SOLICITATION NOTICE
A -- Infospace Concept Exploration and Development
- Notice Date
- 2/11/2005
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 541710
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command, AFRL - Rome Research Site, AFRL/Information Directorate 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome, NY, 13441-4514
- ZIP Code
- 13441-4514
- Solicitation Number
- Reference-Number-BAA-05-03-IFKA
- Description
- NAICS CODE: 541710 FEDERAL AGENCY NAME: Department of the Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command, AFRL - Rome Research Site, AFRL/Information Directorate 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome, NY, 13441-4514 TITLE: Infospace Concept Exploration and Development FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NUMBER: BAA 05-03- IFKA CFDA Number: 12.800 DATES: It is recommended that white papers be received by the following dates to maximize the possibility of award: FY 05 should be submitted by 31 Mar 05; FY 06 by 01 Nov 05; FY 07 by 01 Nov 06; and FY 08 by 01 Nov 07. White papers will be accepted until 2pm Eastern time on 30 September 2009, but it is less likely that funding will be available in each respective fiscal year after the dates cited. FORMAL PROPOSALS ARE NOT BEING REQUESTED AT THIS TIME. See Section IV of this announcement for further details. I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION: The Information Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Rome Research Site, is soliciting white papers under this announcement for innovative technologies to support the development and operation of information management technology in accordance with AFRL Information Management technology goals. To date, discussions and research involving a Community of Interest (COI) Infospace, i.e., an infospace consisting of multiple information management systems, have been in the abstract, with only isolated system instantiations. Multiple information management infrastructures have been developed conforming to the Infospherics Common API. This BAA seeks to inject stability into the creation and management of these infospaces, and to provide a meaningful and substantive foundation from which to evolve practical, operations-ready COI infospaces. Proposals should focus on the development of best practices, concepts for implementation, recommended architectures and common COI representations. Initial concept demonstrations are preferred with limited prototype software development. This solicitation is divided into two technical areas with the following topics common across both areas: information engineering, information management, policy management, operational performance, security, and Quality of Service (QoS) Area (1): Composable Infospaces. This topic area seeks the development of information management technology to support COI infosphere development, operation, and/or information migration. Common tools and methodologies are sought for use by COI information managers in the creation of, or within, the enabled infosphere supporting their shared processes and missions. COI infospheres may utilize multiple information management services over multiple overlapping COIs - sometimes referred to as Communities of Action (COAs). Multiple, evolutionary stages of technology are anticipated: initial creation and information engineering processes, deployment or operational transition, and lifecycle support as COI membership and needs evolve over time; as well as the management and exchange of information between dissimilar COIs. The technical issues listed below identify specific concerns, but should not be used to limit or constrain innovative ideas: (a) Information engineering processes to establish a shared vocabulary, the common set of information objects necessary to achieve the mission objectives of the COI. (b) Identification of tools, techniques and methodologies to support use of a managed infospace for knowledge interchange within a COI. (c) Information migration between dissimilar COIs or legacy systems. (d) Information management technology supporting distributed and or integration of multiple information management services. (e) Discovery of Information Objects, and Information Object Repository management tools. (f) Compatibility with DoD Net-Centric Data Strategy COI concepts as outlined in http://www.dod.mil/nii/org/cio/doc/COI_FAQ.doc. Area (2): Dynamic Systems Interoperability. This topic area seeks the development of information management technology to enable and support the instantiation, integration, operation, and disposition of functional and/or operational entities that are temporally dynamic within and across COIs. Capabilities should include, but not be limited to, establishing functional entity producers and consumers, policies, context, roles and security from a reusable, flexible and extensible configuration baseline. This research should also address the semantics of the configuration baseline within the context of a functional and/or operational deployment. The proposed information management technology must be capable of supporting multiple dynamic operational airborne scenarios. The following scenarios illustrate some of the critical aspects that should be addressed by this research. Scenario 1: Entry of an airframe into an operational theater to perform some C2 mission. This scenario highlights the need to identify specific requirements to support the dynamic entry and configuration of a new entity into an existing COI. Scenario 2: Tasking of a combat air patrol entity to transfer to a coalition command and provide close air support to units across a broad geographical area. This scenario highlights the need for dynamic reconfiguration of an entity as an element of a different COI within a heterogeneous command. Furthermore, this entity must function across an IP infrastructure that is dynamically reconfigured several times within the course of the mission, while preserving association with the original COI. The offeror can assume that the necessary hardware and software technology to enable dynamic airborne IP-based networking is in place, i.e., no new development in this domain is sought under this BAA. Such dynamic systems interoperability technology should be considered sufficiently robust that intermittent network connectivity will not require reinstitution of an entity?s configuration baseline. II. AWARD INFORMATION: Total funding for this BAA is approximately $15M. Principal funding of this BAA and the anticipated award of contracts will start approximately the third quarter of FY 05. The anticipated funding to be obligated under this BAA is broken out by fiscal year as follows: FY 05 - $0.7M; FY 06 - $4M; FY 07 - $4.3M; FY 08 - $3.6M; and FY09 - $2.4M. Individual awards will not normally exceed 12 months with dollar amounts ranging between $100,000 to $200,000 per year. Awards of efforts as a result of this announcement will be in the form of contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or other transactions depending upon the nature of the work proposed. III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION: 1. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS: All potential applicants are eligible. Foreign or foreign-owned offerors are advised that their participation is subject to foreign disclosure review procedures. Foreign or foreign-owned offerors should immediately contact the contracting office focal point, Lori L. Smith, Contracting Officer, telephone (315) 330-1955 or e-mail Lori.Smith@rl.af.mil for information if they contemplate responding. The e-mail must reference the title and BAA 05-03-IFKA. 2. COST SHARING OR MATCHING: Cost sharing is not a requirement. IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION: 1. APPLICATION PACKAGE: THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION. WE ARE SOLICITATING WHITE PAPERS ONLY. DO NOT SUBMIT A FORMAL PROPOSAL AT THIS TIME. Those white papers found to be consistent with the intent of this BAA may be invited to submit a technical and cost proposal. See Section VI of this announcement for further details. For additional information, a copy of the Rome "BAA& PRDA: A Guide for Industry," Sep 1996 (Rev), may be accessed at: http://www.if.afrl.af.mil/div/IFK/bp-guide.html. 2. CONTENT AND FORM OF SUBMISSION: Offerors are required to submit 3 copies of a 3 to 5 page white paper summarizing their proposed approach/solution. The purpose of the white paper is to preclude unwarranted effort on the part of an offeror whose proposed work is not of interest to the Government. The white paper will be formatted as follows: Section A: Title, Period of Performance, Cost of Task, Name of Company; Section B: Task Objective; and Section C: Technical Summary. Multiple white papers within the purview of this announcement may be submitted by each offeror. If the offeror wishes to restrict its white papers/proposals, they must be marked with the restrictive language stated in FAR 15.609(a) and (b). All white papers/proposals shall be double spaced with a font no smaller than 12 pitch. In addition, respondents are requested to provide their Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) number, a fax number, and an e-mail address with their submission. All responses to this announcement must be addressed to the technical POC, as discussed in paragraph five of this section. 3. SUBMISSION DATES AND TIMES: It is recommended that white papers be received by the following dates to maximize the possibility of award: FY 05 should be submitted by 31 Mar 05; FY 06 by 01 Nov 05; FY 07 by 01 Nov 06; and FY 08 by 01 Nov 07. White papers will be accepted until 2pm Eastern time on 30 September 2009, but it is less likely that funding will be available in each respective fiscal year after the dates cited. Submission of white papers will be regulated in accordance with FAR 15.208. 4. FUNDING RESTRICTIONS: The cost of preparing white papers/proposals in response to this announcement is not considered an allowable direct charge to any resulting contract or any other contract, but may be an allowable expense to the normal bid and proposal indirect cost specified in FAR 31.205-18. Incurring pre-award costs for ASSISTANCE INSTRUMENTS ONLY, are regulated by the DoD Grant and Agreements Regulations (DODGARS). 5. OTHER SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: DO NOT send white papers to the Contracting Officer. All responses to this announcement must be addressed to ATTN: Dale Richards, Rome Research Site/IFSE, 525 Brooks Road, Rome NY 13441-4505. Respondents are required to provide their Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number with their submittal and reference BAA 05-03-IFKA. Electronic submission to baa0503@rl.af.mil will also be accepted. Please include the text ?BAA-05-03? in the subject line. V. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION: 1. CRITERIA: The following criteria, which are listed in descending order of importance, will be used to determine whether white papers and proposals submitted are consistent with the intent of this BAA and of interest to the Government: (1) Overall Scientific and Technical Merit -- Including the approach for the development and/or enhancement of the proposed technology and its evaluation, (2) Related Experience - The extent to which the offeror demonstrates relevant technology and domain knowledge, (3) Openness/Maturity of Solution - The extent to which existing capabilities and standards are leveraged and the relative maturity of the proposed technology in terms of reliability and robustness, and (4) Reasonableness and realism of proposed costs and fees (if any). Also, consideration will be given to past and present performance on recent Government contracts, and the capacity and capability to achieve the objectives of this BAA. No further evaluation criteria will be used in selecting white papers/proposals. Individual white paper/proposal evaluations will be evaluated against the evaluation criteria without regard to other white papers and proposals submitted under this BAA. White papers and proposals submitted will be evaluated as they are received. Cost sharing will not be considered in the evaluation. 2. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS: Only Government employees will review the white papers/proposals for selection. The Air Force Research Laboratory's Information Directorate has contracted for various business and staff support services, some of which require contractors to obtain administrative access to proprietary information submitted by other contractors. Administrative access is defined as "handling or having physical control over information for the sole purpose of accomplishing the administrative functions specified in the administrative support contract, which do not require the review, reading, or comprehension of the content of the information on the part of non-technical professionals assigned to accomplish the specified administrative tasks." These contractors have signed general non-disclosure agreements and organizational conflict of interest statements. The required administrative access will be granted to non-technical professionals. Examples of the administrative tasks performed include: a. Assembling and organizing information for R&D case files; b. Accessing library files for use by government personnel; and c. Handling and administration of proposals, contracts, contract funding and queries. Any objection to administrative access must be in writing to the Contracting Officer and shall include a detailed statement of the basis for the objection. VI. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION: 1. AWARD NOTICES: Those white papers found to be consistent with the intent of this BAA may be invited to submit a technical and cost proposal. Notification by email or letter will be sent by the technical POC. Such invitation does not assure that the submitting organization will be awarded a contract. Those white papers not selected to submit a proposal will be notified in the same manner. Prospective offerors are advised that only Contracting Officers are legally authorized to commit the Government. All offerors submitting white papers will be contacted by the technical POC, referenced in Section VII of this announcement. Offerors can email the technical POC for status of their white paper/proposal no earlier than 45 days after proposal submission. 2. ADMINISTRATIVE AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS: Depending on the work to be performed, the offeror may require a SECRET facility clearance and safeguarding capability; therefore, personnel identified for assignment to a classified effort must be cleared for access to SECRET information at the time of award. In addition, the offeror may be required to have, or have access to, a certified and Government-approved facility to support work under this BAA. Data subject to export control constraints may be involved and only firms holding certification under the US/Canada Joint Certification Program (JCP) (www.dlis.dla.mil/jcp) are allowed access to such data. 3. REPORTING: Once a proposal has been selected for award, offeror?s will be required to submit their reporting requirement through one of our web-based, reporting systems known as JIFFY or TFIMS. Prior to award, the offeror will be notified which reporting system they are to use, and will be given complete instructions regarding its use. VII. AGENCY CONTACTS: Questions of a technical nature shall be directed to the cognizant technical point of contact, as specified below: Mr. Dale W. Richards Telephone: (315) 330-3014 Email: Dale.Richards@rl.af.mil Questions of a contractual/business nature shall be directed to the cognizant contracting officer, as specified below: Lori Smith Telephone (315) 330-1955 Email: Lori.Smith@rl.af.mil The email must reference the solicitation (BAA) number and title of the acquisition. All responsible organizations may submit a white paper which shall be considered.
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