SOLICITATION NOTICE
A -- Audio Exploitation
- Notice Date
- 7/11/2007
- 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, UNITED STATES
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- Reference-Number-BAA-07-05-IFKA
- Description
- CFDA Number: 12.800 DATES: It is recommended that white papers be received by the following dates to maximize the possibility of award: FY 08 by 1 Mar 08; FY 09 by 1 Mar 09, FY 10 by 1 Mar 10 and FY 11 by 1 Mar 11. White papers will be accepted until 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on 1 September 2011 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 new and unique research to increase AFRL?s knowledge and understanding of audio exploitation technologies for support of military operations. The scope of this effort covers a broad range of audio and speech processing technologies not limited to: speaker identification, language/ dialect identification, obtaining the gist of a conversation by recognition of words and phrases, uncooperative speaker audio language translation, whispered speech detection, audio transmission segmentation in continuous speech, background noise identification, channel effect mitigation, usable speech determination, interference (noise and competing talkers) reduction, voice stress analysis, speaker verification, coding to preserve the characteristics of the talker and channel, watermarking, and correlation. Emphasis for this research are techniques and methods for use in tactical (Avg. 9 dB signal-to-noise ratio, <5 seconds recognition time, minimum training time) military environment. Deliverables will be technical reports and, when appropriate, software demonstrations with associated data. II. AWARD INFORMATION: Total funding for this BAA is approximately $22M. The anticipated funding to be obligated under this BAA is broken out by fiscal year as follows: FY 08 - $6M; FY 09 - $6M; and FY10 - $6M; and FY 11 - $4M. Individual awards will not normally exceed 36 months with dollar amounts ranging between $100K to $600K per year. There is also potential to make awards outside this range. Awards of efforts as a result of this announcement will be in the form of contracts, grants or cooperative agreements 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 07-05-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 SOLICITING 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 AFRL/Rome Research Sites ?Broad Agency Announcement (BAA): A Guide for Industry,? April 2007, may be accessed at: http://www.fbo.gov/spg/USAF/AFMC/AFRLRRS/Reference%2DNumber%2DBAAGUIDE/listing.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, Estimated Cost, Name/Address of Company, Technical and Contracting Points of Contact (phone, fax and email)(this section is NOT included in the page count); Section B: Task Objective; and Section C: Technical Summary and Proposed Deliverables. 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, their Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number, a fax number, an e-mail address, and reference BAA 07-05-IFKA 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: DATES: It is recommended that white papers be received by the following dates to maximize the possibility of award: FY 08 by 1 Mar 08; FY 09 by 1 Mar 09, FY 10 by 1 Mar 10 and FY 11 by 1 Mar 11. White papers will be accepted until 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on 1 September 2011 but it is less likely that funding will be available in each respective fiscal year after the dates cited. 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: John G. Parker, AFRL/IFEC, 525 Brooks Rd., Rome, NY 13441-4505 Electronic submission to John.Parker@rl.af.mil will also be accepted. V. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION: 1. CRITERIA: The following criteria, in which Criteria (1) through (3) are of equal importance and criteria (4) is of lesser importance than criteria (1) through (3), 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) Application of the Approach to the Tactical Audio Processing Mission, and (4) Reasonableness and realism of proposed costs and fees (if any). 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. 2. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS: Only Government employees will evaluate 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 or TOP SECRET facility clearance and safeguarding capability; therefore, personnel identified for assignment to a classified effort must be cleared for access to SECRET or TOP 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. 4. OTHER INFORMATION: Government Facilities/Base Support ? Software demonstration of developed technology under the BAA will be required at AFRL in a government provided unclassified or classified facility (depending on the technology developed) at the conclusion of each award. VII. AGENCY CONTACTS: Questions of a technical nature shall be directed to the cognizant technical point of contact, as specified below: TPOC Name: John G. Parker Telephone: (315) 330-4236 Email: John.Parker@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. In accordance with AFFARS 5315.90, an Ombudsman has been appointed to hear and facilitate the resolution of concerns from offerors, potential offerors, and others for this acquisition announcement. Before consulting with an ombudsman, interested parties must first address their concerns, issues, disagreements, and/or recommendations to the contracting officer for resolution. AFFARS Clause 5352.201-9101 Ombudsman (Aug 2005) will be incorporated into all contracts awarded under this BAA. The AFRL Ombudsman is as follows: Susan Hunter Building 15, Room 225 1864 Fourth Street Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433-7130 FAX: (937) 225-5036; Comm: (937) 255-7754 All responsible organizations may submit a white paper which shall be considered.
- Record
- SN01339334-W 20070713/070711223924 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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