In June 2018, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC), Division Newport announced the landmark award of their Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreement for Undersea Technology Innovation (Solicitation # N66604-18-9-0001) to the Undersea Technology Innovation Consortium (UTIC). UTIC, represented by our consortium management partner, Advanced Technology International (ATI), and NUWC Division Newport signed a three-year OTA agreement with options for up to 10 years.
UTIC welcomes membership by technology companies, academia and technical service organizations nationally who are working or wish to work in support of government technology prototype projects in undersea and maritime applications. Any commercial, nonprofit or academic institution that becomes part of the consortium will be eligible to receive an OT award. Once an organization applies and is accepted for UTIC membership they will have access to a member-only portion of the website that will allow them to receive and respond to members-only correspondence from the government and UTIC.
The process is initiated when there is a technology prototype need in the undersea and maritime arena, and government customers issue calls for whitepapers to UTIC. The government may then select a small number of companies to submit a more formal proposal. Ultimately, the government selects one or more awardees and delivers funding to the selected consortium member(s) through the consortium management organization. The government may also propose new relationships between consortium members without re-soliciting white papers or proposals from the entire consortium.
It is a unique opportunity to work collaboratively and leverage industry, academia and government capabilities. It is an even greater opportunity to deliver the needed innovative solutions to the men and women of our armed forces. The UTIC is very proud to serve as the government’s national consortium for undersea and maritime technology.
Background: In May 2017, The Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) expressed interest in establishing an “Undersea Technology Innovation Other Transaction” (OT) Agreement to engage with industry and academia, to develop and mature technologies to enable advanced approaches to maintaining maritime superiority. Other Transaction Agreements (OTAs) are contract-like vehicles that offer advantages over traditional Government contract mechanisms including relief from Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), providing access to non-traditional defense contractors* that have innovative solutions but would not normally participate in FAR-based acquisitions, fostering open and deeper collaboration between industry and government, and affording greater technology and prototype acquisition speed, getting solutions to end users sooner.
* A non-traditional defense contractor is defined as an entity that is not currently performing and has not performed, for at least one-year prior to the date a solicitation for its services is released, any contract or subcontract for the Department of Defense that is subject to full coverage under the DoD’s cost accounting standards (CAS). These companies are often small or new. They may have innovative technologies, but lack the contracting resources and experience to navigate the FAR. The streamlined OT model is a good way for these companies to access the federal market.
For information about OTAs, visit: Department of Defense (DoD) Other Transactions Guide for Prototype Projects January 2017.
Government customers with undersea and maritime-related requirements will be able to use this OT Agreement to execute prototype projects in the 25 technology areas listed in the UTIC’s Other Transaction Agreement. For a description of these technology areas, please visit this page.
