RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC. - When the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy needed information on innovative approaches for funding research partnerships it turned to Army Contracting Command--Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. ACC-APG turned to Patricia J. Fox.
Fox, chief, ACC-APG, Research Triangle Park Division, was asked to give a presentation to Thomas Kalil, deputy director for policy for the White House OSTP and the senior advisor for science, technology and innovation for the National Economic Council.
The presentation entitled "Business Mechanisms and Creative Research Partnerships" described the portfolio of business mechanisms used by ACC-APG on behalf of the Army Research Laboratory to meet its mission needs.
"It was an honor to be recognized as an expert in creative business mechanisms and to brief Mr. Kalil," Fox said. "His interest in fostering innovation in how the government does business was refreshing and encouraging."
The presentation was part of an ARL colloquium held recently at the Adelphi Laboratory Center, Adelphi, Md., where Kalil was the guest speaker. Kalil's topic as speaker was "Enabling Science, Technology and Innovation for National Security."
The colloquium was attended by ARL staff both on-site and remote locations via video streaming. Kalil spoke about President Obama's innovation strategy and OSTP's role in establishing science and technology policy for the president.
Kalil toured the ARL laboratories, requested input for initiatives that he could champion in OSTP and identified time for the presentation from Fox.
Fox discussed ARL's use of cooperative agreements and its unique provisions that enable highly effective collaboration between the government and the academic and industrial communities. In addition, she gave an overview of procurement contracting, assistance transactions and other transaction agreements for prototypes.
"I responded to questions focusing on other transaction agreements and I identified possible barriers that may inhibit commercial entities from doing business with the government," said Fox.
She concluded the presentation with a discussion on possible ways to overcome these barriers.
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