2018-NIST-PSIAP-PC2 NOFO.pdf

NIST Public Safety Innovation Accelerator Program - Point Cloud City

Notice of Funding Opportunity January 5, 2018

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY (NOFO)

NIST Public Safety Innovation Accelerator Program (PSIAP) – Point Cloud City

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Federal Agency Name: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), United States Department of Commerce (DoC)

• Funding Opportunity Title: NIST Public Safety Innovation Accelerator Program

– Point Cloud City

• Announcement Type: Initial

• Funding Opportunity Number: 2018-NIST-PSIAP-PC2

• Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 11.609, Measurement and Engineering Research and Standards

• Dates: Electronic applications must be received at Grants.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, Wednesday, March 14, 2018. Applications received after this deadline will not be reviewed or considered. Paper applications will not be accepted.

Applicants should be aware, and factor in their application submission planning, that the Grants.gov system is expected to be closed for routine maintenance from 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time, Saturday, February 17, 2018 until 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time, Tuesday, February 20, 2018.

Applications cannot be submitted when Grants.gov is closed. NIST expects to complete its review, selection of successful applicants, and award processing by May 2018. NIST expects the earliest start date for awards under this NOFO to be June 1, 2018.

Applicants are strongly urged to read Section IV.2.b. Attachment of Required Application Documents of this NOFO with great attention. Applicants should carefully follow the instructions and recommendations regarding attachments and use the Download Submitted Applications feature on www.grants.gov to check that all required attachments were contained in their submission. Applications submitted without the required documents will not pass the Initial Administrative Review, described in Section V.3.a. of this NOFO.

When developing the submission timeline, please keep in mind that: (1) all applicants are required to have a current registration in the electronic System for Award Management (SAM.gov); (2) the free annual registration process in the SAM.gov (see Section IV.3. and Section IV.7.a.(1).(b) of this NOFO) often takes between three and five business days and may take as long as two weeks; (3) electronic applicants are required to have a current registration in Grants.gov;

and (4) applicants using Grants.gov will receive e-mail notifications over a period of up to two business days as the application moves through intermediate systems before the applicant learns via a validation or rejection notification whether NIST has received the application. (See grants.gov for full information on application and notification through Grants.gov). Please note that a federal assistance award cannot be issued if the designated recipient’s registration in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) is not current at the time of the award.

• Application Submission Address: Applications must be submitted using Grants.gov.

• Funding Opportunity Description: The NIST Public Safety Innovation Accelerator Program is seeking applications from U.S. state, local and tribal governments to create a model ‘Point Cloud City’. Successful applicants will receive funding to generate an extensive catalog of annotated 3D indoor point clouds that can be used by industry, academia, and government to advance research and development in the areas of indoor mapping, localization and navigation for public safety, as well as to demonstrate the potential value of ubiquitous indoor positioning and location-based information. Recipients will also participate in the NIST Global Cities Team Challenge initiative as the lead for an Action Cluster.

• Anticipated Amounts: In FY2018, NIST anticipates up to $500,000 may be available to fund awards in the range of $50,000 to $500,000 total with project performance periods of up to one (1) year.

• Funding Instrument: Grant or cooperative agreement, as appropriate.

Eligibility: All awards listed in this NOFO are open to U.S. state, local and tribal government entities, including public safety organizations. An eligible organization may propose to work individually or to include proposed sub-awardees, contractors or other collaborators to include institutions of higher education, non-profit organizations, for-profit organizations, and hospitals. Public-private partnerships are encouraged. Although Federal entities are not eligible to receive funding under this NOFO, they may participate as unfunded collaborators.

http://grants.gov/

NIST will only consider one application per applicant; however, an applicant entity may be proposed as a sub-recipient, contractor, or unfunded collaborator within applications submitted by other entities.

• Cost Sharing Requirements: Matching funds are not required, however, voluntary committed cost-share (e.g., in-kind contributions from industry partners) may be included in project budgets and will be considered as part of the selection factors in Section V.2. of this NOFO.

• Public Website, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and Webinar: NIST has a public website (pscr.gov) that provides information pertaining to this Funding Opportunity1. NIST anticipates that a “Frequently Asked Questions” section or other resource materials will be maintained and updated on the website as needed to provide additional guidance and clarifying information that may arise related to this Funding Opportunity. Any amendments to this NOFO will be announced through Grants.gov.

Applicants must submit all questions pertaining to this funding opportunity via e-mail to pscr@nist.gov with ‘Point Cloud City’ in the subject line. Questions submitted to NIST may be posted on pscr.gov. Alternatively, applicants may ask questions during the informational public webinar as described in the next paragraph.

NIST will host a webinar to provide general information regarding this NOFO, offer general guidance on preparing applications, and answer questions.

Scheduling details about the webinar will be available at pscr.gov. Proprietary technical discussions about specific project ideas will not be permitted during the webinar and NIST staff will not critique or provide feedback on specific project ideas while they are being developed by an applicant, brought forth during the webinar, or at any time before the deadline for all applications. However, general questions about the PSIAP, eligibility requirements, evaluation and award criteria, selection process, and the general characteristics of a competitive application will be addressed at the webinar and by e-mail to pscr@nist.gov as described in the previous paragraph. There is no cost to attend the webinar, but participants must register in advance. Participation in the webinar is not required, and will not be considered in the application review and selection process.

Additional information on the PSIAP and webinar is available at www.nist.gov/ctl/pscr.

1 Refer to Section VII. of this NOFO, Federal Awarding Agency Contacts, Programmatic and Technical Questions, if this link is no longer working or more information is needed.

http://www.nist.gov/ctl/pscr mailto:pscr@nist.gov http://www.nist.gov/ctl/pscr http://www.nist.gov/ctl/pscr mailto:pscr@nist.gov https://www.nist.gov/ctl/pscr

Table of Contents I. Program Description

II. Federal Award Information

III. Eligibility Information

IV. Application and Submission Information

V. Application Review Information

VI. Federal Award Administration Information

VII. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts

VIII. Other Information

FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT

I. Program Description

The statutory authority for the NIST Public Safety Innovation Accelerator Program is 15 U.S.C. § 3706 and 47 U.S.C. § 1443.

The NIST Public Safety Innovation Accelerator Program is seeking applications from U.S. state, local and tribal governments to create a model ‘Point Cloud City’. Successful applicants will receive funding to generate an extensive catalog of annotated 3D indoor point clouds that can be used by industry, academia, and government to advance research and development (R&D) in the areas of indoor mapping, localization and navigation for public safety, as well as to demonstrate the potential value of ubiquitous indoor positioning and location-based information. Recipients will also participate in the NIST Global Cities Team Challenge initiative as the lead for an Action Cluster.

1. Background

The Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) division, housed within NIST’s Communications Technology Laboratory, conducts research for the first responder community. The PSIAP – Point Cloud City opportunity is one of several current opportunities within the NIST Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) program. More information about PSCR can be found at pscr.gov. Location-based services (LBS) was identified as one of three key portfolios for R&D investment by first responders, government officials, industry leaders, and academia who participated in the strategic planning effort initiated by PSCR in 2013. LBS can be loosely defined as the provisioning of customized information, features, or services based on a user’s location.

http://www.nist.gov/ctl/pscr

A LBS working group was formed and their inputs, along with industry forecasts, were translated into a long term (20 years) technology roadmap for the benefit of the entire public safety community2. As a follow-up, a LBS R&D Summit3 was held to further discuss and prioritize the scope of work identified in the technology roadmap. Attendees were instructed to identify the most pressing technology gaps currently limiting the use of LBS in public safety arena, and then to prioritize these challenges based on five investment criteria – leverage, feasibility, impact on public safety processes, rewards/results, and uniqueness to public safety – that were developed in close collaboration with FirstNet and the Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC). The summit identified six problem statements around the areas of: indoor 3D geolocation, mapping, interoperability, standardization, power consumption, and wearable devices.

As the LBS portfolio evolved, it became clear through continuous stakeholder engagement, technology landscape assessments, and industry roadmaps that the goals of the LBS portfolio should be further refined to focus exclusively on the indoor ‘problem’ and particular aspects of 1) indoor map creation and classification, 2) indoor localization (i.e. locating and tracking objects in space) and 3) indoor navigation and other location-based information. In addition to funding internal research addressing these areas, in 2017 PSCR awarded $8.2M for eight grants to address aspects related to the portfolio goals.

2. Opportunity

The ability to locate, track, and inform first responders while indoors under difficult conditions remains a ‘Holy Grail’ sought by public safety. Law enforcement officers enter buildings every day, often alone and in peril, without the benefits of indoor tracking. Firefighters continue to die or become seriously injured each year because they are lost, disoriented, or difficult to locate in emergency situations.

The intricately related fields of indoor mapping, localization, and navigation are all experiencing rapid growth as technology companies, network operators, and the manufacturing, service, and retail industries seek to understand where people and inventory are at any moment to deliver optimized location-based services, entertainment, or asset-tracking. Despite this growth, a solution that meets the challenging requirements of first responders has yet to emerge.

Accurate, readily available, information-rich indoor maps and models are one of the keys to unlocking indoor localization, tracking, and navigation for first responders – both from an operational standpoint and to enable the R&D community to address specific public safety requirements in this field. First responders typically survey high-risk facilities in their jurisdiction as part of a preplanning process, generating reports and/or

2 Location-Based Services R&D Roadmap; NIST Technical Note 1883;

http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/TechnicalNotes/NIST.TN.1883.pdf 3 2015Location-BasedServicesR&DSummit;

http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/TechnicalNotes/NIST.TN.1914.pdf http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/TechnicalNotes/NIST.TN.1883.pdf http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/TechnicalNotes/NIST.TN.1914.pdf annotating their own maps in the process. The process is extremely time-consuming and must be repeated every so often to identify changes to a facility.

Though there are several approaches for creating indoor building maps and data, the PSIAP is specifically interested in the use of 3D modern light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology to generate point clouds. Though not widely used currently for surveying, especially outside the architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) community, 3D LiDAR enables users to accurately capture the details of an indoor space in a relatively short manner and in a computationally-friendly format. Further, it is expected that investments and adoption in 3D LiDAR, particularly by the automotive and unmanned aircraft systems industries, will drive the cost down dramatically over the next 5 to10 years so that the use of such technology will be practical for public safety organizations, building owners/managers, and various service industries.

Thus, the NIST Public Safety Innovation Accelerator Program (PSIAP) is soliciting applications from state, local and tribal government entities to develop a catalog of annotated indoor point cloud models captured using 3D LiDAR that can be used to advance and demonstrate research and development focused on public safety indoor mapping, localization, and navigation.

Awardees will survey a significant number of diverse buildings and structures throughout their city, county or region to generate a catalog of available indoor 3D point cloud models and data that can be leveraged by the R&D and public safety communities to accelerate indoor mapping, localization, and navigation technologies for first responders. Applicants must demonstrate a sincere interest in actively collaborating with both public safety organizations and the R&D community to advance these technologies through the sharing of data and facilitating test and evaluation activities in the buildings for which data is created.

A desired output of the research funded under this NOFO is a datastore or datastores of 3D point clouds annotated with public safety relevant objects4, building information, and any other data that may be collected and annotated to enable additional R&D related to indoor localization and navigation, as well as other novel indoor location-based services. Once created, the datastore(s) will be used to accelerate R&D related to areas including, but not limited to:

• automated point cloud to building model (3D and 2D) conversion and scene identification (e.g. office, mechanical room, lab, etc.);

• machine learning algorithms for classification of public safety relevant objects (e.g. standing water pipe, power panel, hazards, etc.);

• integration with augmented and virtual reality technologies for first responder operations, testing, and training; and

4 See the National Alliance for Public Safety GIS symbol library for a catalog of public safety relevant objects.

https://www.napsgfoundation.org/all-resources/symbology-library/

• use of LiDAR in operational localization systems and as high-precision reference system for test and measurement of operational systems.

Another desired research output is that the surveyed buildings, or at least a representative subset, will be available to both public safety users and the R&D community for real-world testing of indoor localization and navigation systems.

Applicants are encouraged to consult with public safety organizations and the R&D community to help ensure that the selected buildings and data collection are highly relevant and will have a meaningful impact to first responders. Applicants must obtain required permissions to utilize all buildings proposed in this project and permissions that ensure such buildings will be available in the future for the public safety and R&D communities to conduct test and evaluation activities.

The PSIAP recognizes that there are many approaches, both in terms of the specific products used and partnerships formed, that could meet the objectives of this NOFO.

For example, an applicant could procure 3D LiDAR equipment and conduct the surveying, data collection and processing using its own or contracted staff. An applicant could, alternatively, partner with a company that manufacturers or uses 3D LiDAR equipment, which would provide in-kind services in exchange for access to a wealth of buildings and the opportunity to expose other government entities to their products and business model. Applicants are encouraged to consider a range of approaches and select the one that best meets the objectives described in this NOFO.

All LiDAR data must be fully compliant with the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing LAS specification, version 1.4, using point data record format 6 –

10. Applicants must also specify the accuracy and point spacing (resolution) of the data.

In addition, point clouds must be georeferenced to an outside point or points (preferably the main entrances/exits) in a known, defined coordinate reference system (CRS; e.g.

WGS 1984, UTM, etc.) – as opposed to referencing where the surveying started (at point 0, 0, 0). Therefore, applicants must specify the CRS and approach that will be used to georeference the point clouds.

Applicants must consider both the information security of the data generated in the project and the safety of building occupants when operating the LiDAR equipment. If the annotated point cloud models will not be freely available, applicants must address how the data will be stored, managed, and distributed. In addition, applicants must address laser safety issues associated with the chosen LiDAR equipment and how they plan to notify building stakeholders and occupants about safety and privacy aspects of the survey and data collection process.

The PSIAP recognizes that operational demands and limited budgets typically preclude public safety entities from dedicating resources to participate in R&D activities.

Therefore, if necessary, applicants may include funding in their proposed budget for non-federal first responders and public safety personnel to actively participate within https://www.asprs.org/committee-general/laser-las-file-format-exchange-activities.html their project. Please note that Federal entities are not eligible to receive funding under this NOFO, though they may participate as unfunded collaborators.

Awardees will be expected to demonstrate their approach and share the results of this program with other interested municipalities. To facilitate this engagement, recipients will be required to participate in the Global City Teams Challenge (GCTC). The GCTC program is a collaborative platform for the development of smart cities and communities. It enables local governments, nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, technologists, and private corporations from all over the world to form project teams, or “action clusters,” and “SuperClusters,” to work on groundbreaking technologies and applications within the smart city and community environment.

Recipients will be required to apply for and lead an ‘action cluster’ in the GCTC related to their project, including attending the GCTC Expo 2018 to demonstrate their project and results to date. If multiple awards are made, the team leads will consist of individuals drawn from each award team. Applicants should consult the GCTC website for more information about the participation requirements. In addition, recipients will be required to attend the PSCR Public Safety Broadband Stakeholder Meetings each June during the term of the award to meet with stakeholders and present key plans and findings of their work to date.

Applicants may plan to disseminate the results of their project to public safety and relevant R&D communities through other activities, including conference presentations, publications, training, and/or data sets. Applicants may include funding in their proposed budget that would support the dissemination of the results and lessons of their PSIAP – Point Cloud City efforts to the public safety stakeholder community.

II. Federal Award Information

1. Funding Instrument The funding instrument used in this program will be grants or cooperative agreements, as appropriate. Where cooperative agreements are used, the nature of NIST’s “substantial involvement” will generally include collaboration with the recipients in the scope of work.

2. Funding Availability In FY2018, NIST anticipates up to $500,000 may be available to fund awards in the range of $50,000 to $500,000 total with project performance periods of up to one (1) year.

III. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants All awards listed in this NOFO are open to U.S. state, local and tribal government entities, including public safety organizations. An eligible organization may propose to work individually or to include proposed sub-awardees, contractors or other https://pages.nist.gov/GCTC/ collaborators to include institutions of higher education, non-profit organizations, for-profit organizations, and hospitals. Public-private partnerships are encouraged Although Federal entities are not eligible to receive funding under this NOFO, they may participate as unfunded collaborators.

NIST will only consider one application per applicant; however, an applicant entity may be proposed as a subrecipient, contractor, or unfunded collaborator within applications submitted by other entities.

2. Cost Sharing or Matching Matching funds are not required, however, voluntary committed cost-share (e.g., in-kind contributions from industry partners) may be included in project budgets and will be considered as part of the selection factors in Section V.2. of this NOFO.

IV. Application and Submission Information

1. Address to Request Application Package The application package is available at www.grants.gov under Funding Opportunity Number 2018-NIST-PSIAP-PC2.

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

a. Required Forms and Documents. The Application must contain the following:

(1) SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance. The SF-424 must be signed by an authorized representative of the applicant organization.

• SF-424, Item 8.d Zip/Postal Code field should reflect the zip code + 4 (#####

- ####) format.

• Item 12, should list the NOFO number 2018-NIST-PSIAP-PC2.

• SF-424, Item 18, field a., should list the total Federal budget amount requested for the entire project.

• If the applicant includes voluntary committed cost share, SF-424, Item 18, field b., should list the applicant’s anticipated voluntary committed cost share for the entire project.

• For SF-424, Item 21, the list of certifications and assurances is contained in the SF-424B.

(2) SF-424A, Budget Information - Non-Construction Programs. The budget should reflect anticipated expenses for the project, considering all potential cost increases, including cost of living adjustments.

The Grant Program Function or Activity on Section A, Line 1, Column (a) should be entered as “Public Safety Communications Research Grant Program”. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number on Line 1, Column (b) should http://www.grants.gov/ be entered as “11.609”. Line 1, Column (e) should reflect the anticipated federal expenses for the full term of the project. If the applicant intends to include voluntary committed cost share, that voluntary committed cost share for the full term of the project should be reflected on Section A, Line 1, Column (f).

Section B, column (1) of the SF-424A should reflect funds for the full performance period of the award.

Section C, line 8., column (b) of the SF-424A should reflect the applicant’s anticipated voluntary committed cost share for the full term of the project.

(3) SF-424B, Assurances - Non-Construction Programs

(4) CD-511, Certification Regarding Lobbying. Enter “2018-NIST-PSIAP-PC2” in the Award Number field. Enter the title of the application used in field 15 of the SF-424, or an abbreviation of that title, in the Project Name field.

(5) SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (if applicable)

(6) Executive Summary. This section should summarize key aspects of the technical approach and qualifications of the team. This section must not include any proprietary or sensitive business information as NIST may make the executive summary available to the public after selection of awards. The executive summary must not exceed one (1) single-sided page. Any executive summary material provided beyond this one-page limit will be redacted and not provided to the reviewers.

(7) Technical Proposal. The Technical Proposal is a document of no more than twenty (20) pages total, which is responsive to the program description (see Section I. of this NOFO) and the evaluation criteria (see Section V.1. of this NOFO). The Technical Proposal must contain the following information:

(a) Project Description. This is a detailed description of the proposed project and should include information regarding:

(i) The total square footage and diversity of previously non-surveyed buildings and structures that will be surveyed as part of this project, including a map identifying all the buildings and structures that will be surveyed and made available.

(ii) The types of data that will be collected in addition to, or conjunction with, the point cloud models.

(iii) How the data will be collected, specifying the 3D LiDAR product that will be used and including how the applicant will address laser safety issues and notification of building stakeholders and occupants about the survey and data collection process.

(iv) The file format, accuracy, and point spacing (resolution) of the data, as well as the approach to georeferencing the point clouds.

(v) How the data will be annotated, processed, organized, stored, and made available; the longevity of the datastore(s) and how the datastore(s) will be supported; any restrictions that will be placed on access; and, if applicable, how information security concerns will be addressed.

(vi) How the surveyed facilities will be made available in the future for both the public safety and the R&D communities to leverage for test and evaluation purposes.

This section will be evaluated in accordance with the Technical Merit and Availability evaluation criteria: (see Sections V.1.a. and V.1.b. of this NOFO).

The Project Description section must not exceed ten (10) single-sided pages. Any material provided beyond this page limit will be redacted and not provided to the reviewers.

(b) Project Execution. This section should provide clear and quantifiable goals, milestones, timelines, and key performance indicators that support the objectives in the Technical Proposal. In addition, this section should describe the cost effectiveness and value, including the use of any in-kind or cost-share with respect to executing the proposed project and meeting the stated objectives.

This section will be evaluated in accordance with the Project Execution evaluation criterion (see Section V.1.c. of this NOFO). The Project Execution section must not exceed five (5) single-sided pages. Any material provided beyond this page limit will be redacted and not provided to the reviewers.

(c) Qualifications. This section should provide a detailed description of the qualifications of key personnel, both technical and programmatic, who will be assigned to work on the proposed project. Examples of demonstrated success on projects similar in scope and magnitude to the proposed project should be included in this section, if applicable. In addition, the applicant’s plans to sustain and manage work related to or in support of the proposed project once the project is complete should be included.

This section will be evaluated in accordance with the Qualifications evaluation criterion (see Section V.1.d. of this NOFO). The Qualifications and Resource Availability section must not exceed five (5) single-sided pages. Any material provided beyond this page limit will be redacted and not provided to the reviewers.

(8) Resume(s). Resumes are required for all key personnel, including the principal investigator. Awardees are advised that any changes to individuals deemed ‘key personnel’, including disengagement from the project for more than three months or a 25% reduction of effort, will require prior approval, in writing, by the NIST Grants Officer.

This section will be evaluated in accordance with the Qualifications evaluation criterion (see Section V.1.d. of this NOFO). There are no page limits for resumes.

However, any material considered inappropriate for inclusion in a resume (e.g.

supplementary text for another section) will be redacted and not provided to the reviewers.

Resumes do not count against the twenty (20) page limit of the Technical Proposal.

(9) Budget Narrative. (This does not count toward the page limit). The Budget Narrative must provide a detailed breakdown of each of the object class categories as reflected on the SF-424A. The budget justification should address all the budget categories (personnel, fringe benefits, equipment, travel, supplies, other direct costs and indirect costs) for which Federal funds are requested. The written justification should include the necessity and the basis for the cost.

Proposed funding levels must be consistent with the project scope, and only allowable costs should be included in the budget. Information on cost allowability is available in the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards at 2 C.F.R. Part 200 (http://go.usa.gov/SBYh), which apply to awards in this program. Voluntary committed cost share must be included in the appropriate categories. Information needed for each category is as follows:

(a) Personnel. At a minimum, the budget justification for all personnel should include the following: name, job title, commitment of effort on the proposed project in terms of average number of hours per week or percentage of time, salary rate, total direct charges on the proposed project, description of the role of the individual on the proposed project and the work to be performed.

(b) Fringe Benefits. Fringe benefits should be identified separately from salaries and wages and based on rates determined by organizational policy. The items included in the fringe benefit rate (e.g. health insurance, parking, etc.)

should not be charged under another cost category.

(c) Equipment. Equipment is defined as an item of property that has an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more (unless the organization has established lower levels) and an expected service life of more than one year. Any items that do not meet the threshold for equipment can be included under the supplies line item. The budget justification should list each piece of equipment, the cost, and a description of how it will be used and why it is necessary to the successful completion of the proposed project. Please note http://go.usa.gov/SBYh that any general use equipment (computers, etc.) charged directly to the award should be allocated to the award according to expected usage on the project.

(d) Travel. For travel costs required by the recipient to complete the project, including attendance at any relevant conferences, the budget justification for travel should include the following: destination; names and number of people traveling; dates and/or duration; mode of transportation, lodging and subsistence rates; and description of how the travel is directly related to the proposed project. For travel that is yet to be determined, please provide best estimates based on prior experience. If a destination is not known, an approximate amount may be used with the assumptions given for the location of the meeting.

As described in the Program Description (see Section I. of this NOFO), recipients will be required to attend the PSCR Public Safety Broadband Stakeholder Meetings (PSBSM) and the GCTC Expo to meet with stakeholders and present key plans and findings of their work to date.

Recipients must send a minimum of one team member to each event during the term of the grant. The PSCR PSBSMs are held each June in the continental United States and are typically four days in length. In 2018, the PSBSM will be held June 5-8 in San Diego, CA. The dates and location of the 2019 PSBSM have not been determined at this time. The GCTC Expo is typically two days in length and is held in the Washington D.C. area.

Applicants should factor in the cost for attending these events in their budget narrative and SF424A form.

(e) Supplies. Supplies are defined as all tangible personal property other than those described in equipment (see Section IV.2.a.(9)(c) of this NOFO).

Provide a list of each supply necessary for the project, and the breakdown of the total costs by quantity or unit of cost. Include the necessity of the cost for the completion of the proposed project.

(f) Contracts/Subawards. Each contract or subaward should be treated as a separate item. Describe the services to be provided and the necessity of the subaward or contract to the successful performance of the proposed project.

Contracts are for obtaining goods and services. Subawardees perform part of the project scope of work. For each subaward, applicants must provide budget detail justifying the cost of the work performed on the project.

(g) Other Direct Costs. For costs that do not easily fit into the other cost categories, e.g., publishing fees or software distribution expenses, please list the cost and the breakdown of the total costs by quantity or unit of cost.

Include the necessity of the cost for the completion of the proposed project.

Only allowable costs can be charged to the award.

This section will be evaluated in accordance with the Project Execution evaluation criteria (see Section V.1.c. of this NOFO). It will also be reviewed to determine if all costs are reasonable, allocable, and allowable under 2 C.F.R. Part 200 Subpart E, Cost Principles.

(10) Indirect Cost Rate Agreement If indirect costs are included in the proposed budget, provide a copy of the approved negotiated agreement if this rate was negotiated with a cognizant Federal audit agency. If the rate was not established by a cognizant Federal audit agency, provide a statement to this effect. If the successful applicant includes indirect costs in the budget and has not established an indirect cost rate with a cognizant Federal audit agency, the applicant will be required to obtain such a rate in accordance with the Department of Commerce Financial Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions (http://go.usa.gov/xXRxK).

Alternatively, in accordance with 2 C.F.R. § 200.414(f), applicants that have never received a negotiated indirect cost rate may elect to charge indirect costs to an award pursuant to a de minimis rate of 10 percent of modified total direct costs (MTDC), in which case a negotiated indirect cost rate agreement is not required. Applicants proposing a 10 percent de minimis rate pursuant to 2 C.F.R.

§ 200.414(f) should note this election as part of the budget and budget narrative portion of the application.

(11) Letters of Commitment. Letters of Commitment must be submitted by all funded and unfunded entities that will have an active role in executing the activities outlined in the Technical Proposal. Letters of Commitment must address the level of participation, qualifications of the personnel who will be actively involved, and how successful completion of this project would positively impact their profession or community. Letters of Commitment must also specify any voluntary committed cost-share, including the specific services and/or products to be used in the project. Letters of Commitment must be signed by an individual with sufficient authority to legally bind the organization to its commitment. Letters of Commitment are required from the entities that own or have the legal authority to authorize access to the buildings to be surveyed and for their future use as testing/evaluation sites.

Letters of Commitment will be evaluated in accordance with the Qualifications evaluation criteria (see Section V.1.d.) of this NOFO).

Letters of commitment do not count against the twenty (20) page limit of the Technical Proposal.

http://go.usa.gov/xXRxK

(12) Letters of Support. Letters of Support are not required but may be provided by any entity that has a shared interest in the proposal's success from a technological standpoint. Letters of Support may not be provided by an entity proposed to be actively involved in the performance of the Technical Proposal.

Letters of Support do not count against the twenty (20) page limit of the Technical Proposal.

(13) Data Management Plan. Consistent with NIST Policy 5700.005, Managing Public Access to Results of Federally Funded Research, and NIST Order 5701.006, Managing Public Access to Results of Federally Funded Research, applicants must include a Data Management Plan (DMP).

The DMP is a supplementary document of not more than two pages that must include, at a minimum, a summary of proposed activities that are expected to generate data, a summary of the types of data expected to be generated by the identified activities, a plan for storage and maintenance of the data expected to be generated by the identified activities, and a plan describing whether and how data generated by the identified activities will be reviewed and made available to the public. As long as the DMP meets these NIST requirements, it may take the form specified by the applicant’s institution or some other entity (e.g., the National Science Foundation7 or the National Institutes of Health8).

All applications for activities that will generate scientific data using NIST funding are required to adhere to a DMP or explain why data sharing and preservation are not within the scope of the project.

For the purposes of the DMP, NIST adopted the definition of “research data” at 2 C.F.R. § 200.315(e)(3) (available at http://go.usa.gov/3sZvQ).

Reasonable costs for data preservation and access may be included in the application.

The sufficiency of the DMP will be considered as part of the administrative review (see Section V.3.a. of this NOFO); however, the DMP will not be evaluated against any evaluation criteria.

b. Attachment of Required Documents

5http://www.nist.gov/data/upload/Final-P-5700.pdf 6http://www.nist.gov/data/upload/Final-O-5701_0.pdf 7http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/dmp.jsp 8http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/data_sharing/data_sharing_guidance.htm http://go.usa.gov/3sZvQ http://www.nist.gov/data/upload/Final-P-5700.pdf http://www.nist.gov/data/upload/Final-O-5701_0.pdf http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/dmp.jsp http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/data_sharing/data_sharing_guidance.htm

Items IV.2.a.(1) through IV.2.a.(5) above are part of the standard application package in Grants.gov and can be completed through the download application process.

Items IV.2.a.(6) through IV.2.a.(13) must be completed and attached by clicking on “Add Attachments” found in item 15 of the SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance. This will create a zip file that allows for transmittal of the documents electronically via Grants.gov.

Applicants should carefully follow specific Grants.gov instructions at www.grants.gov to ensure the attachments will be accepted by the Grants.gov system. A receipt from Grants.gov indicates only that an application was transferred to a system. It does not provide details concerning whether all attachments (or how many attachments) transferred successfully. Applicants using Grants.gov will receive a series of e-mail messages over a period of up to two business days before learning whether a Federal agency’s electronic system has received its application.

Applicants are strongly advised to use the Grants.gov “Download Submitted Applications” option to check that their application’s required attachments were contained in their submission.

After submitting the application, follow the directions found in the grants.gov Online Users Guide (http://go.usa.gov/cjaEh). Click first on “Applicants”; then click on “Applicant Actions”; go then to the “Check My Application Status” option, and choose “Download Submitted Applications”.

If any, or all, of the required attachments are absent from the submission, follow the attachment directions found above, resubmit the application, and check again for the presence of the required attachments.

Applicants can track their submission in the Grants.gov system by following the procedures at the Grants.gov site (http://go.usa.gov/cjamz). It can take up to two business days for an application to fully move through the Grants.gov system to NIST.

NIST uses the Tracking Numbers assigned by Grants.gov, and does not issue Agency Tracking Numbers.

c. Application Format

(1) Paper, E-mail and Facsimile (fax) Submissions. Will not be accepted.

(2) Figures, Graphs, Images, and Pictures. Should be of a size that is easily readable or viewable and may be landscape orientation.

(3) Font. Easy to read font (12-point minimum). Smaller type may be used in figures and tables but must be clearly legible.

http://go.usa.gov/cjaEh http://go.usa.gov/cjamz

(4) Page Limit. Twenty (20) pages for the Technical Proposal, noting the following limits for each section of the Technical Proposal (see Section IV.2.a.(7) of this NOFO): Project Description ten (10) pages; Project Execution five (5) pages;

Qualifications and Resources Availability five (5) pages excluding resumes.

(5) Page Limit Excludes: SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance; SF-424A, Budget Information – Non-Construction Programs; SF-424B, Assurances – Non- Construction Programs; CD-511, Certification Regarding Lobbying; SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities; Resumes of key personnel (although resumes are limited to two (2) pages each); Budget Narrative; Indirect Cost Rate Agreement, Letters of Commitment; Letters of Support; and the Data Management Plan.

(6) Page size. 21.6 centimeters by 27.9 centimeters (8 ½ inches by 11 inches).

(7) Application language. English.

d. Application Replacement Pages. Applicants may not submit replacement pages and/or missing documents once an application has been submitted. Revisions can only be made by submitting a complete new application that is received by NIST before the submission deadline.

e. Pre-Applications. Pre-applications are not required under this NOFO.

f. Statement of Intent. To assist NIST in gauging interest and planning for the evaluation process all potential applicants are strongly encouraged to send an e-mail to pscr@nist.gov with ‘Point Cloud City’ in the subject line indicating intent to apply.

The statement of intent will only be used for competition planning purposes; it will not be used as part of the evaluation process or to eliminate any applicants from consideration under this NOFO. An applicant will receive full consideration under this NOFO if they do not submit a statement of intent.

g. Certifications Regarding Federal Felony and Federal Criminal Tax Convictions, Unpaid Federal Tax Assessments and Delinquent Federal Tax Returns. In accordance with Federal appropriations law, an authorized representative of the selected applicant(s) may be required to provide certain pre-award certifications regarding Federal felony and Federal criminal tax convictions, unpaid Federal tax assessments, and delinquent Federal tax returns.

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM) Pursuant to 2 C.F.R. part 25, applicants and recipients (as the case may be) are required to: (i) be registered in SAM before submitting its application; (ii) provide a valid unique entity identifier in its application; and (iii) continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active Federal award or an application or plan under consideration by a Federal awarding agency, unless otherwise excepted from these requirements pursuant to 2 C.F.R. § 25.110.

NIST will not make a Federal award to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all applicable unique entity identifier and SAM requirements and, if an applicant has not fully complied with the requirements by the time that NIST is ready to make a Federal award pursuant to this NOFO, NIST may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive a Federal award and use that determination as a basis for making a Federal award to another applicant.

4. Submission Dates and Times Applications must be received electronically at Grants.gov no later than 11:59 p.m.

Eastern Time, Wednesday, March 14, 2018. NIST will consider the date and time recorded by Grants.gov as the official submission time. Applications received after this deadline will not be reviewed or considered. Paper applications will not be accepted.

Applicants should be aware, and factor in their application submission planning, that the Grants.gov system is expected to be closed for routine maintenance from 12:01 a.m.

Eastern Time, Saturday, February 17, 2018 until 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time, Tuesday, February 20, 2018.

Applications cannot be submitted when Grants.gov is closed. NIST expects to complete its review, selection of successful applicants, and award processing by May 2018. NIST expects the earliest start date for awards under this NOFO to be June 1, 2018.

When developing the submission timeline, please keep in mind that: (1) all applicants are required to have a current registration in the electronic System for Award Management (SAM.gov); (2) the free annual registration process in the SAM.gov (see Sections IV.3. and IV.7.a.(1).(b). of this NOFO) often takes between three and five business days and may take as long as two weeks; (3) applicants are required to have a current registration in Grants.gov; and (4) applicants using Grants.gov will receive e-mail notifications over a period of up to two business days as the application moves through intermediate systems before the applicant learns via a validation or rejection notification whether NIST has received the application. (See http://www.grants.gov for full information on application and notification through Grants.gov.). Please note that a Federal assistance award cannot be issued if the designated recipient’s registration in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) is not current at the time of the award.

5. Intergovernmental Review Applications under this Program are not subject to Executive Order 12372.

6. Funding Restrictions Applications for product development and/or commercialization are not considered responsive to this NOFO. Profit or fee is not an allowable cost.

7. Other Submission Requirements

a. Applications must be submitted electronically.

(1) Applications must be submitted via Grants.gov at www.grants.gov.

(a) Applicants should carefully follow specific Grants.gov instructions to ensure that all attachments will be accepted by the Grants.gov system. A receipt from Grants.gov indicating an application is received does not provide information about whether attachments have been received. For further information or questions regarding applying electronically for the 2018-NIST-PSIAP-PC2 announcement, contact Christopher Hunton by phone at 301-975-5718 or by e-mail at grants@nist.gov.

(b) Applicants are strongly encouraged to start early and not wait until the approaching due date before logging on and reviewing the instructions for submitting an application through Grants.gov. The Grants.gov registration process must be completed before a new registrant can apply electronically. If all goes well, the registration process takes three to five business days. If problems are encountered, the registration process can take up to two weeks or more. Applicants must have a valid unique entity identifier number and must maintain a current registration in the Federal government’s primary registrant database, the System for Award Management (https://www.sam.gov/), as explained on the Grants.gov Web site (also see Section IV.4. of this NOFO). After registering, it may take several days or longer from the initial log-on before a new Grants.gov system user can submit an application. Only individuals authorized as organization representatives will be able to submit the application, and the system may need time to process a submitted application. Applicants should save and print the proof of submission they receive from Grants.gov. If problems occur while using Grants.gov, the applicant is advised to (a) print any error message received and (b) call Grants.gov directly for immediate assistance. If calling from within the United States or from a U.S. territory, please call 800-518-4726. If calling from a place other than the United States or a U.S. territory, please call 606- 545-5035. Assistance from the Grants.gov Help Desk will be available around the clock every day, except for Federal holidays. Help Desk service will resume at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time the day after Federal holidays. For assistance using Grants.gov, the applicant may also contact support@grants.gov.

(c) To find instructions for submitting an application on Grants.gov, Applicants should refer to the “Applicants” tab in the banner just below the top of the www.grants.gov home page. Clicking on the “Applicants” tab produces two exceptionally useful sources of information, Applicant Actions and Applicant Resources, which applicants are advised to review.

http://www.grants.gov/ mailto:grants@nist.gov https://www.sam.gov/ mailto:support@grants.gov

Applicants will receive a series of e-mail messages over a…