NNRRC_Data Analysis and Visualization_SS_RFI.pdf

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

and

SOURCES SOUGHT

NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING (NLP) FOR SEARCH, ANALYSIS AND

VISUALIZATION OF ARMS CONTROL DATA

1 PURPOSE

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) / Sources Sought (SS) is to acquire market research pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10, and to identify businesses capable of performing the functions described herein. The Government is requesting information regarding the capabilities of companies, and feedback from this RFI/SS that could help confirm the feasibility of the project, and support development and refinement of the requirements FOR the Department of State (DOS) as described herein.

THIS IS A RFI ONLY. This RFI/SS is issued solely for information and planning purposes. It does not constitute a solicitation or a promise to issue a solicitation in the future. This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Furthermore, the Government is not seeking proposals.

Respondents are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI/SS; all costs associated with responding to this RFI/SS will be solely at the respondent’s expense. Not responding to this RFI/SS does not preclude participation in any future solicitation, if any is issued; however, industry responses or lack of responses may impact the future strategy of Government acquisition efforts.

2 BACKGROUND

2.1 General Information

The Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence, and Stability (ADS) National and Nuclear Risk Reduction Center’s (ADS/NNRRC) core mission is to reduce the risk of international conflict that could arise from misunderstandings or miscommunications. In support of this mission the NNRRC has developed and operates a standalone air-gapped network and web application, NNRRCNet, to facilitate the exchange of arms control treaty and confidence building notifications as well as arms control data with partners in multiple languages up to the Secret classification level.

The NNRRC is investigating the feasibility and cost considerations for developing a closed, non-internet connected system up to the Secret classification level that utilizes Natural Language Processing (NLP) as the user interface to query, analyze, and visualize data sourced from NNRRCNet’s historical database.

NNRRCNet currently has two data stores, ElasticSearch and a SQL database. Data in ElasticSearch is indexed to SQL database, which in turn can be used (via Kibana) to support some time-series queries and basic data visualization. The NNRRC is seeking to consolidate the data currently in NNRRCNet and pull in additional related data sources so that historical analysis and reporting needs can be addressed with a single system. As such, ADS/NNRRC is seeking to unlock untapped structured and unstructured data in these systems by selectively extracting data from notifications and attachments to enable further search, analysis, and data visualization capabilities.

The NNRRC is seeking input from industry to determine the feasibility, timing, and rough cost estimates for creating a standalone natural language-based search, analysis and visualization solution capable of meeting NNRRC objectives outlined in this SSN/RFI.

2.2 Project Overview

ADS/NNRRC seeks vendor support to develop an integrated suite of data analytics and data visualization tools that utilize NNRRCNet and other arms control and confidence building data to meet the functional requirements and objectives described herein. A primary objective of the project is to create a system that enables users to perform historical analysis, and data visualization using NLP as the primary user interface. Due to the sensitive nature of some data contained in the source systems, the vendor must be prepared to build/configure all required system infrastructure within a locally hosted environment located at the Harry S. Truman (HST) Building in Washington, DC.

3 SOURCES SOUGHT OVERVIEW

ADS/NNRRC is seeking to identify capable and interested small business partners able to provide the products and services required to meet the functional capabilities and objectives outlined in this SS/RFI. Viable small business partners shall have demonstrated experience developing and deploying solutions in a classified data environment, and delivering the ongoing support required to maintain, expand, and upgrade the solution over time for an organization of similar size, scope, and complexity as the NNRRC.

Information requested in this Sources Sought Notification includes the following categories:

3.1 Company Information (Section 1) – Identification of interested vendors, socio-economic status, and potential acquisition vehicles to inform State’s acquisition strategy options.

3.2 Capabilities and Experience (Section 2) – Description of relevant experience, including case studies or examples of how the technical approach and any COTS software required has been applied to past projects using example(s) demonstrating vendor’s implementation of their proposed solution to address the needs of a similar size and scope.

3.3 Market Survey Questionnaire (Section 3)

4 SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS:

4.1 All written responses should be submitted in Microsoft compatible formats (e.g., Word) or

PDF.

4.2 Responses must use 12-point font and 1-inch margins, including all text, tables, and graphics. Additional attachments, brochures, or other marketing materials are not requested and will not be considered as part of the response. Response page limit(s) by section are noted below.

4.3 Section 1 – Corporate Profile (1 page)

4.4 Section 2 – Capabilities and Experience (Max 2 pages per example, up to 4 pages)

4.5 Section 3 – Market Survey Questionnaire (Max 3 pages)

5 CONTRACT OBJECTIVES

The primary goals and objectives of this contract are to:

• Goal 1: Facilitate the identification, extraction, and organization of structured, unstructured, and semi-structured data from the existing databases, attachments, and the text of treaty notification messages.

o Objective: The successful vendor will collaborate with NNRRC stakeholders to develop tools, techniques, and methods to identify, extract, and validate relevant data, e.g. locations/coordinates, reportable assets (weapons, equipment, materials), events, etc., based on the specified format type and an understanding of the data contained within notifications.

o Objective: The contractor will work with ADS/NNRRC to organize and develop an agreed upon data structure for each category of notification and/or notification format type to enable analysis specific to the treaty or confidence building measure.

o Goal 2: Implement a user-friendly Natural Language Processing (NLP) capability as the primary interface for users to query data and perform historical analysis and data visualization for reporting. Objective: Develop user interface utilizing NLP as the primary interface for searching, analyzing, and visually displaying data.

o Objective: The system needs to correctly interpret the context of the data to generate relevant visualizations. Ensure the NLP understands the meaning of the user's language, including key terms defined through the attainment of Goal 1.

o Objective: Implement a GIS platform to display location-based data output using country or geographic areas, and other data points requested by users.

o Objective: Support follow-on interactions with the GIS to drill down into data points on the map to view data associated with defined location/time combinations.

o Objective: Implement custom or COTS software tools that enables statistical analysis of data and displays results in specified formats such as tables and graphs.

• Goal 3: Develop the interface and processes for NNRRC personnel to validate incoming data as it is added to the system.

o Objective: As new notifications and data are added to NNRRCNet, the vendor will have developed an automated process for NNRRC personnel to perform a quality review of the data and, as necessary, edit and add data. The vendor will establish a clearly defined process to ensure all relevant data is added to the searchable datasets.

6 SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATIONAL CONSTRAINTS

NNRRCNet is classified to hold data up to the Secret level, and is also a physically air gapped network, which creates constraints for the development team.

6.1 Site Specifications and Technical Requirements

• The vendor will be required to develop a process to release and test software on the system without internet or any kind of direct connection to the production environment from outside the primary office location. This applies to all software releases including any updates and patches.

• The vendor may need to provide periodic onsite support to provide troubleshooting and application support.

6.2 Facility Security

• The ADS/NNRRC watch floor is located within a secure facility environment. Interested vendors will need a Secret Facility clearance and will need to provide cleared personnel to access the NNRRC site and NNRRCNet data.

6.3 Supply Chain Requirements and Other Constraints

• All system hardware and software components used in the development of the system must be approved by the Department of State enterprise Technical Review Board (TRB) prior to installation. If the proposed system hardware/software is not already approved for use, ADS/NNRRC will be responsible for submitting the request. The vendor should be prepared to provide system documentation supporting this process.

7 DRAFT PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

TBD

8 SAMPLE DATA ANALYSIS AND VISUALIZATION REQUESTS

The following are a very limited set of examples of natural language requests we expect the system to be able to handle.

1. How many military exercises were conducted at (Training Area) in (Country) from (timeframe) to (timeframe)?

2. How many times has bomber (Bomber type) (Tail Number) moved in (timeframe)?

a. What bases did it visit?

3. What is the total number of missiles moved by (country) in (timeframe)?

4. How many times has (country) inspected (base/country)?

5. How many countries have inspected (base)?

6. How many main battle tanks were located at (base) in (timeframe)?

a. How has that number changed over (timeframe)?

7. How many combat aircraft were reduced by (country) under CFE in (timeframe)?

a. What were the types of those aircraft?

8. How many launches were conducted by (country) in (timeframe)?

a. Of those launches, how many were ICBMs?

9. How many air base visits has (country) conducted in (timeframe)?

a. Which bases were used to host the visits?

b. Which countries participated in the air base visit?

10. What percentage of (country’s) declared armaments were moved during (timeframe)? OR What percentage of (country’s) ballistic missile launches occurred during (specified time range)?

9 INSTRUCTIONS FOR RESPONDENTS

Interested vendors should submit a response to this Request for Information / Sources Sought via email to the Contracting Officer, Bilal Kayani at KayaniBA@state.gov by 11:00 am EST on February 12, 2025.

Respondents should include the following in their submissions:

I. Provide the following basic company information

Company Name

Company Point of Contact (Name, Title, Email, Phone)

DUNS Number

CAGE Code, if applicable mailto:KayaniBA@state.gov

Socioeconomic Status under any of the following NAICS Codes:

541511 – Custom Computer Programming Services

Example: Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business; HUBZone;

Economically Disadvantaged Woman- Owned; Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned;

8(a)

Applicable GSA Schedule Contracts or other GWAC (e.g., NASA SEWP V, CIO-CS, etc.):

Secret Facility Clearance (Yes/No, level)

II. Relevant Technical Capability and Experience: Provide up to two contract references (2 page/reference) with information for the Government to understand your company’s technical capabilities.

a. Contract information: Customer (federal agency or company name), place of performance, period of performance, FTEs or equivalent, total contract value, contract type, clearance level.

b. Contract description: Description of the work your company performed and its relevancy to the draft objectives including:

• Implementation of Natural Language driven query, data analysis, and/or data visualization solution.

• Implementation, including planning, requirements gathering, development, testing, deployment, and maintenance/support for a natural language driven data analysis and visualization solution.

• Documentation/user support/admin support.

• Support (if any) for ATO process and/or documentation.

III. Market Survey Questionnaire: (3 pages)

List and describe the features or requirements that will have the greatest impact on the overall cost of developing and maintaining this type of system.

Roughly what portion of the overall cost of the system do you estimate would be recurring SW licenses and maintenance for the COTS components of your proposed solution?

Please list and briefly describe the labor categories needed for this type of project to be successful.

Describe what details and system attributes ADS/NNRRC needs to provide in the PWS that will be most helpful/useful to understand the scope of work and level of effort that will be required for your proposed solution (e.g. number of data sources, number of notification messages, number of format types per treaty, etc.).

Provide any specific feedback on the draft objectives that would help you better understand the desired acquisition outcome. Include any recommendations your company has on acquisition strategies for the services described.

How do you anticipate the arms control and treaty SMEs within ADS and the NNRRC will need to support the project? How much time/engagement should we expect?

What NAICS codes would your company propose for this work?

2.2 Project Overview