DFOP0010795 NOFO Solicitation.docx

U.S. Department of State Notice Of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)

ELIGIBILITY

The following organizations are eligible to apply:

☒Domestic Not for Profit Organizations ☒Foreign Not for Profit Organizations ☒Foreign Public Entities (FPEs)/Public International Organizations (PIOs) ☒Private Institutions of Higher Education ☒Public Institutions of Higher Education ☒U.S. Federal Departments and Independent Agencies ☒For-Profit Organizations

Cost-Sharing or Matching This project does not require cost sharing; however, proposals which demonstrate cost sharing are welcomed and encouraged.

Other Special Eligibility Criteria Not Applicable

CONTACT INFORMATION

For assistance with the requirements of this solicitation, please contact ISN/NDF Senior Advisor Priya Sethi, sethip@state.gov.

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Department of State’s Office of the Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund (NDF) housed within the Department of State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN), is pleased to announce an open competition for assistance awards through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). ISN/NDF invites non-profit/non-governmental organizations, international organizations, educational institutions, for-profit organizations, and U.S. Federal Departments and Independent Agencies to submit proposals for projects that will advance ISN/NDF’s nonproliferation and foreign assistance mission by convening the artificial intelligence (AI) community of interest, to identify security vulnerabilities around AI systems and pilot implementation, and socialization of security increases.

Please Note:

· All awards are subject to the availability of funds and the negotiation and finalization of the approved budget and award package.

· Competitive proposals fulfill the objectives and requirements as identified in section II of this NOFO.

· Organizations that apply in response to this NOFO announcement acknowledge and accept all requirements contained herein.

· Proposals do not need to apply for the full amount of available funding for consideration.

· Proposals may not exceed the total availability of funds under this NOFO.

· Receipt of this NOFO requesting a full application should not be construed as a guarantee of funding.

· Submission in response to this announcement is voluntary and does not obligate the Department of State to fund the proposal or proposal preparation costs.

II. BACKGROUND AND PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Background:

ISN/NDF develops and executes projects to support worldwide efforts halting the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), their delivery systems, destabilizing conventional weapons systems, and related technologies in support of the United States Government’s disarmament and proliferation threat reduction priorities. ISN/NDF’s projects are thoroughly negotiated and coordinated throughout the USG to minimize duplication and maximize efficacy while addressing near-term, critical gaps that no other USG entity can fulfill. ISN/NDF is particularly well equipped for addressing unanticipated or unusually difficult circumstances, contexts, or conditions to assist U.S. partners and allies.

The growth and accessibility of AI development has the capacity to rapidly disseminate technical information and specifications related to WMD. Further, unintended or purposeful diversion of AI systems, models, or expertise could be used to enhance WMD capabilities of malicious actors. ISN/NDF seeks to enable the global AI community to develop and adopt robust protective mechanisms and integrate safety, security, and attributability features to prevent enablement of WMD capabilities by advanced AI. Specifically, ISN/NDF will focus on two objectives: support the development of security best practices particular to AI systems; and apply these best practices to increase protections to secure and defend AI systems against malicious activity. These protections include but are not limited to: secure by design, regular review of security measures, vulnerability management processes, robust insider threat detection programs, differentiated access, and know your customer services, at global AI developers to protect against loss, theft, or leakage of sensitive information.

Project Objectives:

This ISN/NDF NOFO seeks to provide assistance to organizations developing advanced AI systems to improve their physical security and cyber security measures and mitigate against loss, theft, or diversion of AI systems and their components (e.g., information security practices, hardware/software procurement, personnel management, operational security, insider threat mitigation). Specifically, this project aims to convene key domestic and international stakeholders to develop physical and cyber security solutions, and then to pilot the implementation of those solutions at a foreign AI developer. Implementation of physical and/or cyber security measures can take place within the research and development, evaluation, or deployment stages, of AI models and assist with identifying vulnerabilities and adopting risk mitigation approaches.

Funded proposals will address the following two activities:

Activity I:

· Identify and convene key international and domestic stakeholders to develop a suite of best preventative, monitoring, and reactive physical and cyber security practices to mitigate exfiltration, leakage, or unintended diffusion of AI systems and research. Stakeholders should include but are not limited to U.S. government counterproliferation and cybersecurity experts, technical experts and security officers from the international AI development community, and relevant physical and cyber security experts from industry, government, and academia.

· Conduct iterative workshops and/or training exercises with stakeholders to build the necessary institutional and human capacity to socialize and implement any proposed physical and cyber security measures.

Activity II:

· Implement a pilot for physical and cyber security measures of a non-U.S. AI developer, including capability increases and testing.

· These upgrades may be informed by earlier Activity I convenings and may inform later Activity I trainings and socialization efforts.

They will furthermore support the following broader objectives:

· Provide a direct foreign assistance benefit to the global public, U.S. partners, and U.S. allies.

· Support U.S. WMD and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) nonproliferation and counterproliferation objectives related to potential AI-risks.

FY24 Proposal Consideration ISN/NDF appreciates that proposers may possess key, differentiating accesses, capabilities, circumstances, or skills. ISN/NDF encourages such applicants to identify how those factors would improve their implementation of the tasks identified above. ISN/NDF will view the following attributes favorably in its proposal consideration process:

Project Specific:

· Demonstrates potential for operationalization of proposed solutions.

· Demonstrates understanding of technical capabilities and cyber, physical, and social environments of organizations developing advanced AI systems.

· Emphasizes communication and coordination with experts among international non-governmental organizations with expertise in AI.

· Encourages appropriate dissemination and use of findings or tools.

· History of convening key U.S. and international AI development community.

· History of, or partnership with an entity with history of, event management, workshop implementation, and site visits.

· History of, or partnership with an entity with history of, implementing cyber and/or physical security increases.

· Inclusion of key personnel with cyber and/or physical security expertise.

· Increases international awareness of potential security risks in a manner which encourages solution-focus and international coordination.

· Possesses knowledge of WMD, CBRN, and related nonproliferation or counterproliferation issues.

· Produces material which is consumable for non-subject matter experts.

General:

· Builds upon existing efforts without duplicating internal or external work.

· Identifies key, differentiating access, capabilities, circumstances, or skills possessed by or available to the proposer.

· Includes a project team with diverse opinions, backgrounds, or philosophies to the benefit of a holistic and comprehensive problem-solving approach.

· Includes financial and/or in-kind cost-sharing, including but not limited to subject matter expertise, facilities, equipment, or technology.

III. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

The following organizations are eligible to apply:

· Domestic Not for Profit Organizations

· Foreign Not for Profit Organizations

· Foreign Public Entities (FPEs)/Public International Organizations (PIOs)

· Private Institutions of Higher Education

· Public Institutions of Higher Education

· U.S. Federal Departments and Independent Agencies

· For-Profit Organizations Applicants are not required to include funding from other donors. However, applications that include additional in-kind and/or cash contributions from non-U.S. Government sources will be more competitive, as cost sharing demonstrates a strong commitment to the planned activities and will be considered to show greater cost effectiveness.

When cost sharing is offered, it is understood and agreed that the applicant must provide the amount of cost sharing as stipulated in its proposal and later included in an approved agreement. Cost sharing may be in the form of allowable direct or indirect costs. For accountability purposes, you must maintain written records to support all costs that are claimed as your contribution, as well as costs to be paid by the Federal government. Such records are subject to audit. The basis for determining the value of cash and in-kind contributions must be in accordance with the Office of Management and Budget’s Circular 2 CFR Parts 200 and 600, entitled the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards. In the event you do not provide the minimum amount of cost sharing as stipulated in the approved budget, ISN/NDF contribution will be reduced in like proportion.

All potential applicants should be knowledgeable of existing programs in the proposed countries/regions, including those funded by other Department of State and U.S. Government interagency programs, in order to avoid duplication of effort.

IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

Award Period: Support may range between 12-18 months depending upon the characteristics of the proposal and deliberations.

Award Amount: One award or several smaller awards may be granted in response to this NOFO. ISN/NDF will prioritize proposals that efficiently meet project goals at the lowest technically acceptable cost.

Application Submission Process: Applicants must submit applications via MyGrants, with the exception of U.S. Federal Departments and Independent Agencies if listed as eligible for this solicitation. This website is available to all applicants. If you have difficulty registering on MyGrants or accessing the NOFO, please contact the Helpdesk at 1-888-313-ILMS (4567) or via the Self Service Portal at https://afsitsm.servicenowservices.com/ilms/home.do for technical assistance.US Federal Government Departments and Agencies may submit their applications via email to sethip@state.gov. Applications from these entities must follow the same application requirements as outlined in this solicitation.

Application Deadline: All applications must be submitted on or before May 31, 2024, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). Applications submitted after 11:59 p.m. will be ineligible for consideration.

Begin the application process early, as this will allow time to address any technical difficulties that may arise in advance of the deadline. There will be no exceptions to this application deadline.

Question & Answer Period: In order to ensure all prospective applicants are best equipped to respond to this solicitation, questions related to the content of this solicitation will be accepted through 11:59 p.m. EDT on Friday 19 April 2024. The solicitation will be updated no later than 5:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday 24 April 2024 with official responses to the questions received and a change notification shall be sent to all applicants who have started their application in the MyGrants portal. Organization-specific questions related exclusively to system registration or upload will be entertained by the NDF team through 5:00 p.m. EDT Tuesday 28 May 2024.

Required Registrations:

All organizations, whether based in the United States or in another country, must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and an active registration with the SAM.gov. A UEI is one of the data elements mandated by Public Law 109-282, the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA), for all Federal awards.

Note: As of April 2022, a DUNS number is no longer required for federal assistance applications.

The 2 CFR 200 requires that sub-grantees obtain a UEI number. Please note the UEI for sub-grantees is not required at the time of application but will be required before an award is processed and/or directed to a sub-grantee.

Note: The process of obtaining or renewing a SAM.gov registration may take anywhere from 4-8 weeks. Please begin your registration as early as possible.

· Organizations based in the United States or that pay employees within the United States will need an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and a UEI number prior to registering in SAM.gov.

· Organizations based outside of the United States and that do not pay employees within the United States do not need an EIN from the IRS but do need a UEI number prior to registering in SAM.gov.

· Please note that as of November 2022 and February 2023 respectively, organizations based outside of the United States that do not intend to apply for U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) awards are no longer required to have a NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) code or CAGE code to apply for non-DoD foreign assistance funding opportunities. If an applicant organization is mid-registration and wishes to remove a CAGE or NCAGE code from their SAM.gov registration, the applicant should submit a help desk ticket (“incident”) with the Federal Service Desk (FSD) online at www.fsd.gov using the following language: “I do not intend to seek financial assistance from the Department of Defense. I do not wish to obtain a CAGE or NCAGE code. I understand that I will need to submit my registration after this incident is resolved in order to have my registration activated.”

Organizations based outside of the United States and that DO NOT plan to do business with the DoD should follow the below instructions:

Step 1: Proceed to SAM.gov to obtain a UEI and complete the SAM.gov registration process. SAM.gov registration must be renewed annually.

Organizations based outside of the United States and that DO plan to do business with the DoD in addition to Department of State should follow the below instructions:

Step 1: Apply for an NCAGE code by following the instructions on the NSPA NATO website linked below:

NCAGE Homepage:

https://eportal.nspa.nato.int/AC135Public/sc/CageList.aspx NCAGE Code Request Tool (NCRT):

Exemptions An exemption from the UEI and sam.gov registration requirements may be permitted on a case-by-case basis if:

· An applicant’s identity must be protected due to potential endangerment of their mission, their organization’s status, their employees, or individuals being served by the applicant.

· For an applicant, if the Federal awarding agency makes a determination that there are exigent circumstances that prohibit the applicant from receiving a unique entity identifier and completing SAM registration prior to receiving a Federal award. In these instances, Federal awarding agencies must require the recipient to obtain a unique entity identifier and complete SAM registration within 30 days of the Federal award date.

Organizations requesting exemption from UEI or SAM.gov requirements must email the point of contact listed in the NOFO at least two weeks prior to the deadline in the NOFO providing a justification of their request. Approval for a SAM.gov exemption must come from the warranted Grants Officer before the application can be deemed eligible for review.

Application Content: Applicants must follow the NOFO instructions and conditions contained herein and supply all information required. Failure to furnish all information or comply with stated requirements will result in disqualification from the competition. Applicants must set forth full, accurate, and complete information as required by this NOFO. The penalty for making false statements in proposals to the U.S. government is prescribed on 18 U.S.C.1001.

The completed submission must consist of the following four parts:

Section 1 - Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424):

This form is completed in the MyGrants portal. Completion instructions can be found on-line at: https://www.grants.gov/forms/forms-repository/sf-424-family.

Section 2 – Project Proposal(s):

Using the provided template, the applicant must provide a completed project proposal. The proposal form must be completed in its entirety and clearly specify the proposed scope, deliverables, and timeline. ISN/NDF encourages applicants to submit proposals that fully and directly address the project activities and objectives listed in the project description section. Applicants must specify a point of contact for each project that is proposed.

Section 3 - Budget:

Applicants must provide a detailed budget for each project. The budget must identify the total amount of funding requested, with a breakdown of amounts to be spent in the following budget categories:

· Personnel;

· Fringe benefits;

· Travel;

· Equipment;

· Supplies;

· Contractual services;

· Construction;

· Other direct costs; and

· Indirect costs.

· If the applicant organization has a Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) with the U.S. Federal Government, it must submit a copy of it as part of its application.

Section 4 – Budget Narrative:

Applicants must provide a full and detailed budget narrative for each project. The budget narrative should include details on how figures/numbers were calculated if not clearly shown in the detailed budget as well as a narrative description of each line item in the budget.

Applicants must adhere to the requirements of the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR), including Fly America Act requirements, when proposing and conducting travel. For further information and current foreign per diem rates, please visit: https://aoprals.state.gov/web920/per_diem.asp

V. AWARD SELECTION CRITERIA

Applicants should note that the following criteria serve as a standard against which all project proposals will be evaluated and identify significant considerations that should be addressed in all proposals. ISN/NDF will award a cooperative agreement/grant to the applicant(s) whose offer represents the best overall value to the government from both a technical and cost perspective.

ISN/NDF will evaluate proposals against the stated criteria. Criteria are listed in descending order of importance.

· Technical Understanding (30%): The applicant should include an informed analysis of the problem the proposed project seeks to address and appraise the potential results that the project seeks to achieve. The proposed approach should demonstrate deep knowledge of the AI development community and technical expertise in cyber security best practices such as nonproliferation benefits, as well as knowledge of the culture context, sensitivities, and opportunities within the respective country/region.

· Proposed Activity or Activities (20%): Applications should be responsive to the project framework identified in the solicitation, appropriate in the country/regional and organizational context, and should clearly describe what they propose to do and how they will do it. The proposed project(s) should directly relate to meeting all specified activities and objectives, and applicants should include specific information on how these activities and objectives will advance ISN/NDF’s mission. ISN/NDF will evaluate the project proposal in terms of how well it considers any potential effects on AI system safety and security, articulates the nonproliferation benefits for WMD, CBRN, advanced conventional, delivery system, or related technologies, and engages the community of interest.

· Organizational Capability (10%): Applicants must demonstrate how their resources, capabilities, and experience will enable them to achieve the stated goals and objectives in an international technical context. The proposal(s) must identify all key partners and organizations that will be involved in implementation of this project. Finally, proposals should demonstrate how the applicant will manage all specified objectives within the above line of effort.

· Budget (20%): Proposed costs will be evaluated for realism, fiscal control practices, and efficiency. ISN/NDF must be able to determine that proposed costs are reasonable, allowable, and allocable to the proposed project activities. ISN/NDF will evaluate the budget to determine if the overall costs are realistic for the work to be performed, if the costs reflect the applicant’s understanding of the allowable cost principles established by OMB Circulars A-122 and/or A-21, and if the costs are consistent with the project narrative.

· Past Performance (20%): In reviewing proposals, ISN/NDF will evaluate the organization’s past performance on other federal and non-federal grants and cooperative agreements within the past five years. This will include a review of whether objectives for past awards were met; whether the organization complied with the terms of conditions of past awards, including reporting and financial management requirements; and the timeliness of project implementation.

VI. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

Award Notices: The award shall be written, signed, awarded, and administered by the Grants Officer. The Grants Officer is the government official delegated the authority by the U.S. Department of State Procurement Executive to write, award, and administer grants and cooperative agreements. The assistance award agreement is the authorizing document, and it will be provided to the Recipient through either mail or facsimile transmission. Organizations whose applications will not be funded will also be notified in writing.

Anticipated Time to Award: Applicants should generally expect to be notified of the recommended concepts within 90 days after the submission deadline. Following this initial notification, selected applicants will be expected to submit a full application within 30 days. ISN/NDF staff will provide information at the point of notification about the requirements for the full application, which may include revisions to the activities. The full applications will not be subject to further competition but must incorporate any suggested changes made by ISN/NDF.

Issuance of this NOFO does not constitute an award commitment on the part of the Government, nor does it commit the Government to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of proposals. Further, the Government reserves the right to reject any or all proposals received.

Project Implementation Meeting: The Recipient will have a pre-project implementation meeting with ISN/NDF within 30 days after the cooperative agreement/grant is awarded and before any work is performed for the award.

Project Work Plan: The Recipient shall submit to ISN/NDF within 30 days of award a draft project work plan (PWP), aligned with project management best practices, that includes a description of the project goal, discrete objectives, and planned activities; projected timeframes for accomplishing them; and performance indicators/metrics of success toward intended outcomes. ISN/NDF will review the plan in consultation with appropriate stakeholders and provide feedback to the Recipient detailing necessary revisions/adjustments to the plan to be made within 15 days of receipt.

Reporting Requirements: Applicants should pay special attention to the following reporting and deliverable requirements:

· Using a template provided by ISN/NDF, the Recipient shall submit quarterly progress reports to the designated Grants Officer Representative (GOR) detailing:

· Assistance activities conducted during the reporting period;

· Milestones and successes achieved to date;

· Key assistance activities remaining to be implemented with a projected timetable;

· Details of any problems encountered with proposed solutions; and

· Any other pertinent information requested by ISN/NDF.

· The Recipient shall provide the GOR with copies of all materials developed under this award.

· In addition to regular quarterly reports, the Recipient shall furnish the GOR with ad hoc reports as requested from time to time.

In addition to the above, the Recipient shall submit quarterly financial reports throughout the project period. Financial reports are due 30 days after the reporting period. Final programmatic and financial reports are due 120 days after the close of the project period.

VII. DISCLAIMER

If a proposal is selected for funding, the Department of State has no obligation to provide any additional future funding in connection with the award. Renewal of an award to increase funding or extend the period of performance is at the total discretion of the Department of State.

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED