Cybersecurity for Advanced Computing and Software Modernization Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO)

The Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is issuing a Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) pursuant to DFARS Subpart 212.70.

Under a CSO, the ERDC may competitively award proposals received in response to a general solicitation, similar to a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), to acquire innovative commercial products, technologies, or services based on a review of solutions by scientific, technological, or other subject matter expert peers within the ERDC. “Innovative,” for CSO purposes, means any new technology, process, or method, including research and development (R&D), or any new application of an existing technology, process, or method.

Under this CSO, all products, technologies, and services shall be treated as commercial items; products, technologies, and services do not have to be “commercially available” to be submitted in response to this solicitation. If the solution meets the requirements of the regulation, the solution is treated as commercial whereby the Contracting Officer will utilize commercial procedures to develop and execute the resultant award.

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Information Technology Laboratory (ITL), High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP) in collaboration with OUSD(R&E), is seeking commercial solutions that advance the state of cybersecurity for emerging and future computing paradigms to transition forward-leaning cybersecurity technologies into operationally relevant prototypes that enhance the resilience, trustworthiness, and survivability of DoD digital infrastructure.

This effort will support the development, prototyping, and demonstration of cybersecurity capabilities specifically designed for modern computing environments. The objective is to explore and validate transformative technologies/solutions capable of providing autonomous, verifiable, and resilient security in contested and complex cyber-physical scenarios.

Solutions should provide strong alignment to critical modernization areas including AI-enablement, autonomy, cloud-native development, and distributed edge computing. Go to https://www.erdcwerx.org/cybersecurity-for-advanced-computing-and-software-modernization/ for all of the CSO details and submission requirements. All solutions must be submitted through the ERDCWERX platform. All resultant contracts will be firm-fixed price.

All items, technologies, and services (including research and development) procured via this CSO are treated as commercial. Applicants from universities and/or non-profit organizations should be aware that commercial clauses will be integrated into the award and should coordinate proposals with associated legal counsel prior to submission.