SOLICITATION NOTICE
A -- Global Operational Tactical Information Technology (GOT-IT)
- Notice Date
- 8/14/2015
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 541712
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Air Force, Air Force Material Command, AFRL/RIK - Rome, 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome, New York, 13441-4514, United States
- ZIP Code
- 13441-4514
- Solicitation Number
- BAA-AFRL-RIK-2015-0024
- Point of Contact
- Gail E. Marsh, Phone: 315-330-7518
- E-Mail Address
-
Gail.Marsh@us.af.mil
(Gail.Marsh@us.af.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- NAICS CODE: 541712 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 BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (BAA) TITLE: Global Operational Tactical Information Technology (GOT-IT) BAA ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE: Initial announcement BAA NUMBER: BAA AFRL-RIK-2015-0024 CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE (CFDA) NUMBER: 12.800 I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION: The Information Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL/RI), Rome Research Site, is soliciting white papers under this announcement for innovative technologies to enable the effective management of information for military operations. Problem: Warfighters need immediate access to information that is critical to their mission regardless of their location or what they have available to them in terms of communications, data storage and processing power. Unfortunately, the availability of these computational resources is inversely proportional to the warfighter's proximity to the tactical edge where access to information that is critical to the success of their mission is limited by the connectivity, bandwidth and computing constraints of tactical communications and information systems. Compounding these limitations is the fact that close proximity to the tactical edge typically accompanies a more contested and higher threat environment. These circumstances make the availability of essential information even more important, not only for mission assurance, but for the survival of those that are in harm's way at the tactical edge. At the other end of the spectrum in the enterprise environment, these same limitations also impede the ability of commanders to reach forward to the tactical Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) required for rapid and informed Command and Control (C2) decisions that directly impact mission assurance. The disparity that currently exists between enterprise and tactical network infrastructures must be bridged to enable effective information exchange for shared situational awareness across all echelons of command. Background: AFRL has developed Information Management (IM) services that have been designed to facilitate the exchange of information between disparate user applications and data sources. These IM services have primarily been developed following a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) client-server computing model and are designed to operate across clusters of computers for the purposes of scalability, performance and resiliency in enterprise environments. AFRL has also developed a number of moving map Situational Awareness (SA) applications that run on mobile devices (Android tablets and smart phones) designed primarily for use by at the tactical edge. For information exchange, these SA applications utilize server-based IM services hosted at a centralized location, e.g., on an airborne platform or in a Tactical Operations Center (TOC). Tablet based collaborative applications operating over Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs) can benefit at times from a client-based model of computing where mobile operations in austere environments can remove users from reach of the server running IM services. Recently, AFRL has developed a decentralized peer-to-peer (P2P) publish/subscribe/query Cursor on Target (CoT) messaging system for Android and Java platforms. These client-based IM services operate without reliance on a centralized server. Focus: The objective of this BAA is to develop and demonstrate middleware to bridge the tactical and enterprise domains, realizing decentralized IM services built upon client-based protocols for use at the tactical edge that can coexist and interoperate securely with the server-based IM services that are well-suited for deployment in enterprise-scale environments. To improve the exchange of information between enterprise and the tactical edge networks and applications, these services need to be capable of operating in contested/congested environments and be built upon disruption and fault tolerant techniques and technologies. The research and development to be conducted under this BAA is focused on the following: 1) Interoperable hybrid centralized & decentralized IM services designed for mobile operations. 2) Gateways for the exchange of heterogeneous information across disparate networks. 3) Disruption tolerant information preservation, optimized delivery, and synchronization. 4) Demonstration of the utility of these capabilities in operationally relevant environments. A hybrid interoperable mix of decentralized P2P and centralized client-server IM services, gateways that facilitate the translation of incompatible data formats and protocols to enable interoperability across disparate networks, and information dissemination capabilities that are tolerant to disruptions in connectivity and infrastructure service failures are the primary focus areas of this BAA. Federation services will be necessary to exchange information across the boundaries of information spaces whether they are located within the networks of Continental United States (CONUS), overseas, or forward-deployed military forces. Current and emerging tactical datalink systems on Joint and Air Force airborne and surface assets are incompatible and non-interoperable, encompassing a broad range of disparate information exchange standards and protocols. Enterprise data encompasses a plethora of different data formats, messaging protocols, and even waveforms that tactical applications may not be designed to interact with. While the ideal long term solution to interoperability is to upgrade old systems and enforce acquisitions compliance for new systems to a Joint Technical Architecture (JTA), the only realistic and affordable approach in the foreseeable future is the continued use of gateway solutions. GOT-IT seeks to provide an open architecture that will facilitate the rapid development and deployment of gateway middleware services that translate various types of enterprise data into a form that is consumable by tactical end user applications, including map and geo-positioning information. Building upon existing IM capabilities, an extensible open systems plug-and-play framework for deploying a diverse range of map, imagery, video, voice, data, and distributed processing gateway services is to be developed. In some aspects, GOT-IT will act as an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) built for information exchange to and from the tactical edge. Many tactical applications employ CoT as the standard format for SA information exchange. The CoT data strategy centers on the use of a "common language" for tactical systems that is critical in communicating much needed time sensitive position information, or the "What, When, and Where" of specific events as they occur. As such, GOT-IT will need to address the mediation challenges associated with delivering (likely in the form of CoT) warfighter relevant information extracted from a diverse set of heterogeneous enterprise-level data sources, formats and message protocols such as GML, KML, GIS, UCORE, NIEM, CMD, USMTF, etc. GOT-IT capabilities need to incorporate end-to-end security mechanisms sufficient for assured information exchange across distributed tactical and enterprise information spaces. GOT-IT may need to augment CoT messaging with "Who and Why" metadata to facilitate a broader range of functionality, such as cross-domain information exchange, pedigree and trust management, context-driven selective message routing, identity management, and Role/Attribute Based Access Control (RBAC/ABAC). Well established Authentication & Authorization (A&A) mechanisms can be exploited, such as X.509 certificate-based security standards (for example, Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS)) and encryption and advanced key management security techniques (including NSA Type I products and Suite B cryptography algorithms). The design space for GOT-IT capabilities will be constrained by the very nature of tactical data link communications where mobility, high latency, low bandwidth and intermittent connectivity are common place, and will also need to take into account the future as cellular network capabilities begin to emerge at the tactical edge. In such congested and contested tactical environments, disruption tolerant information preservation and delivery (message-level store-and-forward), optimized Quality of Service (QoS) based on mission needs and constraints (prepositioning of information, filtering, prioritized delivery), and information resynchronization (eventual consistency) will be important elements of GOT-IT developed capabilities. II. AWARD INFORMATION: 1. FUNDING: Total funding for this BAA is approximately $9.5M. The anticipated funding to be obligated under this BAA is broken out by fiscal year as follows: FY16 - $2.0M; FY17 - $4.0M; FY18 - $1.5M; and FY19 - $2.0M. Individual awards will not normally exceed 24 months with dollar amounts normally ranging between $500K to $2M per year. There is also the potential to make awards at any dollar value. The Government reserves the right to select all, part, or none of the proposals received, subject to the availability of funds. All potential Offerors should be aware that due to unanticipated budget fluctuations, funding in any or all areas may change with little or no notice. 2. FORM. 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. 3. BAA TYPE: This is a two-step open broad agency announcement. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation. As STEP ONE - The Government is only soliciting white papers at this time. DO NOT SUBMIT A FORMAL PROPOSAL. 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 regarding the proposal. III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION: All qualified offerors who meet the requirements of this BAA may apply. This BAA is closed to foreign participation at the Prime Contractor level. Foreign Ownership, Control or Influence (FOCI) companies who have mitigated FOCI may inquire as to eligibility by contacting the contracting office focal point, Gail E. Marsh, Contracting Officer, telephone (315) 330-7518 or e-mail Gail.Marsh@us.af.mil for verification prior to submitting a white paper. Please reference BAA AFRL-RIK-2015-0024. IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION: All responses to this announcement must be addressed to the Technical point of contact (POC) listed in SECTION VII. DO NOT send white papers to the Contracting Officer. 1. SUBMISSION DATES AND TIMES: It is recommended that white papers be received by the following dates to maximize the possibility of award: FY16 by 25 Sep 2015 FY17 by 15 Jul 2016 FY18 by 14 Jul 2017 FY19 by 13 Jul 2018 White papers will be accepted until 2 PM Eastern Time on 30 Sep 2019, but it is less likely that funding will be available in each respective fiscal year after the dates cited. This BAA will close on 30 Sep 2019. 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 submission. 2. CONTENT AND FORMAT: 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: a. 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); b. Section B: Task Objective; and c. Section C: Technical Summary and Proposed Deliverables. All white papers/proposals shall be double spaced with a font no smaller than 12 point. 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-AFRL-RIK-2015-0024 with their submission. 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). 3. HANDLING AND MAILING INSTRUCTIONS: a. CLASSIFICATION GUIDANCE. All Proposers should review the NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL SECURITY PROGRAM OPERATING MANUAL, (NISPOM), dated February 2006 Incorporating Change dated 1 March 28, 2013, as it provides baseline standards for the protection of classified information and prescribes the requirements concerning Contractor Developed Information under paragraph 4-105. Defense Security Service (DSS) Site for the NISPOM is: http://www.dss.mil/. In the event of a possible or actual compromise of classified information in the submission of your white paper or proposal, immediately but no later than 24 hours, bring this to the attention of your cognizant security authority and AFRL Rome Research Site Information Protection Office (IPO): Vincent Guza 315-330-4048 0730-1630 Monday-Friday 315-330-2961 Evenings and Weekends Email: vincent.guza@us.af.mil b. CLASSIFIED SUBMISSIONS. AFRL/RISA will accept classified responses to this BAA when the classification is mandated by classification guidance provided by an Original Classification Authority of the U.S. Government, or when the offeror believes the work, if successful, would merit classification. Security classification guidance in the form of a DD Form 254 (DoD Contract Security Classification Specification) will not be provided at this time since AFRL is soliciting ideas only. Offerors that intend to include classified information or data in their white paper submission or who are unsure about the appropriate classification of their white papers should contact the technical point of contact listed in Section VII for guidance and direction in advance of preparation. c. MAILING INSTRUCTIONS. All mailed responses, unclassified/classified, to this announcement must be sent U.S. Postal Service, registered mail and addressed to AFRL/RISA, 525 Brooks Road, Rome NY 13441-4505, and reference BAA-AFRL-RIK-2015-0024. When mailing follow the directions regarding the number of copies required. Unclassified electronic submission to James.Milligan.2@us.af.mil will also be accepted. Encrypt or password-protect all proprietary information prior to sending. Offerors are responsible to confirm receipt with the technical POC listed in Section VII. AFRL is not responsible for undelivered documents. If electronic submission is used, only one copy of the documentation is required. Questions can be directed to the technical POC listed in Section VII. 4. OTHER SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS/CONSIDERATIONS: a. COST SHARING OR MATCHING: Cost sharing is not a requirement. b. SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT (SAM). Offerors must be registered in the SAM database to receive a contract award, and remain registered during performance and through final payment of any contract or agreement. Processing time for registration in SAM, which normally takes forty-eight hours, should be taken into consideration when registering. Offerors who are not already registered should consider applying for registration before submitting a proposal. The provision at FAR 52.204-7, System for Award Management (Jul 2013) applies. c. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION AND FIRST-TIER SUBCONTRACT/ SUBRECIPIENT AWARDS: Any contract award resulting from this announcement may contain the clause at FAR 52.204-10 - Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards. Any grant or agreement award resulting from this announcement may contain the award term set forth in 2 CFR, Appendix A to Part 25 which can be viewed at: http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=c55a4687d6faa13b137a26d0eb436edb&rgn=div5&view = text&node=2:1.1.1.41&idno=2#2:1.1.1.4.1.2.1.1 d. ALLOWABLE CHARGES: 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). e. GOVERNMENT APPROVED ACCOUNTING SYSTEM: An offeror must have a government approved accounting system prior to award of a cost-reimbursement contract per limitations set forth in FAR 16.301-3(a) to ensure the system is adequate for determining costs applicable to the contract. The acceptability of an accounting system is determined based upon an audit performed by the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA). IMPORTANT: If you do not have a DCAA approved accounting system access the following link for instructions: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=1cffad228f48b58057072a6c9113799d&tab= core&_cview=1 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: a) Overall Scientific and Technical Merit -- The soundness of approach for the development and/or enhancement of the proposed technology and the methodology for measuring and demonstrating success, b) Related Experience - The extent to which the offeror can substantiate expertise in relevant technologies and knowledge of military application domains, c) Openness, Maturity and Assurance of Solution - The extent to which existing capabilities and open systems standards are proposed to be used and the relative maturity of them, and d) Reasonableness and realism of proposed costs and fees (if any). No further evaluation criteria will be used in selecting white papers/proposals. 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, and 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. 3. ADEQUATE PRICE COMPETITION: The Government may simultaneously evaluate proposals received under this BAA with a common cutoff date for multiple offerors. In this case, the Government may make award based on adequate price competition, and offerors must be aware that there is a possibility of non-selection due to a proposal of similar but higher-priced technical approach as compared to another offeror. VI. STEP TWO INFORMATION - REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL & AWARD: 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. For additional information, a copy of the AFRL "Broad Agency Announcement (BAA): Guide for Industry," Mar 2015, and Proposal Preparation Instructions, Dec 2014, may be accessed at: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=1cffad228f48b58057072a6c9113799d&tab= core&_cview=1 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. This acquisition may involve data that is subject to export control laws and regulations. Only contractors who are registered and certified with the Defense Logistics Information Service (DLIS) at http://www.dlis.dla.mil/jcp/ and have a legitimate business purpose may participate in this solicitation. For questions, contact DLIS on-line at http://www.dlis.dla.mil/jcp or at the DLA Logistics Information Service, 74 Washington Avenue North, Battle Creek, Michigan 49037-3084, and telephone number 1-800-352-3572. You must submit a copy of your approved DD Form 2345, Militarily Critical Technical Data Agreement, with your white paper/proposal. 3. DATA RIGHTS: a. SBIR RIGHTS. The potential for inclusion of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or data rights other than unlimited on awards is recognized. In accordance with (IAW) the Small Business Administration (SBA) SBIR Policy Directive, Section 8(b), SBIR data rights clauses are non-negotiable and must not be the subject of negotiations pertaining to an award, or diminished or removed during award administration. Issuance of an award will not be made conditional based on forfeit of data rights. If the SBIR awardee wishes to transfer its SBIR data rights to the Air Force or to a third party, it must do so in writing under a separate agreement. A decision by the awardee to relinquish, transfer, or modify in any way its SBIR data rights must be made without pressure or coercion by the agency or any other party. b. NON-SBIR RIGHTS. Non-SBIR data rights less than unlimited will be evaluated and negotiated on a case-by-case basis. Government Purpose Rights are anticipated for data developed with DoD-reimbursed Independent Research and Development (IR&D) funding. 4. REPORTING: Once a proposal has been selected for award, offerors will be given complete instructions on the submission process for the reports. 5. SUPPLY CHAIN RISK: The provision at DFARS 252.239-7017, Notice of Supply Chain Risk (Nov 2013) applies. 6. GRANT AWARDS ONLY: For efforts proposed as grant awards, offerors must provide an abstract in their proposal (not to exceed one page) that is publicly releasable and that describes - in terms the public may understand - the project or program supported by the grant. The DoD will publically post the abstract to comply with Section 8123 of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235). VII. AGENCY CONTACTS: All white paper and proposal submissions and any questions of a technical nature shall be directed to the cognizant technical point of contact as specified below (unless otherwise specified in the technical area): James Milligan AFRL/RISA 525 Brooks Rd; Rome, NY 13441-4505 Telephone: (315) 330-4763 Email: James.Milligan.2@us.af.mil Questions of a contractual/business nature shall be directed to the cognizant contracting officer, as specified below (email requests are preferred): Gail Marsh Telephone (315) 330-7518 Email: Gail.Marsh@us.af.mil Emails must reference the solicitation (BAA) number and title of the acquisition. In accordance with AFFARS 5301.91, 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 (Apr 2014) will be incorporated into all contracts awarded under this BAA. The AFRL Ombudsman is as follows: Ms. Barbara Gehrs AFRL/PK 1864 4th Street Building 15, Room 225 Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433-7130 FAX: (937) 656-7321; Comm: (937) 904-4407 Email: Barbara.Gehrs@us.af.mil All responsible organizations may submit a white paper which shall be considered.
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