Sources_Sought_Program_Description.pdf

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR)

AND

SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR)

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND TECHNICAL SERVICES SUPPORT

1.0 GENERAL

1.1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

In 1982, Congress through the Small Business Innovation Development Act (P.L. 97-219), established the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to foster the involvement of U.S. based small businesses in federal research and development (R&D). The SBIR program is designed to increase the participation of small, high technology firms in the federal R&D endeavor. Congressional support for the initiative was predicated upon the belief that while technology-based companies under 500 employees tended to be highly innovative, and since innovation is essential to the economic well-being of the United States, these businesses were underrepresented in government R&D activities.

The ultimate objective of each SBIR project is to develop technologies and products that a small business may market to the Government or private sector, resulting in revenues from non-SBIR funding or resources. The Federal SBIR program is mandated by Title 15 of the United States Code (USC) (15 USC s.638, specifically), the Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and in Public Laws (PL) 97-219, 99-443, 102-564 and 106-554. The basic design of the Department of Defense (DOD) SBIR program is in accordance with (IAW) the Small Business Administration (SBA) Policy Directive, 2002. The guidelines presented in the solicitation incorporate and exploit the flexibility of the SBA Policy Directive to encourage proposals based on scientific and technical approaches most likely to yield results important to the DOD and the private sector. The Assistant Secretary of Defense, Research and Engineering (ASD(R&E)) is responsible for the execution of approximately $50 million in Research, Development, Test &Evaluation (RDT&E) for the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) SBIR program.

The US Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) was established by the Army Materiel Command (AMC) Commanding General on 1 October 2003 with the primary objective of transitioning new technologies and capabilities to meet the warfighter needs. Headquarters (HQ) RDECOM is responsible for managing and executing the SBIR and STTR programs. In this capacity, HQ RDECOM directs, monitors and coordinates activities at 25 participating Army R&D organizations, covering the full spectrum of the Army’s mission. The Army SBIR Program Manager (PM) acts as a focal point for these R&D organizations and maintains overall program continuity through coordination of proposal solicitation, proposal evaluations and contract awards.

The SBIR PM also develops programs in response to new legislation, policy and management.

1.2. OBJECTIVE

The primary objective is to provide the small business community a centralized place to research small business opportunities, become informed and educated through the outreach program on the SBIR and STTR programs, and assist the participating agency with the execution of their SBIR and STTR programs.

1.3. SCOPE

This PWS describes performance of tasks required to support the Army SBIR Program Management Office (PMO) in the form of program management and technical services that provides assistance to the government in-house efforts and expertise. The deliverables will include a broad range of program and technical assistance services to include but not limited to programming, databases, letter reports, newsletters, briefings, presentation materials, correspondence, analyses, documentation for record keeping and reporting and portal virtual machine (VM) support. These deliverables will assist the SBIR PMO in planning, coordinating, implementing and orchestrating critical Congressional mandated SBIR functions to include current and new approaches, processes and procedures as indicated in this scope of work.

1.3.1. SBIR STRUCTURE

Each year, the Army SBIR participating organizations develop a set of research topics that represent the Army's current and anticipated warfighter technology needs. These topics are included in the Army portion of the DoD SBIR Solicitation. The Army participates in all DoD SBIR Solicitations posted on the DOD SBIR/STTR web site.

The SBIR program is structured into three phases. Phase I is to determine, insofar as possible, the scientific, technical and commercial merit and feasibility of ideas submitted under the SBIR program. Phase 1 awards are initiated by an OSD solicitation and results in a six-month $150,000 concept development effort. Phase 1 proposals should concentrate on the R&D which will significantly contribute to proving the scientific, technical and commercial feasibility of the proposed effort, the successful completion of which is a prerequisite for further DOD support. The measure of Phase 1 success includes evaluations of the extent to which Phase II results would have the potential to yield a product or process of continuing importance to DOD and the private sector. Proposers are encouraged to consider whether the R&D they are proposing to DoD Components also has private sector potential, either for the proposed application or as a base for other applications. If successful in Phase I, companies may be invited to submit Phase II proposals. Phase II awards shall not exceed a dollar value of $1.0 million or a performance period of 24 months. The contractor is encouraged to produce a prototype of the product being developed to demonstrate the potential usefulness of the research application. Under Phase III, the small business must obtain funding from the private sector and/or non-SBIR Government sources to develop the prototype into a viable product or non-R&D service for sale in military and/or private sector markets. The Army SBIR PMO manages the efforts leading to and involving Phases I and II. Phase III is facilitated through transition assistance but not managed by the PMO. However Phase III data is tracked to measure success of the program.

1.3.2. COMMERCIALIZATION READINESS PROGRAM (CRP)

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 (P.L. 109-163, Section 252) authorized a Commercialization Pilot Program (CPP) under the Secretary of Defense (SecDef) and the Secretary of each Military Service. The FY12 NDAA (P.L. 112-81) institutionalized CPP and renamed it the Commercialization Readiness Program (CRP). CRP policies will be forthcoming in an updated SBA Policy Directive. The purpose of the CRP is to accelerate the transition of SBIR-funded technologies to Phase III (i.e., non-SBIR funded advanced development projects, acquisition programs and commercial products), especially into systems being developed, acquired and maintained for the warfighter. This can be done through activities that enhance the connectivity among SBIR-firms, prime contractors, and DOD science & technology and acquisition communities. It can also be accomplished by improving a SBIR firm's capability to provide the identified technology to the Department, directly or as a subcontractor. Army SBIR CRP support to firms include expert advice, guidance, mentoring and analysis regarding the technology transition and commercialization of respective firms’ specific Army SBIR projects.

CRP participants may receive a variety of assistance services and/or opportunities to facilitate the transition of their projects. Participation in the CRP may also include modifications to existing Phase II contracts with additional non- SBIR funding, as well as additional SBIR funding beyond the normal SBIR funding guidelines, to enhance ongoing projects with expanded R&D to accelerate transition and commercialization. The biggest impediments to transition of SBIR technologies are funding, timing and program risk.

Under this effort, the contractor is expected to assist small businesses mitigate any or all of these with the goal of facilitating transition of promising technologies. Additional reporting on CRP participants and results achieved is required.

Funding issues occur when either there is not enough funding on the technology effort to meet minimum requirements of the transition partner (i.e., an acquisition program, prime contractor supporting an acquisition program or a commercialization partner) or the transition partner has not budgeted for inclusion of the technology. Timing issues occur when a technology is not prepared, either technically or programmatically, to take advantage of a window of opportunity with a transition partner.

Acquisition programs and commercial ventures are schedule driven and SBIR technology insertion must be agile enough to meet insertion points within that schedule. Program risk covers a number of issues, primarily cost, schedule and technical in nature. Technology efforts must be in a position to show potential transition partners how they address these issues. SBIR technologies also have the added issue of business risk. Many transition partners will avoid the risk of small business insertion if they feel that business does not have a sound financial or managerial basis. The contractor must demonstrate the ability to help small businesses mitigate the risk and manage the challenges through the development of a small business plan.

1.3.3. STTR STRUCTURE

The Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program, like SBIR, is a government-wide program, mandated by the Small Business Research and Development Enhancement Act of 1992, PL102-564. STTR was established in FY94 as a three-year pilot program and has been reauthorized to the year 2017. STTR was established as a companion program to the SBIR program, and is executed in essentially the same manner; however, there are distinct differences.

While STTR has the same objectives as SBIR regarding the involvement of small businesses in federal R&D and the commercialization of their innovative technologies, the STTR program requires participation by universities, federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs), and other non-profit research institutions.

Each STTR proposal must be submitted by a team, which includes a small business (as the prime contractor for contracting purposes) and at least one research institution. The project must be divided such that the small business performs at least 40% of the work and the research institution(s) performs at least 30% of the work. The remainder of the work may be performed by either party or a third party.