REDACTED_J&A_(Second_Front_Systems_SBIR_III)_Redacted.pdf

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General Services Administration (GSA)

Federal Systems Integration and Management Center (FEDSIM)

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

SOLICITATION 47QFCA19R0052

INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT NUMBER

The General Services Administration (GSA) makes this Justification and Approval

(J&A) for Other Than Full and Open Competition contract pursuant to Federal

Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302.

1. Identification of Agency and Contracting Activity:

Agency:

General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Systems Integration and Management Center (FEDSIM) Acting in support of: Air Force AFWERX

Contracting Activity:

GSA FEDSIM Contracting Office (QF0B) 1800 F Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20405

2. Nature and/or Description of Action Being Approved:

This is a justification to award a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III contract to Second Front Systems, Inc.

Second Front Systems, Inc. was awarded an SBIR Phase I contract (FA3002-19-P-A022) on 11 November 2018 resulting from competitive solicitation number F183-005-0370, Open Call for Innovative Defense-Related Dual-Purpose (DoD and non-DoD use) Technologies or Solutions with a Clear Air Force Stakeholder Need (Topic number

AF183-005).

Second Front Systems, Inc. is currently performing on an SBIR Phase II contract (FA875119CA073) which resulted from successful completion of the SBIR Phase I contract.

The proposed SBIR Phase III contract will be an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) with a five year ordering period with the ability to issue Firm Fixed Price (FFP) orders. The initial IDIQ will also contain the first task order request in parallel. The estimated IDIQ dollar value is $10,000,000. The first task order dollar value will be approximately

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3. A Description of Supplies/Services Required to Meet Agency’s Need:

The sponsoring customer, USAF AFWERX, is in need of a comprehensive market research software platform called “Atlas Fulcrum” provided by Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) company, Second Front Systems (Second Front). The Atlas Fulcrum tool subscription can provide an understanding of innovative commercial ecosystems, identify relevant innovative companies, and assess those companies’ suitability to perform work for the Government (to include such representative areas as company viability, foreign ownership, potential interoperability, and cyber vulnerability) in order to allow users/Government stakeholders to successfully and efficiently pursue potential projects with those researched companies. The objective for this SBIR Phase III contract is to continue and extend the research conducted under the SBIR Phase I and Phase II awards. Extending this research will allow the Air Force to continue maturing and operationalizing the concepts and products prototyped therein. The continued goal of the Atlas Fulcrum project during this Phase III contract is to provide the USAF and other potential defense customers with an innovative market research platform. Atlas Fulcrum is a platform designed to help Government users discover and engage venture capital (VC)-backed, commercially-developed technologies for national security missions.

This contract will enable the purchase of software as a service (SaaS)-based licenses and supplemental market research support that will provide access to the Second Front Atlas Fulcrum platform for extensive, tailored data resources, including a continually updated database of approximately 700,000 companies, actively pulled from leading commercial databases (e.g., Crunchbase, AngelList) leveraged by the commercial sector, especially top VC firms. The use of an IDIQ will enable access to the platform across AFWERX customers and, based on requirements received to date, other Defense organizations. The Remote Sensing Center (RSC) of the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) and the customers that they support also have a need for Atlas Fulcrum licenses, which will be incorporated into the first order on the IDIQ.

4. An Identification of the Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open

Competition:

The authority under which this J&A is made is pursuant to FAR 6.302-5, that the project is a SBIR Phase III award that is derived from, extends, or completes efforts made under prior SBIR funding agreements and is authorized under 15 U.S.C. 638(r) (4).

In accordance with the SBA SBIR/STTR Policy Directive dated May 2, 2019, the competition for SBIR Phase I and SBIR Phase II awards satisfies any competition requirement of the Armed Services Procurement Act, the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act, and the Competition in Contracting Act. Furthermore, 15 U.S.C. 638(r) (4) states:

“To the greatest extent practicable, Federal agencies and Federal prime contractors shall issue SBIR Phase III awards relating to technology, including sole source awards, to the SBIR and STTR award recipients that developed the technology.”

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5. A Demonstration that the Proposed Contractor’s Unique Qualifications or the

Nature of the Acquisition Requires Use of the Authority Cited:

The nature of the acquisition requires the use of the authority cited. The SBIR Program is structured in three phases:

PHASE I: The objective of SBIR Phase I is to establish the technical merit, feasibility, and commercial potential of the proposed Research/Research and Development (R/R&D) efforts and to determine the quality of performance of the small business awardee organization prior to providing further Federal support in SBIR Phase II.

PHASE II: The objective of SBIR Phase II is to continue the R/R&D efforts initiated in SBIR Phase I. Funding is based on the results achieved in SBIR Phase I and the scientific and technical merit and commercial potential of the project proposed in SBIR Phase II.

Only SBIR Phase I awardees are eligible for a SBIR Phase II award.

PHASE III: The objective of SBIR Phase III, where appropriate, is for the SBIR awardee. to pursue commercialization objectives resulting from the SBIR Phase I/II R/R&D activities. The SBIR program does not fund SBIR Phase III. For some federal agencies, SBIR Phase III may involve follow-on non-SBIR funded R&D or production contracts for products, processes, or services intended for use by the U.S. Government.

The SBIR Phase III work derives from, extends, or completes efforts performed under SBIR Phase I and/or SBIR Phase II; therefore the use of the authority cited is required.

Under the SBIR program Second Front Systems, Inc. was awarded a Phase I contract, through the Air Force Installation Contracting Agency (AFICA) and in support of the USAF SBIR Program Office within the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), to conduct a feasibility study of the Atlas Fulcrum platform. The successful completion and outcome of the SBIR Phase I contract resulted in an SBIR Phase II award. Second Front Systems, Inc. is currently making developmental changes to Atlas Fulcrum as part of the SBIR Phase II contract. As part of its plan to immediately use the Atlas Fulcrum platform as a tool to assist source selection through market research during its bi-annual “Air Force Special Topics” program, the Air Force has opted to pursue this SBIR Phase III contract in parallel with the previously awarded SBIR Phase II contract.

6. A Description of Efforts Made to Ensure that Offers are Solicited From as Many

Potential Sources as Practicable:

The original open call for the SBIR Phase I topic AF183-005 was posted on the SBIR.gov website portal (August 2018) with an application due date of October 2018. No other efforts were made to solicit other potential sources for this Phase III in accordance with the SBIR Policy Directive. Furthermore, in accordance with FAR 5.202(a) (7), proposed contract actions resulting from the acceptance of a proposal under the Small Business Innovation Development Act of 1982 are exempt from being publicized.

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7. A Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the

Government will be Fair and Reasonable:

The Contracting Officer will conduct proposal analysis in accordance with FAR Subparts 15.404-1 (Proposal Analysis Techniques) and 15.405 (Price Negotiation) to ensure that the final price is fair and reasonable and the award is in the best interest of the Government. This determination will be documented in the Award Decision Document, which will be included in the contract file.

8. A Description of the Market Research Conducted and the Results or a Statement of the Reason Market Research was not Conducted:

FAR 10.001(a) (2) states that market research appropriate to the circumstances must be conducted. SBIR Phase III procurements are such that the traditional market research to determine alternative sources is generally not applicable. The Government conducted market research to verify and determine that the proposed SBIR Phase III work derives from research and effort performed and/or prototypes developed under previous SBIR Phase I efforts by obtaining copies of the SBIR Phase I solicitation number F183-005- 0370 and contract FA3002-19-P-A022, along with SBIR Phase II contract FA8751-19-C- A073, as well as the final report summarizing the SBIR Phase I’s feasibility. The contracting officer, by reviewing the aforementioned solicitation, contract, and research report, has determined that the requirement for this SBIR Phase III contract derives from the SBIR Phase I research.

9. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other Than Full and Open Competition:

All other supporting factors have been described above.

10. A Listing of the Sources, if any, That Expressed, In Writing, An Interest in the

Acquisition:

To date, the Contracting Officer has not received any statements of interest regarding the proposed Sole Source effort, with the exception of the proposed awardee. This is a continuation of an existing SBIR announcement which Second Front Systems was originally selected.

11. A Statement of the Actions, if Any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome

Any Barriers to Competition Before Any Subsequent Acquisition for the Supplies or

Services Required:

The Government is not taking any additional action at this time. Any subsequent acquisitions for similar requirements will be required to follow the guidelines outlined in the SBA SBIR Program Policy Directive as it relates to procuring items for commercialization of technologies and capabilities that are derived from, extend, or logically conclude efforts from prior SBIR awards.

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12. Contracting Officer Certification that the Justification is Accurate and Complete to the Best of the Contracting Officer’s Knowledge and Belief:

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief and I determine on the basis of the findings above that an other than full and open competition approach is in accordance with the requirements and is in the best interest of the Government.

Final Approval:

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief and I determine on the basis of the findings above that an other than full and open competition approach is in accordance with the requirements and is in the best interest of the Government.