SPECIAL NOTICE
A -- A-SpaceX Industry Day Announcement
- Notice Date
- 6/24/2008
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 541712
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command, AFRL - Rome Research Site, AFRL/Information Directorate, 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome, New York, 13441-4514
- ZIP Code
- 13441-4514
- Solicitation Number
- A-SpaceX
- Point of Contact
- Peter Rocci,
- E-Mail Address
-
Peter.Rocci@rl.af.mil
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Synopsis: The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), on behalf of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), will be hosting an Industry Day prior to soliciting white papers for innovative, creative, and high-risk research to advance the state-of-the-art in technologies and methods for the Analysis Space for Exploitation (A-SpaceX) program. The proposed BAA will address Phase 1 of a three phase program expected to take place over 48 months. A Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) is anticipated to be released on or about July 15th, which will provide more details into this program. Phase 1 will focus on conducting critical research and development of key technologies with contract awards in the range of $250K - $1000K. Phase 1 has an expected performance period of up to 18 months, and will culminate with a technology showcase for the benefit of potential users and system integrators. Phase 2 will begin at the conclusion of phase 1 and will focus on developing prototype integrated systems. Phase three will focus on utility / usability demonstrations in an operational environment. The BAA will initially request white papers generally describing a performer’s area of interests and proposed work. White papers will be reviewed and invitations to submit full proposals will then be requested for those papers that best address current A-SpaceX research interests. Separate white papers may be submitted for different thrust areas. Formal proposals will be reviewed by a selection committee and those bidders determined suitable for IARPA funding under the A-SpaceX program will be invited to provide oral presentations. Actual awards may be determined based on formal proposals, oral presentations and concurrence of IARPA management. We anticipate initial contract awards will be made by January 2009. Overview: A-SpaceX is seeking to create an analytic environment where the workspace becomes an enabler for the analytic process – fostering creativity and effective analytic reasoning. A-SpaceX envisions two key emerging technologies being fused in the workstation of the future to exploit the information available to the intelligence analyst: Virtual worlds, and Workflow management. Analysts will work with an integrated workstation that not only allows access to the legacy tools of today, but any number of virtual worlds designed to support the analytic process. Virtual worlds are defined here as: 1) Complex digital environments (models) that are shared across many users; 2) They may incorporate data models from a variety of sources, made up of objective data as well as hypothetical and/or theoretical constructs; and 3) Both persist and evolve whether or not any individual user is actively engaged with that world. A-SpaceX will demonstrate that this technology affords transformational opportunities to change the way people work in general, and how analysts will work in particular. A-SpaceX seeks to adapt virtual world technology to create “synthetic” worlds specifically adapted to support doing work. Synthetic worlds will be multi-dimensional, dynamic visualizations of that data. Synthetic worlds will be specifically developed to: 1) Highlight the dynamic aspects of the data, and how it changes; 2) Show the dynamic aspects of cognition, and how it changes; and 3) Demonstrate how groups of analysts can collaborate in the exploration of data and the sharing of analytic strategies. A-SpaceX envisions multiple synthetic worlds, each of which is optimized to support different kinds of analytic decision-making. Multiple synthetic worlds will be optimized for different analytic problems. The incorporation of multiple, coherent virtual worlds will require that there be a consistent set of protocols and usability standards to ensure that analysts may readily jump from one world to the next as needed to support exploring complex inter-related data. Analysts will use synthetic worlds that allow large amounts of multi-dimensional information to be explored as models. Implicit in the A-SpaceX vision is that changes in data will be detected by automated agents working on behalf of the analyst to both find relevant information, and highlight when data already integrated into analytic products has changed. Legacy applications will be integrated into the workspace through the incorporation of “proximal displays” located close to the analysts, while exploration in parallel synthetic worlds will be available through “distal displays” that will serve as windows into the synthetic world. Proximal and distal displays will be part of a single integrated digital desktop so that no matter how physical displays are used, the moving of information from one display area to another is as seamless as possible. Synthetic worlds, unlike the virtual worlds from which they are derived, will connect the analyst not only to other analysts for collaboration across users, but also with themselves and their previous states of thought about a problem. Analysts will be able to explore their own past thinking about the data as well as enabling the proactive exploration of how that data might change in the future. Phase 1 of the A-SpaceX program will have three major thrusts: 1) Development of a Synthetic World foundation which includes an over-arching concept of operations for the employment of virtual worlds as part of the analytic infrastructure, along with the definition of prospective architectures for the use of synthetic worlds with legacy software and hardware infrastructure. 2) The research and development of key science and technologies for a Time Machine synthetic world; as well as theory & usage CONOPS specific to the incorporation & exploitation of changing data. 3) The research and development of science and technologies for MindSnaps that capture key aspects of an analyst’s decision-making process in conducting analyses; as well as the development of a Decision Space virtual world visualizing the analytic process. Thrust 1 – Synthetic Worlds Common Elements. Common to both the development of MindSnap and Time Machine capabilities will be the development of an overarching concept of operations (CONOP) and a shared Human–Computer Interface for the use of synthetic worlds as analytic tools. Further, the application of current virtual world technologies to support the proposed CONOP will require the adaptation of current virtual world technologies. The A-SpaceX program will therefore include a systems engineering task to address the common information technologies anticipated as being required for the use of synthetic worlds in support of the analytic tasks. During Phase 1 of the A-SpaceX program, we anticipate that these tasks will be largely limited to the definition of coherent CONOP as well as architecting the requirements for supporting systems architectures. There may be limited development of those services and the definition of knowledge representation in support of the critical services identified as being required for the A-SpaceX CONOP. Thrust 2 - Time Machine. Virtual worlds are in fact models that have several relevant properties: they can be shared by multiple people, they are persistent, and they evolve over time. As a model, it is possible to systematically explore temporal aspects of change of data and events that occur in the physical world. Forensic analysis can be performed by replicating the real world in a synthetic world. In this forensic mode, alternative explanations can be explored by adjusting assumptions and the quality index of the collected data and allowing the changes to propagate into the future. Proactive analysis could be explored by applying predictive models that look forward in time and suggest indicators leading to future events. Virtual worlds allow the representation of complex, n-dimensional data sets, they can be shared by multiple people, and they evolve over time. In developing synthetic worlds to facilitate analysis, one of the more interesting aspects of synthetic worlds will be their ability to explore how data changes, and the implications of that change in formulating hypotheses about, and explanations of, change. We believe a key dimension of exploring changing data will be the ability to manipulate time in the synthetic worlds – in effect turning these worlds into Time Machines. The use of synthetic worlds as Time Machines is conceptually about the explorations of data, and as such, may be (but need not be) tied to a physical location. These synthetic worlds will allow a variety of data abstractions to be embedded, layered, and compared. A critical issue in creating a Time Machine capability will be the ability to detect and manage significant changes from data. A-SpaceX will seek research and development for technologies that will address contextually relevant change detections and management from raw data streams. Further, the complexity of the data sets possible in synthetic worlds for analysis suggest that tools to optimize how those worlds work and appear for specific analytic problems will require the development of context “lens & filters” that will make it possible to highlight, distort or block different kinds of data within a synthetic world. The CONOP for Time Machines is expected to transform how analysts would explore data. For instance, analysts can work from a “here and now”— where they pick a perspective of interest from which to explore the data sets represented within a synthetic world. The analysts would then assess possible futures relative to their chosen perspective in place and time; effectively assessing the possibilities for “then and there” and developing potential hypotheses for what is possible in the future given what is known from the “here and now”. Another analytic CONOP might be that analysts could hypothesize a discrete (specific) future and then assess the viability of that hypothesis by exploring both known and unknown data represented in the synthetic world. In effect, the Time Machine CONOP would allow analysts to engage in forensic and proactive analysis, by viewing past/future perspectives. Thrust 3 - MindSnaps. Current information technology is completely agnostic regarding helping an analyst to perform work. The burden is on the analyst to use tools to annotate, organize, and associate their work products. The analyst’s workflow process is complicated by methodology practices and security requirements of the IC that add even more tedious and time consuming activities. Today, there is no formal or proscribed mechanism for tracking analytic workflow. Current automation limitations make it extremely difficult for analysts to remember, find, and return to their analytic decision points to reconsider information changes, or try alternative hypotheses. None the less, analysts have to explain, share and propagate work products with supporting rationale to peers and managers. So today, when an analyst views the information space available to them and sees figuratively an opaque mass of information that has to be penetrated to find anything of importance, they are left to their own ingenuity to find work-arounds or other solutions to perform analysis. There is little or no automated support to help them recall what may be related or associated with what is new or changed. A-SpaceX MindSnaps will address the analyst’s dilemma of too much information and inadequate tools to deal with it. MindSnaps are envisioned as a tool to provide analysts the ability to cut through the opaque information space, discover what is important, store it for future analysis, and recall/reload it later as needed with changes highlighted. MindSnaps are enablers to help analysts make information associations and build upon them to test hypothesis and recognize increasingly complex patterns of relationships that may have significance to the intelligence community. The analytic process is inherently iterative and fractionated. The analyst will typically think about one aspect of analytic problem until it is no longer fruitful, new data comes in, or a new facet of the problem becomes more salient. Analytic decision making is iterative because the analyst will often return to a previous point in his or her thinking and resume analysis from that point in time until a solution is found to the analytic problem. We believe that it will be possible to monitor an analyst’s workflow, and detect when the analyst has shifted their decision trajectory while engaged in this fractionated process. When a shift in decision trajectory is detected, the system would collect meta-data regarding the analyst’s workspace including what software applications were in use, where they were located and the data sets open in those applications. Further, by examining the work that was being done before the decision trajectory shifted, it should be possible to extract meta-knowledge about what the analyst was doing during that period of analysis. The meta-knowledge would become the basis for creating a meaningful abstraction to summarize that decision trajectory. Together, the meta-data about the workspace and the meta-knowledge data would be combined to create a MindSnap. MindSnaps will be the basis for the creation of mental bookmarks of an analyst’s decision making. A-SpaceX seeks to develop a research thrust that explores creating a synthetic world that will facilitate these processes. MindSnaps will be the foundation for developing a "Decision Space" synthetic world that maps the overall decision-making processes of analysts as graphical decision nodes, and allows them to find and, cognitively re-load their workstation from different points in their own analytic process. Conclusion. An A-SpaceX Phase 1 Industry Day will be held on July 8, 2008 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm at the University of Maryland (UMD) Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center located on Alumni Drive, College Park, MD. Sign in will begin at 8:00 AM and the government briefing will begin at 9:00AM. The briefing and all discussions will be UNCLASSIFIED. Additionally, our intent is to provide access via a web simulcast and via Second Life (details provided upon request). The purpose of the Industry Day is to provide the A-SpaceX vision and concepts / ideas that may appear in the BAA scheduled for release on or about July 15th. Following this presentation, there will be a general Q&A session. The afternoon of July 8th is being reserved for 15 minute private conversations with the A-SpaceX team – by appointment only. The purpose of the private conversations is to allow for general discussions relating to the A-SpaceX BAA. We will not be discussing what potential offerors specifically plan to propose. Please contact Peter Rocci (contact information below) if you are interested in attending as well as requesting a private conversation. In the event that time constraints do not permit a private conversation, a 15 minute conference call will be scheduled with the A-SpaceX team before the scheduled BAA release date on or about July 15th, 2008. We cannot control the types of problems that future analysts might face. We cannot control the demands for understanding information and the pressure for faster decision making. We can, however, provide the analyst with an environment that encourages creativity, reasoning, collaboration with internal and external experts, rapid exploration of alternate perspectives for greater understanding, and detecting change in data and through processes within a multi-dimensional information rich synthetic world. Welcome to A-SpaceX where it’s about… the future. THIS IS AN INDUSTRY DAY ANNOUNCEMENT for information and planning purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. This is not a solicitation announcement for proposals and NO contract will be awarded from this announcement. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this announcement or any follow-up information requests. POC & Contact information for attending the A-SpaceX Industry Day: Mr. Peter Rocci of AFRL will be the principle POC for the A-SpaceX BAA. All interested parties wishing to attend the Industry Day must submit their intent to attend via e-mail to Peter Rocci (peter.rocci@rl.af.mil) no later than 4:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time on July 3, 2008 with the names, affiliations, Phone and facsimile numbers, return e-mail address, and physical address contact information for those who plan on attending.
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