Department of the Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command, AFRL -- Rome Research Site, AFRL/Information Directorate, 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome, NY, 13441-4514

A -- JOINT BATTLESPACE INFOSPHERE DISTRIBUTED TESTBED (JBI-DT) SOL Reference-Number-PRDA-00-04-IFKPA POC Joetta Bernhard, Contracting Officer, Phone (315) 330-2308, Fax (315) 330-7790, Email bernhard@rl.af.mil WEB: Visit this URL for the latest information about this, http://www.eps.gov/cgi-bin/WebObjects/EPS?ACode=P&ProjID=Reference-Num-Num ber-PRDA-00-04-IFKPA&LocID=1142. E-MAIL: Joetta Bernhard, bernhard@rl.af.mil. Joetta A. Bernhard, Contracting Officer, (315) 330-2308, email: Joetta.Bernhard@rl.af.mil; Mr. Charles E. Flynn, Jr., Program Manager, (315) 330-4862, email: Charles.Flynn@rl.af.mil. The Information Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is soliciting new and innovative ideas to investigate: (a) the application of state-of-the-art emerging web-based E-Business technology to improve the performance and reduce the lifecycle costs of USAF C2ISR systems; (b) technology that will be utilized in the realization of the Joint Battlespace Infosphere as reported by the USAF Advisory Board in SAB TR 99-02; and (c) exploitation of the research and development carried out in a Government Furnished and Contractor operated JBI Distributed Testbed. The scope of this announcement is to develop technology and build the Joint Battlespace Infosphere Distributed Testbed capability. Additional information concerning this program can be found at: http://www.sab.hq.af.mil/Archives/index.htm. It is intended tomake one award under this PRDA. Total funding for the PRDA is $24.9M. The selected offeror will be required to review classified material up to the TOP SECRET SCI level; therefore, personnel identified for assignment to the proposed effort must be already cleared for access to TOP SECRET SCI information. In addition, the offeror may be required to have, or have access to, a certified and Government-approved facility to support work under this PRDA. 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. 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 focal point, Joetta A. Bernhard, (315) 330-2308, for information if they contemplate responding. THIS PUBLICATION ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ENTIRE SOLICITATION. Proposal preparation and delivery instructions are contained in the Program Information Package (PIP) located at: http://www.if.afrl.af.mil/div/IFK/prda/JBIDTpip.doc. It is imperative that offerors read the entire PIP as it contains very important information. Questions concerning this announcement should be emailed to the Contracting Officer with a copy to the Technical Point of Contact. No questions will be answered telephonically. All questions and answers will be posted to the AFRL/IF Business Opportunities webpage: http://www.if.afrl.af.mil/div/IFK/prda/prda-main.html, within three (3) days of receipt. No questions will be accepted after the fifteenth (15th) day after publication of this announcement. Options are discouraged and unpriced options will not be considered for award. The cost of preparing proposals in response to this announcement is not considered an allowable direct charge to any resulting contract or any other contract. It is, however, an allowable expense to the normal bid and proposal indirect cost specified in FAR 31.205-18. Offerorswill be required to conduct an oral presentation of their proposal; therefore, all Offerors shall notify the Contracting Officer, Joetta Bernhard, no later than twenty (20) calendar days after the announcement publication date of their intent to propose so that the Government may schedule oral presentations. Such notification may be done by phone or by e-mail, and must include the offeror's point of contact with both a phone number and an e-mail address. NO CONSIDERATION WILL BE GIVEN TO PROPOSALS RECEIVED IF THIS NOTIFICATION HAS NOT BEEN ACCOMPLISHED. Once notified of their scheduled presentation date and time, Offerors shall complete their presentation on the scheduled date and time. It is anticipated that offerors will be notified of the date and time of their presentation not later than the 24th day after publication of the announcement. For planning purposes, it is anticipated that oral presentations will commence not sooner than two (2) days after receipt of proposals. Evaluation of proposals will be performed using the following program technical criteria: (1) Managing research and development testbeds including operations, systems administration, and configuration management of dynamic software and hardware environments across multiple, distributed nodes in a combined UNIX and Windows environment. (2) Conducting decision trade off analysis of various technologies and the functionality they provide, such as: Web-based commercial-off-the-shelf technologies, Sun Microsystems' JINI and JAVA Technologies, scripting languages, internet and intranet technologies, enterprise management technologies, virtual warehouse and digital library concepts, and other such commercial information management technologies as discussed in the 1999 SAB-TR-99-02: "Report on Building the Joint Battlespace Infosphere." (3) Understanding of the functionality of fielded Joint C2ISR systems (e.g. Global Command and Control System (GCCS), Theater Battle Management System Core Systems (TBMCS), Space Battle Management Core Systems (SBMCS), Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS), Air Mobility Command and Control Information Processing System (AMC C2IPS), Intelligence Data Handling Systems (IDHS), etc.) (4) Overall technical merit and innovative approach to managing a dynamic, complex spiral development program consisting of overlapping and interrelated tasks, responding to the needs and priorities of multiple customer communities and implementations using Government owned facilities that are widely dispersed. (5) Satisfying the Government's Statement of Objectives with a comprehensive Statement of Scope. It is anticipated that the award under this PRDA will be a CPFF IDIQ type contract. Proposals are due on 31 May 00, and offerors are notified that the Late Proposals provisions of the FAR apply (FAR 52.215-1) to this PRDA. Proposals should be submitted to: AFRL/IFKPA, ATTN: Mrs. Joetta A. Bernhard, 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome NY 13441-4514. An Ombudsman has been appointed to hear significant concerns from offerors or potential offerors for this announcement. Routine questions are not considered to be "significant concerns" and should be communicated directly to the Contracting Officer, Joetta A. Bernhard,(315) 330-2308. The purpose of the Ombudsman is not to 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 Vincent Palmiero, Deputy Chief, AFRL/IFK 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 the proposals or in the source selection process. The Ombudsman should only be contacted with issues or problems that have been previously brought to the attention of the contracting officer and could not be satisfactorily resolved at that level. An informational briefing is not planned. To receive a copy of the AFRL/IFK "BAA & PRDA: A Guide for Industry," Sep 1996 (Rev), write ATTN: Lucille Argenzia, AFRL/IFK, 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome, NY 13441-4514, or fax her at FAX 315-330-4728, or the guide may be accessed at: http://www.if.afrl.af.mil/div/IFK/bp-guide.html. All responsible organizations may submit a proposal, which shall be considered, provided that the twenty (20) day notification described above has been accomplished. Respondents are requested to provide their Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) number with their submission, reference PRDA 00-04-IFKPA. All responses to this announcement must reference the above topic as well as PRDA-00-04-IFKPA. Only Contracting Officers are legally authorized to commit the Government. Posted 05/03/00 (D-SN450768). (0124)

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