and data to enhance, prepare, trace, and maintain data reliability.

Enhancing Lethality. AI/ML, digital, and/or data solutions that augment, improve, or otherwise enhance the lethality of existing DoW platforms, systems, subsystems, software, components, or personnel; or deliver new or novel platforms, systems, subsystems, software, components, or personnel solutions that enhance force lethality.

Research Solutions and Services. Innovative qualitative and/or quantitative research tools, techniques, or services that explore the strategic and/or policy implications of data, analytics, or AI in areas relevant to the DoW.

Frontier Artificial Intelligence Solutions. AI/ML, digital, and/or data solutions at the forefront of the current state of demonstrated technological performance, leveraging advanced techniques such as large pre-trained models or autonomous AI agents to perform complex reasoning, planning, or domain-specific problem solving.

Swarm Forge: Swarm & Warfighting. AI/ML, digital, and/or data solutions to iteratively discover, test, and scale novel ways of fighting with and against AI-enabled capabilities using robotics and autonomous systems while integrating into common technology and communication stacks combining America's elite warfighting units with elite technology innovators.

Actionable Intelligence Transformation. AI/ML, digital, and/or data solutions to accelerate the intelligence-to-capability pipeline, transforming data collection and processing from static speculation into dynamic capabilities with interpretable results and shortening intel-to-ops cycles from months to minutes.

Discovering blue sky/other technology applications. Novel applications of AI/ML, digital, and/or data solutions with the potential to materially impact one or more DoW mission areas.

[VII] Submission Instructions

a. Submission, Assessment, and Notification Deadlines

i. The TSM is continuously open for submission of solutions during the period of this Open Call (May 1, 2026 - May 31, 2027).

ii. Submissions are collected monthly (e.g., March 1st through March 31st). This is referred to as the “monthly collection period.”

iii. The cutoff for submissions is the final day of each monthly collection period at 12:00 (Noon) Eastern Standard Time (EST). Submissions received after 12:00 (Noon) EST on the final day of each monthly collection period will be considered submitted in the subsequent monthly collection period.

iv. Submissions received timely for a given month (the monthly collection period) will be assessed in the following month with results available within 30 days of the end of the relevant collection period (e.g., for collection period ending March 31st 12:00 (Noon) EST, assessment results would be distributed no later than April 30th (subject to flexibility for instances of high volume)).

b. Submission Eligibility. Solution videos and form information must be unclassified, and not include any proprietary information, export-controlled information, or controlled unclassified information (CUI). Solution videos must not contain any restrictive markings other than a valid copyright notice. Each video submission shall provide a single solution. Each solution video submission must be accompanied by a fully completed submission form (automated form populated during the video submission process).

c. Elements of the required submission form include:

i. Organization Name (or Individual Name). Use your full legal company/organization/individual name. It should match your SAM.gov profile if you have an existing SAM.gov profile at time of video submission.

ii. Unique Entity ID (UEI) (if available). The Unique Entity ID (UEI) is a 12-character alphanumeric ID assigned to an entity by SAM.gov. If you do not have a SAM.gov profile at time of video submission, leave this field blank.

iii. Current Technology Readiness Level (TRL). Select the current Technology Readiness Level of your solution. A description of the Technology Readiness Definitions is available at Appendix A of this document as well as in a tooltip during the submission workflow process.

The purpose of including the current Technology Readiness Level (TRL) as part of the submission process is to assist customer organizations in understanding what types of efforts and funding your company is seeking for future engagements (Research, Development, Prototyping, Test and Evaluation, Production, or Sustainment). The TRL is not used to determine whether solutions are assessed as awardable/not awardable.

iv. Relevant Strategic Focus Area. The purpose of the strategic focus area field is to identify the solution’s relevance to the sponsor organization and its customers. Full definitions for the TSM Strategic Focus Areas are available in Section VI above. Often a given solution may fit within multiple focus areas. When creating a submission, select the predominant focus area for the solution submitted. If you are in doubt as to the predominant focus area for your submission or believe it spans multiple focus areas, simply select the “Discovering blue sky/other technology applications” value from the drop-down menu. The focus areas are used for categorization and search within the Marketplace for those video solution submissions assessed as “awardable.” The focus area selected for your solution has no impact on the assessment of your solution.

v. Business Size. Identify either large or small business size. Business size is defined by the Small Business Administration (SBA) in accordance with 13 CFR Part 121 Small Business Size Regulations. This classification is based upon average annual receipts or the average number of employees. The definition of “small” varies by industry, which is classified by your North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code. A link to the SBA’s size standards is available within the tooltip for this field.

vi. Small Business Program Designation(s). Select all applicable small business program designations your entity currently holds. This designation must match your SAM.gov account.

vii. Traditional/Non-Traditional Characterization. Identify as either a traditional defense contractor or nontraditional defense contractor. The applicable definition prescribed under 10 USC 3014, as well as an article analyzing the definition is available through a tooltip on the applicable field. Please note, for small business entities, this field will automatically default to nontraditional as small business concerns fall within the nontraditional definition.

viii. Submission Type. Under this section, submitting entities must select the appropriate submission type from the available list. Submissions are categorized into one of five available submission type categories:

1.New TSM Submission – The New TSM Submission category is appropriate for first time video submissions, as well as submissions that have failed a compliance check and have been corrected. The New TSM Submission category is not appropriate for solutions which have been assessed as non-awardable.

2.TSM Resubmission – The TSM Resubmission category is appropriate for those solutions that have previously been submitted as a New TSM Submission, completed the peer assessment process, and were deemed non-awardable.

3.New SBIR/STTR Aisle Submission – The New SBIR/STTR Aisle Submission category is appropriate for prior SBIR/STTR efforts which have completed a competitive evaluation under the SBIR/STTR program and achieved a Phase 1, Phase 2, or Phase 3 SBIR/STTR award. When selecting the New SBIR/STTR Aisle Submission type, the submitter will be required to populate five additional fields identifying: a. Prior SBIR/STTR Award Number (PIID); b. Prior SBIR/STTR Award Topic Number; c. Prior SBIR/STTR Award Date; d.

Awarding Agency; and e. Abstract Title. Information on the SBIR/STTR Aisle is available at Section XIV of this Announcement.

4.Special Topic Submission – The Special Topic Submission is appropriate for solutions submitted in response to an active Special Topic issued via the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace Opportunities page.

5.Prototype Transition Aisle Submission - The Prototype Transition Aisle Submission category is appropriate for prior successfully completed prototyping efforts that were awarded under the authority of the DOW Prototype Other Transaction authority (10 USC 4022), and that employed competitive procedures.

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ix. Foreign Ownership, Control, or Influence (FOCI). Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to identify whether a foreign interest has the power, direct or indirect, whether or not exercised, and whether or not capable of being exercised, to direct or decide matters affecting the management or operations of the submitting entity in a manner which may result in unauthorized access to classified information or may adversely affect the performance of classified contracts. Factors relating to whether an entity is operating under Foreign Ownership, Control, or Influence (FOCI) are provided under the Additional Information section of the submission workflow.

x. Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) status. Where applicable to the submitted solution, select the appropriate value from the drop-down menu identifying whether the solution is: FedRAMP Authorized; FedRAMP In Process; FedRAMP Ready; or select “Not Applicable for Submitted Solution” for solutions that not covered under the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program. Additional Information on FedRAMP is available at www.fedramp.gov.

xi. Authority to Operate (ATO). Where applicable to the submitted solution, select the appropriate value from the drop-down menu identifying whether the solution has an ATO Granted; ATO In-Process (With a Government Sponsor); ATO Sponsor Required; or ATO Not Applicable for Submitted Solution. Additional information on the ATO process is available at https://digital.gov/resources/an-introduction-to-ato.

xii. Impact Level (IL). Where applicable to the submitted solution, select the appropriate value from the drop-down menu identifying what Impact Level (IL) the solution is authorized to operate at: DoW IL2 (Impact Level 2): Non-critical mission data and public information, aligned with FedRAMP Moderate baseline; DoW IL4 (Impact Level 4): Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and non-critical info for non-National Security Systems, requiring higher security; DoW IL5 (Impact Level 5): For highly sensitive CUI, mission-critical data, and National Security Systems (NSS); DoW IL6 (Impact Level 6): For SECRET classified data and NSS, requiring the highest security, including direct SIPRNet connectivity; Not Currently Authorized at Any Impact Level; or Authorization Not Applicable for Submitted Solution.

xiii. Facility Clearance Status (FCL). Where applicable, select the appropriate value from the drop-down menu identifying whether the submitting entity possesses a Facility Clearance to access, store, or handle classified information at the Confidential, Secret, or Top Secret level. Additional information on the FCL process can be found at https://www.dcsa.mil/FCL/Maintaining-Personnel-Security-Clearances/.

xiv. Country. Select the appropriate country for your entity.

xv. Address. Location of the principal place of business (Street Address, City, State, Postal Code).

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xvi. Website. Where available, identify your current website address.

xvii. Submission Point of Contact and Alternate (POC), Email address, and Phone.

These are the POCs that will receive the assessment results and any inquiries about the submission.

xviii. Video Solution Title (less than 128 characters).

xix. Related Keywords (255 Characters). Include at least five relevant keywords to your solution that will help the government find it faster. Please separate your keywords with a comma.

xx. Video Solutions Abstract (1,500 Characters). Use this section to summarize your video solution to appear in the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace for the government user to easily understand your solution prior to watching the video. The narrative is not part of the assessment information.

d. Video Submission Format Requirements. Solution video submissions shall conform with the following format requirements or will be deemed noncompliant and returned for revision.

i. Videos must be no longer than five (5) minutes (5:00) in length.

ii. Minimum Video production requirements:

1. Resolution: HD 1920x1080.

2. Encoded for streaming as a .mp4 file under 1.0gb.

3. Color Space: Rec709 or sRGB.

iii. Videos shall contain no restrictive markings limiting their use or distribution other than a valid copyright notice. Video submissions that contain restrictive markings other than those expressly permitted herein will not be assessed. Submitters will be notified that their video submission contains unauthorized restrictive markings and must be revised and resubmitted.

e. Video Submission Content Requirements. There are four required elements that each video must address. The elements are: (1) Defining the Problem; (2) Accelerating the Mission; (3) Advancing the State of the Art; and (4) Business Model. Instructions for addressing the required video content requirements are as follows:

i. Defining the Problem. Begin your video pitch with a clear description of the problem(s) you solve for your customers (or prospective customers). Explain the problem thoroughly but leave time to address all video submission elements. Is this a common problem across the government? Is it a universal problem across government and commercial markets? Is it specific to a program, platform, or service, or does it have impacts across the DoW? Even if your existing use cases are at a smaller scale, focus on explaining the broader applicability and potential impact of your solution.

ii. Accelerating the Mission. Each video must focus on one solution, though it may relate to multiple focus areas. (You may submit additional videos to present other solutions).

Fully describe your solution and the technical scientific reasoning behind how it addresses the identified problem. Use relevant, properly cited data to strengthen your argument and establish credibility. Identify how your solution addresses the problem you’ve defined. If other technologies (such as hardware, software, licenses, or services) are required to use your solution, identify such dependencies and how technical risk and/or dependencies are managed. Identify how your solution aligns to the TSM Strategic Focus Area(s). If your solution is at a lower Technology Readiness Level (TRLs 1-5) and needs further development or test, explain your plan to mature the solution to better address the problem. If your solution is at a higher Technology Readiness Level (TRLs 6-9), provide a demonstration within your video of the product or case study of your service. Forgot what TRLs are? Check Appendix A.

iii. Advancing the State of the Art. Explain how adoption of your solution would impact the current state of technology/services used by the DoW. In what ways does your proposed solution introduce innovations (defined in DFARS 212.7001) that significantly enhance the DoW’s capabilities? If you are already providing your solution to DoW or other federal agencies, state that here and explain the impact it has had. Identify current customers using your solution including Government and commercial entities. Is your solution saving your customers time? Saving money? Reducing Risk? These are just some examples of potential customer impacts. Lastly, identify and discuss alternatives to solving the identified problem, and why they are less desirable. Provide information to support assertions and/or claims made.

iv. Business Model. Describe how your company’s business model works. The way your business model is explained will be dependent on the structure of your business. NOTE:

THIS SECTION IS NOT REQUESTING NON-PUBLIC PRICING. DO NOT SUBMIT RATES OR

OTHER PROPRIETARY PRICING INFORMATION.

Items to consider for your submission include:

Explain the general structure; for example, do you offer fixed-price licenses, fixed-price services, time and materials services, etc.? Is your business model variable based on volume, complexity, or other factors? Do you offer range pricing or quantity discounts?

Are you seeking funding for development work? If your business model includes variable components, describe how you estimate the scope of work to determine contract pricing.

If your solution is a commercial product, indicate whether the same business model is used for both commercial and government buyers. Where possible, provide evidence that your model is viable in either or both commercial and government markets.

Assure that your business model aligns with the current maturity (TRL) of your technology or service solution.

If you have commercial pricing that is publicly available, include that here.

f. Where to submit the video solution: All solutions must be submitted through www.tradewindai.com. No hard copy or physical submissions (CD/DVD/Blu Ray) will be accepted. To submit your solution, navigate to the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace opportunity page. The TSM Opportunity page is available at www.tradewindai.com.

[VIII] Solutions Marketplace Compliance Check and Notification Process

The TSM internal execution team strives to provide compliance checks in a timely manner (within one (1) business day from submission date) to allow submitting companies the opportunity to revise and resubmit their videos if deemed non-compliant. The scope of review of the compliance check is as follows:

1. Review that the video submission is no longer than 5:00 minutes in length.

2. Review that the video can be viewed and is audible.

3. Review that any graphics/charts displayed within the video are legible.

4. Review that the video does not contain any prohibited markings.

5. Review that the video conforms to the resolution, file type, and color space requirements.

6. Review that the video contains all required submission content as detailed in Section VII of this TSM announcement.

7. Review the submission form data for completeness and accuracy.

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8. Review accuracy of business size and traditional/nontraditional characterization using SAM.gov (where applicable).

9. Review that the effort fits within one of the TSM strategic focus areas.

Upon completion of the compliance review, those solutions that conform to the requirements of Section VII of this announcement will be placed into the queue for the next scheduled assessment. Those solutions which contain one or more deficiencies will be notified via email and asked to correct the deficiency and complete a new submission.

Submissions on the final day of any monthly collection period may not receive notice prior to closing of the monthly collection, so solution providers are urged not to wait until the final day to submit solutions.

[IX] The Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace Assessment Process

Solution videos submitted against this open call will be assessed in accordance with the assessment criteria and ratings included as Appendix B and rated as either “awardable” or “non-awardable” for the given assessment round. Solutions are assessed by a peer panel of government, industry, and academic subject matter experts, with final decisions made by the Government Selecting Official (GSO). By submitting a video solution, you authorize the video to be distributed and used for this purpose. During the assessment period, the government and/or supporting SMEs may contact submitting entities to clarify information either within the video submission or within the submission form. Non-government, SME assessors will be used in the assessment of solution videos. Such assessors will be operating at the direction of the government and through signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). The pool of SME assessors is composed of experts from industry, academia and non-profit research institutions with programs related to data, analytics, digital solutions, and artificial intelligence/machine learning. In conformance with Statutory and regulatory requirements for the authorities leveraged by the TSM (10 USC 4021, 10 USC 4022, 10 USC 3458, FAR/DFARS Part 35, and DFARS Subpart 212.70), government and non-government SME Assessors will develop a written assessment of each submission applying the established assessment criteria, weighting, and ratings, which is included at Appendix B of this document. The recommended ratings, and comments for each video solution are presented monthly by the Peer Panel as recommendations to the designated Government Selecting Official (GSO), who is ultimately responsible for determining the awardable/non-awardable characterization of each solution for the rating period.

[X] Resubmissions

The Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace accepts resubmissions of non-awardable solutions at any time while the TSM Announcement remains active. To assist in preparing resubmissions, at the conclusion of each monthly assessment, each submitting entity receives ratings along with assessor comments and suggestions for improvement of the non-awardable video submission.

Additionally, the Marketplace Manager, ARI, provides weekly feedback sessions to review the assessor comments with unsuccessful solution providers during Tradewinds’ “Real People Time.”

The purpose of weekly feedback sessions is to develop a strategy and course of action to address weaknesses identified through the assessment process and prepare a resubmission with a higher likelihood of being assessed as awardable. It is highly recommended that solution providers participate in feedback sessions to maximize the potential for a successful resubmission.

Information on “Real People Time” can be found at www.tradewindai.com.

An unsuccessful solution provider may resubmit a non-awardable solution in any subsequent collection period, and may continue to resubmit, if unsuccessful, in multiple collection periods while the TSM Announcement remains active. When submitting a solution as a resubmission, it is important to identify that the submission is a resubmission. Within the solution submission workflow, select “TSM Resubmission” under the field labeled “Submission Type”.

Please note that solutions that have been determined “non-compliant” and returned for some technical deficiency (over 5:00 minutes in length; improper markings; missing content; etc.)

remain a “New TSM Submission” when corrected and submitted. “TSM Resubmissions” are only those solutions that undergo a peer assessment and are deemed non-awardable.

[XI] Organizational Conflicts of Interest

The CDAO, Army Contracting Command-Rock Island (ACC-RI), and the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace manager, ARI, have identified and evaluated potential organizational conflicts of interest (OCIs) related to the activity of video solution assessment by non-government, industry, and academic subject matter experts. A recognized potential OCI, "providing evaluation services,” requires that contracts for the evaluation of offers for products or services shall not be awarded to a contractor that will evaluate its own offers for products or services, or those of a competitor, without proper safeguards to ensure objectivity to protect the government’s interests (see Federal Acquisition Regulation 9.505-3). The government and Marketplace manager, exercising common sense, good judgment, and sound discretion in both the decision on whether a significant potential conflict exists and, if it does, the development of an appropriate means for resolving it, have determined the following:

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a. A significant potential conflict exists as to SME assessors evaluating their own technology solutions. The government will avoid this potential OCI by prohibiting assessors from evaluating their own technology solutions, or the solutions of another submitter in which the assessor holds any financial interest from their contract requirements. Further, the government will mitigate any potential OCI by prohibiting assessors to evaluate their own technology solutions, or the solutions of another submitter in which the assessor holds any financial interest and requiring assessors to deliver a statement certifying that they recognize this prohibition, including an affirmative duty to identify any such financial interests. All assessors will be required to complete government ethics training, covering this duty to identify financial interests, prior to assessing any solution submissions and will operate under nondisclosure agreements to protect any information received through the assessment activity.

b. A potential conflict exists as to SME assessors evaluating the technology solutions of a competitor. This OCI is a lesser risk due to the characteristics of the evaluation effort. Under the Solutions Marketplace assessment methodology, submissions must be non- proprietary.

The non-proprietary submissions are assessed against a published rubric for Technical Merit to determine whether they are viable solutions and thus rated "awardable" for future requirements. The assessments are performed by a minimum three-member peer panel, and the peer panel is comprised of a government, industry, and academic representative, with the Government Selecting Official responsible for all final decisions. Finally, the assessments are not evaluated against a specific requirement, but on their viability to support future needs. The characteristics of the assessment process, thus, partially mitigate the potential OCI. To fully mitigate this potential OCI, the government will monitor the consistency in ratings of all assessors to identify inconsistent ratings. All assessors will be required to complete government ethics training, covering this duty to identify competitors, prior to assessing any solution submissions and will operate under nondisclosure agreements to protect any information received through the assessment activity.

[XII] Important Information for Participants and Prospective Participants

All costs of preparing and submitting solution videos and submission forms are the responsibility of the submitting entity and not eligible for funding or reimbursement by the government.

Assessment as “awardable” and placement into the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace does not guarantee any current or future award.

Tradewinds will publish a list of companies with solutions available on the Marketplace on the TradewindAI.com public website and through Tradewinds digital media. The list will identify company/individual name; name of solution; and associated strategic focus area.

Entities that do not wish to be identified in this manner must submit a written notice to success@tradewindai.com.

Solution providers may submit one or multiple video submissions while this announcement remains open.

Use of Artificial Intelligence in Assessment: The government may utilize artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools to assist in the administrative (compliance) review and technical merit assessment of submissions. Please be advised that the final assessment and awardable/non-awardable decision remain with the human peer assessment panel and Government Selecting Official (GSO).

Ratings and Assessor comments will be provided for both awardable and non-awardable submissions at the end of each assessment round. All submitting entities can request a feedback session to review the ratings and comments related to their solution by reserving “Real People Time” at www.tradewindai.com.

Feedback Sessions are conducted by the Marketplace Manager, ARI, and are intended to assist solution providers in addressing weaknesses identified in the assessor ratings and comments for the purpose of revising any non-awardable solution, and resubmitting to a subsequent collection period. Any dispute regarding final ratings may be addressed to the Government Selecting Official (GSO). Tradewinds does not provide names, contact information, or any other personal information of the SME assessors themselves.

Any questions related to this announcement or related TSM matter may be sent to success@tradewindai.com.

More information related to the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace can be found at:

https://www.tradewindai.com.

[XIII] Data Handling / Licenses Granted

a. Solutions videos placed within the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace are viewable by all federal government accounts (.mil/.gov) and by the submitting entity or individual. The submitting entity/individual remains the owner of the video and the associated submission data and may request the video and associated submission data be removed from the https://www.tradewindai.com/tw-marketplace https://www.tradewindai.com/ https://www.tradewindai.com/

TradewindAI.com site at any time. By participating in the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace initiative each submitting entity grants the following government-wide, non-exclusive, fully paid up, non-assignable, non-royalty bearing licenses in both the video solution submission and the accompanying submission data:

i. A license for the government to view, review, research, comment, and share the video solutions and associated submission data within the government and to covered government support contractors for the purposes of performing assessments of the solution; performing market research; supporting requirements development;

considering/planning for procurement; negotiating for award; and making an award of the solution at any time while the video solution and associated submission data remain active within the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace.

ii. A license for the government to view, review, research, and share the video solution and associated submission data within the government and to covered government support contractors, whether assessed as awardable or non-awardable, for the purposes of improving/revising the submission, assessment, and/or selection processes, submission criteria, assessment criteria and ratings, or user interface/user experience, in perpetuity.

iii. A license for the government and its covered government support contractors to transcribe the video for the purposes of improving the search functionality of the marketplace, to address accessibility requirements, to support marketing of the solution for potential award, to support government reporting, performing market research, and supporting requirements development. The entity/individual grants and the government retains a perpetual license in the transcription data itself for the purpose identified within this paragraph.

iv. A license for the government and its covered government support contractors to use the video solutions and associated submission data for government training purposes including training in the planning, implementation, execution, and administration of the Marketplace model, Marketplace processes, Marketplace Assessment criteria and ratings, Marketplace research, Conducting Feedback Sessions, Award of marketplace solutions, and other such related government training.

16 https://www.tradewindai.com/tw-marketplace http://tradewindai.com/

[XIV] The TSM SBIR/STTR Aisle

Effective in Version 7.0 of the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace Announcement, the DoW Chief Digital and AI Office introduced the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace (TSM) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) Aisle (hereinafter, the “TSM SBIR/STTR Aisle”). The TSM SBIR/STTR Aisle is a digital environment of video pitches consisting of previously competed SBIR and STTR efforts. The video solutions housed within the TSM SBIR/STTR Aisle have been assessed through competitive, merit-based selection procedures that conform to the competition requirements of 15 USC 638(s) under the SBIR/STTR programs. The solutions housed in the TSM SBIR/STTR Aisle are readily available to be viewed, selected, negotiated, and awarded by Government organizations in accordance with the SBIR/STTR Phase III process under the authority of 15 USC 638(r)(4)(B).

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE TSM SBIR/STTR AISLE?

The purpose of the TSM SBIR/STTR Aisle, as part of the larger Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace (TSM), is to provide a venue for AI/ML, Digital, and/or Data SBIR/STTR Solution Providers to present and promote their SBIR/STTR solutions through a standardized and curated digital Solutions Marketplace. For government requirements personnel, the TSM SBIR/STTR Aisle provides a venue to search, view, review, compare, contrast, contact, negotiate, and procure AI/ML, digital, and/or data capabilities through the SBIR/STTR Phase III process. The TSM SBIR/STTR Aisle promotes statutory and programmatic goals to consider Phase III awards of SBIR/STTR technologies to the greatest extent practicable (15 USC 638(r)(4)).

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE IN TSM SBIR/STTR AISLE?

The TSM SBIR/STTR Aisle was developed on behalf of the DoW Chief Digital and AI Office (CDAO) to address the specific needs of the CDAO and its customer organizations within the AI/ML, digital, and data solution space, and is focused on the Strategic Focus Areas identified within this official TSM Announcement. Any participating SBIR/STTR Firm, assignee, or successor in interest to a relevant, Phase III-eligible SBIR/STTR solution, may submit a solution video to the TSM SBIR/STTR Aisle. The TSM SBIR/STTR Aisle is available for viewing by all Government users (.mil and .gov) via TradewindAI.com.

THE TSM SBIR/STTR AISLE SUBMISSION PROCESS

Firms interested in publicizing and promoting their relevant SBIR/STTR solutions through the TSM SBIR/STTR Aisle must follow the submission instructions detailed within this https://www.tradewindai.com/tw-marketplace

Announcement, Section VII and are subject to the license terms identified under Section XIII.

Submissions are made via the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace Opportunity Page on TradewindAI.com. Within the submission form field entitled, “Submission Type,” select “New SBIR/STTR Aisle Submission.” Entities submitting solutions to the TSM SBIR/STTR Aisle must identify the following information within the SBIR/STTR Aisle Submission Fields required after selecting “New SBIR/STTR Aisle Submission.” Under the “Submission Type” Field:

Relevant Phase I/Phase II/Phase II Supplemental/Phase III Award number(s) Awarding Agency(ies) Topic Number(s) Abstract Title(s) Date(s) of Award for each relevant underlying effort

THE TSM SBIR/STTR AISLE REVIEW PROCESS

Unlike Non-SBIR/STTR Solutions submitted to the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace (TSM), which undergo an assessment under the requirements of 10 USC 4021, 10 USC 4022, 10 USC 3458, FAR/DFARS Part 35, and DFARS Subpart 212.70, TSM SBIR/STTR Aisle solutions have already met competition requirements under 15 USC 638(s) and do not require additional assessment. To assure that TSM SBIR/STTR Aisle solutions are prepared for Phase III awards in the future, prior to placement in the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace, the Solutions Marketplace Manager, the Applied Research Institute (ARI), will conduct a compliance review to assure that the submission meets all requirements of the TSM Announcement, as well as requirements for future award. Compliance checks are performed within three business days of submission (compliance reviews may exceed three business days during periods of high volume). Where a submission is incomplete, inconsistent, noncompliant with submission criteria requirements, or contains inappropriate markings, the submitting entity will be notified in writing and provided an opportunity to revise the solution and resubmit for consideration.

THE TSM SBIR/STTR AISLE COMPLIANCE SCOPE OF REVIEW

In carrying out the compliance review process, the Solutions Marketplace Manager, ARI, reviews the video submission and the associated submission data for compliance with the requirements of the TSM Announcement. The scope of review of the compliance check is as follows:

1.Review the “Abstract Description” field for relevant SBIR/STTR information (required under Section XIV)

2.Review that the video submission is no longer than 5:00 minutes in length https://www.tradewindai.com/tw-marketplace

3.Review that the video can be viewed and is audible 4.Review that any graphics/charts displayed within the video are legible 5.Review that the video does not contain any prohibited markings* 6.Review that the video conforms to the resolution, file type, and color space requirements 7.Review that the video contains all required submission content as detailed in Section VII of the TSM announcement.

8.Review the submission form data for completeness and accuracy 9.Review accuracy of business size and traditional/nontraditional characterization using

SAM.gov 10.Review that the effort fits within one of the TSM strategic focus areas

*MARKINGS. TSM SBIR/STTR Aisle Solution videos and form information must be unclassified, and not include any proprietary information, export-controlled information, or controlled unclassified information (CUI). TSM SBIR/STTR Aisle Solution videos must not contain any restrictive markings other than a valid copyright notice and/or appropriate SBIR/STTR Marking in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clause 52.227-20 and/or War Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) Clause 252.227-7018.

[XV] The Prototype Transition Aisle

Effective in Version 9.3 of the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace Announcement, the DoW Chief Digital and AI Office introduced the Prototype Transition Aisle (hereinafter, the “PT Aisle”). The PT Aisle is a digital environment of video pitches consisting of successfully completed prototyping efforts which were awarded under the authority of the DOW Prototype Other Transaction authority (10 USC 4022), under competitive procedures. The video solutions housed within the PT Aisle have been assessed through competitive, merit-based selection procedures that conform to the competition requirements of 10 USC 4022. The solutions housed in the PT Aisle are readily available to be viewed, selected, negotiated, and awarded by Government organizations in accordance with the production follow-on authority of 10 USC 4022(f).

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE PT AISLE?

The purpose of the PT Aisle, as part of the larger Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace (TSM), is to provide a venue for solution providers to present and promote their successfully completed AI/ML, Digital, and/or Data Prototype Other Transaction efforts through a standardized and curated digital Solutions Marketplace. For government requirements personnel, the PT Aisle provides a venue to search, view, review, compare, contrast, contact, negotiate, and procure AI/ML, digital, and/or data capabilities through the follow-on production process detailed under 10 USC 4022(f). The PT Aisle promotes statutory and programmatic goals to maximize transition of DOW prototyping efforts to the greatest extent practicable.

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE IN PT AISLE?

The PT Aisle was developed on behalf of the DoW Chief Digital and AI Office (CDAO) to address the specific needs of the CDAO and its customer organizations within the AI/ML, digital, and data solution space, and is focused on the Strategic Focus Areas identified within this official TSM Announcement. Any participant in the transaction for a relevant, successfully completed, competitive prototype other transaction project, may submit a solution video to the PT Aisle. The PT Aisle is available for viewing by all government users (.mil/.gov) via TradewindAI.com.

THE PT AISLE SUBMISSION PROCESS

Firms interested in publicizing and promoting their relevant, successfully completed, competitive prototype other transaction project, through the PT Aisle must follow the submission instructions detailed within this Announcement, Section VII, and are subject to the license terms identified under Section XIII. Submissions are made via the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace Page on TradewindAI.com. Within the submission form field entitled, “Submission Type”, select “Prototype Transition Aisle Submission.” Entities submitting solutions to the PT Aisle must upload an agency issued document or correspondence identifying that the prototype solution satisfies the requirements of 10 USC 4022(f) (i.e., the prototype was issued under competitive procedures and was successfully completed). The successful completion document is uploaded on the video upload page of the submission workflow under the “Video Support Document” field.

THE PT AISLE REVIEW PROCESS

Unlike other solutions submitted to the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace (TSM), which undergo an assessment under the requirements of10 USC 4021, 10 USC 4022, 10 USC 3458, FAR/DFARS Part 35, and DFARS Subpart 212.70, PT…