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The intent is to encourage participation by commercial entities that are hesitant to do business with the government (think Silicon Valley).
#Other transaction authority full
A “nontraditional defense contractor” is an entity that is not currently performing and has not, for at least the one-year period preceding the solicitation of sources by DOD for the transaction, performed any contract or subcontract for DOD that is subject to full coverage under the cost accounting standards.
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As a result, a DOD contracting officer may approve the use of an other transaction agreement for up to $100 million. Most recently, Congress doubled the dollar thresholds for required approvals of OTA in the FY 2018 NDAA. This authority is intentionally broad and reflects an expansion from the original purpose of developing weapons and weapons systems.Īlthough around for decades, OTA was made permanent in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016. Contractors looking to take advantage of “other transaction authority” or “OTA” need to know some basics.īy statute, OTA is for “prototype projects” that are directly relevant “to enhancing the mission effectiveness of military personnel and the supporting platforms, systems, components, or materials proposed to be acquired or developed” by DOD or “to improvement of platforms, systems, components, or materials in use by the armed forces.” 10 U.S.C. Department of Defense (“DOD”) maximum flexibility in obtaining innovation without the trappings of traditional procurements. The term is an invention of lawmakers to give the U.S. If you followed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (“FY 2018 NDAA”) or the recent cloud computing award to REAN Cloud, you likely heard the term “other transaction authority,” but may have wondered what it means.
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