New Digital Platform Will Serve as Premier Entry Point for Innovators to Help Solve IC Challenges
Washington D.C. – The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), which coordinates research and development aimed at solving the Intelligence Community’s (IC) toughest technological challenges, today announced the launch of the IARPA Solutions Marketplace - a digital environment that facilitates IC connectivity with small and large businesses, academia, and even individual developers.
“The IARPA Solutions Marketplace will serve as a key gateway to deepen collaboration between the IC and American free enterprise,” said Aaron Lukas, the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence. “Our goal is to push beyond conventional research and development models and enable U.S. companies to deliver truly state-of-the-art capabilities to the IC, faster and at lower cost.”
Available through IARPA’s public website, the IARPA Solutions Marketplace solicits, collects, assesses, and curates Intelligence Community-relevant solutions and makes those solutions available to the entire IC through rapid acquisition pathways.
The IARPA Solutions Marketplace will serve a dual purpose: First it provides industry, academia, and individual innovators an easily accessible way to promote their ideas, products, software, and services to the IC. Secondly, for the IC, the IARPA Solutions Marketplace will save time and resources by avoiding repetitive pre-acquisition efforts. This standing market of vetted technologies means IC agencies can, for the first time, easily browse IC-relevant solutions that have already been developed and deployed, avoiding costly duplication of effort.
Part of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, IARPA sits within the Office of Economic Security and Emerging Technology (OESET). Over the past year, OESET has made a strategic push to facilitate IC access to American private sector innovation.
“IARPA Solutions Marketplace will help harness private sector expertise and accelerate breakthroughs in high-impact technologies,” said Ricky Gill, OESET’s Director. “We must remain on both offense and defense protecting American intellectual property and economic activity, while guiding investment in cutting edge sectors that are critical for national security.”
“Today’s IARPA is focused on accelerating the advancement, delivery, and impact of mission-relevant capabilities,” said Russell Miller, IARPA’s Director. “The IARPA Solutions Marketplace will lower barriers for non-traditional performers, apply more flexible acquisition authorities, serve as a bridge between IC challenges and innovative solutions, and avoid duplication of effort across agencies.”
"To effectively harness private sector innovation and align it to the IC's needs we had to create a new, streamlined pathway for industry partners," said Dr. Jack Cooper, IARPA’s Acting Deputy Director. "Now vendors can present their potential solutions, receive feedback, and, if it's the right fit, get funded to deliver capabilities without bureaucratic delays that the IC simply cannot afford."
More information about IARPA’s Solutions Marketplace can be found at www.iarpa.gov/marketplace
