The Department of Defense (DoD) is proposing to amend to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) such that defense contractors will be required to give notice of proposed Independent Research and Development (IR&D) projects.
In a Federal Register notice published on Feb. 16, 2016, DoD explained that proposed rule aims to increase awareness of the relevance of and potential interest by the military in opportunities created by IR&D investments.
According to the notice, the government treats investments made by defense companies as allowable costs. If adopted, the rule will require Defense contractors to inform DoD staff of the outcomes of completed IR&D projects. “The objective of this engagement is to ensure that both IR&D performers and their potential DoD customers have sufficient awareness of each other’s efforts and to provide industry with some feedback on the relevance of proposed and completed IR&D work,” according to the proposed rule.
Industry comments on the proposed rule are due Apr. 18, 2016. Comments may be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking portal by entering “DFARS Case 2016-D002” under the heading “Enter keyword or ID” and selecting “Search.” Select the link “Submit a Comment” that corresponds with “DFARS Case 2016-D002.” Follow the instructions provided at the “Submit a Comment” screen.
