Broad Agency Announcement
Encyclopedia
The Broad Agency Announcement is a technique for United States government
agencies to contract for basic and applied research
and certain development. 48 CFR 35.016.
The technique may be used to acquire "scientific study and experimentation directed toward advancing the state-of-the-art or increasing knowledge or understanding." 48 CFR 36.106(a) The technique shares the name of the means of initiating it. The announcement, published in Federal Business Opportunities, describes "broadly defined areas of interest" (FAR 35.016(b)(1)). Proposals received in response to the announcement are evaluated through a peer or scientific review process (see FAR 35.016(d)), unlike the more traditional technique for evaluation of proposals under FAR Subpart 15.3. An award under the technique is treated as meeting the statutory requirement in the Competition in Contracting Act for full and open competition (vis a no-bid contract
). 48 CFR 6.102(d)(2).
It is not intended for acquisition "related to the development of a specific system or hardware procurement." 48 CFR 36.106(a) It may only be used "when meaningful proposals with varying technical/scientific approaches can reasonably be anticipated." Ibid.
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
agencies to contract for basic and applied research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
and certain development. 48 CFR 35.016.
The technique may be used to acquire "scientific study and experimentation directed toward advancing the state-of-the-art or increasing knowledge or understanding." 48 CFR 36.106(a) The technique shares the name of the means of initiating it. The announcement, published in Federal Business Opportunities, describes "broadly defined areas of interest" (FAR 35.016(b)(1)). Proposals received in response to the announcement are evaluated through a peer or scientific review process (see FAR 35.016(d)), unlike the more traditional technique for evaluation of proposals under FAR Subpart 15.3. An award under the technique is treated as meeting the statutory requirement in the Competition in Contracting Act for full and open competition (vis a no-bid contract
No-bid contract
The term "no-bid contract" is a popular phrase for what is officially known as a "sole source contract". A sole source contract implies that there is only one person or company that can provide the contractual services needed, and any attempt to obtain bids would only result in one person or...
). 48 CFR 6.102(d)(2).
It is not intended for acquisition "related to the development of a specific system or hardware procurement." 48 CFR 36.106(a) It may only be used "when meaningful proposals with varying technical/scientific approaches can reasonably be anticipated." Ibid.