DHS SBIR FY21 Questions and Answers .pdf

DHS SBIR FY21 SOLICITATION # 70RSAT21R00000005

Questions and Answers

Posted: January 8, 2021

General Solicitation Questions:

Question 1: Can the PI be on a F-1 OPT visa? The PI is currently employed at an SBC that’s 50% owned by a US permanent resident.

Answer:

If it is possible to achieve compliance with all the Principal Investigator (PI) SBIR requirements, as described in the solicitation, and the requirements of the F-1 OPT visa employment criteria:

https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/students-and-exchange-visitors/students-and-employment, then they are not precluded from serving as the PI for the effort.

Question 2: On p.18 paragraph 5.1, please verify the threshold for cost and pricing data. Should it be $2M?

Answer: In accordance with FAR 15.403-4(a)(1), ‘the threshold for obtaining certified cost or pricing data is $750,000 for prime contracts awarded before July 1, 2018, and $2million for prime contracts awarded on or after July 1, 2018.’ As a result, the last paragraph under Section 5.1 in the solicitation referencing the requirement for certified cost and pricing data has been removed.

Question for SBIR Topic DHS211-001:

Question 1: If the proposed solution meets the requirements of the research topic as defined in the objectives section, but does not involve chemical vapor detection (VOC), but is based on biological material/molecule detection, will it be considered for an award?

Answer: We are not ruling out any approach at this time.

Questions for SBIR Topic DHS211-002:

Question 1: What are DHS’s thoughts regarding the trade off between security vs economics (such as establishing a private core)? Is one parameter vs the other more of a driving factor?

Answer: All parameters are important.

https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/students-and-exchange-visitors/students-and-employment https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/students-and-exchange-visitors/students-and-employment

Question 2: Similarly, given the trade offs between licensed vs unlicensed (e.g. potential interference) frequencies, what are the driving factors DHS is considering in this regard?

Answer: DHS is seeking solutions regarding the interoperability/coexistence of 5G and Wi-Fi technologies solutions proposed should address frequency issues required for functionality.

Question 3: What is DHS’s end state target implementation? (e.g. specific location, foot print area for deployment, interior of a warehouse? A building? A large campus? Is priority indoor vs outdoor coverage?)

Answer: As indicated in the topic, proposals will need to address a go-to-market strategy on how this technology/solution can be commercialized, the specifics of which are at the discretion of the offeror.

Question 4: What is DHS envisioning the edge compute requirements or capability needs to be (e.g. low latency? bandwidth capacity? augmented reality application? Etc. )?

Answer: The topic is silent on edge computing. So, edge specifics required for the respective solution are at the discretion of the offeror.

Question 5: What is meant by ‘massive IOT’ application? Please provide some examples to clarify intent.

Answer: See the IoT references in the topic references.

Questions for SBIR Topic DHS211-009:

Question 1: What is the desired areal scan rate (m^2/sec, for example) for a successful sensor for this application?

Answer: Offeror should determine approach to propose which they believe will achieve best results

Question 2: What are the desired limits of detection for a successful sensor for this application?

Answer: 95% Probability of Detection (PD)

Question 3: What are the minimum and maximum standoff distances from the surface or article to be scanned?

Answer: Standoff is anything that is 1 cm away or greater from the object you are trying to screen. There should be no touching involved.

Question 4: How large is the threat set (number of chemicals)?

Answer: We are interested in as broad of a detection library as possible along with a high probability of detection, low false alarm rate, while not ideal, technologies that do not detect liquids could be allowable and may be of interest depending on the benefits of the capability/characteristics.

Question 5: Will the sensor need to be able to detect and identify benign (non-threat chemicals)? If so what types of chemicals?

Answer: The goal is to improve the detection of illegal threats and materials. Topic seeks solutions that demonstrate the ability to identify, detect and discriminate a variety of materials and hazard types, including, but not limited to; animal, mineral, vegetable, drugs (e.g. opioids), frozen and liquid substances, radioactive, and other materials of concern.

Question 6: Will detection of threat chemicals in mixtures be required?

Answer: Topic seeks solutions that demonstrate the ability to identify, detect and discriminate a variety of materials and hazard types, including, but not limited to; animal, mineral, vegetable, drugs (e.g. opioids), frozen and liquid substances, radioactive, and other materials of concern.