[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 32, Volume 1]

[Revised as of July 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 32CFR37.210]



[Page 228]

 

                       TITLE 32--NATIONAL DEFENSE

 

              CHAPTER I--OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

 

PART 37_TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS--Table of Contents

 

      Subpart B_Appropriate Use of Technology Investment Agreements

 

Sec.  37.210  To what types of recipients may I award a TIA?



    (a) As a matter of DoD policy, you may award a TIA only when one or 

more for-profit firms are to be involved either in the:

    (1) Performance of the research project; or

    (2) The commercial application of the research results. In that 

case, you must determine that the nonprofit performer has at least a 

tentative agreement with specific for-profit partners who plan on being 

involved when there are results to transition. You should review the 

agreement between the nonprofit and for-profit partners, because the 

for-profit partners' involvement is the basis for using a TIA rather 

than another type of assistance instrument.

    (b) Consistent with the goals of civil-military integration, TIAs 

are most appropriate when one or more commercial firms (as defined at 

Sec.  37.1250) are to be involved in the project.

    (c) You are encouraged to make awards to consortia (a consortium may 

include one or more for-profit firms, as well as State or local 

government agencies, institutions of higher education, or other 

nonprofit organizations). The reasons are that:

    (1) When multiple performers are participating as a consortium, they 

are more equal partners in the research performance than usually is the 

case with a prime recipient and subawards. All of them therefore are 

more likely to be directly involved in developing and revising plans for 

the research effort, reviewing technical progress, and overseeing 

financial and other business matters. That feature makes consortia well 

suited to building new relationships among performers in the defense and 

commercial sectors of the technology and industrial base, a principal 

objective for the use of TIAs.

    (2) In addition, interactions among the participants within a 

consortium potentially provide a self-governance mechanism. The 

potential for additional self-governance is particularly good when a 

consortium includes multiple for-profit participants that normally are 

competitors within an industry.

    (d) TIAs also may be used for carrying out research performed by 

single firms or multiple performers in prime award-subaward 

relationships. In awarding TIAs in those cases, however, you should 

consider providing for greater involvement of the program official or a 

way to increase self-governance (e.g., a prime award with multiple 

subawards arranged so as to give the subrecipients more insight into and 

authority and responsibility for programmatic and business aspects of 

the overall project than they usually have).