Missions accomplished: Research partnerships advance NOAA innovation

NOAA and Microsoft have formed a partnership to harness Microsoft's cloud computing expertise to help advance NOAA's mission to predict climate, weather and ocean changes. Credit: NOAA

Public-private partnerships are vital for bringing private sector innovation and agility to NOAA’s research and development efforts. One of the key tools in NOAA’s partnership toolkit is the CRADA, or Cooperative Research and Development Agreement.

“A CRADA is a flexible tool that helps NOAA work quickly and easily with the private sector. CRADAs help facilitate a collaborative, two-way exchange of information, technologies, and ideas,” says NOAA Technology Transfer Program Manager, Wayne Mackenzie.

A CRADA is a formal agreement that allows federal and non-federal partners to do collaborative research and develop new science into commercially-available technologies. Specifically, CRADAs establish partnerships between NOAA Laboratories or Science Centers and private U.S. companies, universities, and other entities. These valuable tools help create flexible and agile collaboration spaces by allowing partners to more quickly and easily share ideas, expertise, facilities, and other research materials.

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