WBI Workshops Inform Early Collaboration Framework for AFRL S&T 'Front Door'

01.07.20 05:29 PM By Jennie Hempstead

Many potential partners who want to interact with the Air Force (AF) have difficulty in navigating its structure. An “AF Science & Technology (S&T) Front Door” IPT was formed by AFRL to work on identifying the means needed to relieve this burden through the creation of a convenient virtual “front door” to rapidly connect AF experts and opportunities. This IPT is examining the steps needed to provide a service to connect industry, individuals, universities, and government research centers with experts inside the AF S&T enterprise. These interactions are intended to encourage deeper dialogue between the AF S&T enterprise and new connections to identify novel partnerships and potential opportunities for innovation. Additionally, the “front door” will increase idea solicitation from all sources by regularly enabling outreach activities to help build expertise and streamline the idea solicitation process.

Through the delivery of a new system or service that would efficiently match and connect industry, individuals, universities, and government entities to potential AF sponsors, procurement opportunities, support resources and capabilities, the AF could potentially achieve a more effective means of developing and delivering solutions that address AF needs.

WBI facilitated a 2-half day workshops on 11-12 June with 16 AFRL Directorate and HQ Tech Connect Team members. The workshops were structured with the first day centering on small group activities that allowed introduction of AFRL TD specific Tech Connect team members and their specific TD tech connect processes. Day 2 of the workshop, was structured around small group activities to create a composite of what information would be needed to effectively classify, reevaluate and route an idea that has been submitted into the S&T Front Door. A second small group activity was to generate a list of key words associated with a submitted idea that would trigger alignment with a particular TD. A follow-on workshop will be conducted in July to iterate on the developed “Skelton” workflow process with broader use cases inclusive of all “front door” submitted ideas and technology opportunities intended to reach and be considered by the AF S&T enterprise. Additionally, efforts to continue to refine TD specific “Key Words/phases" as well as those that overlap across more than one TD.

AFRL HQ is attempting to capture each TD’s current process and best practices fin-order to develop recommended procedural steps and interaction points across the AFRL enterprise needed to evaluate and respond to “front door” submitted ideas and technology opportunities. The desired outcome is a visual representation (“workflow diagram”) depicting the AFRL enterprise-wide processes associated with the intake, review, routing, and follow-up associated with the receipt of submissions via the “front door.”

Key goals are to design a workflow protocol associated with the AFRL “Tech Connect Team” assessing and routing inbound solution opportunities submitted/presented by external parties to and through the AFRL S&T “front door,” and identify and publish a recommended set of filtering criteria to aid in the effective assessment and routing of ideas and technology opportunities submitted via the AFRL S&T virtual “front door.”

This is an on-going project. Check back for updates.