Modernizing S&T’s LRBAA Process

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is making it easier for researchers and innovators to work with us. We’ve made it a priority to engage with our partners using more modern business practices, and the newly-streamlined Long-Range Broad Agency Announcement (LRBAA) is a result.

If you’re unfamiliar with the LRBAA, it’s a standing invitation to industry and academia for new ideas that can advance S&T’s scientific and technical knowledge and apply that knowledge to DHS operations. While other technology research opportunities are focused on specific requirements, the LRBAA is open to a wide range of topics. This allows you to provide bold ideas that can improve the nation’s ability to address big challenges.

The new LRBAA now has a:

1. Simplified process
2. Reduced timeframe
3. Improved communication

These improvements are based on direct feedback from all of our partners – you spoke, and we listened! The changes allow industry – including businesses of all sizes – and academia to interact directly and more frequently with S&T program managers at the outset and uses a simple two-phase procurement process.

First, you’ll be able to submit your research materials and have a brief scientific discussion with one of our program managers. It will only take 10 days to hear back from us on whether or not your research concept meets one of our high priority requirements. If it does, you will be invited to pitch your ideas to a peer review panel and answer clarifying questions about your proposal. Upon recommendation from the review panel, a Scientific Review Officer may invite you to submit a written technical and cost proposal within 45 days. We will have a funding answer to you within 21 days. This dramatically reduces the timeframe by a full 5½ months!

Another improvement we’ve made is to provide feedback on any written proposals that are not recommended for an award. Even if your concept does not meet one of our needs, we want to make sure you know where you can continue improving so you can try again.

Eager to get started? A good first step is to review the S&T Industry Guide that lists our current priorities. From there, visit the LRBAA website and solicitation portal to see current research topics, links to the solicitation, and additional guidance for submitting your concept.

S&T sincerely thanks those who provided feedback on the new process – your help will make sure we can be a better partner moving forward. To keep the conversation going, follow S&T on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube for the latest updates on opportunities like the LRBAA.