19-12 Amend 1 first repub.docx

AMENDMENT 1 to BAA FA8750-19-S-7012

The purpose of this modification is to republish the original announcement, incorporating any previous amendments, pursuant to FAR 35.016(c).

This republishing also includes the following changes:

1. Part I, Overview Information:

0. Updates FBO reference to Beta SAM website;

1. Part II, Full Text Announcement:

1. Section I,removes the “FY20” in front of the Focus Area Descriptions;

1. Section III.2.b.2, updates the DCSA website;

1. Section IV.2, updates content and format language;

1. Section IV.3.a, updates the DCSA website;

1. Section IV.3.c, updates the mailing instructions;

1. Section IV.4.b and IV.4.c. updates clause dates;

Section IV.4.e, updated the link to reference the Beta SAM website;

1. Section VI.1, updates the Proposal Formatting language and RI Specific Proposal Preparation Instructions Beta SAM link;

1. Section VI.7, updates the applicable provisions;

1. Section VII, updates the AFFARS Ombudsman clause date

No other changes have been made.

NAICS CODE: 541715

FEDERAL AGENCY NAME: Department of the Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command, AFRL - Rome Research Site, AFRL/Information Directorate, 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome, NY, 13441-4514

BAA ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE: Modification

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (BAA) TITLE: Collaborative, Highly Extensible Mobile Machine Infrastructure for System Transformation of Spatial Information (CHEMISTRI)

BAA NUMBER: FA8750-19-S-7012

PART I – OVERVIEW INFORMATION

This announcement is for an Open, 2 Step BAA which is open and effective until 30 Sep 2022. Only white papers will be accepted as initial submissions; formal proposals will be accepted by invitation only. While white papers will be considered if received prior to 2:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) on 30 Sep 2022, the following submission dates are suggested to best align with projected funding:

FY20 by 30 SEP 2019 FY21 by 1 AUG 2020 FY22 by 1 AUG 2021

Offerors should monitor the Contract Opportunities on the Beta SAM website at https://beta.SAM.gov in the event this announcement is amended.

CONCISE SUMMARY OF TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENT: The Information Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL/RI), Rome Research Site, is soliciting white papers under this broad agency announcement (BAA) for innovative technologies that digitize operational collaboration for military operations.

The CHEMISTRI program is divided into three technical areas (TAs). Offerors may bid on any technical area individually or any combination of technical areas thereof. Offerors who include multiple technical areas in their proposal should describe the work for each technical area separately and clearly identify the applicable TAs. Proposers should indicate their strategy for integration of components developed in other TAs when applicable. The three technical areas are as follows:

TA1: Machine Learning (ML) Instrumentation, Sensing, & Data Collection TA2: Mobile Machine Learning Ecosystem Infrastructure TA3: Mobile Machine Learning Algorithms and Application to Security Forces (SF), Isolated Personnel (IP), and Airfield Operations

BAA ESTIMATED FUNDING: Total funding for this BAA is approximately $49.9M. Individual awards will not normally exceed 18 months with dollar amounts normally ranging from $100K to $8M. There is also the potential to make awards up to any dollar value as long as the value does not exceed the available BAA ceiling amount.

ANTICIPATED INDIVIDUAL AWARDS: Multiple Awards are anticipated.

TYPE OF INSTRUMENTS THAT MAY BE AWARDED: Procurement contracts, grants, cooperative agreements or other transactions (OT) depending upon the nature of the work proposed. In the event that an Other Transaction for Prototype agreement is awarded as a result of this competitive BAA, and the prototype project is successfully completed, there is the potential for a prototype project to transition to award of a follow-on production contract or transaction. The Other Transaction for Prototype agreement itself will also contain a similar notice of a potential follow-on production contract or agreement.

AGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION: All white paper submissions and any questions of a technical nature shall be directed to the cognizant Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) as specified below (unless otherwise specified in the technical area):

BAA MANAGER:

David Canestrare

AFRL/RISA

525 Brooks Rd Rome, NY 13441-4505 Telephone: (315)330-7821 Email: david.canestrare.1@us.af.mil

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION: The Information Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL/RI), Rome Research Site, is soliciting white papers under this broad agency announcement (BAA) for innovative technologies that digitize operational collaboration for military operations.

Questions of a contractual/business nature shall be directed to the cognizant contracting officer, as specified below (email requests are preferred):

Amber Buckley Telephone (315) 330-3605 Email: amber.buckley@us.af.mil

Emails must reference the solicitation (BAA) number and title of the acquisition.

Pre-Proposal Communication between Prospective Offerors and Government Representatives: Dialogue between prospective offerors and Government representatives is encouraged. Technical and contracting questions can be resolved in writing or through open discussions. Discussions with any of the points of contact shall not constitute a commitment by the Government to subsequently fund or award any proposed effort. Only Contracting Officers are legally authorized to commit the Government.

Offerors are cautioned that evaluation ratings may be lowered and/or proposal rejected if proposal preparation (Proposal format, content, etc.) and/or submittal instructions are not followed.

PART II – FULL TEXT ANNOUNCEMENT

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (BAA) TITLE: Collaborative, Highly Extensible Mobile Machine Infrastructure for System Transformation of Spatial Information (CHEMISTRI)

BAA NUMBER: BAA FA8750-19-S-7012

I. TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS:

Problem: This BAA is focused on developing and applying Mobile Machine Learning (MML) and associated technical capabilities to challenges associated with Isolated Personnel (IP) and Personnel Recovery (PR) operations, automated support to the mission assurance of Security Force (SF) operations, and airfield protection operations, as described later in this document.

AFRL/RI conducts research and development in the areas of information management, dissemination, and team collaboration, with particular emphasis at the tactical level, in regard to this BAA. However, little research has been done to explore the application of MML technology to tactical military domain use cases. Additionally, military operating conditions amplify the need for optimized work flows, as well as artificially augmented collaboration tools and mechanisms. This BAA is focused on innovative concepts and capabilities as applied to collecting tactical mission data, applying trained MML capabilities over the information collected for tactical mission planning and execution, and applying MML in ways that transform the way the Department of Defense (DoD) and affiliated organizations communicate, collaborate, organize, and operate.

Background: Mobile device manufacturers have recently released notifications that next-generation mobile devices will be equipped with hardware accelerated Machine Learning (ML) technology and operating systems. Developers of these systems have added hooks to ML Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to allow the integration of ML capabilities into applications tailored to mobile domain military operations. Furthermore, mobile platform developers continue to integrate additional radios and sensors to their devices. Mobile platform developers, working with their peripheral developers, have made it very easy to add “Internet of Things” (IoT) peripherals which can be leveraged and integrated into desirable tactical edge capabilities. The Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK) is widely available and was delivered with unlimited rights to the Government for the technical data and computer software. As such, technology development and associated data under this BAA is expected to be made available to the DoD with equivalent rights. ATAK is a situational awareness tool built for Android that enables force coordination, through its open architecture and data-centric plug-in capabilities. The TAK ecosystem is composed of two parts: TAK Server, which serves as a broker for TAK data, and TAK end user instances, such as ATAK and Windows-based TAK (WinTAK).

Security Forces provide protection of Air Force resources and assets. They cover actions at home station, in transit, and at deployed locations. Air Force Security Force lineage can be traced to its beginning in World War II and has matured to its place as the largest career field in the Air Force. AFRL seeks to expand upon ATAK-based tools for SF, emphasizing those empowered by MML technologies as well as the host of radios/sensors on mobile devices. Adaptive basing entails being able to transition from large, centralized, unhardened basing infrastructure to smaller, dispersed, resilient basing that includes active and passive defenses.

Airfield security and associated operations span from those securing airfields to those in the Aerial Port community. While the Aerial Port career field isn’t one of the largest, its mission spans all branches of the military and influences all deployed operations. There are a number of navigation, situational awareness, force coordination and logistical problems faced, which complicate and impart risk on the mission. This BAA seeks MML technology for flight line digitization, not only as a mechanism to modernize processes but to ensure mobility and agility while simultaneously increasing both safety and security.

Joint Publication 3-50, “Personnel Recovery” defines Personnel Recovery (PR) as “the sum of military, diplomatic, and civil efforts to prepare for and execute the recovery and reintegration of Isolated Personnel (IP).” AFRL seeks to address the top five PR capability gaps recognized by the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) which collectively state that the DoD has a limited ability to: (a) recognize, declare, and report an isolating event, (b) conduct collaborative planning within the comprehensive PR network, and (c) quickly and accurately locate, authenticate, and recover IP. It is envisioned that some of these deficiencies can be addressed by implementing specialized ML-based IP and PR technical capabilities as TAK plugins, thus maximizing the ability of centralized and decentralized information management services to operate in Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) environments.

Focus Area Descriptions:

The objective of this BAA is to explore the application of machine learning to commercial mobile devices for revolutionizing mission planning and execution for Security Forces (SF), Isolated Personnel (IP), Airfield Operations and related fields. The platform for the machine learning application is the TAK suite of software and the open architecture model that it supports and enables. The SF, IP and airfield communities serve as excellent sources of ATAK data for mining, analysis and applying machine learning technology. These same communities enable unique opportunities for implementing the software as it’s developed to ensure relevance and accuracy. Senior Air Force leadership has emphasized the importance of enabling machine learning in these areas to facilitate the speed and accuracy of the missions. AFRL envisions deploying commercial mobile devices into federated networked ecosystems for tactical mission planning and execution to enable resilient, adaptive basing. Particular consideration is given to the development and demonstration of MML and associated technologies, while leveraging the existing technology of the TAK suite of infrastructure and instrumentation functionality currently available to the warfighter.

The research and development to be conducted under this BAA are as follows:

· TA1: ML Instrumentation, Sensing, & Data Collection

· TA2: Mobile Machine Learning Ecosystem Infrastructure

· TA3: Mobile Machine Learning Algorithms for Application to SF, IP, and Airfield Ops

TA1: ML Instrumentation, Sensing, & Data Collection: A key component of any ML system is the ability to collect, annotate, curate, and exploit data for ML for the purposes of supporting both supervised and unsupervised techniques. Data can be used to train ML models, to support development of new ML capabilities, as well as support online learning tasks for the detection of new patterns and events. Currently, there is no mechanism to collect, tag and store mobile machine learning data on government approved mobile systems, like TAK. The TAK ecosystem provides a rich environment to drive ML applications, however, a means for sensing and processing data from the TAK environment, or comparable approved system, must be developed. This area is focused on the instrumentation of sensors and mechanisms allowing the collection of user interaction and feedback, and the transmission and management of collected data in a form that is amenable to ML to support the overall objectives of this BAA. This instrumentation must also be extended to input from tactical radios and end peripherals such as external GPS, sensors, cameras, unmanned aerial systems (UAS), simulators, etc. Key items of consideration include a means for supporting diverse sensor sources both on board the mobile platform as well as for third party sensors, the ability to efficiently collect and send to a centralized server or across distributed peers, the ability to allow for federation of data to support coalition settings, and the ability to capture or provide a means for the capture of user feedback whether passively or actively through direct interaction at the application level. In addition, this data must be represented and stored to enable ML application developers to exploit the data for ML purposes.

TA2: Mobile Machine Learning Ecosystem Infrastructure: To research new capabilities, MML technologies must be seamlessly implemented for rapid development, prototyping and deployment on both the server side and the mobile device. Additionally, structured data is critical to training MML models for accuracy, speed and efficiency. TAK is a state of the art government approved system for mobile situational awareness and force coordination, which produces voluminous data. The current TAK ecosystem provides both a robust server side and a client side architecture, including well-defined SDKs, to enable rapid TAK tool development, implementation, and deployment, making TAK a suitable environment for research, development, testing and transition. MML solutions should consider the development of TAK client libraries via APIs to support the rapid development and deployment of ML technologies. The desired robust APIs should support common ML functions such as client/server data exchange, training, inference, user feedback (supervision/labeling), model update and/or selection, distributed update of server side models from multiple clients, and support for current and future ML mobile platforms. Best practices should be used for the development of the interfaces and libraries focusing on both the ML expert developer as well as the application level developer of the MML APIs. Solutions should not be limited to a specific ML engine or technology, such as Tensorflow, but should instead be designed to allow for the support for multiple ML engines or stacks, both existing and the future.

In addition to the client side MML specification, the architecture should also include the appropriate server side support for registering ML algorithms, training, model deployment, inference, and model evaluation. It is anticipated that there will be multiple algorithm and model types registered that address a common problem. The ability to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each registered approach and provide a common environment for browsing and selecting a ML application will be important. It may be of interest to consider both server side inference as well as the deployment of models to the client side in cases of limited communications and reach back; therefore model deployment should be addressed. The server side design should consider how existing ML-as-a-service capabilities are developed.

Another mobile machine learning ecosystem infrastructure investigation desired is in the area of interfacing options with the Combat Survival Evader Locator (CSEL) radio via a mobile device (e.g. via Near Field Communication [NFC] connection, Bluetooth, etc).

TA3: Mobile Machine Learning Algorithms for Application to SF, IP, and Airfield Ops: This technical area is focused on the development of ML algorithms to address the application areas of Security Forces, Isolated Personnel, and Airfield Operations. Solutions should give focus to the application of existing well understood ML techniques to solve the application areas of SF, IP, and Airfield Ops. Any requirements or assumptions regarding data, required labels, or human interaction should be identified. If additional data is required, please identify where the data would come from, or how it may be collected within the TAK ecosystem, or similar government approved ecosystem for situational awareness and force collaboration with plug in architecture. If no existing ML algorithm exists and new techniques are being proposed, an extensive analysis of the gap being addressed and baselines for demonstrating gap to support the proposal of a new algorithm should be included. New ML approaches should be well motivated via means through publication in well-respected AI/ML research and application conference and journal venues. Multiple approaches to address the identified application areas are encouraged and the differences in algorithm operating requirements such as data, computation, accuracy and training time, should be discussed. All proposed algorithms should identify how they will be evaluated with a discussion on the evaluation plan to include test/train data when appropriate, metrics, and appropriate baselines. Specifically, the resulting capability payoff should be discussed with respect to what enhanced capability the proposed approach will provide over current state-of-the-practice and non-ML based approaches. Such discussion should be quantitative in nature.

It is encouraged, but not required, to explore the use of AFRL’s StreamlinedML system for handling the development, registration, and training/deployment of ML algorithms as well as the ingest and registration of data. StreamlinedML is an open Government framework and ecosystem for the rapid development and deployment of ML algorithms. StreamlinedML provides an API to access the framework as well as a public-approved tool kit to enable the larger community to develop and wrap new and existing state-of-the-art algorithms and rapidly integrate them into a DoD ML ecosystem. For access to the Streamlined ML Model Integration Software Toolkit (MISTK) go to https://github.com/mistkml/.

Creating new capabilities for IP, in the form of customized MML enabled plugins, will dramatically increase the probability of IP survival by improving their ability to care for themselves, locate resources, navigate land, evade capture, and reach desired points of exfiltration. By applying MML technologies, these deficiencies can be addressed by developing specialized technical capabilities as plugins and maximizing the ability of centralized and decentralized information management services to operate in Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) environments.

Technical capabilities are sought that enable IP to survive in hostile environments and evade enemy forces. Technologies for survival, evasion, resistance, and escape (SERE) might include water extraction from environment both on land and at sea, signature reduction (e.g. visual, EM, audible, thermal, olfactory, etc.), navigation, biometrically-driven location/authentication, protection from exposure to environment, extending power (extended life batteries power generation/harvesting), and combining functionality of current vest/seat kit to reduce size/weight while improving capability. Capabilities designed for PR forces to improve their ability to report, locate, authenticate, support, and recover IP to friendly control, as well as act as both planning and prevention tools. These capabilities include advanced Search and Rescue (SAR) tools and collaborative net-centric capabilities for PR mission planning and execution. Other capabilities for locating and authenticating IP without highlighting their location to unfriendly forces, and technologies that assist in delivering supplies (e.g. water, food, ammunition, clothing, etc.), undetected by enemy forces to IP in contested environments over long distances are desired. Preferred methods require no action by IP and do not require putting additional assets/forces at risk. Information management (IM) and situational awareness (SA) capabilities for rapid personnel recovery in contested environments and scenarios where the IP is injured and non-ambulatory should be considered.

The Government may provide Government Furnished Property (GFP) for technical areas 1 through 3 of Combat Survival Evader Locator (CSEL) Radios for related efforts.

IMPORTANT NOTES REGARDING:

FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH. It is DoD policy that the publication of products of fundamental research will remain unrestricted to the maximum extent possible. National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) 189 defines fundamental research as follows:

‘Fundamental research’ means basic and applied research in science and engineering, the results of which ordinarily are published and shared broadly within the scientific community, as distinguished from proprietary research and from industrial development, design, production, and product utilization, the results of which ordinarily are restricted for proprietary or national security reasons.

As of the date of publication of this BAA, the Government cannot identify whether work proposed under this BAA may be considered fundamental research and may award both fundamental and non-fundamental research. Proposers should indicate in their proposal whether they believe the scope of the research included in their proposal is fundamental or not. While proposers should clearly explain the intended results of their research, the Government shall have sole discretion to select award instrument type and to negotiate all instrument terms and conditions with selectees. Appropriate clauses will be included in resultant awards for non-fundamental research to prescribe publication requirements and other restrictions, as appropriate.

For certain research projects, it may be possible that although the research being performed by the awardee is restricted research, a sub-awardee may be conducting fundamental research. In those cases, it is the awardee’s responsibility to explain in their proposal why its sub-awardee’s effort is fundamental research.

CLOUD COMPUTING. In accordance with DFARS Clause 252.239-7010, if the development proposed requires storage of Government, or Government-related data on the cloud, offerors need to ensure that the cloud service provider proposed has been granted Provisional Authorization by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) at the level appropriate to the requirement.

II. AWARD INFORMATION:

1. FUNDING: Total funding for this BAA is approximately $49.9M. The anticipated funding to be obligated under this BAA is broken out by fiscal year as follows:

FY19 - $11.5M

FY20 - $14.5M

FY21 - $12.4M

FY22 - $11.5M

a. Individual awards will not normally exceed 18 months with dollar values normally ranging from $100k to $8M. There is also the potential to make awards up to any dollar value as long as the value does not exceed the available BAA ceiling amount.

b. The Government reserves the right to select all, part, or none of the proposals received, subject to the availability of funds. All potential Offerors should be aware that due to unanticipated budget fluctuations, funding in any or all areas may change with little or no notice.

2. FORM: Awards of efforts as a result of this announcement will be in the form of contracts, grants, cooperative agreements or other transactions depending upon the nature of the work proposed.

3. BAA TYPE: This is a two-step open broad agency announcement. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation.

STEP ONE – The Government is only soliciting white papers at this time. DO NOT SUBMIT A FORMAL PROPOSAL. Those white papers found to be consistent with the intent of this BAA may be invited to submit a technical and cost proposal. See Section VI of this announcement for further details regarding the proposal.

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION:

1. ELIGIBILITY: All qualified offerors who meet the requirements of this BAA may apply.

2. FOREIGN PARTICIPATION/ACCESS:

a. This BAA is closed to foreign participation. This includes both foreign ownership and foreign nationals as employees or subcontractors.

b. Exceptions.

1. Fundamental Research. If the work to be performed is unclassified, fundamental research, this must be clearly identified in the white paper and/or proposal. See Part II, Section I for more details regarding Fundamental Research. Offerors should still identify any performance by foreign nationals at any level (prime contractor or subcontractor) in their proposals. Please specify the nationals’ country of origin, the type of visa or work permit under which they are performing and an explanation of their anticipated level of involvement. You may be asked to provide additional information during negotiations in order to verify the foreign citizen’s eligibility to participate on any contract or assistance agreement issued as a result of this announcement

2. Foreign Ownership, Control or Influence (FOCI) companies who have mitigation plans/paperwork in place. Proof of approved mitigation documentation must be provided to the contracting office focal point, Amber Buckley, Contracting Officer, telephone (315) 330-3605, or e-mail amber.buckley@us.af.mil prior to submitting a white paper and/or a proposal. For information on FOCI mitigation, contact the contact the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA). Additional details can be found at: https://www.dcsa.mil/mc/ctp/foci/

3. Foreign Nationals as Employees or Subcontractors. Applicable to any effort not considered Fundamental Research. Offerors are responsible for ensuring that all employees and/or subcontractors who will work on a resulting contract are eligible to do so. Any employee who is not a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident will be restricted from working on any resultant contract unless prior approval of the Department of State or the Department of Commerce is obtained via a technical assistance agreement or an export license. Violations of these regulations can result in criminal or civil penalties.

c. Information Regarding Non-US Citizens Assigned to this Project

a. Contractor employees requiring access to USAF bases, AFRL facilities, and/or access to U.S. Government Information Technology (IT) networks in connection with the work on contracts, assistance instruments or other transactions awarded under this BAA must be U.S. citizens. For the purpose of base and network access, possession of a permanent resident card ("Green Card") does not equate to U.S. citizenship. This requirement does not apply to foreign nationals approved by the U.S. Department of Defense or U.S. State Department under international personnel exchange agreements with foreign governments. It also does not apply to dual citizens who possess US citizenship, to include Naturalized citizens. Any waivers to this requirement must be granted in writing by the Contracting Officer prior to providing access. Specific format for waiver request will be provided upon request to the Contracting Officer. The above requirements are in addition to any other contract requirements related to obtaining a Common Access Card (CAC).

b. For the purposes of Paragraph 1, if an IT network/system does not require AFRL to endorse a contractor's application to said network/system in order to gain access, the organization operating the IT network/system is responsible for controlling access to its system. If an IT network/system requires a U.S. Government sponsor to endorse the application in order for access to the IT network/system, AFRL will only endorse the following types of applications, consistent with the requirements above:

a) Contractor employees who are U.S. citizens performing work under contracts, assistance instruments or other transactions awarded under this BAA.

b) Contractor employees who are non-U.S. citizens and who have been granted a waiver.

Any additional access restrictions established by the IT network/system owner apply.

3. FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTERS AND GOVERNMENT ENTITIES: Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) and Government entities (e.g., Government/National laboratories, military educational institutions, etc.) are subject to applicable direct competition limitations and cannot propose to this BAA in any capacity unless they meet the following conditions:

1. FFRDCs: FFRDCs must clearly demonstrate that the proposed work is not otherwise available from the private sector; and FFRDCs must provide a letter on official letterhead from their sponsoring organization citing the specific authority establishing their eligibility to propose to Government solicitations and compete with industry, and their compliance with the associated FFRDC sponsor agreement’s terms and conditions. This information is required for FFRDCs proposing to be prime contractors or sub-awardees.

1. Government Entities: Government entities must clearly demonstrate that the work is not otherwise available from the private sector and provide written documentation citing the specific statutory authority and contractual authority, if relevant, establishing their ability to propose to Government solicitations. While 10 U.S.C.§ 2539b may be the appropriate statutory starting point for some entities, specific supporting regulatory guidance, together with evidence of agency approval, will still be required to fully establish eligibility.

FFRDC and Government entity eligibility will be determined on a case-by-case basis; however, the burden to prove eligibility for all team members rests solely with the proposer.

Government agencies interested in performing work related to this announcement should contact the Technical Point of Contact (TPOC). If resulting discussions reveal a mutual interest, cooperation may be pursued via other vehicles.

IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION:

All responses to this announcement must be addressed to the Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) listed in SECTION VII. DO NOT send white papers to the Contracting Officer.

1. SUBMISSION DATES AND TIMES:

It is recommended that white papers be received by 2 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) on the following dates to maximize the possibility of award:

FY20 by 30 SEP 2019 FY21 by 1 AUG 2020 FY22 by 1 AUG 2021

White papers will be accepted until 2 PM EST on 30 Sep 2022, but it is less likely that funding will be available in each respective fiscal year after the dates cited. This BAA will close on 30 Sep 2022.

All offerors submitting white papers will receive notification of their evaluation results within 45 days of submission. Offerors should email the TPOC and the Contracting Officer listed in Section VII, for status of their white paper(s) after 45 days, if no such correspondence has been received.

2. CONTENT AND FORMAT: Offerors are required to submit 1 copies of a 3 to 5 page white paper summarizing their proposed approach/solution. The purpose of the white paper is to preclude unwarranted effort on the part of an offeror whose proposed work is not of interest to the Government.

The white paper will be formatted as follows:

a. Section A: Title, Period of Performance, Estimated Cost, Name/Address of Company, Technical and Contracting Points of Contact (phone and email)(this section is NOT included in the page count);

b. Section B: Task Objective; and

c. Section C: Technical Summary and Proposed Deliverables.

All white papers shall be double spaced with a font no smaller than 12 point. Please note that less than 12 point font is acceptable for graphics and illustrations (as in labels and short descriptions) as long as it is readable when printed out on standard 8x11 paper. In addition, respondents are requested to provide their Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code, their unique entity identifier and electronic funds transfer (EFT) indicator (if applicable), an e-mail address and reference BAA FA8750-19-S-7012 with their submission.

Multiple white papers within the purview of this announcement may be submitted by each offeror. If the offeror wishes to restrict its white papers, they must be marked with the restrictive language stated in FAR 15.609(a) and (b).

3. HANDLING AND MAILING INSTRUCTIONS:

a. CLASSIFICATION GUIDANCE. All Proposers should review the NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL SECURITY PROGRAM OPERATING MANUAL, (NISPOM), dated February 28, 2006 and incorporating Change 2, dated May 18, 2016, as it provides baseline standards for the protection of classified information and prescribes the requirements concerning Contractor Developed Information under paragraph 4-105. Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) Site for the NISPOM is: http://www.dcsa.mil/.

In the event of a possible or actual compromise of classified information in the submission of your white paper or proposal, immediately but no later than 24 hours, bring this to the attention of your cognizant security authority and AFRL Rome Research Site Information Protection Office (IPO):

Information Protection Office (contact only if a security compromise has occurred)

b. CLASSIFIED SUBMISSIONS. AFRL/RISA will accept classified responses to this BAA when the classification is mandated by classification guidance provided by an Original Classification Authority of the U.S. Government, or when the offeror believes the work, if successful, would merit classification.

Security classification guidance in the form of a DD Form 254 (DoD Contract Security Classification Specification) will not be provided at this time since AFRL is soliciting ideas only.

Offerors that intend to include classified information or data in their white paper submission or who are unsure about the appropriate classification of their white papers should contact the technical point of contact listed in Section VII for guidance and direction in advance of preparation.

c. MAILING INSTRUCTIONS.

Email Unclassified electronic submission to the TPOC identified in Section VII. Encrypt or password-protect all proprietary information prior to sending. Offerors are responsible to confirm receipt with the TPOC. AFRL is not responsible for undelivered documents. If electronic submission is used, only one copy of the documentation is required.

Questions can be directed to the TPOC listed in Section VII.

4. OTHER SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS/CONSIDERATIONS:

a. COST SHARING OR MATCHING: Cost sharing is not a requirement. Cost sharing may be proposed and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

b. SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT (SAM). Offerors must be registered in the SAM database to receive a contract award, and remain registered during performance and through final payment of any contract or agreement. Processing time for registration in SAM, which normally takes forty-eight hours, should be taken into consideration when registering. Offerors who are not already registered should consider applying for registration before submitting a proposal. The provision at FAR 52.204-7, System for Award Management (Oct 2018) applies.

c. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION AND FIRST-TIER SUBCONTRACT/ SUBRECIPIENT AWARDS: Any contract award resulting from this announcement may contain the clause at FAR 52.204-10 - Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards (JUN 2020). Any grant or agreement award resulting from this announcement may contain the award term set forth in 2 CFR, Appendix A to Part 25 which can be viewed at: http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=8fb6c83606df57968c3e7e145e7d683c&mc=true&node=ap2.1.25_1360.a&rgn=div9

d. ALLOWABLE CHARGES: The cost of preparing white papers/proposals in response to this announcement is not considered an allowable direct charge to any resulting contract or any other contract, but may be an allowable expense to the normal bid and proposal indirect cost specified in FAR 31.205-18. Incurring pre-award costs for ASSISTANCE INSTRUMENTS ONLY are regulated by 2 CFR part 200.458, Pre-Award Costs.

e. GOVERNMENT APPROVED ACCOUNTING SYSTEM: An offeror must have a government approved accounting system prior to award of a cost-reimbursement contract per limitations set forth in FAR 16.301-3(a) to ensure the system is adequate for determining costs applicable to the contract. The acceptability of an accounting system is determined based upon an audit performed by the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA). IMPORTANT: If you do not have a DCAA approved accounting system access the following link for instructions: https://beta.sam.gov/opp/e628c811fafe041accdddf55fb8539bf/view?keywords=AFRL-BAA-Guide&sort=-relevance&index=&is_active=true&page=1

f. HUMAN USE: All research involving human subjects, to include the use of human biological specimens and human data, selected for funding must comply with Federal regulations for human subject protection. Further, research involving human subjects that is conducted or supported by the DoD must comply with 32 CFR 219, “Protection of Human Subjects” found at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_07/32cfr219_07.html, and DoD Instruction 3216.02, “Protection of Human Subjects and Adherence to Ethical Standards in DoD-Supported Research” found at: http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/321602p.pdf.

1. Institutions awarded funding for research involving human subjects must provide documentation of a current Assurance of Compliance with Federal regulations for human subject protection, for example a Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Human Research Protection Federal Wide Assurance found at: http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp.

2. All institutions engaged in human subject research, to include subcontractors, must have a valid assurance. In addition, personnel involved in human subject research must document the completion of appropriate training for the protection of human subjects.

3. For all research that will involve human subjects in the first year or phase of the project, the institution must submit evidence of a plan for review by an institutional review board (IRB) as part of the proposal. The IRB conducting the review must be the IRB identified on the institution’s Assurance of Compliance. The protocol, separate from the proposal, must include a detailed description of the research plan, study population, risks and benefits of study participation, recruitment and consent process, data collection, and data analysis. The designated IRB should be consulted for guidance on writing the protocol. The informed consent document must comply with 32 CFR 219.116. A valid Assurance of Compliance and evidence of appropriate training by all investigators should accompany the protocol for review by the IRB.

4. In addition to a local IRB approval, an AFRL-level human subject regulatory review and approval is required for all research conducted or supported by the DoD. The Air Force office responsible for managing the award can provide guidance and information about the AFRL-level review process. Confirmation of a current Assurance of Compliance and appropriate human subjects protection training is required before AFRL-level approval can be issued.

5. The time required to complete the IRB review/approval process will vary depending on the complexity of the research and/or the level of risk to study participants; ample time should be allotted to complete the approval process. The IRB approval process can last between 1 to 3 months, followed by a DoD review that could last 3 to 6 months. No funding may be used toward human subject research until all approvals are granted. Therefore, in their cost proposals offerors should separate human use into a separate option.

V. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION:

1. CRITERIA: The following criteria, which are listed in descending order of importance, will be used to determine whether white papers and proposals submitted are consistent with the intent of this BAA and of interest to the Government:

No further evaluation criteria will be used to select white papers for proposal invitation. Proposals will be evaluated IAW this evaluation criteria only and categorized/selected for award as detailed in Section V.2.b.2. White papers and proposals submitted will be evaluated as they are received.

2. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS:

1. Only Government employees will evaluate the white papers/proposals for selection. The Air Force Research Laboratory's Information Directorate has contracted for various business and staff support services, some of which require contractors to obtain administrative access to proprietary information submitted by other contractors. Administrative access is defined as "handling or having physical control over information for the sole purpose of accomplishing the administrative functions specified in the administrative support contract, which do not require the review, reading, and comprehension of the content of the information on the part of non-technical professionals assigned to accomplish the specified administrative tasks." These contractors have signed general non-disclosure agreements and organizational conflict of interest statements. The required administrative access will be granted to non-technical professionals. Examples of the administrative tasks performed include: a. Assembling and organizing information for R&D case files; b. Accessing library files for use by government personnel; and c. Handling and administration of proposals, contracts, contract funding and queries. Any objection to administrative access must be in writing to the Contracting Officer and shall include a detailed statement of the basis for the objection.

1. WHITE PAPER/PROPOSAL REVIEW PROCESS:

1. FIRST STEP – White Paper Reviews: The Government will review White Papers to determine which of them have the potential to best meet the Air Force’s needs based on the criteria listed above. If white papers are of interest and funding is available, AFRL/RI will request a formal technical and cost proposal from offeror. If white papers are not of interest or there is not funding available, a letter will be sent to the offeror indicating the reason not selected.

1. SECOND STEP – White Paper Proposal Selection Process

a) Categories: Based on the evaluation, proposals will be categorized as Selectable or Not Selectable (see definitions below). The selection of one or more offerors for award will be based on the evaluation, as well as importance to agency programs and funding availability.

1. Selectable: Proposals are recommended for acceptance, if sufficient funding* is available.

2. Not Selectable: Even if sufficient funding existed, the proposal should not be funded.

* Selectable proposals will be designated as funded or unfunded. Letters will be sent to the unfunded offerors. These proposals may be funded at a later date without reevaluation, if funding becomes available.

b) The Government reserves the right to award some, all, or none of the proposals. When the Government elects to award only a part of a proposal, the selected part may be categorized as Selectable, though the proposal as a whole may not merit such a categorization.

c) Proposal Risk Assessment: Proposals’ technical, cost, and schedule risk will be assessed as part of the above evaluation criteria’s application. Proposal risk relates to the identification and assessment of the risks associated with an offeror's proposed approach as it relates to accomplishing the proposed effort. Tradeoffs of the assessed risk will be weighed against the potential scientific benefit. Proposal risk for schedule relates to an assessment of the risks associated with the offeror's proposed number of hours, labor categories, materials, or other cost elements as it relates to meeting the proposed period of performance.

d) Prior to award of a potentially successful offer, the Contracting Officer will make a determination regarding price reasonableness and realism.

3. FEDERAL AWARDEE PERFORMANCE AND INTEGRITY INFORMATION SYSTEM (FAPIIS) PUBLIC ACCESS: The Government is required to review and consider any information about the applicant that is in the FAPIIS before making any award in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold (currently $250,000) over the period of performance. An applicant may review and comment on any information about itself that a federal awarding agency previously entered. The Government will consider any comments by the applicant, in addition to other information in FAPIIS in making a judgment about the applicant's integrity, business ethics, and record of performance under federal awards when completing the review of risk posed by applicants as described in 2 CFR § 200.205 Federal Awarding Agency Review of Risk Posed by Applicants and per FAR 9.104-6.

VI. STEP TWO INFORMATION – REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL & AWARD:

1. PROPOSAL FORMATING: When developing proposals, reference the AFRL "Broad Agency Announcement (BAA): Guide for Industry," Mar 2015, and RI-Specific Proposal Preparation Instructions, Jul 2019, which may be accessed at: https://beta.sam.gov/opp/e628c811fafe041accdddf55fb8539bf/view?keywords=AFRL-BAA-GUIDE&sort=-relevance&index=&is_active=true&page=1 . Always reference the newest versions of these documents.

Please note that less than 12 point font is acceptable for graphics and illustrations (as in labels and short descriptions) as long as it is readable when printed out on standard 8x11 paper.

2. AWARD NOTICES: Those white papers found to be consistent with the research areas of interest and expected results within the broad topic areas as described in the Technology Requirements section of this BAA and of interest to the Government may be invited to submit a technical and cost proposal. Notification by email or letter will be sent by the TPOC. Such invitation does not assure that the submitting organization will be awarded a contract. Those white papers not selected to submit a proposal will be notified in the same manner. Prospective offerors are advised that only Contracting Officers are legally authorized to commit the Government. All offerors submitting proposals will receive notification of their evaluation results within 45 days of submission. Offerors should email the TPOC and the Contracting Officer listed in Section VII, for status of their proposal after 45 days, if no such correspondence has been received.

3. DEBRIEFINGS: If a debriefing is requested in accordance with the time guidelines set out in FAR 15.505 and 15.506, a debriefing will be provided, but the debriefing content may vary to be consistent with the procedures that govern BAAs (FAR 35.016). Debriefings will not be provided for white papers.

4. ADMINISTRATIVE AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS:

a. FACILITY CLEARANCE. Depending on the work to be performed, the offeror may require a SECRET facility clearance and safeguarding capability; therefore, personnel identified for assignment to a classified effort must be cleared for access to SECRET information at the time of award. In addition, the offeror may be required to have, or have access to, a certified and Government-approved facility to support work under this BAA.

b. EXPORT CONTROL LAWS. Awards under this solicitation may require access to, or generation of, data subject to export control laws and regulations. Only contractors who are registered and certified with the Defense Logistics Information Service (DLIS) and have a legitimate business purpose may participate in this solicitation. For questions, contact DLIS on-line at http://www.dla.mil/HQ/InformationOperations/LogisticsInformationServices.aspx or at the DLA Logistics Information Service, 74 Washington Avenue North, Battle Creek, Michigan 49037-3084, and telephone number 1-800-352-2255 (24/7). You must submit a copy of your approved DD Form 2345, Militarily Critical Technical Data Agreement, with your white paper/proposal.

c. SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION. The Government encourages the best sources from the scientific and industrial communities to propose, including small business concerns, large businesses, academia and non-profit entities. Non-small businesses are encouraged to team with small business concerns to come up with the best technical solutions and obtain the best mix of cost, performance and schedule.

d. ACTIONS FOR THE PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, CONTROLLED INFORMATION, KEY PERSONNEL AND CRITICAL TECHNOLOGIES.