MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA (October 5, 2022)—The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is excited to announce its inaugural cohort for the Immersive Commercial Acquisition Program (ICAP) for 2022-2023. The members of the first cohort are:
Ms. Mariluz Chan-Endres, U.S. Navy
Ms. April Davison, U.S. Air Force
MAJ Michael Gerbasi, U.S. Army
Maj Shamika Woodruff, U.S. Air Force
In March 2022, DIU launched ICAP, a new and immersive program to train DoD acquisition professionals on how to utilize the Other Transaction (OT) authority to acquire novel commercial technologies. ICAP’s unique training approach combines Defense Acquisition University (DAU) classroom training with relevant, on-the-job, experiential learning through the execution of DIU prototype projects. Upon the conclusion of the program, ICAP fellows will produce a capstone project; a training plan, based on experiences and lessons learned in the program.
The capstone project for the ICAP fellows will provide a framework to launch similar training programs at their respective home organizations, implementing best practices on utilizing OT agreements and the Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) to acquire innovative commercial technologies.
DIU received applications from the Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, Navy, and the 4th Estate. To qualify, candidates needed to be either government civilian employees (GS-13/14 or NH-03/04 1102 series) or active component military contracting officers (Major/Lieutenant Colonel). Furthermore, DIU selected ICAP applicants based on their overall resume, letter of intent, supervisor recommendations, and an interview with a panel of DIU acquisition leaders.
“We know that the private sector has options on who they work with. It is in DoD’s interest to be an attractive business partner, otherwise we run the risk of losing out on commercially-developed, mission-critical and even life-saving technology,” said Cherissa Tamayori, Director of Acquisitions at DIU. “DIU’s CSO process and our use of the OT authority provides flexibility and allows us to work at commercial speeds. Our aim with the ICAP program is to help other acquisition professionals learn to ‘speak commercial’ and share this knowledge with their peers so that DoD can better acquire innovative commercial technologies.”
Learn more about the 2022-2023 cohort by clicking their bios!
