The State Department has started soliciting feedback on its proposed plan to establish and sponsor three federally funded research and development centers to facilitate public-private collaboration on several efforts related to modernization and diplomacy.
According to a notice published Friday in the Federal Register, the proposed FFRDCs will be divided into three areas: operational support; emerging threats, concept exploration, experimentation and evaluation; and information technology and cyber operations.
Operational support, for instance, includes the development of comprehensive acquisition policies and implementation guidance that foster innovation and establishment of organizational structures and business models that can support operational and strategic goals.
“In particular, we are interested in feedback regarding the proposed scope of the work to be performed by the FFRDCs, and the presence of any existing private- or public-sector capabilities in these areas that the Department should be considering,” the notice reads.
The State Department expects to post on SAM.gov a request for proposals in the summer of 2024.
Michael Derrios, senior procurement executive at the department’s Bureau of Administration, discussed the agency’s new acquisition approach, which includes the creation of its own FFRDCs.
Comments are due Aug. 15.
