CWMS_BAA_2023 CALL 0001.pdf

UNCLASSIFIED

United States Air Force Cryptologic and Cyber Systems Division

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (BAA)

AF CYBER WARFARE MISSION SYSTEMS BAA HNC-23-0001

BAA CALL 0001

Universal User Interface (UUI)

27 June 2023

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Contents

TERMS and DEFINITIONS

(U) SECTION 1 – INTRODUCTION

(U) SECTION 2 – BACKGROUND

(U) SECTION 3 – PROBLEM STATEMENT

(U) SECTION 4 PROCEDURES, WHITE PAPERS, DEMONSTRATIONS, & PROPOSALS

SECTION 4.1 STEP ONE

4.1.1. (U) STEP ONE - WHITE PAPER SUBMISSION AND EVALUATION

(U) 4.2. STEP TWO

4.2.1. (U) REQUEST FOR PROTOTYPE PROPOSAL

(U) 4.2.1.1. PHASE 1 - GOVERNMENT DEMONSTRATIONS

(U) 4.2.1.2. PHASE 2 - PROTOTYPE PROPOSALS

(U) SECTION 5 – NOTIFICATIONS

(U) SECTION 6 – AWARDS

(U) SECTION 7 – ITERATIVE PROTOTYPING

(U) SECTION 8 – SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION

(U) SECTION 9 – FOLLOW-ON PRODUCTION

(U) SECTION 10 – CONTACT/SUBMISSION INFORMATION

(U) SECTION 11 – ATTACHMENT

(U) ATTACHMENT 1 – BAA HNC-23-0001

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TERMS and DEFINITIONS

• Plan, Brief, Execute, Debrief (PBED): The process used to turn mission taskings into executable operations as outlined below:

o Plan – Outlines overall effort, order of tasks, objectives for success.

o Brief – Ensures all team members understand the plan and their roles.

o Execute – All expected mission tasks are monitored and completed.

o Debrief – Report results, document lessons learned, best practices and identify areas for improvement / training opportunities.

• SD Elements: A security questionnaire based on multiple National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards that ensures your application follows best security practices.

• Certificate to Field (CtF): The CtF is the application-level accreditation that allows your application to run in a specific environment within the Department of Defense (DoD).

• Authority to Operate (ATO): A formal declaration by a Designated Approving Authority that authorizes operation of a Business Product and explicitly accepts the risk to agency operations.

• Continuous Authority to Operate (cATO): Is managing security in the staging environment to never break accreditation protocols in the production environment to sustain accreditation.

• Platform One: A modern cloud-era platform that provides valuable tooling, hosts Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) Development, Security, and Operations (DevSecOps) pipelines, and offers a secure Kubernetes platform for hosting microservices.

• Party Bus: A cATO enabled DevSecOps Service.

• Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipeline: A series of steps that must be performed to deliver a new version of software.

• Application Programming Interface (API): Method for which two (2) programs communicate with each other.

• Cross-Domain Solution (CDS) – Transfers data between multiple classification levels.

• Computer software – Defined as computer programs, source code, source code listings, object code listings, design details, algorithms, processes, flow charts, formulae and related material that would enable the software to be reproduced, recreated, or recompiled.

• Computer software documentation – Defined as owner's manuals, user's manuals, installation instructions, operating instructions, and other similar items, regardless of storage medium, that explain the capabilities of the computer software or provide instructions for using the software.

• Technical data – Relates to recorded information, regardless of the form or method of the recording, of a scientific or technical nature (including computer software documentation).

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BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (BAA)

AF CYBER WARFARE MISSION SYSTEMS BAA HNC-23-0001

BAA CALL 0001 (CALL)

Universal User Interface (UUI)

(U) SECTION 1 – INTRODUCTION

(U) 1.1. The purpose of this CALL is to solicit leading-edge responses to provide a Universal User Interface (UUI) that enables cyber operators to execute and manage their daily Planning, Briefing, Execution, and Debriefing (PBED) requirements. Offerors should propose a novel approach to expeditiously accomplish this task and may include incorporating the existing Government Off The Shelf (GOTS) application as well as any commercial or proprietary technology as deemed necessary.

(U) 1.2. AFLCMC/HNC intends to award up to three (3) short-term, multi-phase prototype projects to determine the best approach, if any, for a possible follow-on production award contract or other transaction instrument if the final prototype is deemed viable. This CALL will follow a Two-Step evaluation process as discussed in Section 4.

(U) 1.3. All requirements of the HNC-23-0001 (Attachment 1) apply, unless specifically amended and addressed in this CALL announcement and the proposal instructions. The overarching BAA contains information applicable to all CALLS issued under HNC-23-0001 and provides information on the overall program. This CALL will be governed by the process described in Section 5 under the general scope of the Two-Step BAA HNC-23-0001 process. If there are any conflicts between the BAA and this CALL, the instructions in this CALL take precedent. You may also direct any questions to the agency contacts in Section 10.

Federal Agency Information: Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC)

Cyber Warfare Mission Systems Branch (HNC) 3130 General Hudnell Dr San Antonio, TX, 78226

CALL Title: Universal User Interface (UUI) Announcement Type: Initial CALL announcement CALL Competition Type: Open and Full Competition CALL Number: HNC-23-0001/CALL 0001 CALL Due Date/Time: 13 July 2023, 12:00 P.M. Central Time Number of Awards Anticipated: Up to three (3) awards with possible follow-on award for

Sustainment/Production Total Amount Available: Prototyping: Approximately $350K-$2.6M each Product Service Code: DA01 - IT and Telecom—Business Application/Application

Development Support Services (Labor) NAISC Code: 541511 – Custom Computer Programming Services Small Business Size Standard: $30.0M

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(U) SECTION 2 – BACKGROUND

(U) 2.1. Currently, operators are looking to streamline their mission planning process to consolidate and automate numerous user interfaces and repetitive tasks. To remedy this, the US Government (the Government or USG) previously began development of a fully integrated UUI application from which Operators can execute and manage PBED requirements to perform Command and Control (C2) of multiple applications from a single workstation.

(U) 2.2. As of today, a GOTS solution is being developed in an unclassified environment aboard Platform One’s Party Bus space and will be deployed to a USG Controlled Kubernetes cloud production environment. While the current application will obtain initial CtF around July 2023 and be deployed to its production environment, it still lacks the requisite functionality for operational users to successfully carry out their daily PBED activities. The development work underway will continue through 30 September 2023 and shift under this CALL to expedite timelines for an operationally viable solution.

Image 1: Notional Schedule

(U) SECTION 3 – PROBLEM STATEMENT

(U) 3.1. The Government seeks partnerships with industry to accelerate development of the UUI application to enable operators to mitigate operational risk and decrease total time to execute mission requirements as outlined in paragraph 2.1, by consolidating interfaces and automating repetitive tasks. This application must ingest taskings from a task authority system/application on a USG Controlled environment via an Application Programming Interface (API), interrogate and decompose the task into mission plans, present plans for user validation, export mission data through an API into a Cross Domain Solution (CDS), provide user views to monitor task execution, log event

HNC-23-0001: CALL - 0001 UNCLASSIFIED Page 6 of 14 requirements, receive reporting data back from the CDS, and push mission results back to the original tasking system.

Image 2: UUI OV-1

(U) SECTION 4 PROCEDURES, WHITE PAPERS, DEMONSTRATIONS, AND

PROPOSALS

NOTE: Offerors should provide a legend or other material with their submissions that clearly identifies any information in the submitted documents, that is being submitted on a confidential basis and is thus exempt from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) as prescribed within 5 U.S.C. 552.

SECTION 4.1 STEP ONE

(U) 4.1.1. STEP ONE - WHITE PAPER SUBMISSION AND EVALUATION

This step outlines the White Paper submission criteria to be evaluated by the Government. Award-eligible White Papers and Proposals must include confirmation and/or justification of one (1) of the following:

There is at least one (1) nontraditional defense contractor or one (1) nonprofit research institution who will significantly participate in the prototype project.

All significant participants are small businesses under the assigned NAICS.

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At least one third (1/3) of the total cost of the prototype project is to be funded by sources other than the Federal Government.

Any other exceptional circumstances as to why the Offeror should be eligible for award.

(U) 4.1.1.1 Offerors will submit White Papers using the format provided in BAA HNC-23-0001, page 10, Section “V” (Specific Guidelines for Preparation and Submission of White Papers and Proposals), paragraph “a” (Guidelines for All Submissions) and page 11, paragraph “b” (White Paper Preparation). Offerors will omit paragraph “b” (White Paper Preparation), subparagraph 5 (Technical Approach) and base the submission on paragraphs 4.1.1.2 and 4.1.1.3 below in response to this CALL for evaluation.

(U) 4.1.1.2. The overall theme of the White Paper should be focused on a solution the Offeror has successfully completed commercially or for another government organization where the successful solution integrated multiple interfaces into a universal interface to streamline and automate a cumbersome process. The White Paper should consider the evaluation factors in 4.1.3 and provide adequate detail to fully convey the problem the Offeror solved and how their unique approach satisfied or exceeded expectations. In addition to this, the Offeror should discuss the relevance of their solution to the problem statement in SECTION 3 of this CALL. Finally, the Offeror should include their solution’s initial budget, actual costs, and projected ongoing sustainment/production costs, as applicable.

(U) 4.1.1.3. Each White Paper will be evaluated by the Government based on its own merit based on the following factors:

Software Management: Offeror is experienced in managing software development from a programmatic perspective to plan and manage projects to burn down risk by predicting/detecting concerns and using metrics to assess planned versus actual performance.

Agile Development: Offeror implements agile framework into software development processes from initiation to production.

Software Documentation: Offeror leverages sound software documentation practices that include drafts and version control from beginning, through development, and into sustainment/production.

User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) Design: Offeror is experienced in incorporating trained/accredited human factors engineers into their development process.

DevSecOps and CI/CD Pipelines: Offeror has experience successfully operating within hosted CI/CD pipelines and illustrates documented methodologies to overcome inherent challenges managed with appropriate performance metrics.

Systems Engineering: Offeror understands and analyzes user, system, and security requirements to deliver novel solutions by implanting the systems engineering process.

Technical merit of the proposed concept with an emphasis on technically mature, feasible, achievable, and innovative solutions, and the degree to which a defined transition path or strategy exists to satisfy the above problem statement in Section 3 and schedule in Image 1 of Section 2.

(U) 4.1.1.4. The Government’s evaluation will aggregate the offeror’s solution with factors from paragraph 4.1.1.2 and paragraph 4.1.1.3 against BAA HNC-23-0001, page 11, section “V” (Specific Guidelines for Preparation and Submission of White Papers and Proposals), paragraph “c” (Basis

HNC-23-0001: CALL - 0001 UNCLASSIFIED Page 9 of 14 guidance in paragraph 4.2.2. Offerors will omit the format provided in BAA HNC-23-0001, page 12, section “V” (Specific Guidelines for Preparation and Submission of White Papers and Proposals), paragraph “d” (Proposal Preparation).

(U) 4.2.1.2.1. The proposal will detail how the Offeror will accomplish one of the following approaches:

Build off the existing GOTS application, Refactor their existing application, Merge their application with the existing GOTS application, or Start from scratch to provide a final solution that will satisfy the defined requirement and milestone objectives.

(U) 4.2.1.2.2. Offeror’s proposal should include the following details:

Software Architecture and Design: The Offeror demonstrates an approach to Human Factors

Engineering (HFE) / Human System Integration (HSI) /User-Centered UI design that delivers end user satisfaction and operational suitability through solid design approaches to posture the software development life cycle management for continued success.

Program Management: The Offeror proposes a sound and realistic strategy that includes indicators showing how the project will be transitioned and how operations will be effectively institutionalized within the Offeror’s organization.

Experience and Qualifications: The Offeror possesses the requisite skills/qualifications and personnel to perform this project, has demonstrated a plan or Teaming Agreement to acquire the requisite skills.

Schedule: The Offeror provides a fully developed roadmap necessary to fulfill work requirements outlined in the CALL and adheres to the notional phased schedule outlined in Section 2 BACKGROUND, Image 1.

Plan: The Offeror has a defined plan on how they will accomplish their objectives that aligns with the SOW submission.

Cost Summary: Provides sufficient detail of the total cost for all work necessary to resolve the challenges defined in the CALL’s Problem Statement in the allotted prototyping period.

Labor Summary: Summarize the total labor categories, rates, and hours expected to be used.

Include an explanation of how labor rates are computed, including base rates and escalation.

Travel Summary: Provide a proposed, detailed summary of travel including destination(s), purpose, number of travelers and travel dates.

Other Direct Costs: Provide details of other costs by items, each unit of measure, total amount, and source of estimate. Provide vendor quotes if applicable.

(U) 4.2.1.2.3. In addition to this, the Offeror’s presentation must either include or provide realistic approaches that meet operational requirements to the conditions below:

Government maintains the ability to use, reproduce, modify, release, and disclose computer software, computer software documentation, and technical data with/to outside parties to meet the operational program needs.

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Development team must demonstrate ability to effectively engage stakeholders local to San Antonio, Texas for the prototyping effort at Unclassified, Controlled Unclassified Information, and Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information classification levels.

Solution must continue to be developed in a Government software factory/development environment.

Solution must be deployed and continuously operate in the Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information production environment.

Solution must achieve/maintain a network approved CtF/ATO in the production environment.

Solution must integrate with tasking systems, cross domain solutions, and other applications to ensure support for operational data flows.

(U) 4.2.1.2.4. Proposal Instructions: Prototype proposals must be submitted per paragraph 4.2.2.1 below to the Government Points of Contacts (GPOC)s, Corey M. Berry at corey.berry.2@us.af.mil and Timothy Emeott at timothy.emeott@us.af.mil. NOTE: Any responsive proposal, modification, or revision received at the Government’s Office designated in this CALL after the exact time specified for receipt of offer is considered “late”. Late responses to this CALL will not be accepted.

(U) 4.2.1.2.5. All costs of preparing and submitting White Papers and proposals are at the Offeror’s expense.

(U) 4.2.2. ORAL PRESENTATION GUIDELINES

(U) 4.2.2.1. Prototype proposal shall be submitted as read ahead materials and documents sent two

(2) days prior to the scheduled presentation date and time, via USG-approved encrypted email or DoD SAFE (more info found at https://safe.apps.mil/).

(U) 4.2.2.2. Oral presentations will be limited to sixty (60) minutes and will be recorded via Microsoft Teams. Time and dates will be coordinated after selection to deconflict Offeror and Government schedules. The venue for this presentation will be made in person or the Microsoft Teams application based on the Offeror’s determination.

(U) 4.2.2.3. There will be an additional sixty (60) minute block of time allocated for Government Questions and Answers as well as any clarifying questions.

(U) 4.2.2.4. All information provided during the oral presentation must be captured in the SOW to be adjudicated in during evaluation.

(U) 4.2.2.5. Key personnel should brief their respective portions of the presentation or be available for Questions and Answers.

(U) 4.2.3. EVALUATION

The Government will evaluate each prototype proposal in accordance with the overarching BAA HNC-23-0001, page 13, section “V” (Specific Guidelines for Preparation and Submission of White Papers and Proposals), paragraph “e” (Basis for Proposal Evaluation). Proposals will be judged on their own merit and be rated in accordance with the categories detailed below in Table 4.2.

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(U) 4.2.3.1. Up to three (3) proposals will be selected from this evaluation.

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(U) 6.4. Deliverable: Solution for UUI detailed in Image 1: Notional Schedule timelines.

(U) 6.5. Schedule: The initial PoP will be a three (3) month base period followed by three (3) 3-month option periods for a total of 12 months of performance. The Government reserves the right to fund all, some, or none of the option periods to the selected Offerors based on each Offeror’s ability to satisfy the predetermined objectives/milestones. Based on completion of the protype, the Government may determine to enter into a production agreement prior to the execution of all option periods.

(U) 6.6. Anticipated Funding Amount: Anticipated funding is not expected to exceed $350K per Offeror in the base period and $750K for each option period the Offeror is selected based on the milestone/delivery schedule in Image 1: Notional Schedule.

(U) SECTION 7 – ITERATIVE PROTOTYPING

The Government desires to leverage various leading industry solutions and innovations to integrate and satisfy the defined Problem Statement in Section 3 of this CALL. The Other Transactions (OT) approach awarded against this opening will allow for an iterative prototyping process. An iterative prototyping process will allow the Government to modify, by mutual agreement, the scope of the project.

(U) SECTION 8 – SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION

A prototyping effort is considered successful when:

The Offeror completed scheduled milestones on time or early of projection;

All program costs were at or under budget;

The solution solves the Problem Statement in SECTION PROBLEM STATEMENT of this call;

The solution has met the metrics incorporated into the prototype; or The solution has accomplished a particularly favorable or unexpected result that justifies the transition to follow-on production.

Successful completion will be documented in writing by the appropriate approving officials (Program Manager and Agreements Officer (AO)).

(U) SECTION 9 – FOLLOW-ON PRODUCTION

The Government intends to award a follow-on production contract upon successful completion of a prototype project under this competitively sourced CALL.

(U) SECTION 10 – CONTACT/SUBMISSION INFORMATION

Responsive proposals shall be in accordance with this CALL. The Government intends to review proposals and award some, all, or none of the proposals received without negotiation / discussion.

However, the Government reserves the right to negotiate with those Offeror(s) whose proposal is

HNC-23-0001: CALL - 0001 UNCLASSIFIED Page 14 of 14 selected for funding. Offerors shall only offer one (1) proposal in response to this CALL. Only those Offerors who meet the Highly Selectable and/or Selectable categories will be invited to conduct demonstrations. Offerors will be notified about any CALL amendments that may change the proposal requirements.

AO/Contracting Officer (CO): Corey M. Berry at corey.berry.2@us.af.mil Program Office POC: Timothy Emeott at timothy.emeott@us.af.mil

(U) SECTION 11 – ATTACHMENT

(U) ATTACHMENT 1 – BAA HNC-23-0001