A Cooperative Research And Development Agreement (CRADA) is a legal agreement, a contract, with a private sector partner or another Government agency to cooperatively conduct research and development in a given technical area and share in the technical results. CRADAs can save both industry and the Government laboratory costs and valuable time to achieve mutually desirable results. CRADAs can be initiated as the result of common technical interests which may come to light as the result of a variety of processes, such as:

• Exhibits at conferences or trade shows
• Technical paper presentation at conferences
• Professional friendships between researchers
• Expansion of technology under currently licensed patents
• Navy Technology Transfer
• Referrals
• Technology briefings to industry

Under a CRADA, the commercial partner can provide facilities, equipment, personnel and funding to the CRADA. The Government partner can provide the same things EXCEPT for funding.