SOFWERX: newest acquisition tool for special operators.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew

TAMPA, Fla.--While its doors have only been open a few short months, SOFWERX, an institute designed to facilitate communication between the technology community and U.S. Special Operations Command, is already having a positive impact, its leaders said.

SOFWERX is located in the second oldest brick building in Tampa's historic Ybor City neighborhood. Once a hotel, its guests included a young war correspondent Winston Churchill and Col. Teddy Roosevelt, both on their way to wars in Cuba. Only last summer, the front of the building was a tattoo parlor, and the back a telemarketing company.

Today, the building houses rooms where outsiders can meet with SOCOM officials, workstations for those who want to collaborate on projects, and space set aside for rapid prototyping.

It's miles away from SOCOM headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base --both literally and figuratively, said its director, who was not permitted by SOCOM to use his name.

"People who are behind four strands of barb wire and security guards are tough to talk to," he said.

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Once buzzed in through the front door, visitors are asked to sign into an iPad with their name and email. That's the only formality.

Inside, vendors, researchers, academics and citizens with good ideas can participate in a number of events designed to ease communication between the command and the public. If a technology is given a preliminary green light, there are 3D printers and other machines available for the prototypes.

That serves in stark contrast to the alternative means to contact the command--the technology and industry liaison office website--where ideas are submitted by email, then are passed around the acquisition enterprise. If it grabs a program manager's interest, the party is contacted for a meeting, said Tony Davis, SOCOM S&T director. The lucky ones then have to make an appointment and arrangements to pass through the heavy security at MacDill. The whole process can take three months.

"We are kind of trying to break down that model a little bit," said Davis.

"Sign in and get a badge. That's about it. It's really a nonthreatening environment. You didn't go through layers and layers of security to get to us," said the director.

The head of the technology and industry liaison office carves out one day per week to hold half-hour meetings with potential vendors at SOFWERX, as does the director of the small business liaison office. It has on occasion had walk-ins ring the buzzer...