Commerce Partnership Opportunity Aims to Amplify Feds' Data Use

The Commerce Department’s National Technical Information Service unveiled plans to enter into joint venture partnerships with private-sector entities that aim to catalyze innovation across federal agencies’ data use and management. 

NTIS will accept proposals on an ongoing basis until Dec. 13, 2022 from organizations that wish to produce fresh federal solutions that support the government’s use, analysis, security and dissemination of data, according to a notice published Friday in the federal register. Those chosen to enter into the agreements will gain eligibility to compete for specific opportunities and expedite federal data modernization.

“Specifically, NTIS is interested in partnering with organizations that have specialized skills and capabilities in applied data science areas, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, and cybersecurity, to assist the federal government in leveraging data as a strategic asset to achieve federal agency mission outcomes,” officials wrote in the document. 

Launched to be the government’s repository for scientific research after World War II, NTIS has since evolved to meet the demands of a data-driven government and create a quicker pipeline to advance federal priorities through electronic information use and propagation. Joint ventures are not traditional procurement practices, and with its JVP authority, NTIS is working to establish public-private partnerships that speed up the development of agile technological applications agencies need. 

“The joint venture partnerships provide data services that allow customer federal agencies to accelerate the time it takes to achieve mission outcomes,” officials note. 

In the case of this agreement, interested parties will need to demonstrate their abilities to address and provide services that meet one of two technical requirements: 

• Innovations in the use of data and data services to leverage data as a strategic asset to improve business processes and mission outcomes. 
• Analysis, interpretation, and understanding of data, as well as meaningful application of the analysis and interpretation, to automate business processes, predict future events and prescribe potential solutions.

Solutions that can be achieved through commercial-off-the-shelf acquisitions will not be considered in this effort. 

In the near future, the agency will also release another notice for separate joint venture agreements through which entities can provide innovative solutions in the realm of assistive technologies.