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IGNITE FAQ For Government Users

Getting Started

What is IGNITE?

IGNITE is a government-funded marketplace that creates an intuitive, user-friendly environment for defense users and small businesses to connect, creating viable pathways for communication between relevant stakeholders for research and development. It is a key tool for government users looking for pre-vetted awardees with emerging technologies, and likewise for businesses looking for an appropriate government point of contact. IGNITE integrates with VISION’s data to connect innovators to a marketplace of capabilities aligned with the needs of the warfighter.

How do I create an IGNITE account?

***Government users—please use your government email when creating your VISION/IGNITE account or you will not be able to access the application.

What is the DoD instance of VISION?

The VISION Joint Innovation System is an AI-powered, secure ecosystem that makes collaborative innovation and radical transparency the standard across the DoD and other federal agencies. Built for the joint user, VISION centralizes innovation and R&D data, and uses proprietary machine learning algorithms to make connections that allow ideas to transcend the walls of the bureaucracy and match with the right solutions, wherever they may be. Eligible users can click here to learn more about VISION and how to sign up!

Who can access IGNITE?

  • Any VISION user
  • Any company that has been awarded a SBIR/STTR award within the Air Force in the last 5 years
  • Any government user that is a part of one of the following organizations

      -Department of Agriculture

      -National Institute of Standards and Technology

      -National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

      -Department of Defense

      -Department of Education

      -Department of Energy

      -Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy

      -Department of Health and Human Services

      -National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research

      -Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

      -Food and Drug Administration

      -National Institutes of Health

      -Department of Homeland Security

      -Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction

      -Department of Transportation

      -Environmental Protection Agency

      -National Aeronautics and Space Administration

      -National Science Foundation

      -United States Air Force

      -United States Army

      -Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

      -Defense Health Agency

      -Defense Logistics Agency

      -Defense Microelectronics Activity

      -Defense Threat Reduction Agency

      -Missile Defense Agency

      -National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

      -United States Navy

      -Office for Chemical and Biological Defense

      -Special Operations Command

      -Strategic Capabilities Office

      -Space Development Agency

      -United States Marine Corps

      -United States Coast Guard

      -United States Space Force

      -Air National Guard

      -Army National Guard

How much does IGNITE cost?

IGNITE is free for government users and eligible SBIR/STTR companies! So log in and start collaborating!

Setting up a Profile

Your profile information is how people will find you in IGNITE. The more thorough your answers, the better your chances of making connections. Profile information can be edited at any point in time by navigating to Account> My Account > Edit Profile. 

Problem Statement & Role Description

In as much detail as possible, describe the types of problems you are looking to address and be sure to reference specific technologies that can help address your needs. What is your role within the organization? Why is your role interested in working with small businesses? Are you a director or program manager? What types of projects are you working on currently?

Desired Interaction with Small Businesses

In as much detail as possible, describe how you would like to engage with small businesses. Are you interested in helping a business beta test their products? Are you just interested in browsing and seeing what businesses are out there? Are you able to be a TPOC or sign an MOU? Are you simply a facilitator who can help connect small businesses to other government users? Let the small business know what type of interaction you are looking for and what type of support you are able to provide. 

Technology Types

From the multi-select dropdown menu, select as many technology types as you are interested in. This is one of the main fields that help small businesses identify if they have technology that matches your interests. If you indicate you are interested in technology types such as ‘Bioinformatics’, that is an indicator to companies in the ‘Bioinformatics’ space that they should reach out and start a conversation.

Navigating IGNITE 

From VISION:
1. Log into the VISION application. The IGNITE feature is on the left hand side of the landing page directly under the Education feature. 

2. The blue View in Ignite button will take the user to to communication hub where the SBIR/STTR companies are available for communication 

From IGNITE:
1. Log into the IGNITE application. All features are available in the left-hand navigation ‘Explore Storefronts’, ‘Account’, ‘Chat’ and ‘Support/FAQ’

‍Search

1. Full text search capabilities—it searches against everything on the company’s profile (i.e., statement of capabilities, technology types, awards, services, products, and use cases). 

2. Each company card will display the number of: Products, Services, Use Cases, and Awards

  • Once the user searches for something specific within the search filter, the number of Products, Services, Use Cases, and Awards will update accordingly. The user will see how many products, services, use cases and awards match to the search filter they applied
  • The middle section on the company card (bolded) is the best match based on the search from the products, services, use cases and awards and will allow the user to navigate directly into that specific match

Advanced Search

1. Users can toggle from the simple search to the advanced search and will be given additional filters that can be searched by

2. Users can search a specific aspect of the company’s profile. Users can search against one specific area by clicking on that area and it will provide the user with more granular search filters including but not limited to: 

  • Company info, Products, Use Cases, Services, Awards

‍Storefront

1. On each storefront users will see the following details:

  • Company name
  • Company details
  • Primary contact information
  • Statement of capabilities
  • Contracting information
  • Technology focuses 
  • Business classifications
  • Attachments and links

2. The company is responsible for updating the statement of capabilities, contact information, and technology focuses

3. From IGNITE: On each company storefront, to initiate chat click the blue 'Start a chat' button in the upper right corner of the company storefront

4. From VISION: Primary contact → Contact in Ignite

  • This will take the user to the external application of the SBIR/STTR company to open up a chat option with them right within the application

‍Services

  1. This data is updated by the SBIR/STTR company 
  2. The user can click into the card to view attachments, links, and technology types 

‍Products 

  1. This data is updated by the SBIR/STTR company 
  2. Users can click on any links to be navigated to the external website they provided

‍Use Cases

  1. This data is updated by the SBIR/STTR company 
  2. Users can click to be navigated to the external website they provided

‍Awards

  1. This data is pulled from third party integration sources 
  2. Users can click into any award to see contract number and details, principal investigator, and abstract

Ignite in Initiatives (VISION users only)

  1. Click on Ignite in top right corner next to collaborators 
  • This will give VISION users suggestions of companies to match with based on the data on the company profile and the specific initiative 
  • User can click into any company card to see all of that companies storefront information and capabilities

‍Claimed Profile vs Unclaimed Profile

  1. Claimed: Users will be able to see the statement of capabilities on the company card as well as any products, services, and use cases 
  2. Unclaimed: Users will not see the statement of capabilities on the company card
  • There will be no information in the storefront, services, products, or use cases.
  • Awards will still be shown 

Notifications and Company Information

How do I turn off my notifications within IGNITE?

Go to Account → My Account → Under settings you can turn on or off your notifications. To specifically turn off chat notifications go to Account→ Privacy→ Uncheck ‘Allow New Company Messages’

As a VISION user, can the companies see what initiatives I am working on?

No, because VISION is CAC enabled companies will not be able to see the initiatives you are working on within VISION

Why am I seeing some companies who have more content than others?

  • There are two types of company profiles you will see as a government user within IGNITE: claimed and unclaimed accounts
  • Unclaimed accounts: The company profile is present but the SBIR/STTR company has not added any additional data to their company storefront. The only information you will see on these accounts is the data being ingested by the 3rd party integration sources
  • Claimed accounts: The SBIR/STTR company has logged into the application and claimed their account. Once they do this they are able to add additional data that is searchable by all government users

When viewing a company's awards, some awards have a significant amount of data on the award and others have very limited information. Can you help me understand why?

The award data is being populated from several 3rd party integration sources, so if the data isn’t available in those sources then we are not able to add it to the award in IGNITE

Will my email be exposed to companies?

No, with IGNITE's communication hub you can connect with companies without ever giving them your email or contact information

My page isn't loading on Microsoft Edge, how do I get access?

Step 1: Open Microsoft Edge
Step 2: Click Settings and More (ellipsis) button on the top-right corner
Step 3: Select the Settings option
Step 4: Click Default browser
Step 5: Under the Internet Explorer compatibility section, turn on the Allow sites to be reloaded in Internet Explorer mode toggle switch

Initiating chats with companies

How do I chat with SBIR/STTR companies?

When you click into a company storefront you will see the chat button which will allow you to reach out to SBIR/STTR companies. On the left navigation, you can view your chat history to see unread messages and who you have previously communicated with. Under settings, toggle on “Allow New Company Messages”. This will allow you to receive new messages from companies

Support

I have a support request, where do I submit it?

Please submit your IGNITE support request here

I have a feature suggestion for an application feature, where do I submit it?

Please submit your IGNITE feature suggestion here

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