Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Contracts Management Office (CMO), 3701 N. Fairfax Dr., Arlington VA 22203-1714

A -- INTEGRATED PROLIFERATION PREVENTION AND OPEN SOURCE MONITORING (IPPOSM) DUE 102596 POC Dr. Steven Flank, Program Manager, Information Systems Office (ISO), Facsimile: (703)696-2201, Electronic Mail: sflank@arpa.mil. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), on behalf of the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs (ASD/NCB), Deputy for Counterproliferation (CP), is soliciting proposals (technical and cost) for research projects under the Integrated Proliferation Prevention and Open Source Monitoring (IPPOSM) program to provide continuing research on and systematic monitoring of the proliferation of missile technology and biological, chemical and nuclear weapons. Full technical and cost proposals in response to this BAA shall be submitted to ISO as listed above no later than 25 October 1996, 1500 hours Eastern Daylight Savings Time. DARPA will review these and initiate awards for contracts starting on or about the 1st Quarter of government Fiscal Year 1997. Exact formats and procedures for the proposal submission are described below. Proposals from industry, independent research centers, academia and teams are encouraged. For independent research centers, according to DFARS 235.017-1(c)(4), DoD sponsored FFRDCs that function primarily as research laboratories (C3I Laboratory operated by the Institute for Defense Analysis, Lincoln Laboratory operated by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Software Engineering Institute) may respond to solicitations and announcements for programs which promote research, development, demonstration, or transfer of technology. GENERAL GOALS OF THIS BAA: Focus of the research should concentrate on three main thrusts: the creation and long-term maintenance of open source data collection and dissemination, research and analysis, and training and conference activities. These main thrusts should be assembled into an integrated approach to facilitate the development of proliferation stemming norms in critical countries and to provide U.S. policymakers with critical open-source proliferation data and analysis. SCOPE OF PROPOSALS: Proposals should address the full range of issues associated with weapons of mass destruction (WMD), with an emphasis in order of priority on nuclear weapons, biological weapons, missiles, and chemical weapons. Proposals should have a global focus of attention, with an emphasis in order of priority on the Newly Independent States (NIS) of the former Soviet Union, the third world, and China. Multiple WMD related activities should be monitored and addressed, with an emphasis in order of priority on acquisition of weapons-relevant capabilities (indigenously or through international trade, and especially involving movement of nuclear materials and expertise through and out of the NIS), compliance with international agreements, and construction and maintenance of WMD related infrastructure. OPEN SOURCE DATA COLLECTION AND DISSEMINATION: Proposers should offer an approach for detailed monitoring of the full scope of relevant open-source publications, analyzed by subject matter experts but with affordable, high-volume production, and with significant, high-quality access to and incorporation of gray literature sources. Innovative approaches are desired to obtain, search, and abstract information electronically for an automated, comprehensive, and sophisticated collection process. Natural language processing and search capabilities should be strongly considered, as well as innovative manual approaches, with the objective of a sustainable, high-quality, and affordable production, dissemination, and utilization process. Proposers should have a demonstrated ability to acquire gray literature material, which often contains the most revealing information, including through participation in trade shows, scholar exchanges with foreign institutes, and contacts with foreign corporations. World Wide Web based dissemination and other innovative approaches are desirable, as well as traditional single-site databases, providing access both to unverified but comprehensive open source information and to considered analyses completed by subject matter experts. The goal should be to produce the best open source information available in a ''one stop shopping'' enterprise. RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS: Proposers should offer capabilities and approaches for providing rapid and timely analysis and/or analytical support for developing events. A variety of formats should be utilized to increase ease of use and flexibility of production. Products could include for example: structured country fact sheets, map-based representations of known facilities, studies of country-to-country relationships or comprehensive WMD country studies, or the development or use of research and analytical tools (including but not limited to computer-based tools). Dissemination of research results should receive high priority, including distribution to U.S. policymakers and researchers as well as nonproliferation communities abroad, especially in problem countries. Planned distribution through traditional publication venues should demonstrate adequate reach to desired audiences, distribution through other means, including Internet-based applications, should also be based on the proposer's current successes with that medium. Research and analysis activities should extend the efforts described under the data collection thrust above, through the use of subject matter experts to create verified, value-added analyses and other products. Such activities should be accomplished, as much as practicable, with the participation of in-country experts from problem countries and regions. This approach should be designed both to increase the value of the research and to support the training thrust described below. TRAINING AND CONFERENCE ACTIVITIES: Proposals should include initiatives for working directly with specific foreign individuals, institutes, or governments to: conduct collaborative research, hold workshops or meetings where contacts and information can be shared in a manner that promotes the monitoring and research thrusts described above, develop innovative approaches to training, including the use of advanced technology tools to promote information dissemination and utilization by newly trained personnel working in problem countries, and assist in efforts to develop techniques for ongoing dissemination of nonproliferation information and strengthen nonproliferation norms within problem countries. Examples of the latter category would include strengthening the nonproliferation institutions in the post-Soviet states and China by developing training approaches for journalists, area specialists, parliamentarians, professors, and analysts, assisting in the development and sustenance of new, independent nonproliferation institutions, and creating multidisciplinary, regionally diverse communities of nonproliferation specialists with access to independent sources of information. Some activities should address country-specific training and conference opportunities, such as convening workshops and commissioning research papers on Sino-Russian nuclear cooperation, through a collection of U.S., Russian, and Chinese scholars, journalists, and/or government officials. Other activities may be focused on particular international forums, such as training Chinese, NIS, or third world potential participants for the upcoming 1997, 1998, and 1999 Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) meetings. Finally, other activities may be focused on institution building, such as developing new arms control courses with a nonproliferation focus that utilize results from the data collection thrust for use in participating NIS and Chinese institutions of higher education, or cooperating in the design and training activities under the new DoD/FBI Counterproliferation Program mandated by the National Defense Authorization Act (FY95 Sec 1504 (e) B). Proposers should demonstrate how these activities would depend on and take advantage of the innovations developed under the first two thrusts of this BAA. Conversely, proposers should demonstrate how the efforts under the first two thrusts would be aided by the particular approaches taken under this area. INTEGRATED APPROACH: An integrated approach is essential for the success of this program, permitting the government to fund an innovative program that takes advantage of the synergies among database development, research and analysis, and training. For example, open source databases provide not only the data for research and analysis, but also extensive opportunities for training and new contacts, since the development, maintenance, and use of the database can be a major component in the training of students and the research done by students, visiting scholars, and core staff. Proposers should include plans to use data collection, analysis, dissemination, and user/source interfaces as a basis for cooperation with individuals and/or institutes abroad in order to foster the development of nonproliferation culture and infrastructure. A holistically planned, tightly-coupled set of initiatives is also desired in order to address the motivational side of the proliferation threat by trying to develop, in problem countries, a culture of nonproliferation and a community of nonproliferation advocates and experts. Proposals should evidence a long-term commitment to community-building, attitude changing efforts and attention to people and infrastructure development as the key to building the foundations of success for future proliferation stemming efforts. The selection of one or more sources for award will be based on an evaluation of an offeror's response (both technical and cost aspects) to determine the overall merit of the proposal in response to the announcement. The criteria are as follows in order of importance: (A) Responsiveness to the full set of requirements and objectives of this BAA, (B) Substantial evidence of ongoing programs, capabilities, techniques, and facilities or organizations of proven effectiveness on which to base the proposed efforts, (C) Innovative and effective approaches for carrying out, disseminating, and integrating with other activities comprehensive open source monitoring of WMD, (D) the qualifications, capabilities, and experience of the proposed principal investigator and personnel who are key to program success, (E) defensibility of estimated cost, and (F) past performance. A Proposer's Information Package (PIP) has been prepared for this BAA, and is available at the Web site http://yorktown.dc.isx.com/iso/solicitations, or by mail upon request. The PIP provides information on proposal preparation and submission, evaluation criteria, and other important areas. All administrative correspondence and questions on this solicitation, including requests for additional information must be directed to one of the Points of Contact (POCs) listed above. This notice, in conjunction with the BAA 96-41 PIP, constitutes the total BAA. This is an unrestricted solicitation. Offerors should be alert for any BAA amendments that may be published. No portion of the BAA will be set-aside for HBCU or MI participation due to the impracticality of reserving discrete or severable areas of development for exclusive competition among these entities. Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Institutions are encouraged to team with other offerors. Awards made under this BAA are subject to the provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 9.5, Organizational Conflict of Interest. All offerors and proposed subcontractors must affirmatively state whether they are supporting any DARPA technical office(s) through an active contract or subcontract. All affirmations must state which office(s) the offeror supports, and identify the prime contract number. Affirmations should be furnished at the time of proposal submission. All facts relevant to the existence or potential existence of organizational conflicts of interest, as that term is defined in FAR 9.501, must be disclosed. This disclosure shall include a description of the action the Contractor has taken, or proposes to take, to avoid, neutralize or mitigate such conflict. (0257)

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