White Paper Template.pdf

Company Name – Proposal Title

All template prompts in purple text ®2011 - 2024 Valid Evaluation, Inc. All rights reserved.

INSTRUCTIONS

DUE DATE: Friday, August 30th, 2024, at 5:00 PM ET.

Entries that do not comply with these instructions will not be accepted. Please read carefully!

FORMAT: Complete this entire template using Calibri font using an 11-point font size.

• Do not change this document’s margins or alter its format.

PAGE LIMIT: Your completed document must be no more than (3) three total pages.

• Include in the header your company name and proposal title.

• Use the embedded purple prompts to guide you. The prompts precisely track the evaluation criteria used by the reviewer, so it is in your interest to organize your document using these prompts.

• Additional reference section is allowed but must be contained within the page limit.

• Footnotes are not allowed.

• Delete this block of instruction text prior to saving your final PDF.

WHERE TO SUBMITT: Go to this URL, https://usg.valideval.com/teams/hdtx_2024/signup complete the form and upload your PDF.

https://usg.valideval.com/teams/hdtx_2024/signup

All the purple text should be DELETED prior to you saving your final PDF. The purple text prompts directly map to the evaluation rubric and should be used as a guide to help tell your story within each section of this white paper. You can use as much of the space as you want for each section within the page limit.

In addition to weighted scores for each of the below parts, you will be scored on the overall quality of this document.

Prove you write clearly. Prove you argue convincingly.

Part 1: Introduction

Introduction. Write a clear, concise description of what problem your innovation address and how you (aim to) solve that problem.

Part 2: Competitive Advantage

Gap Analysis. Define the gap between today's status quo and what your solution aims to deliver. How "painful" is today's status quo for your (potential) customers relative to what you offer? Is this a need they are ready to spend money to address?

Solution's Advantages. Prove your prospective customers will choose you given limited resources and myriad choices.

Have you accounted for indirect substitute products as well as direct competitors?

Degree of Innovation. Prove that your solution is truly innovative. How big a departure from existing technical and/or operational approaches is your solution?

Data Quality, Competitive. Use data to substantiate your claims of competitive superiority. You're pitching to some of the Army's top technologists. They live and breathe data! Show us quality data attributed to reliable, credible sources.

Part 3: Potential for Impact

Operational Impact. This Dimension is for the Army judges to figure out. It is their job -- not yours! -- to connect the dots and determine how your innovation can impact the Army. At the scale of a single Army end-user, how would their jobs or lives will be significantly improved if this solution were adopted? What is the impact of this solution for a soldier/Army civilian vs. today's solutions?

Scale of Impact. This Dimension is for the Army judges to figure out. It is their job -- not yours! -- to connect the dots and determine how your innovation can impact the Army. If you have direct knowledge of your potential within DoD, please _briefly_ make your case. Otherwise, don't spend your valuable time on this one)

Part 4: Clinical Risk

Scientific Feasibility. Is the science behind the solution sound? Convince readers who don't have deep expertise in your field that your innovation is built atop sound scientific and engineering principles.

Enabling Technologies. Point to the foundational technologies that you rely on to deliver your solution. Do the required enabling technologies introduce added risk? Using proven (and ideally Army-fielded) underlying technologies and techniques helps to lower technical risk.

Risks and Mitigation Plans. Prove that you understand the technical risks that still exist between you and a fully mature solution. What are your top areas of risk, why, and what is your plan to mitigate those risks?

Data Quality, Technical. Use data to substantiate your claims that your technical risk mitigation plans are credible.

You're pitching to some of the Army's top technologists. They live and breathe data! Show us quality data attributed to reliable, credible sources.

Part 5: Commercial Risk

Competitive Edge. Why will you win? A small company needs to have a Competitive Edge in the marketplace: Something you do better than anyone else. This might be intellectual property, unmatched relevant expertise, a novel business model, channel partners, network effects, etc.

Team Qualifications. Do you have the key people and core capabilities you need? The Qualifications include not only the ability to perform the research and development but also to successfully commercialize the results.

Commercialization Potential. Is there a commercial market for this solution that the DoD can build upon? Dual use technologies tend to advance at a faster pace, which can be helpful. If your solution is dual use, please explain. Give the judges a clear sense of your past success and future potential in commercial applications.

Graphics and Captions Graphics can be included throughout the white paper as you see fit. All graphics must be captioned.