The U.S. Navy’s innovation and agility cell, NavalX, and DEFENSEWERX have signed a partnership intermediary agreement to help speed up technology transfer process within the Department of the Navy, DVIDS reported Tuesday.
“The Navy has been pushing non-FAR [federal acquisition regulation] based contracts and agreements in order to complement traditional government acquisition programs to transition technology to the warfighter,” said Capt. Benjamin “Nut” Van Buskirk, director of NavalX.
“This PIA will allow for more clear communication with our industrial base, accelerating our ability to partner with industry to adapt emerging capabilities into dual-use products that can scale into defense,” added Van Buskirk.
The agreement seeks to expedite tech transfer by engaging industry and academia on behalf of the government. The PIA intends to deliver services to facilitate cooperative research, development, engineering and testing activities among educational institutions and small businesses, including prototyping assistance and tech scanning.
DEFENSEWERX will provide the facilities and personnel to deploy initiatives under the PIA.
DEFENSEWERX is a 501(c)(3) organization that helps link an international network of public agencies, businesses, academia and individuals to enable the development of innovative platforms.