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The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), Office of the Secretary of Defense, serves as the principal liaison between the Department of Defense and individuals and entities in the national security innovation base, including entrepreneurs, startups, commercial technology companies, and private capital sources. DIU is exploring the possibility of developing a cooperative agreement to support its National OnRamp to enable non-traditional, dual-use, and/or commercial technology companies to rapidly support warfighter needs.
DIU’s National OnRamp strategy is predicated on a robust presence across the US, to include Flagship DIU offices, a physical presence via a distributed team, OnRamp Hubs, and other relationships with the academic, startup and commercial sectors. This could, in the future, include public-private partnerships. Currently, DIU has five offices and eight geographic regions, with a commensurately distributed team. Additionally, in the last year, DIU established five OnRamp Hubs in Phoenix, Arizona; Dayton, Ohio; Honolulu, Hawaii; Seattle, Washington, and Wichita, Kansas. DIU is planning to stand up additional Hubs in the next year, and to grow the types of activities and impact at these Hubs, as well as continue to optimize other regionally-driven efforts.
The cooperative agreement DIU is exploring could manage the hubs, DIU presence, and digital efforts for the National OnRamp. The recipient would provide requirements analysis for government needs and then plan and award sub-award opportunities. The recipient would also review unsolicited applications from industry and academia for potential projects relevant to the OnRamp mission. DIU requests information regarding the characteristics for support and types of organizations for management as part of its exploratory phase. Please see the questions below and respond where possible.