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THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. Purpose Naval Surface Warfare Center, Corona Division (NSWCCO), intends to establish an Other Transaction Authority (OTA) Agreeme... THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. Purpose Naval Surface Warfare Center, Corona Division (NSWCCO), intends to establish an Other Transaction Authority (OTA) Agreement with a single Consortium Management Firm. The selected Consortium Management Firm will be responsible for recruiting members of the consortium. Scope Members of the consortium will be comprised of both traditional and non-traditional defense contractors. The OTA, 10 U.S.C. § 4022, allows the Department of Defense (DoD) to "carry out prototype projects that are directly relevant to enhancing the mission effectiveness of military personnel and the supporting platforms, systems, components or materials proposed to be carried out by the DoD, or to improvement of platforms, systems, components, or materials in use by the armed forces." Constant innovation and rapid technological advances are occurring throughout the world. Partnerships with commercial industry, the civil maritime sector, and others will be used to leverage these approaches and increase flexibility and agility, reduce costs, improve technology and capability insertion, and decrease program development cycles. OTA objectives include rapid development prototyping and testing that can be demonstrated in an operational environment and provide for a rapid fielding of an operational capability. A prototype project can generally be described as a preliminary pilot, test, evaluation, demonstration, or agile development activity used to evaluate the technical or manufacturing feasibility or military utility of a particular technology, process, concept, end item, effect, or other discrete feature. Prototype projects may include systems, subsystems, components, materials, methodology, technology, or processes. By way of illustration, a prototype project may involve proof of concept; a pilot; a novel application of commercial technologies for defense purposes; a creation, design, development, demonstration of technical or operational utility; or combinations of the foregoing, related to a prototype. The OTA offers an alternative to Federal Acquisition Regulation based acquisitions, allowing for access to participation by non-traditional defense contractors with innovative solutions that may not normally desire to participate in government procurements. The OTA Consortium model specifically allows for enhanced collaboration between Government and industry. The collaborative nature of this model also creates a longer?term channel for the Government to capitalize on "technology push" by obtaining industry input and feedback on rapidly evolving technologies. The OTA Consortium model also fosters the development of interoperable, modular, open architecture systems and prototypes that permit rapid, flexible technology upgrades and mission reconfiguration. Its emphasis on engaging non?traditional technology suppliers casts a wider network for capturing ideas and innovations. For all companies, the model provides a process to have a voice and the ability to "weigh?in" on critical technology issues and inform Government technology requirements. The OTA Consortium model also establishes a mechanism for creating technology transition partnerships between small technology innovators and large system integrators. Fiscal and Property Laws are applicable to OTs. Each statute will be examined to ensure it does or does not apply to a particular funding arrangement using an OT. Use of OT Authority does not eliminate the applicability of all laws and regulations. Intellectual property rights consistent with the Bayh-Dole Act (35 U.S.C. § 201-204) for patents and 10 U.S.C. § 2320-21 for technical data and computer software is not applicable to OTAs. However, negotiation of rights of a different scope may be utilized when necessary to accomplish program objectives and foster Government interests, and to balance the interests of the awardee. Additionally, in cases where the prototype project is intended to, or likely to, result in follow-on production and deployment, the Government will assess the impact of restrictions on intellectual property rights, or the failure to obtain necessary intellectual property deliverables (e.g., technical data or computer software), on the Government’s total life cycle cost of the technology, both in costs attributable to royalties from required licenses, and in costs associated with the inability to obtain competition for the future production, operation, maintenance, upgrade, and modification of prototype technology. Requirement NSWCCO is releasing this Request for Information (RFI) informing industry of an interest in establishing an OTA Agreement with a consortium management firm under the authority of 10 U.S.C. § 4022 to develop and mature technologies to enable advanced approaches to maintaining maritime superiority, and to solicit feedback from industry on the proposed approach. This includes: Maturing technologies that assist in surface maritime dominance Experimenting to better inform and equip the warfighter Demonstrating new technologies to increase war-fighting capabilities Developing innovative solutions for surface lifecycle challenges across the spectrum The potential OTA Agreement is anticipated to cover the following technology areas across Naval Surface Warfare Centers. Technology Areas 1. Network Architecture and Infrastructure: Research, development, demonstration, test, and evaluation of tools, techniques, procedures and processes that expand the state of the art in network architecture, engineering, infrastructure. This includes advanced design and implementation of secure, resilient, and scalable network solutions supporting critical naval operations across diverse environments. Key focus areas include software-defined networking, network function virtualization, advanced routing and switching protocols, zero-trust architectures, and the integration of next-generation wireless and satellite communication systems. This area also encompasses the development of robust and adaptable infrastructure solutions, including enterprise data centers, cloud computing environments, and tactical edge networks. Research and prototyping efforts may include optimizing network performance, enhancing cybersecurity posture through advanced threat detection and mitigation, and ensuring seamless interoperability across various platforms and domains. Emphasis is placed on automation, predictive analytics for network management, and the development of tools for rapid deployment and configuration of secure network infrastructure to meet evolving mission requirements. 2. Cyber: Research, development, demonstration, test, and evaluation of tools, techniques, procedures, and processes that expand the state of the art in cyber warfare, cyber engineering practices, and system security engineering practices throughout the system lifecycle. This includes advanced offensive and defensive applications, technologies (anti-tamper, supply chain risk management, hardware and software, microcode to application layer), and tools supporting vulnerability assessment and adversarial assessment (such as red team) cyber initiatives in all aspects. 3. Big Data Analytics/Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning: Boundary extension of 'big data' analysis tools used for data classification, clustering, dimensionality reduction, predictive analysis, visualization, and forensic analysis of streaming data. Research may include artificial intelligence/autonomy/deep learning for statistical pattern recognition, vehicle control, semantic reasoning, and cyber defense. Research may include threat assessment and enhancement of RF monitoring, and recording/analysis. Consider advanced Viz concepts for augmented reality, and personnel training/readiness. 4. Advanced Computing and Software Engineering: Research, development, demonstration, and exploitation of tools, techniques, and procedures that expand the state of the art in software engineering practices, advanced computing and computation, and heterogeneous/homogenous computing environments throughout the system lifecycle. This includes hardware and software architecture and design, formal verification tools and techniques, algorithmic development and design, clustering/high availability computing stacks, compiler technologies, software assurance tools, automatic code generation, networking tools and the necessary hardware and software to improve the state of the art in the field of computation and advanced computing. 5. Virtualization: Research, development, demonstration, and analysis of alternatives associated with virtualization technologies, including hardware abstraction techniques (hypervisors) and operating environment abstraction techniques (containers). Virtualization solutions to include dynamic resource allocation, cyber resilience, real-time performance assessment, heterogeneous hypervisor deployment, and incorporation of service-oriented concepts. Prototype efforts to include execution of hardware and software solutions that meet a wide range of Navy needs for both laboratory variations, portable, and shipboard environments. Request for Information A capabilities statement is requested from vendors who are interested in proposing as a Consortium Management Firm. Respondents shall provide information related to their capabilities to fulfill/address/contribute to the technology areas listed and specifically address the questions provided. It is expected the consortium manager will be able to form a Consortium whose members will be able to perform in all Technology Areas. Information from industry is requested to assist NSWCCO develop the way forward, with a focus on the following areas and questions. Respondents shall specifically address: What are the advantages/disadvantages of working under an OTA Agreement? Under what conditions or circumstances would industry participate in an OTA consortium? What barriers does industry foresee in working with the Navy in an OTA consortium strategy? For example, are there any legal, security, or intellectual property rights implications? What are the potential advantages and drawbacks to the structure of the OTA Agreement, specifically as it concerns the number and value of projects to be awarded within the consortium, the time frame for the awards to be made and work to be accomplished, and how work is solicited (i.e. annually at set times versus ad-hoc as needs arise)? Does your company intend to propose as a consortium manager? Are there any technology areas not listed above that the Navy should consider? What is your approach to marketing requirements to non-traditional contractors? Have you previously managed a consortium model OTA? If yes, do you believe it was successful in meeting its objective? If yes, what lessons learned, and best practices would you encourage the Navy to adopt? What are your consortium dues? Are they one-time or annual? What services/benefits do you offer the Government? (hosting industry days, etc.) All responses or questions related to this RFI must be received no later than 2:00 PM PST on 10 September 2025 by email to Kim Chu (kimhoang.chu.civ@us.navy.mil) and Sean Foley (sean.e.foley.civ@us.navy.mil). All email responses shall contain the subject line “RFI_N642672598000_COMPANY NAME”. This RFI is not a Request for Proposal. The requested information is for planning purposes and does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that a procurement action will be issued. No funds are available to pay for preparation of responses to this RFI. All information and data received in response to the RFI marked or designated as corporate proprietary information will be safeguarded and handled accordingly. Respondents are responsible for adequately marking proprietary information contained in their response.