SOURCES SOUGHT
B -- US Army Intelligence Center of Excellence (ICoE) Request for Information
- Notice Date
- 4/27/2015
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- Contracting Office
- ACC-APG - Fort Huachuca, ITEC4 Contracting, Bldg. 61801, Room 3212, Fort Huachuca, AZ 85613-5000
- ZIP Code
- 85613-5000
- Solicitation Number
- W91RUSMIRFI
- Response Due
- 6/30/2015
- Archive Date
- 7/30/2015
- Point of Contact
- Emily Harston, 520-538-6214
- E-Mail Address
-
ACC-APG - Fort Huachuca
(emily.m.harston.civ@mail.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Request for Information Army Contracting Command - Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG), Huachuca Division is conducting market research to identify industry solutions to future Intelligence capability requirements. The Government invites all business/academic concerns to respond to this request for information notice. This is a request for information (RFI) only. This is not a solicitation for quotations and no contract will be awarded from this notice. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this notice. All information submitted in response to this RFI is voluntary. As result of the RFI, qualified candidates may be invited to Military Intelligence (MI)-Innovation Day, at Fort Huachuca, AZ. The Government will use responses to consider potential candidates for invitation to demonstrate and/or further discuss capabilities/technologies to Military Intelligence (MI) Innovation Day, at Fort Huachuca, Arizona or other designated events. All questions pertaining to this RFI are to be submitted via e-mail to the Contracting Officer, Ms. Katrina Wimmer at katrina.m.wimmer.civ@mail.mil and the Contract Specialist, Ms. Emily Harston at emily.m.harston.civ@mail.mil. The applicable paragraph number shall precede all questions. The Government requests that you submit questions to the RFI not later than 04 May 2015, 09:00 AM Mountain Standard Time (MST), to allow the Government sufficient time to respond prior to the response date. 1. Interested contractors should provide a single quad chart and white paper (1-4 pages) per topic (templates provided) to describe their proposed solution; including technologies, techniques and/or advanced research areas applicable to the required capabilities described herein No Later Than (NLT) than 26 May 2015. The RFI is not only seeking technologically solutions, but also seeking an understanding of where advanced research may be heading applicable to the below topics. 2. Background: MI Innovation Day, hosted by US Army Intelligence Center of Excellence (ICoE), scheduled for 27-30 July, is conducted at the end of Enterprise Challenge (EC15). MI- Innovation day will include a set of technology demonstrations and requirements discussions with capability developers from ICoE. MI-Innovation Day will be a unique ICoE event which will drive market research to inform Capabilities Development & Integration (CDI) of capabilities available to support strategies for Force 2025(F2025) efforts. F2025 is a campaign plan developed by Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) for the Total Army that drives proactive, long-term focused modernization. In the near term, 2014-2020, the Army adopts an expeditionary, future-focused mindset, and through agile and adaptive leaders and improved resilient networks (cyberspace), becomes more globally responsive and capable. In the mid-term, 2020-30, the Army is leaner, more lethal, expeditionary, and agile, retains overmatch against increasingly capable adversaries, and sets conditions for the 2030-40 timeframe. In the far term, 2030-40, the Army is significantly improved through organizational force designs with new operational concepts and advanced technologies, and with operationally significant forces, conducts expeditionary maneuver to influence events in near-real time to achieve strategic objectives. Within TRADOC, quote mark the Army Warfighting Challenges (AWFCs) provide an analytical framework to integrate efforts across warfighting functions while collaborating with key stakeholders in learning activities, modernization, and future force design quote mark (The U.S. Army Operating Concept, 7 Oct 2014). While Army intelligence has equities in several of the twenty AWFCs, no question is more important to Army Intelligence than the following: quote mark How does the Army develop and sustain a high degree of situational understanding while operating in complex environments against determined, adaptive enemy organizations? quote mark It is the exploration of this question that has initiated the need to revise and adapt our current required capabilities. From a development standpoint, F2025B drives proactive modernization and innovation to meet external and internal challenges over the next twenty years. The Army must develop a leaner, more lethal, expeditionary, and agile force that retains overmatch against increasingly capable adversaries while setting conditions for the period beyond 2025. This RFI is focused on a few select capability topics from within various ICoE, CDI departments. The capability topics are organized into near, mid and far term focus areas. Replies to the RFI must identify which respective requirement they are providing information towards. 3. Requirements: NEAR TERM: Support Tactical Small Unit Intelligence On the Move (OtM): Analysis solutions enabling the Intelligence Analyst to create, modify and disseminate graphic and text items to both Command and Control (C2) and intelligence systems in use at lower tactical echelons such as the Company and Battalion level while OtM and at the quick halt. A smart and efficient capability for disconnected/disadvantaged users to obtain data updates, with the least burden to Army tactical networks, is required. Identify/inform on capabilities to support All Source analyst OtM: Support for intermittent and disadvantaged/disconnected activities. Gain and/or maintain access to the Intelligence Enterprise to enable processing, exploitation and dissemination of intelligence and/or information. -Advanced bandwidth efficiency and data compression. -Ability to auto-detect/discover/redirect data on available networks. -Ability to access future Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR) and Mission Command data access points. Enable Situation Awareness -Ability to support information Retrieval, Display, Dissemination, Monitoring. -Conduct small unit level processing, exploitation of intelligence and/or combat information. -Ability to use analytical tools when disconnected. Synchronize intelligence operations and analysis with military operations -Enable sharing of Situation Understanding with mounted and dismounted Company and Battalion (BN) level systems. (i.e. mapping/graphic capabilities, analysis, targeting support products). Mobile Interface considerations for small displays -User will not always have two hands to use on the device -Transition interface options; from mobile to desktop style operations -Use in black-out light conditions; to support tactical movement at night or red-lighting conditions. Human Domain: The Chief of Staff of the Army guidance is for Soldiers to learn quote mark faster, better and more deeply quote mark. Better learning is often covered under the umbrella of Army Learning Model (ALM) which focuses on the quote mark learner quote mark. Identify/inform on capabilities or techniques the Army Intelligence Corps can leverage in the human domain to accelerate individual and team learning in live environments and simulations. As we look at this three legged stool (faster, better and more deeply) we would like to learn more about the ability to learn faster, the metrics by which you measure such speed, and the potential impact on quote mark better and more deeply quote mark as we strive to learn faster. NEAR & MID-TERM Tactical Mesh Sensor System (TMS2): Identify/inform on capabilities that can employ, manage, and configure software defined radios with cognitive capabilities as a mesh sensor array. Sensors may leverage tactical ground vehicles, tactical air platforms or other platforms to support a mesh. Seeking innovative enhancements to existing Government off-the-shelf/Commercial off-the-shelf (GOTS/COTS). Execute collaborative radio frequency collection, direction finding, and multipath data relay within a secure, self-forming, self-healing, Internet Protocol-based, open architecture. Format collected data in accordance with specified DoD standards for Intelligence analysis. Enable Size Weight and Power (SWaP) reduction and improved sustainment by integrating several functionalities onto a single collection and processing platform. Distributed Sensor discovery and management within a network. Sensor Common Operating Picture (COP): The Sensor COP has two (2) components; a common vocabulary and automated management/visualization. Identify situational awareness applications and inform on efforts that codify a common Sensor ontology that can employ on current or near-term Mission Command and Intelligence systems/devices. Inform on capabilities that enable: Commanders to see real-time and near real-time gaps in collection as well as all assets and resources available; and should provide tools to better synchronize organic and non-organic collection capabilities to satisfy ever-expanding information requirements. The display of all friendly traditional and non-traditional collection resources at the scale of the user's choosing. It must interact with near-term and mid-term Army physical sensor capability requirements. Thus enabling tactical and operational intelligence staffs to have automated visualization of ISR asset discovery, availability and status for mission planning and management and consistently, accurately, and confidently answer these questions in near-real time:. Where are sensors?. What named and targeted areas of interest Named Are of Interest/Target Area of Interest (NAI/TAI)) can the sensors see?. What NAI/TAI areas can't the sensors see?. What NAI/TAI may be seen by more than one sensor?. Where are my opportunities for cross-cuing?. Where do I have unnecessary redundancy?. Which sensors are effective or ineffective and why? Foreign Language Translation: With the lack of Human Linguists the military requires foreign language capabilities to communicate with the indigenous population while on patrol, manning a checkpoint, or performing any other duty which requires interaction with local foreign populace. Capabilities that directly translates the responses you receive from the locals and an understanding of oral and written communication in a foreign language is fundamental to effective operations. Identify/inform on capabilities/techniques to improve real-time audio translation, faster speed of translation and more accurate translation including use of idioms and cultural references. Identify/inform on capabilities for automatic visual and audio translation and embedded translation capabilities into small, lightweight wearable devices. Identify/inform on capabilities for language translation tools to learn, and get better at a language; automatic adaption techniques to nuisances like accents, tone, stuttering, repetition and pauses in speech. Identify/inform on Optical Character Recognition capabilities (OCR) for English and Foreign Languages (Arabic, Dari, Farsi and Korean): Documents scanned for translation are anticipated to have some level of quote mark noise quote mark whether it be smears, wrinkles, dirt, extraneous markings or otherwise. Identify/inform on capabilities for Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) in Noisy Environments for English and Foreign Languages (Dari, Farsi and Korean): Soldiers operate devices in environments that are usually filled with background noise (generators, vehicles, aircraft, music, wind, people talking). Identify/inform on capabilities or techniques that can diminish the impact of background noise on ASR and the resulting machine translation output. Identify/inform on capabilities for Machine Translation (MT) in Foreign Languages (Dari, Farsi, and Korean and Arabic Dialects of Yemeni, Levantine, Egyptian and Gulf): The Army has identified other follow-on languages necessary to support the Army and DoD. MT must support 2-way translation (MT must support both English to foreign language and foreign language to English). Intelligence Support to Cyber Operations: Cyber-attacks remain a threat to U.S. government and military operations, resulting in lost, stolen, and manipulated data and causing serious damage and disruption to operations at a cost of billions of U.S. dollars annually. U.S. Forces face challenges in how to proactively prevent and deter adversarial cyber operations. Regarding cyber threats, we need to know methods or solutions that can help forces: -Identify Who may be targeting the network. -Identify What are their intentions, motivations, and capabilities. -Identify When will they conduct their operations. -Identify Where adversarial activity originates. -Identify How-tactics, techniques, and procedures the adversary intends to use to penetrate or affect the network? Identify/inform on capabilities and or techniques that could aid in detecting, denying, disrupting, degrading, deceiving, and destroying adversarial cyber capabilities and efforts expeditiously. U.S. Forces must be able to detect (quickly collect and analyze information on) adversarial cyber threats and take action BEFORE the threat penetrates the network. Identify/inform on capabilities and or techniques that could support identification of cyber quote mark kill chains quote mark or phases of cyber-attack. Decision-makers need to be alerted when a threat is in the network so adversarial action can be thwarted. Modeling and Simulation (M&S) Enablers Megacity planning: The Chief of Staff of the Army's Strategic Studies Group published a report, quote mark Megacities and the United States (US) Army: Preparing for a Complex and Uncertain Future quote mark, dated July 2014. This report details many of the issues facing the US Army as they move forward with a megacities strategy. Request information on M&S capabilities that could provide a rapid way to create a virtual City to enable experimentation. The capability would support war-gaming and a list of variables to frame and examine future Intelligence capabilities within the Operational Environment (OE). Capabilities are required to enable the examinations of quote mark complex urban terrain quote mark and inform ways to more rapidly with greater depth produce Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB) and inter-related products. Variables may include (but are not limited to) sewers, buildings, communications, criminology, food, energy etc... Megacity M&S enablers may identify/inform on capabilities and or techniques that: Rapidly scale 3-D city models (minutes, not days/hours) with detailed infrastructure elements. Ability to construct any city in the world for the purpose of running model attributes against the environment. Capabilities that combine a 3-D film-like environment with physical effects that occur in a simulation. State-of-the-art holographic entities or agent-based simulations representing both threat and general population elements. Rapidly model, simulate and visualize a mega-city cyber environment. Modeling efforts should include accurately replicating the impacts/effects of signal emissions and propagation within urban environments. FAR TERM: Human Domain Intelligence Analyst Cognitive Efforts. An ability to define and then model the quote mark art quote mark of analysis. Define the attributes and develop the rules of thumb used by human Intelligence analysts to: Inform on the possibility to assess the proclivities of prospective MI recruits to improve selection before assigning any recruit to an MI occupational specialty and before sending them to advanced individual training (AIT). Short notice deployments to unanticipated problem areas and multi-dimensional battlefields will remain a fact of life: Inform on the possibility to teach quote mark mental flexibility quote mark or methods the MI Corps could consider recruiting for these traits. Inform on methods the MI Corps could conduct talent management to up-skill the force, optimize skill set matches to regionally aligned units and balance specialization with broadening opportunities across the Total Army. Complexities of Human Terrain: Spatial analysis has typically been the focus for social related layering, however areas like culture, faith, society, local desires, grievances and opinions are less explored. Inform on methods or ideas that can incorporate the complexities of human terrain, and social science techniques to better understand an adversary (e.g. language and culture) for informing and incorporating into predicative analysis, training and readiness for a regionally aligned force. Big Data: Intelligence analysts need to find critical information quickly. Today and in the future, ISR data sets and open-source information data sets will grow larger and more accessible, with more complexities to the information. Inform on methods or ideas for big data solutions, scalable algorithms for processing imperfect data; both structured and unstructured. Inform on capabilities or techniques that can make good, fast, easy use of all the information that's within the internet of everything. Inform on methods/solutions to more rapidly enable the sharing, analysis and interpretation of the collected data. Inform on methods/solutions to make better use of collected data, and to enable Intelligence analysts to identify insights into adversarial behaviors' and intentions.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/1bf2b4120d944ef4875c60e6443140a4)
- Place of Performance
- Address: ACC-APG - Fort Huachuca Bldg. 61801, Room 3212 Fort Huachuca AZ
- Zip Code: 85613-5000
- Zip Code: 85613-5000
- Record
- SN03711195-W 20150429/150427234253-1bf2b4120d944ef4875c60e6443140a4 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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