SUMMERVILLE, S.C. — Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic invited industry partners to an exclusive tabletop demonstration at Advanced Technology International (ATI) headquarters in late February to help them conceptualize the development of a prototype that will enhance the Marine Corps’ all-source intelligence system.

Since its inception, IWRP has awarded 144 prototype projects totaling $543 million.

The demonstration was the first of its kind and coincided with an IWRP request for prototype project (RPP), which was released on Feb. 21.

“We planned this unique hands-on demonstration in conjunction with our call for proposals in order to provide industry the clearest look into what the Marine Corps is actually requesting,” said Jee Youn Fickling, a NIWC Atlantic program manager who oversees IWRP.

Twenty-nine IWRP consortium members attended the in-depth briefing at ATI, where prototype integration for the Distributed Common Ground/Surface System – Marine Corps (DCGS-MC) architecture was explained and demonstrated.

DCGS-MC is the Marine Corps’ ubiquitous network of intelligence and information that provides critical battlespace awareness capabilities. The system shed nearly 1,000 pounds of hardware in recent years thanks to NIWC Atlantic’s role in a major modernization effort that reduced its size, weight, cost and power requirements.

Now, to provide Marines even more advanced proficiencies during expeditionary operations in a maritime environment, the prototype under consideration must funnel certain DCGS-MC capabilities through the common handheld device currently used by Marines.

“To help the warfighter, we need companies to develop something that hits the target,” said Will Roenke, DCGS-MC All Source team lead at NIWC Atlantic’s Expeditionary Warfare Department. “In general, we typically see proposals that are either inapplicable, on-target or cost-prohibitive. This event will hopefully keep proposed prototypes on target while also increasing the number of responses we can choose from.”

NIWC Atlantic’s IWRP program regularly searches for ways to cut red tape and ease contracting processes for entities that have never worked with the government. IWRP is just one of several other transaction authorities, or OTAs, within the Department of the Navy (DON) created to lower barriers of entry for companies and get cutting-edge technologies into the hands of warfighters.

Fickling said there are nearly 800 members in the IWRP consortium, with an overwhelming 78% of them classified as non-traditional businesses and entities.

Roenke, who provided attendees with the DCGS-MC briefing, said based on feedback he received, incorporating events like the IWRP demo is an ideal way to request a proposal.

“It is difficult for companies in the private sector to provide a usable product within our architecture and constraints without seeing them firsthand,” he said. “By us articulating the need, gaps and some stretch-goals that we have for the system in the context of a larger effort for the project, value added in each proposal will likely increase and become a meaningful enhancement to the Marine intelligence process.”

Capt. Nicole Nigro, NIWC Atlantic commanding officer, said the demonstration was an excellent addition to the process to ensure the DON received the strongest proposals possible.

“Our IWRP leaders have moved out quickly to establish this consortium that benefits our industry partners and, most importantly, our warfighters,” she said. “I am extremely proud of their hard work, their creative ideas and their dedication to working with other teams and projects within the command to deliver the very best capabilities to our warfighters.”