SHIELD/ATLAS — CRADA Pathway (15 U.S.C. § 3710a)

Why this exists

ATLAS is a fielded civil-emergency and DSCA decision-support layer at TRL 5-6. The fastest path from where we are to a Program of Record is documented and well-trodden: a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with a federal laboratory, evaluated at a lab-instrumented exercise, producing a Joint Test Report that becomes contracting currency for a Prototype OTA, an SBIR Phase III sole-source action, or a Commercial Solutions Opening award.

This page hosts (1) the four target labs we are pursuing, (2) the Joint Work Statement template scoped narrow enough to sign in 6-8 weeks, and (3) a draft first-contact email body for each lab.

FAR-freeNo funds requestedFOIA-protected (15 U.S.C. § 3710a(c)(7)(B))SDVOSB-pendingNo FedRAMP / IL-5 / FIPS / ATO

Tier 1 — best fit

AFRL Information Directorate (AFRL/RI), Rome, NY

C2 / ISR fusion / decision-support is literally their charter. Software-only CRADAs are routine. Best DoD-side fit for ATLAS as a fusion layer.

NIST Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR), Boulder, CO

Owns the federal R&D program for FirstNet, NG911, and the IPAWS profile work the ATLAS CAP module already implements against. NIST CRADAs are unusually founder-friendly because tech transfer IS the agency mission.

NIST Technology Partnerships Office
NIST CRADA process
PSCR program · public mailbox: pscr@nist.gov

Tier 2 — strong second-stage targets

USTRANSCOM Technology Transfer (T2), Scott AFB, IL

Joint-mobility C2 at the unclassified level. Their public T2 office actively recruits non-traditional software partners. ATLAS's ESF logistics + RRF + DSCA bridge maps to JECC movement-planning workflows.

USTRANSCOM — search "Technology Transfer" for the T2 office
USTRANSCOM Industry Engagement

DHS Science & Technology (FRG / Operations)

ATLAS's civil-emergency leg is exactly DHS S&T First Responders' lane — IPAWS, HSIN, ESF, fire fusion, CISA Lifelines. CRADAs are signed less frequently than at DoD labs but the path is open. SAFETY Act and SBIR are parallel paths, not substitutes.

USNORTHCOM (DSCA bridge)

Right path is to use the AFRL/RI or NIST PSCR CRADA first, then ask the lab partner to sponsor ATLAS into a NORTHCOM exercise (Falcon Peak, Vigilant Shield) as part of the lab's existing participation. CRADA → exercise → demo data → follow-on award is the documented pipeline.

Joint Work Statement template (signable in 6-8 weeks)

Scoped narrow on purpose: 24-month period of performance, one lab exercise, no funds transfer, no live IPAWS / HSIN / WebEOC / WFDSS submission, Unclassified only. Industry IP retained; Government gets a use-only license on joint inventions; prototype performance data FOIA-protected up to 5 years.

Download Markdown Download Target Labs

Show JWS template inline (read-only)

Loading template...

Draft first-contact email body (edit before sending)

Replace the lab-specific paragraph; everything else is reusable.

Subject: CRADA inquiry — SHIELD/ATLAS fusion / decision-support layer

[Lab T2 / ORTA team],

ISS LLC (CAGE 9VKK3, UEI C7YDV3P8EHL7, SDVOSB-pending) operates SHIELD/ATLAS, a
fielded civil-emergency and DSCA decision-support layer. ATLAS fuses
unclassified federal feeds — FEMA IPAWS-CAP, DHS HSIN, USDA/NIFC fire data,
CISA Community Lifelines, FIRMS / GOES-R / NOAA HMS, ESF Resource Request
Forms, and ICS-209 records shaped for Juvare WebEOC Fusion — and emits
decision-support outputs to the ICS echelons that own the response.

[ONE LAB-SPECIFIC PARAGRAPH on why ATLAS fits this lab's published mission.
For AFRL/RI: tie to Multi-Domain Sensemaking. For NIST PSCR: tie to the
IPAWS profile and HSIN-CAP work. For USTRANSCOM T2: tie to ESF logistics +
RRF + DSCA mobility decision support. For DHS S&T FRG: tie to the civil-
emergency module suite as an integrated evaluation candidate.]

We are not asking for funds. We are asking for a Cooperative Research and
Development Agreement under 15 U.S.C. § 3710a to evaluate ATLAS inside an
upcoming unclassified lab-scheduled exercise. The Joint Work Statement is
scoped to 24 months, one exercise, lab-instrumented evaluation, and a
co-authored Joint Test Report as the primary deliverable.

Disclosures up front: we do not hold FedRAMP, IL-5, FIPS, CAC, SIPRNET, or
ATO. The CRADA model is what fits us, which is why we are writing. ATLAS
does not, during the CRADA, submit to live IPAWS-OPEN, push to live HSIN,
write to a live WebEOC instance, or push to live WFDSS — we evaluate against
test feeds.

Live operator surfaces and a 16-slide capability deck are at the URLs below.
Could we schedule a 30-minute scoping call with ORTA in the next three
weeks?

Dr. Terry Flood
Principal, ISS LLC
[phone]   [email]
Capability deck: [public URL]/fema-tak-bridge-deck
CRADA pathway:   [public URL]/crada-pathway
Module manifest: [public URL]/api/fema/manifest

What ATLAS will NOT do during a CRADA (give this to the lab's counsel)

Will not submit to live IPAWS-OPEN. Requires FEMA-designated COG and signed PKI. ATLAS authors; the COG submits.
Will not push to live HSIN-Connect. Requires sponsored DHS HSIN administrator. ATLAS stages; the sponsor completes the federation.
Will not write to a live WebEOC instance. Requires Juvare integration partnership. ATLAS produces the Fusion-shaped record; the EOC operator wires the inbound board.
Will not push to live WFDSS. Requires USDA / NIFC sponsored credentials. ATLAS exports import-ready JSON; the fire IC imports.
Will not bring classified, ITAR, or CUI//SP-PROCURE data into the evaluation. CRADA work is at the Unclassified level only.
Will not author ballistic numbers via AI. Lethal calls remain human-in-loop. This is a standing rule across all ATLAS engagements.

These boundaries are features. They are why a CRADA can be signed in 6-8 weeks instead of 6-8 quarters, and they are why the IP terms (background IP retained, government use-only license on joint IP, FOIA protection on prototype data for up to 5 years per 15 U.S.C. § 3710a(c)(7)(B)) actually mean what they say.

CRADA Pathway — ATLAS as a Fusion / Decision-Support Layer