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The Information Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL/RI), Rome Research Site, is soliciting white papers under this announcement for innovative technologies to enable the effective management of information for military operations. Focus: The objective of this BAA is to develop and demonstrate middleware to bridge the tactical and enterprise domains, realizing decentralized IM services built upon client-based protocols for use at the tactical edge that can coexist and interoperate securely with the server-based IM services that are well-suited for deployment in enterprise-scale environments. To improve the exchange of information between enterprise and the tactical edge networks and applications, these services need to be capable of operating in contested/congested environments and be built upon disruption and fault tolerant techniques and technologies. The research and development to be conducted under this BAA is focused on the following: 1) Interoperable hybrid centralized & decentralized IM services designed for mobile operations. 2) Gateways for the exchange of heterogeneous information across disparate networks. 3) Disruption tolerant information preservation, optimized delivery, and synchronization. 4) Demonstration of the utility of these capabilities in operationally relevant environments.

WIIN addresses, supports and improves America's drinking water infrastructure.  Included in the WIIN Act are three new drinking water grants that promote public health and the protection of the environment.  As part of the grant, the EPA will award approximately $1.2 million for fiscal year 2018 to support lead testing in drinking water at tribal schools and child care facilities. 

The RBOG program promotes sustainable economic development in rural communities with exceptional needs through provision of training and technical assistance for business development, entrepreneurs, and economic development officials and to assist with economic development planning. Rural Development is participating in the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP), which is a new Administration-wide initiative that will accelerate the resurgence of manufacturing and help cultivate an environment for businesses to create well-paying manufacturing jobs in regions across the country. The IMCP is designed to reward communities that demonstrate best practices in attracting and expanding manufacturing by using long-term planning that integrates targeted investments in workforce training, infrastructure, research, and other key assets. The IMCP is being initiated in FY 2013 as EDA, USDA, SBA and EPA each provide funding for regional implementation strategy grants.

The WEAmericas Accelerator project will replicate an existing, proven, and successful small-business accelerator project in Central America for women entrepreneurs over a three-year period. Through an accelerator project consisting of intensive training and advisory support for at least three cohorts of at least 75 total women entrepreneurs, the accelerator project will provide mentoring and counseling to women entrepreneurs from business experts, and offer an opportunity to present business plans to potential investors upon successful completion of the accelerator project. This project seeks to achieve a gender balance in the business environment in Central America and promote gender equality for women entrepreneurs in accessing training, mentorship opportunities, new markets, and capital, to develop and expand their business and networks.

The Partnerships for Innovation: Building Innovation Capacity (PFI:BIC) program supports academe-industry partnerships, which are led by an interdisciplinary academic research team with a least one industry partner, to collaborate in building technological and human innovation capacity [4]. This innovation capacity is intended to endure beyond the initial award. Partnerships that build the capacity to innovate are expected to be effective at innovating and able to continue to innovate. They are highly intentional about creating an environment that fosters innovation. These partnerships not only develop new technology but also foster the development of human capital that embraces a culture of change, nurtures the generation of new ideas, and considers feedback an integral part of the innovation processes. Partnership members are diverse, representing a spectrum of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. Partnership activities that drive sustained innovation include the targeted allocation of resources such as capital, time, facilities; and sharing of knowledge in a cross-organizational and interdisciplinary context. The PFI:BIC partnership team should focus on technological innovations with potential for significant economic/societal impact. The team collaborates on research, focusing on novel applications motivated by existing research discoveries and based on a platform technology with the potential to achieve transformational change in existing service systems or to spur entirely new service systems.

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program stimulates technological innovation in the private sector by strengthening the role of small business concerns in meeting Federal research and development needs, increasing the commercial application of federally supported research results, and fostering and encouraging participation by socially and economically disadvantaged and women-owned small businesses. The topics, listed below, are detailed on the SBIR/STTR topics homepage: Educational Technologies and Applications (EA) Information and Communication Technologies (IC) Semiconductors (S) and Photonic (PH) Devices and Materials Electronic Hardware, Robotics and Wireless Technologies (EW) Advanced Manufacturing and Nanotechnology (MN) Advanced Materials and Instrumentation (MI) Chemical and Environmental Technologies (CT) Biological Technologies (BT) Smart Health (SH) and Biomedical (BM) Technologies