Your Marketplace for AI/ML, Digital and Data Analytics Solutions

The Tradewind Solutions Marketplace is the DoD's ground-breaking enabling environment for DoD innovation. It's a digital repository of post-competition, readily-awardable pitch videos, which address the Government's greatest challenges in the AI/ML, digital, and data analytics space.

The solutions housed within the Marketplace have been assessed and vetted through competitive procedures which satisfy the competition requirements of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), and the Statutes, Policies, and guidance applicable to the DoD's Other Transaction Authorities

The Marketplace provides a venue for DoD organizations to search, view, review, compare, contrast, contact, discuss, negotiate, and procure data, analytics, digital, and AI/ML capabilities solutions through rapid acquisition procedures.

For industry, academic partners, and individuals, the Marketplace is a single location to identify, describe, and promote data, analytics, digital, and AI/ML technology solutions, products, and services to the DoD in an environment with a rapid acquisition contract pathway.

The Goals of the Solutions Marketplace are to:

• Establish a centralized location and format where DoD can assess the state of the art in available data, analytics, digital and AI/ML technology solutions.
• Establish a centralized location and format where industry, academic organizations, and individuals can promote their data, analytics, digital and AI/ML technology research, products, and services to the Government.
• Provide an environment and process for rapid procurement of available solutions, increasing speed-to-contract for DoD organizations, and providing contracting pathways for solution providers, including traditional, nontraditional, and new entrants to the defense marketplace.

All US-based companies, traditional and non-traditional, large business and small business, universities, not for profit companies, Government Laboratories and individuals are welcome to participate.

Foreign universities, research institutions, and entities may submit video pitches for their related technology solutions provided that such submissions are compliant with international law, including export laws for both the county of origin of the technology provider and the United States.

DoD organizations and activities performing market research, assessing capabilities, developing requirements, performing comparative assessments, procuring technology solutions, testing technology solutions, and other activities may participate in the Marketplace.

The DoD Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) in conjunction with its marketplace manager, IN3, and contracting support activity, Army Contracting Command - Rock Island created the concept and prototype for the Tradewind Solutions Marketplace.

The video solutions selected to be included within the Marketplace will be accessible by, and actively marketed to, DoD customer organizations.

Through Marketplace advertising, solution showcases, “movie nights”, and other regular activities, the solutions included within the Marketplace will be made available to DoD requirements activities.

Where a given activity identifies a solution that it seeks to discuss, test, compare, assess, or fund, that activity may contact the solution provider directly or through the CDAO's marketplace manager, IN3. The funding activity may request additional information from solution providers, request demonstrations of a video solution, and negotiate an agreement to procure the solution directly with the solution provider, or through the CDAO's marketplace manager, IN3.

The CDAO as the primary sponsor of the Tradewind Solutions Marketplace seeks to establish a low barrier entry point for industry, academia, and individuals to identify technology solutions, ongoing research efforts, and proposed future development activities that are relevant to the DoD. Benefits of participation include:

• Exposure and marketing of participating entities' technology solution(s) to relevant DoD customer organizations.
• Access to the streamlined submission process requiring only minimal corporate and technical information.
  Fast track assessment timelines for solution submissions; with notifications made within 30 calendar days of receipt (subject to submission volume).
• Direct feedback from operators, customers, subject matter experts, and end users within the DoD community to help product teams develop, iterate, and refine product designs and functionality.
• Eligibility and contract pathway for award of research, development, prototyping, test and evaluation, procurement for experimental purposes, and even production.
• Fully negotiable award terms including payment, intellectual property and data rights license terms, schedule, milestones, and pricing.
• Potential for multiple awards with single customer, or across multiple customers with no funding ceilings or limits to duration of effort, based on a single video solution submission.
• Unlimited number of solution video submissions across entire portfolio of relevant solutions.
• Submissions may be submitted and re-submitted at any time while the Marketplace call for Solutions remains open.

The Marketplace has identified six initial strategic focus areas for video pitch solution submissions. The Marketplace is initially soliciting for data, analytics, digital, and AI/ML capabilities which are relevant to one or more of the following strategic focus areas:

• Improving situational awareness and decision-making
• Increasing safety of operating equipment
• Implementing predictive maintenance and supply
• Streamlining business processes
• Assuring cybersecurity
• Developing a digital-age workforce
• Increasing autonomy and mobility of DoD systems
• Discovering Blue Sky Technology Applications

Blue Sky applications are those ideas, technology applications, processes, and products that the DoD may not be aware of, or may be aware of, but haven't currently established a use-case for.

This is the area that allows for identification of technology applications that aren't currently perceived or understood.

From a market relevance and visibility perspective, this is perhaps the most important of the Marketplace focus areas, as it allows companies, universities, research centers and others to identify what applications are currently achievable and potentially relevant to the DoD.

When the Marketplace MVP (minimum viable product) goes live, which is currently anticipated in the first quarter of fiscal year 2023 (October through December 2022), interested entities or individuals will submit their video solutions via the Marketplace website: www.tradewindmarketplace.com

For information on video content, format, and eligibility requirements, interested entities or individuals can find more information through the Tradewind Solutions Marketplace Teaser announcement available through the Tradewind Exchange, at: Tradewind Solutions Marketplace Teaser

All video solutions will be assessed within thirty (30) calendar days of submission, unless volume levels are abnormally high for a given period.

Solutions are assessed by Government personnel and supporting subject matter experts to determine which video solutions will be selected for placement in the Marketplace. Solutions will be scored against the assessment rubric available at: Tradewind Solutions Marketplace Teaser

It is the aim of Government to populate the Marketplace with technology solutions that possess a high level of technical merit, as those solutions may subsequently be selected for funding by DoD customer organizations.