Ota Consortia

OT Consortia

An OT Consortium is a relationship between a government sponsor and a collection of traditional and non-traditional vendors, non-profit organizations, and academia aligned to a technology domain area (i.e., cyber, space, undersea, propulsion) that are managed by a single entity, and focused on innovative solutions to government technology challenges that meet the intended scope and purpose of other transactions.

OT Consortium Model

OT Consortia generally have 3 components, although some government sponsors opt to manage a consortium in-house rather than hire an industry Consortium Manager or Consortium Management Firm. The Consortium Manager is awarded an OT agreement by the government (base OT agreement) and manages OTs awarded to its consortium member organizations (project OT agreements) under the base agreement.

Gov’t Sponsor + Contracting Office

Consortium Manager

Consortium

Existong OT Consortia

Gov’t Sponsor + Contracting Office

Consortium Sponsor (Government Sponsor and Contracting Office) 

  • Awards Other Transaction agreement to a Consortium Manager to execute administrative processes and workload (base OT agreement) for a specific technology domain area
  • Establishes consortium objectives and overarching guidelines to execute the consortium
  • Selects projects to be awarded to the consortium based on compatability with consortium objectives and appropriateness of project for an OT award
  • Approves evaluation selection criteria and project OT award selection/s

Consortium Manager

Consortium Manager (specifics will vary among consortia)

  • Establishes processes for consortium application, membership terms, collects membership fees/dues*
  • Collects a % of fee for each project OT awarded under the base OT agreement*
  • In collaboration with the government sponsor, supports government customers to: develop problem statements, requests for white papers, requests for prototype proposals (RFPPs), determine whether demos will be requested, develop phased selection processes, develop criteria to evaluate proposals, etc.
  • Communicates requests for white papers/RFPPs to consortium members, usually via internal website or portal (some announcements may be public, but the details are usually available only to consortium members)
  • Manages proposal evaluations and project OT agreement award selection/s, negotiations, and cost analysis (gov sponsor ultimately approves)
  • Manages post project OT agreement award administrative activities on behalf of government customer such as monitoring deliverables, invoice/payment tracking, & reporting (gov customer is responsible for day to day activities with contractor/s)
  • Maintains “library” of proposals not selected/not funded for potential future use for current gov customer or new gov customer

*membership fees/dues and % of fee for award vary among consortia. See  Existing OT Consortia  page for individual consortium information.

Consortium

The Consortium

  • A consortium is established to support a specific technology domain area (i.e., cyber, space, undersea, propulsion)
  • Consortium membership is open to qualifying US entities (varies by consortium):
    • Traditional/non-traditional contractors
    • Non-profit organizations
    • Academic institutions
  • Some consortia open to foreign entities
  • Qualifying entities may join one or multiple consortia
  • Consortium members are subject to terms of membership, which may include an annual membership fee and a fixed-percentage fee applied to each project OT agreement awarded
  • Members typically have access to requests for white papers, requests for prototype proposals(RFPPs), etc. from government customers specific to the consortium
  • Some consortia managers may facilitate partnering opportunities among members
  • Members may be able to partner with other members to propose solutions
  • Traditional contractors must be prepared to meet cost-sharing requirements of other transaction authorities
  • Members may negotiate unique terms and conditions for individual projects
  • Members that receive project OT awards will be assessed a % of fee by the consortium manager in accordance with consortium terms and conditions