Army Undersecretary Gabe Camarillo said the service plans to launch several initiatives that seek to incorporate into its systems technologies developed by small businesses and one of these is Project Vista, which intends to help small companies get through the “valley of death,” Federal News Network reported Tuesday.
“We felt that the Army needed to do something in addition to help bridge that valley of death, because often, we’ve talked about it only in the context of direct contract awards to small business,” Camarillo told FNN in an interview.
“But that neglects the fact that many of the opportunities available to small businesses are to team with integrators that can marshal together the innovation and the technology that our small businesses provide into a capability that can be used by our warfighter,” he added.
With Project Vista, the Army plans to give higher technical ratings to offerors whose proposals include technologies from companies that have been funded through Small Business Innovative Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs as part of the source selection process.
Camarillo also discussed the service’s plans to launch the Catalyst program, which will offer direct investment to tech platforms that have “fallen through the cracks” and establish an “IP cell” of experts that will advise procurement officials on how to structure intellectual property agreements with industry.