Fairfax, VA (January 9, 2025) – The Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting in George Mason University’s Costello College of Business today announced it has won three grants as part of the Acquisition Innovation Research Center’s (AIRC) Innovation Projects program.
AIRC Innovation Projects support the Defense acquisition mission by addressing ways to improve public-private partnerships and sustainment policies, practices, and processes. The Baroni Center’s projects will focus on intellectual property, industry incentives, and policy.
“The current national security landscape presents challenges that demand innovative solutions so the Department of Defense can act swiftly and decisively,” said Jerry McGinn, Executive Director of the Baroni Center. “The research made possible by these grants will result in a greater understanding of what we can do as a nation to strengthen our defense industrial base, boost collaboration between industry and government, and IP data rights management. We look forward to publishing these reports this Spring.”
The Baroni Center received the following grants:
Options for Strengthening the Use of Defense Production Act (DPA) Title VII. This grant will examine options for the expanded use of DPA Title VII to conduct advanced planning and coordination with industry to strengthen the ability of the defense industrial base to prepare for major conflict. This project will specifically focus on two little-used provisions of Title VII, Section 708 on Voluntary Agreements between government and industry and Section 710 on the National Defense Executive Reserve, a volunteer body of industry executives for use in national emergencies.
Identifying Novel Ways to Incentivize Industry Collaboration in Defense Acquisition. This grant will examine current and emerging Department of Defense models for industry engagement in the acquisition process and identify new ways to incentivize more effective government-industry collaboration in the acquisition lifecycle.
Intellectual Property Data Rights Management for the Department of Defense. This grant will research the commercial best practices, standards, and technologies available for adoption to support IP data rights management in the Department of Defense.
About the Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting
The Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting is the first-in-the-nation university center to address the business, policy, and regulatory issues in government contracting. Under the Costello College of Business at George Mason University, the Baroni Center is uniquely positioned to lead this effort by virtue of the composition of our faculty and students, as well as our geographic co-location with the federal government and many headquarters and major facilities of companies that make up the $700 billion government contracting industry. Activities to implement the Center's vision focus on three lines of effort: Research; Education and Training; and Collaboration. To learn more, visit https://business.gmu.edu/centers/center-government-contracting