Development Innovation Accelerator Broad Agency Announcement

This announcement allows USAID to reach out to potential partners with recognized expertise in relevant areas and co-create, co-design, co-invest, and collaborate with them. Awards under the Accelerator BAA are based on individual addenda, which describe the particular research area of interest, evaluation criteria, and administrative information. The focus areas of the Accelerator BAA coincide with the nine initial areas of interest of the U.S. Global Development Lab, reflecting development and foreign policy priorities. These areas include Food, Security and Nutrition, Modernizing Food Assistance, Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Deaths, Energy Access, Water Solutions, Child Literacy, Financial Inclusion, Rights, Participation and Accountability, and Humanitarian Response. Eligible organizations under this BAA include public, private, for-profit, and non-profit organizations, as well as institutions of higher education, public international organizations, non-governmental organizations, U.S. and non-U.S. government organizations, and international donor organizations. All organizations must be properly vetted by USAID before any awards are made. In responding to BAA addenda, organizations may be expected to provide a reasonable amount of cost share or matching funding to ensure projects can leverage the expertise, talent, and innovations of partners. The Accelerator Steps to Agreement involve a series of collaborative efforts between USAID and selected organizations. The process begins with the posting of a Broad Agency Announcement on www.fbo.gov and www.grants.gov, which serves as a call for suggestions on associated areas of interest. USAID then issues a BAA addendum announcing a specific area of interest, which includes the content of the statement of interest, timeframe, and criteria for co-development. The selected organization(s) work with USAID to co-develop a concept paper that includes the development problem, solution, technical approach, areas of comparative advantage, and general resourcing. The concept paper is then presented to the Lab's Science-Peer Review Board, which makes a recommendation to proceed to co-development if the concept has merit based on the criteria set forth in the BAA. Once a consensus is reached and resources have been formally established, the parties conclude the agreement, and implementation launches. This collaborative process enables USAID to leverage the expertise and innovations of partners to address core development problems and achieve its development goals.