vendors understand what is needed and how the products or services offered will be evaluated, they can better determine what to offer.
To support the source selection decision, the evaluation team should document strengths, weaknesses, risks, and the associated value of the offered items.
Technical Data and Intellectual Property
Obtaining technical data-specifications, drawings, technical manuals, calibration procedures, and other data required to test and inspect, perform preventive and corrective maintenance, op- erate, and repair the item or its parts-often poses challenges in commercial item acquisitions. One of the key challenges is that suppliers usually claim proprietary rights to the technical data on commercial items. Even when suppliers are willing to provide technical data, the costs can
be prohibitive.The IPT should validate the supplier's claim and carefully review the data re- quirements to avoid buying unnecessary and expensive data rights.
Once the IPT has identified the technical data required to complement the maintenance and supply support strategies, it has several options for acquiring rights to the data:
• Include contract provisions allowing government use of data as necessary but not for pro- curement.
• Include contract provisions providing for the transfer of the data package and rights to the government if the original manufacturer goes out of business or drops the particular item from production.
• Establish a technical data escrow account.With this option-particularly useful when technical data are critical for protecting DoD from potential product obsolescence or the potential inability of the supplier to support the product in the future-the government, rather than purchasing the data outright, negotiates with the supplier to establish a techni- cal data escrow account.The supplier then populates the escrow account with technical data, which can be accessed by the government at a later date if necessary.
Another challenge is that commercial suppliers often do not have technical data in formats that DoD typically expects.
Rights related to commercial software are different.The government does not take owner- ship of the software itself. Rather, the government obtains the same rights to use the software that a commercial customer would. If the government requires rights beyond the commercial rights, the government must negotiate and pay for the desired licensing of the software.
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