SOLICITATION NOTICE
A -- Information Management-Enabled Sensor Tasking and Ad Hoc Control (ISTAC)
- Notice Date
- 9/29/2014
- 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 Materiel Command, AFRL/RIK - Rome, 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome, New York, 13441-4514, United States
- ZIP Code
- 13441-4514
- Solicitation Number
- BAA-RIK-2014-0013
- 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: Information Management-enabled Sensor Tasking and Ad Hoc Control (ISTAC) BAA ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE: Initial announcement BAA NUMBER: BAA RIK-2014-0013 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 in the tactical domain. AFRL/RI has been conducting research in the areas of tactical information dissemination and management. Resultant approaches have focused on the creation of services-based information management techniques. This research has led to the development of a series of information dissemination and management technologies focused on improved radio-based communications for resource constrained air/ground vehicle-based and dismounted tactical users. The continued development of innovative concepts and enhanced services that maximize the value of information to support the objectives of military theater operations is the primary focus of this BAA. Background : The AFRL/RISA Tactical Information Management group has been a leading innovator in in-mission information dissemination over tactical networks, advancing the state of the art from inefficient video broadcast (e.g., ROVER) to information products tailored to consumer predicates and resource availability. In a similar manner, ISTAC is using the AFRL/RI core competencies of information management, connectivity, and advanced computing to expand the near-real-time utility of tactical airborne sensors from traditional stove-piped, single operator control to shared access by multiple third party users in a disadvantaged network. The combined proficiency in these areas allows AFRL/RI to enhance the capability of advanced targeting pods (ATPs) not just for the pilot, but for multiple warfighters in the networked battlespace. The current tactical sensor control and tasking process is a highly synchronous air-ground activity that requires the pilot to coordinate with an off-board user and manually control the sensor. The lack of automation increases pilot burden and slows target prosecution due to the steps required to slew the sensor onto a requested coordinate. The result is suboptimal allocation of tactical sensors that have the opportunity to provide value to more than a single user at time. Requirement : A new consolidated program called Information Management (IM)-enabled Sensor Tasking and Ad hoc Control (ISTAC) is being started under this BAA. The goal of ISTAC is to provide third parties the ability to influence the tasking of airborne tactical sensors in order to satisfy their information needs without impacting the pilot operating the sensor or the primary mission of the airborne asset. ISTAC will develop and demonstrate a set of embedded information management software services and adaptable user interfaces that will automate ATP sensor tasking based on sensor availability and multiple consumer information needs, including aircrew mission objectives, navigation requirements, and off-board requests. ISTAC is leveraging three technologies currently being developed under the Information Brokering for Embedded Platforms (IBEP) program: Marti, Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK), and OpenPod. All three are government-owned software that can be provided to interested offerors. Marti is an embedded information management software service that provides real-time situational awareness (SA) over tactical networks through publish, subscribe, and query (pub/sub/query). ISTAC will integrate tasking capabilities into Marti to enable pub/sub/query and generate. ATAK is an ultra-portable SA software tool for Android mobile devices, and will be used to enable third party tasking in ISTAC through existing ATAK subscription/query mechanisms, as well as the addition of real-time sensor control plugins. The OpenPod program is developing a software framework and open hardware architecture to allow the affordable integration of third party applications into the LITENING ATP. The application programming interface (API) being developed under OpenPod will allow the technologies developed in ISTAC to monitor the state of the LITENING ATP and actuate sensor tasks. Achieving the above stated goal of the ISTAC program requires addressing several significant technical challenges in the areas of deriving and prioritizing sensor tasking from mission information needs, and scheduling those tasks without ownership of the sensor. Providing this third party tasking capability also has operational challenges associated with sensor availability and ensuring non-interference with the primary mission. ISTAC is addressing these challenges through the following approach: • Conduct a capability analysis study where pilot ATP sensor utilization will be analyzed and on-board and off-board user requirements will be thoroughly reviewed. • Develop technologies to enable opportunistic task generation for an EO sensor. • Develop a mission-driven sensor task prioritization prototype using the results of the capability analysis and opportunistic task generation task. • Develop technologies that allow the synchronous tasking of sensors as well as closed-loop control, and integrate them into the task prioritization capability. The technical approach will be realized through several projects including Mission-driven Tasking of Information Producers (MTIP) and Vision-Aided Localization and navigation In Denied environments (VALID). MTIP, a proposed project currently under development, is expected to be a 3 year 6.2 project that will use the approach detailed above to develop, integrate and evaluate the technologies necessary for ISTAC and demonstrate the resulting capability at TRL(4/5) with a hardware-in-the loop simulation. The VALID project has been added to ISTAC as AFRL/RI's contribution to the AFRL Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Initiative. VALID is a 3 year project with a mixture of 6.2 and 6.3 funding that will build upon the MTIP project to design, develop and demonstrate an architecture for airborne platforms that enables vision-aided navigation in global positioning system (GPS) denied or degraded environments. The goal of VALID is to enhance vision-aided navigation by providing an open framework for a variety of vision-aided navigation and localization algorithms tailored to mission constraints. VALID will also provide sensor monitoring and tasking capabilities, and pre-mission loading and in-mission management of reference data. AFRL/RI Rome will work closely with AFRL/RY Wright-Patterson AFB, OH and other PNT Initiative participants to integrate existing vision-aided navigation capabilities. FY15 Focus Area: Information Management for Navigation and Localization Precise Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) are critical to all air operations for reliable navigation and accurate weapons delivery. Today's military aircraft are dependent on GPS to provide PNT, and when GPS is denied or degraded, alternative methods are necessary. One such method is vision-aided navigation which uses imagery collected by an on-board sensor to localize and orient the platform. Advanced targeting pods provide a rapid and affordable means of integrating this capability onto existing platforms, and also as a test and demonstration platform for future aircraft. AFRL/RI has developed and demonstrated an open architecture for targeting pods that allows capability upgrades without modification to the Operation Flight Program (OFP) of the aircraft. Key to this technology is embedded information management services that decouple applications for the purposes of data exchange and security. Of interest to AFRL/RI is an extension of this technology to the application of vision-aided navigation and localization on targeting pods. The desired outcome is an architecture for vision-aided navigation algorithms on a pod that enables multiple algorithms to be hosted on the pod as "apps," supporting a variety of PNT needs and operating environments. The architecture will provide pod sensor tasking capabilities, access to other PNT data (e.g. GPS, Inertial Measurement Unit [IMU]), and pre-mission loading and in-mission management of reference data. The result is reduced time and cost for integrating vision-aided navigation algorithms into airborne platforms and improved PNT accuracy in GPS-denied or degraded environments. Offerors are encouraged to: • Investigate existing and emerging vision-aided navigation and localization algorithms and the infrastructure requirements to support information delivery (e.g. real-time imaging sensor streaming, efficient storage and query of reference information, system state data) to these algorithms. • Develop or extend vision-aided navigation and localization algorithms to incorporate active tasking of an imaging sensor. • Design an open standards-based architecture to support the multiple vision-aided navigation algorithms, and the necessary pilot vehicle interfaces to enable the selection and tuning of applications based on mission and environment constraints. • Implement the specified architecture by extending existing open standards-based application framework technologies and developing new technologies where gaps exist. • Integrate additional platform/pod data sources such as GPS/Inertial Navigation Systems (INS), Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), and laser range finder. • Design and develop a simulation environment to evaluate the architecture and selected vision-aided navigation algorithms with relevant sensor data. • Design and develop mechanisms for efficiently representing, storing, and loading reference information pre-mission that are compatible with existing mission planning tools. Security Classification : Software development will largely be UNCLASSIFIED but the domain specific activities may be up to TS/SCI. II. AWARD INFORMATION: 1. FUNDING: Total funding for this BAA is approximately $9.9 M. The anticipated funding to be obligated under this BAA is broken out by fiscal year as follows: FY 15 - $1 Million; FY 16 - $2 Million, FY 17 - $2.5 Million; FY 18 - $4.4 Million. Individual awards will not normally exceed 30 months with dollar amounts normally ranging from $150K to $500K per year. There is also the potential to make awards up to 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. 3. BAA TYPE: This is a two-step open broad agency announcement. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation. As STEP ONE - We are 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. 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 office focal point, Gail E. Marsh, Contracting Officer, telephone (315) 330-7518 or e-mail Gail.Marsh@us.af.mil for information if they contemplate responding. The e-mail must reference the BAA number and title. 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: FY15 should be submitted by 31 Oct 2014; FY16 by 1 June 2015; FY17 by 1 June 2016; and FY18 by 1 June 2017. White papers will be accepted until 2 PM Eastern time on 28 Sep 2018, but it is less likely that funding will be available in each respective fiscal year after the dates cited. This BAA will close on 28 Sep 2018. 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 2 copies of a 5-7 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 RIK-2014-0013 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 28, 2006 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 J. 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-RIK-2014-0013. Electronic submission of classified white paper information is NOT authorized. Questions can be directed to the cognizant technical point of contact listed in Section VII. Electronic submission of unclassified white papers to James Metzler (James.Metzler@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 the white paper is sent via electronic transmission, one copy only is required. Any 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. 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. e. GOVERNMENT APPROVED ACCOUNTING SYSTEM: An offeror must have an 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, b. Related Experience - The extent to which the offeror demonstrates relevant technology and domain knowledge, c. Openness, Maturity and Assurance of Solution - The extent to which existing capabilities and standards are leveraged and the relative maturity of the proposed technology, and d. Reasonableness and realism of proposed costs and fees (if any). No further evaluation criteria will be used in selecting white papers/proposals. Individual white paper/proposal evaluations will be evaluated against the evaluation criteria without regard to other white papers and proposals submitted under this BAA. 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 from 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," May 2012, 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 top secret facility clearance and safeguarding capability; therefore, personnel identified for assignment to a classified effort must be cleared for access to top 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. 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): TPOC Name: James Metzler Mailing Address: AFRL/RISA, 525 Brooks Road, Rome, NY 13441-4505 Telephone: (315) 330-4033 Email: James.Metzler@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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