(E) Such other goals as the Secretary considers appropriate. (3) Partnerships for certain assessments As part of the activities, the Secretary shall establish research partnerships with appropriate academic institutions for purposes of assessing the following: (A) The ability of various forms of personal protective equipment to protect against common blast injuries, including traumatic brain injuries. (B) The value of real-time data analytics to track the effectiveness of various forms of personal protective equipment to protect against common blast injuries, including traumatic brain injuries. (C) The availability of commercial-off the-shelf personal protective technology to protect against traumatic brain injury resulting from blasts. (D) The extent to which the equipment determined through the assessment to be most effective to protect against common blast injuries is readily modifiable for different body types and to provide lightweight material options to enhance maneuverability. (c) Authorities In carrying out activities under subsection (a), the Secretary may use any authority as follows: (1) Experimental procurement authority under section 2373 of title 10, United States Code. (2) Other transactions authority under section 2371 and 2371b of title 10, United States Code. (3) Authority to award technology prizes under section 2374a of title 10, United States Code. (4) Authority under the Defense Acquisition Challenge Program under section 2359b of title 10, United States Code. (5) Any other authority on acquisition, technology transfer, and personnel management that the Secretary considers appropriate. (d) Certain treatment of activities Any activities under this section shall be deemed to have been through the use of competitive procedures for the purposes of section 2304 of title 10, United States Code. (e) On-going assessment following activities After the completion of activities under subsection (a), the Secretary shall, on an on-going basis, do the following: (1) Evaluate the extent to which personal