MECHANISMS FOR EXPEDITED ACCESS TO TECHNICAL TALENT AND EXPERTISE AT ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS TO SUPPORT DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE MISSIONS.

SEC. 217. MECHANISMS FOR EXPEDITED ACCESS TO TECHNICAL TALENT AND EXPERTISE AT ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS TO SUPPORT DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE MISSIONS.(a) Arrangements Authorized.—(1) In general.—The Secretary of Defense and each secretary of a military department may establish one or more multi-institution task order contracts, consortia, cooperative agreements, or other arrangements to facilitate expedited access to university technical expertise, including faculty, staff, and students, in support of Department of Defense missions in the areas specified in subsection (e).(2) Use for technical analyses and engineering support.—The Secretary may use an arrangement under paragraph (1) to fund technical analyses and other engineering support as required to address acquisition, management, and operational challenges, including support for classified programs and activities.(b) Limitation.—An arrangement established under subsection (a)(1) may not be used to fund research programs that can be executed through other Department of Defense basic research activities.(c) Consultation With Other Department of Defense Activities.—An arrangement established under subsection (a)(1) shall, to the degree practicable, be made in consultation with other Department of Defense activities, including federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs), university affiliated research centers (UARCs), and Defense laboratories and test centers, for purposes of providing technical expertise and reducing costs and duplicative efforts.(d) Policies and Procedures.—If the Secretary of Defense or a secretary of a military department establishes one or more arrangements under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary of Defense shall establish and implement policies and procedures to govern—(1) selection of participants in the arrangement or arrangements;(2) the awarding of task orders under the arrangement or arrangements;(3) maximum award size for tasks under the arrangement or arrangements;(4) the appropriate use of competitive awards and sole source awards under the arrangement or arrangements; and(5) technical areas under the arrangement or arrangements.(e) Mission Areas.—The areas specified in this subsection are as follows:(1) Cybersecurity.(2) Air and ground vehicles.(3) Shipbuilding.(4) Explosives detection and defeat.(5) Undersea warfare.(6) Trusted electronics.131 STAT. 1329(7) Unmanned systems.(8) Directed energy.(9) Energy, power, and propulsion.(10) Management science and operations research.(11) Artificial intelligence.(12) Data analytics.(13) Business systems.(14) Technology transfer and transition.(15) Biological engineering and genetic enhancement.(16) High performance computing.(17) Materials science and engineering.(18) Quantum information sciences.(19) Special operations activities.(20) Modeling and simulation.(21) Autonomous systems.(22) Model based engineering.(23) Such other areas as the Secretary considers appropriate.(f) Sunset.—No new arrangements may be entered into under subsection (a)(1) after September 30, 2020.(g) Arrangements Established Under Subsection (a)(1) Defined.—In this section, the term “arrangement established under subsection (a)(1)” means a multi-institution task order contract, consortia, cooperative agreement, or other arrangement established under subsection (a)(1).