National Institue of Standards and Technology, Acquistion and Assistance Division, Procurement Office, Bldg. 301, Room B158, Gaithersburg, MD 20899

A -- REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS AND NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING SOL 97-06 DUE 052897 POC Customer Representative 1-800-ATP-FUND; Fax (301) 926-9524 E-MAIL: Advanced Technology Program, atp@nist.gov. Department of Commerce Technology Administration National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Technology Program Administration Building 101, Rm. A407 Gaithersburg, MD 20899-0001 February 12, 1997 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS AND NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING: The NIST Advanced Technology Program (ATP) is soliciting proposals under its focused program competition, 97-06, Component-Based Software (CBS), and announces a public meeting (Proposers' Conference) for all interested parties. This notice provides general information for this focused program competition 97-06. An estimated $15 million in first-year ATP funding is available under this focused program competition. The ATP reserves the right to utilize for this competition more or less funding than the amount stated above. The actual number of proposals funded will depend on the quality of the proposals received and the amount of funding requested in the highest ranked proposals. Outyear funding is contingent on the approval of future Congressional appropriations and satisfactory project performance. This is the third of three competitions planned for this ATP focused program. There are related focused program competitions in information technologies. ATP reserves the right to transfer a full proposal received under one focused program competition to another focused program competition underway in the same general time frame if the subject matter of the proposal is deemed to be more appropriately aligned with the scope of the other focused program competition. Proposers will be notified if and when a proposal is transferred. Award recipients will be required to share non-proprietary information at workshops to be held throughout the duration of the project. The ATP operates under program procedures published at Part 295, Title 15, of the Code of Federal Regulations. The ATP Proposal Preparation Kit dated November 1996 (containing proposal cover sheets, other required forms, background material, and instructions for submission of proposals) and the 97-06 focused program booklet (containing a paper describing the scope of this focused program) may be requested by phone: 1-800-ATP-FUND; fax: 301-926-9524 or 301-590-3053; e-mail: atp@nist.gov; or letter at the address shown below. Note that those individuals whose names are currently on the ATP mailing list should have already received the new November 1996 version of the ATP Proposal Preparation Kit. The 97-06 focused program booklet is available on our World Wide Web site (http://www.atp.nist.gov) and printed copies are available upon request from ATP. Abbreviated proposals (pre-proposals) are allowed but are optional for this focused program competition 97-06. Pre-proposals provide an opportunity for intermediate feedback as to whether the proposer is on track in gathering and articulating some of the key information required for a successful project proposal. Responses to pre-proposals will have no effect on the review of full proposals. Pre-proposals under this focused program competitionmust follow the instructions included in the 97-06 focused program booklet. Pre-proposals are due no later than 3:00 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, April 18, 1997, at the address shown below. ATP will generally provide written feedback within two weeks of receipt. No other form of debriefing will be provided. Proposers should submit their pre-proposals early to take advantage of this rapid response and to maximize the time available to react to the feedback during the full proposal preparation period. Pre-proposals or full proposals submitted by facsimile or electronic mail WILL NOT be accepted. If a proposer's proposal is judged to be of high enough quality to be invited in for an oral review, ATP reserves the right to submit a list of questions to the proposer that must be addressed at the oral review. The due date for submission of full proposals is 3 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, May 28, 1997. Should the NIST facility be closed on the specified due date, ATP proposals will be due at 3 p.m. Eastern time on the next business day that the NIST facility is open. Proposals received after this deadline WILL NOT be considered. Send proposals to: Advanced Technology Program, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Administration Building 101, Rm. A407, Quince Orchard & Clopper Roads, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-0001. Mark envelope Focused Program 97-06. The goal of the Component-Based Software focused program is to promote U.S. economic growth by supporting sustained, high-risk research and development, which will accelerate the development of a commerce in software components. The result of this focused program is expected to be widely available tools and infrastructure supporting sustained electronic commerce in semantic-based software components for large, complex systems. Projects should focus on supplying broadly enabling technology which overcome barriers to enhanced software development productivity such as technology for automatic semantic based composition of components and automated methods and tools for supporting a sustainable commerce in components. A public meeting (Proposers' Conference) for potential proposers and other interested parties under this focused program competition 97-06 will be held on Monday, March 17, 1997, at the Holiday Inn, 2 Montgomery Village Avenue, Gaithersburg, MD. The conference will begin at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time and end at approximately 3 p.m. and will provide general information regarding the ATP, hints on preparing good proposals (covering the same material presented at previous ATP Proposers' Conferences), and will provide an opportunity for attendees to ask questions on the scope and technical and business goals of this focused program. Attendance at this public meeting is not required. No registration fee will be charged. To register for this public meeting or for further information, contact ATP, by phone: 1-800-ATP-FUND; fax: 301-926-9524 or 301-590-3053; or e-mail: atp@nist.gov. In addition to the focused program proposers' conference in Gaithersburg, ATP is considering additional proposers' conferences in other locations. Should any additional conferences be arranged, that information will be published in the CBD and on our Web site. (0043)

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