Rome Laboratory, 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome NY 13441-4514

A -- ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/OPERATIONS RESEARCH (AI/OR) FOR IMPERFECT INFORMATION SOL BAA 96-07-PKPX POC John F. Lemmer, Program Manager, 315/330-3655; Joetta A. Bernhard, Contracting Officer, 315/330-2308. Rome Laboratory is soliciting white papers for new and creative technical research and development, both studies and experiments, to demonstrate improvements in methods for developing realistic and efficient problem representation and modeling techniques for large scale military domains by combining Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques with Operations Research (OR) or other Soft Computing techniques. Soft Computing includes but is not limited to such technologies as Evolutionary Computing, Genetic Algorithms, Rough Sets, and Fuzzy Sets. The emphasis should be on synergistically combining various soft computing techniques with AI techniques and/or identifying common theoretical underpinnings which could lead eventually to either synergistic combinations or cross fertilization of the technologies. All white papers must address the issue of scaling up to realistic military size problems, e.g. scheduling tens of thousands of tasks against hundreds of resources or planning for problems which could result in the need for schedules of this size. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION. DO NOT SUBMIT A FORMAL PROPOSAL AT THIS TIME. Offerors are required to submit three (3) copies of a two (2) to five (5) page white paper with a cover letter indicating whether the offeror is a large, small, woman-owned small, or small disadvantaged business, or Historically Black College, University, or Minority Institution. The white paper will be formatted as follows: Section A: Title, Period of Performance, Cost of Effort and Name of Company, Section B: Task Objective, and Section C: Technical Summary. All respondees to this announcement must send three (3) copies of the white papers to: Rome Laboratory/C3CA, ATTN: John F. Lemmer 525 Brooks Road, Rome, NY 13441-4505, Reference BAA 96-07-PKPX. One (1) copy of the cover letter only should be sent by FIRST CLASS MAIL to Rome Laboratory/BC, ATTN. Ms. Jan Norelli, 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome, NY 13441-4514, Reference BAA 96-07-PKPX. Do not send classified to RL/BC. Multiple white papers within the purview of this announcement may be submitted by each offeror. 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. Those white papers found to be consistent with the intent of this BAA may be invited to submit a technical and cost proposal. Such invitation does not assure that the submitting organization will be awarded a contract. Complete instructions for proposal preparation will be forwarded with the invitation for proposal submission. Evaluation of proposals will be performed using the following criteria: 1) The overall scientific and technical merits of the proposal, 2) The potential contributions of the effort to the overall objectives of the RL Artificial Intelligence program and ongoing efforts, and 3) The relative cost to the benefits, including leverage of ongoing work. No further evaluation criteria will be used in selecting the proposals. Criteria (1) and (2) will be used to determine whether white papers submitted are consistent with the intent of this BAA and of interest to the Government. Proposals submitted will be evaluated as they are received. Individual proposal evaluations will be based on acceptability or unacceptability without regard to other proposals submitted under this BAA. Options are discouraged and unpriced options will not be considered for award. Deliverables will include technical reports and when appropriate, advanced technology demonstrations. Principal funding of this BAA and the anticipated award of contracts will start approximately 4th quarter of FY96. Individual awards will not normally exceed 36 months in duration, with dollar amounts normally ranging from $100K to $285K. A higher figure may be applicable to teaming arrangements that highly leverage on-going work and provide complementary and synergistic benefits. Total funding for this BAA is $570,000 ($50,000 for FY96, $120,000 for FY97 and $400,000 for FY98). Foreign allied participation at the prime contractor level is permitted. Data subject to export control constraints may be involved and only firms on the Certified Contractor Access List (CCAL) will be allowed access to such data. The cost of preparing proposals in response to this announcement is not 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 in FAR 31.205-18. An Ombudsman has been appointed to hear significant concerns from offerors or potential offerors during the proposal development phase of this acquisition. Routine questions are not considered to be ''significant concerns'' and should be communicated directly to the Contracting Officer, Joetta Bernhard, 315/330-2308. The purpose of the Ombudsman is not be diminish the authority of the Contracting Officer or Program Manager, but to communicate contractor concerns, issues, disagreements and recommendations to the appropriate Government personnel. The Ombudsman for this acquisition is Mr. Vincent R. Palmiero, Chief, Policy and Management Division, at 315/330-7746. When requested, the Ombudsman will maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The Ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of proposals or in the source selection process. An informational briefing is not planned. The cutoff date for submission of FY96 white papers is 4 March 96. This BAA is open and effective until 30 September 97. To receive a copy of the Rome Laboratory ''BAA & PRDA: A Guide for Industry'', March 1994 (Rev), write to ATTN: Lucille Argenzia, Rome Laboratory/PKR, 26 Electronic Pky, Rome NY 13441-4514 or, the Guide may be accessed at the following Internet address: http://www.rl.af.mil:8001/Lab/PK/pk-mail.html. All responsible firms may submit a white paper, which shall be considered. Respondents are asked to provide their Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) number with their submission and reference BAA #96-07-PKPX. Only Contracting Officers are legally authorized to commit the government. (0044)

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