Air Force SBIR, STTR Program to Launch First Call for FY 2021 Open Topics in Mid-January

The Air Force’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer program announced at the AFWERX Accelerate event that it will release the first open topic for fiscal year 2021 on Jan. 14, in coordination with the Department of Defense.

The service said Wednesday the first open topic will run through Feb. 18 and the second and third open topics will be released respectively in May and September next year and close 30 days after.

The SBIR/STTR program broadened the use of the solicitation process for open topics in FY 2019 to address key areas that are vital to the Air Force and Space Force. Air Force Col. Nathan Diller, AFWERX director, discussed the advantages of the process during the AFWERX event.

“With this approach, we can match problems with solutions from an expanded ecosystem,” Diller said. “Innovation matching allows the Air Force to reach solutions faster by taking advantage of innovative thinkers in a competitive, low-risk environment.”