AFRL and JEDC enter into SpringBoard Partnership Intermediary Agreement

  • Published
  • By Debbie Miller
  • AFRL
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  The Air Force Research Laboratory will host members from the Juneau Economic Development Council (JEDC) and the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) at a Oct. 26 kickoff meeting to begin work on the partnership intermediary agreement (PIA), referred to as SpringBoard.

JEDC, a not-for-profit organization based in Juneau, Alaska, entered into the PIA with AFRL on July 26. The program is aimed at developing, demonstrating and commercializing technology to meet the needs of the Department of Defense and will be in effect for a period of five years.

JEDC will act as a partnership intermediary to provide small businesses and educational institutions based in Alaska with technical assistance aimed at helping them identify appropriate AFRL technologies for licensing and commercialization as well as identify new technologies in the private sector that AFRL can utilize and transfer to operational use.

SpringBoard will also facilitate joint research and development projects between AFRL and private companies and between agencies and educational institutions. The PIA will assist entrepreneurs in the start-up of new companies to aid in the commercialization of AFRL technologies.

Through this PIA, Alaskan companies have the potential to benefit from AFRL technological resources and to match their needs against DOD capabilities in many high technology areas.

"Leveraging the technological and scientific resources of the numerous DOD laboratories is a huge asset for Alaska," said Dr. Lance Miller, executive director of JEDC. "This program will help with the application of science and technology to Alaskan industries, as well as new emerging technology companies throughout the state, while at the same time facilitating the transition of technology back into DOD."

"Springboard is one of only a handful of similar programs in the U.S. which are designed to help the DOD spin technology out into the private sector for commercialization and to facilitate the transition of new technology-based products and services back into DOD," Dr. Miller said.

The program will foster collaborations and partnerships between DOD, academia and industry, with an emphasis on small businesses and will enhance AFRL's research capability with world-class researchers these areas.

In addition to SpringBoard, AFRL manages five other PIAs that engage intermediaries to provide technology-related assistance from a federal laboratory and develop relationships with appropriate organizations in order to facilitate the transfer of AFRL technologies. OSD tasked AFRL to manage and execute a network of OSD PIAs allowing AFRL to benefit from the opportunity to leverage industry and academia for the purpose of transferring technologies.