2023 Joint Capability and Technology Engagement (JCTE) and Joint Innovation Medical Symposium (JIMS) Event 1. Introduction The goal of the JCTE virtual process is to create partnerships between Special Operations Forces (SOF) and industry under the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) construct to both inform industry internal investments and accelerate SOF’s technical advantage. In addition to the JCTE, USSOCOM will host the second annual JIMS Event 7-9 November 2023 at Fort Liberty, NC. For this event, 18 vendors will be invited to provide an overview brief of their capabilities to a group of SOF, Service and Department of Defense (DOD) medical professionals. Note that while the JCTE is focused exclusively on CRADA proposals, the JIMS will entertain both CRADA proposals and proposals requesting government funding. The 4 basic steps of this engagement are: 1. Sharing our SOF Interest Items – In July 2023, we published a Special Notice informing industry that our comprehensive UNCLASSIFIED Interest Items were available at Vulcan-SOF.com and that information concerning our CLASSIFIED interest items could be obtained by contacting
[email protected]. Concurrently, the subset of medical specific interest items will also be attached to the JIMS announcement in Vulcan for easy reference. 2. Requesting your input – The second step starts with this notice. The JCTE opportunity is open for response until 11:59PM EDT, 31 October 2023 . The JIMS opportunity is open until 5:00PM EDT, 22 September 2023 . Details for JCTE are available at: https://vulcan-sof.com/login/ng2/submission?collectionUuid=354bf2b0-65e8-47b4-b28e-92b8de327aff. Details for JIMS are available at: https://vulcan-sof.com/login/ng2/submission?collectionUuid=f751e563-821d-4898-a305-89e67a8d860b. Assistance is available at
[email protected]. 3. Review and Feedback – In this third step every proposal is thoroughly assessed by multiple SOF operational, technical, and programmatic subject matter experts. All feedback is captured, collated, and provided back to industry through Vulcan. It is our goal that every submitter will view this experience as valuable regardless of outcome. JCTE – Selected CRADA proposals will be disseminated across the SOF enterprise for review by SOF Operators and End Users. Those that garner significant interest will move on to the next step. JIMS – 18 Vendors will be selected and invited to present their proposals in-person on 7 or 8 November 2023 at Fort Liberty, NC. The 18 selected vendors will be broken into two groups of 9 and assigned a date. On the given date, each vendor will be given a 20-minute block (to include questions) for a private briefing to a group of SOF, Service and DOD medical professionals. In addition, each vendor will be provided space for a vendor booth for their corresponding day. On the vendor’s off day, you may tour the vendor booths, as this offers a chance for collaboration between vendors. However, for the vendor briefs, only that given vendor and government representatives will be allowed to attend. 4. Partnering – This final step formalizes partnerships for the proposals selected. For JCTE and JIMS CRADA proposals, the pre-signed overarching USSOCOM CRADA is presented to industry for signature, and work begins translating the industry proposal into a detailed bilateral Individual Work Plan (IWP) to be signed by both industry and USSOCOM. For selected proposals requiring government funding following the JIMS in-person event, work begins on identifying funding sources and contractual requirements. 2. Administrative Submission Guidelines All submissions must be UNCLASIFIED. Specific submission instructions for JCTE and JIMS, including templates, are available at the Vulcan sites listed in paragraph D.2. above. You may submit any additional documentation desired but focus on technical and operational details vice “marketing material.” Vulcan is a US government web interface tech scouting tool designed to simplify the discovery, sharing, assessment and adoption of technologies. We will use Vulcan to support this event exclusively. All proprietary information is safeguarded in accordance with FAR 3.104 and 18 U.S.C. § 1905. This event is voluntary and for collaboration purposes only in accordance with FAR 15.201(e). It is NOT a Broad Agency Announcement, solicitation, or request for contractual offers and does not constitute a commitment of government funding. Respondents will not be reimbursed for any travel, labor, information, etc., they provide in conjunction with this Special Notice. JCTE and JIMS participants include contractor consultant/advisors. All are Systems, Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA)-like arrangements bound by procurement integrity laws, and Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA). The government ensures the safeguarding of proprietary data. Intellectual Property (IP) – While some government contracts can impact Industry’s IP, this collaboration model imposes no long-term impacts and preserves and protects Industry’s exclusive ownership of their intellectual property. 3. CRADA Proposal Philosophy The SOF enterprise desires to inform and influence industry’s internal investment decisions in areas that address SOF interests. Many in Industry have expertise, capacity, funding, and a desire to better understand and invest in those interest areas. Industry can benefit from the insight, foresight, and facilities of an experienced SOF team to make better decisions faster. SOF can offer a level of direct engagement with the user community that will ensure meaningful feedback in a timely manner. Additionally, SOF can provide facilities not otherwise available to test and demonstrate capabilities, sponsorship at formal test and exercise venues, government equipment, (range time/ ground and air mobility platforms/ flight time/ ammunition) coincident to demonstrating the utility of the capability. This construct uniquely enables rapid teaming to achieve the goals of both partners.