Amend 9 BAA 20-12 fourth repub.docx

AMENDMENT 9 TO BAA FA8750-20-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

a. Updated the “type of instruments that may be awarded” language;

2. Part II, Full Text Announcement:

a. Updated Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number to Assistance Listing number;

b. Section IV, added language regarding responsible sources;

c. Section V.2.b.2.a; adds paragraph c regarding S&T review;

d. Section VI.1, updates the Proposal Formatting language;

e. Section IV.3, updated the debriefing language;

f. Section VII, updates the provisions;

g. Section VII, updates the OMBUDSMAN and updates AFFARS to DAFFARS.

No other changes are 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: Foundations of Trusted Systems

BAA NUMBER: FA8750-20-S-7012

PART I – OVERVIEW INFORMATION

This announcement is for an Open, 2 Step BAA which is open and effective until 30 Sep 2024. 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 2pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) on 30 Sep 2024, the following submission dates are suggested to best align with projected funding:

FY21 by 04 Dec 2020 FY22 by 03 Dec 2021 FY23 by 02 Dec 2022 FY24 Digital Engineering Model-based Analysis Focus Area by 12pm EST 14 JUL 2023 FY24 by 01 Dec 2023

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

CONCISE SUMMARY OF TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENT: Seeking innovative research in technologies and techniques to establish trusted foundations for hardware and software that enabling secure, resilient and affordable Command, Control, Communications, Computer, Intelligence, and Cyber (C4+1I) information processing systems

This BAA is a follow-on to BAA FA8750-17-S-7007 entitled Foundations of Trusted Computational Information Systems.

BAA ESTIMATED FUNDING: Total funding for this BAA is approximately $99.9M. Individual awards will not normally exceed 36 months with dollar amounts normally ranging from $100K to $5M. 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: FAR based Procurement contracts, CFR based grants and cooperative agreements or other transactions (OT) under 10 USC 4021, 10 USC 4022 ( previously 10 USC 4002, 2371, 10 USC 4003, 2371b) depending upon the nature of the work proposed. 10 USC 4023 also allows for FAR based contracts, OTs for research, OTs for Prototype, and assistance instruments.

In the event that an Other Transaction for Prototype agreement is awarded as a result of this competitive BAA(or ARA), 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:

Jillian Stubley

AFRL/RITA

525 Brook Rd Rome, NY 13441-4505 Telephone: (315)330-4110 Email: AFRL.RITA.BAA@us.af.mil

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

Amber Buckley 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: Foundations of Trusted Systems

BAA NUMBER: BAA FA8750-20-S-7012

Assistance Listing Number: 12.800 and 12.910

I. TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS:

The Air Force and Department of Defense (DoD) are dependent upon information technologies for almost everything they do, yet more needs to be done to secure the processing foundations upon which information technology infrastructure depends.

The Air Force Research Laboratory is soliciting white papers under BAA for research, development, integration, test and evaluation of innovative technologies/techniques that establish trusted foundations for hardware and software that enable secure, resilient, affordable Command, Control, Communications, Computer, Intelligence, and Cyber (C4+1I) information processing systems.

Of particular interest are technologies that support hardware and software foundations for high assurance and trusted/secure architectures. This effort will investigate the following technical areas:

(1) Trusted, Secure, and Resilient Computational Systems: The objective of this technical area is to research and develop the essential elements, tools and methodologies for trusted, secure and resilient computing environments, including both the underlying hardware and software, side by side with power, cost, performance, and reliability. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

(a) Problems and challenges with current processor designs for trustworthiness and their solutions

(b) Problems and challenges with current computer architectures for trustworthiness and solutions to them

(c) Tools and methodologies for ensuring trustworthiness of integrated circuits (ICs) and systems targeting malicious inclusions such as hardware Trojans, side-channel timing attacks, etc.

(d) New computer architectures for secure and reliable computing, including data integrity and code protection and verification;

(e) Operating System level constructs, objects, functions and distributions that must be provided to complement the hardware to enable a trustworthy computing base;

(f) Tools and methodologies for ensuring trustworthiness and security of the software development process, including compilers, assemblers, linkers, binary checks, and source code analysis;

(f) State-of-the-art software-based assurance designs, methodologies or concepts which are better suited for implementation in hardware than software

(g) Hardware architecture techniques for self IC inspection, characterization, and testing/debug. These techniques can be applied for automated post fabrication verification and/or adaptive system degradation.

This technical area is also focused in research and development for increasing the level of trustworthiness of integrated circuit (IC) designs, commodity ICs and currently available systems as a whole. Finally, this technical includes security enhancements possible in the software tool chain used for compiling and linking source code and runtime security, as well as research in the implications of state-of-the-art commercially available processor architectures and specially designed processor architectures that will enable delivery of trustworthy, secure and timely information.

(2) Trusted and Assured Software: The safety and security of our systems increasingly depends upon the correctness, resilience, and integrity of software intensive systems. A move towards more digital engineering infrastructure of these systems is needed for streamlining integration and testing. Moreover, the methods and tools supporting these models must be appealing for transition into mainstream use. This technical area aims to achieve several independent but mutually beneficial research goals. First, to lay a foundation of assurance across all layers of the software development and supply chain. Second, to maintain that trust even as the system adapts during its deployment. Third, to improve the scalability of interoperable tools to better facilitate analysis of computational and physical components for early analysis and to further strengthen confidence. Finally, a holistic approach to design that would scale up the application for formal verification with the assistance of automation derived from human-machine teaming

(a) Software Assurance: The objective of this area is to enhance and create the foundations of Software Assurance (SwA). Achieving the degree of SwA across the application space requires a holistic approach that agilely addresses all layers of the supply chain and enterprise including governance, partnerships, process, standards, and education. Areas of interest include:

(i) Tools Assessment and Categorization

(ii) Prototype Software Assurance Demonstration

(iii) SwA technology which advances the state of SwA by addressing technology gaps to improve SwA tools (e.g. precision and recall) and scalability (e.g. code size, expertise required, and execution time).

(b) Trusted and Resilient Software-intensive Systems Engineering: The objective of this technical area is to develop resilient techniques, methodologies and tools to guarantee trust (as measured by correctness, security, reliability, predictability, and survivability) and maintain this trust as self-healing/repair techniques fight through cyber-attacks, including zero-day attacks. This research area seeks to extend and advance software development tools that will enable the development and maintenance of trusted and resilient software systems for enterprise and tactical level embedded cyber physical platforms in DevSecOps. This area will focus on research and development to advance software (SW) development tools, to include formal tools, model based techniques and/or architectures based approaches to enable the development of SW systems that are both trusted and resilient. Research and development will also be focused on new approaches, methods and/or tools for continuous (runtime) Verification & Validation(V&V) and runtime environments that can monitor and maintain a trusted and resilient envelope of operation. Technical areas of interest include:

(i) Techniques to enable trust in model-based software engineering

(ii) Model-based engineering for predictable software attributes

(iii) Formal methods tools

(iv) Provably correct code generation

(v) Provably correct code repair

(vi) Evidence-based software assurance

(vii) Evolutionary approaches, trusted software and systems composability

(viii) Modeling, analysis, and verification of autonomous software

(ix) Novel architectural approaches, strategic “roots of trust,” hardening and resiliency techniques such as artificial diversity, containment areas for execution of untrusted software, lightweight runtime monitoring techniques and utilization of hardware (HW) advances

(x) Trusted and resilient mechanisms to fight through software failures, cyber-attacks to include zero-day attack

(xi) Human understanding and trust of automated software development, red teaming, metrics and measures of trustworthy systems, integration, validation and demonstration on a realistic mission critical embedded system exemplar

(xii) Autonomous resilience, self-healing software systems, and pliable computing.

(c) Cyber Physical Systems (CPS): The objective of this technical area is to develop the tools, methodologies, and foundational science to provide the scalability and interoperability necessary to make the integration and subsequent analysis of computational and physical components and the networks connecting them practical. Technical areas of interest include:

(i) Specification, modeling, and analysis such as heterogeneous models of computation and hybrid discrete and continuous systems;

(ii) Modularity, composability, predictability, and synthesis addressing the issues of scalability and the integration of legacy systems; and

(iii) Verification and validation techniques (assurance, simulation, formal methods, correct-and-secure-by-construction, etc.) applicable to these models.

(d) AI in Trusted Systems: The objective of this research area is to leverage the potential of human-machine teaming to improve automation, raise human understanding, and thereby mitigate the potential risks of bad information or bad decisions from designers. This area’s focus is therefore on raising abstraction levels, leveraging AI for aiding in correct-by-construction design and evaluation, and developing techniques for continual assurance of the learning-enabled components of those systems. Technical areas of interest include:

(i) Capturing, learning, or annotating software intent and constraints separate from the concrete decisions required to create a specific instance of software

(ii) Using captured intent to drastically reduce the human-in-the-loop effort needed to adapt software to new requirements, platforms, and resources

(iii) Verifying that the newly-adapted software provides the functional needs of the customer/end user and that the instance does not violate any requirements

(iv) Integrating a new intent-defined software development paradigm into existing Agile workflows to enable adoption and transition into the greater programmer community

(v) Cost-effective, reliable methods of predicting performance of system configurations using high-fidelity models

(vi) Automated decision making processes that can rapidly converge on solutions concerning interdependent design constraints

(vii) Exploration techniques that scale to large state spaces

(viii) Means of curating evidence for the assurance of software

(ix) Technology for validation and assessment of confidence in an assurance case argument

(x) Automated construction of assurance cases

(xi) Continual assurance technology for learning-enabled components.

(e) Digital Engineering Model-based Analysis: In support of the Digital Engineering Strategy, it is required to develop techniques and methodologies to extract software models from code. Rapid and accurate generation of models is foundational to reducing errors and time required to develop and maintain complex software systems. Areas of interest, in order of dependency, include:

(i) Extraction of models from source code. The generated models should have formal semantics for analyzability. Due to the complexities involved it is anticipated that extraction from source code will come first.

(ii) Instrumentation of extracted models with requirements and properties for analysis

(iii) Extraction of models from binaries. The generated models should have formal semantics for analyzability.

For best FY24 funding opportunities, Digital Engineering Model-based Analysis white papers should be received prior to 12pm (noon) Eastern Standard Time (EST) on 14 July 2023.

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 $99.9M. The anticipated funding to be obligated under this BAA is broken out by fiscal year as follows:

FY20 - $7.26M*

FY21 - $26.85M

FY22 - $26.9M

FY23 - $20.25M

FY24 - $18.64M

*NOTE: Some funding has been set aside in FY20, however it is more likely that any awards will be made starting in FY21

a. Individual awards will not normally exceed 36 months with dollar values normally ranging from $100K to $5M. 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 of $99.9M.

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.

As 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

1. 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).

2. For the purposes of Paragraph 1, it 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.

4. ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: In accordance with FAR 9.5, offerors are required to identify and disclose all facts relevant to potential OCIs involving the offerors organization and any proposed team member (subawardee, consultant). Under this Section, the offeror is responsible for providing this disclosure with each proposal submitted to the solicitation. The disclosure must include the offerors, and as applicable, proposed team member’s OCI mitigation plan. The OCI mitigation plan must include a description of the actions the offeror has taken, or intends to take, to prevent the existence of conflicting roles that might bias the offerors judgment and to prevent the offeror from having unfair competitive advantage. The OCI mitigation plan will specifically discuss the disclosed OCI in the context of each of the OCI limitations outlined in FAR 9.505-1 through FAR 9.505-4.

a. Agency Supplemental OCI Policy: In addition, AFRL has a supplemental OCI policy that prohibits contractors/performers from concurrently providing Scientific Engineering Technical Assistance (SETA), Advisory and Assistance Services (A&AS) or similar support services and being a technical performer. Therefore, as part of the FAR 9.5 disclosure requirement above, an offeror must affirm whether the offeror or any proposed team member (subawardee, consultant) is providing SETA, A&AS, or similar support to any AFRL office(s) under: (a) a current award or subaward; or (b) a past award or subaward that ended within one calendar year prior to the proposal’s submission date. If SETA, A&AS, or similar support is being or was provided to any AFRL office(s), the proposal must include:

. The name of the AFRL office receiving the support;

. The prime contract number;

. Identification of proposed team member (subawardee, consultant) providing the support; and . An OCI mitigation plan in accordance with FAR 9.5.

b. Government Procedures: In accordance with FAR 9.503, 9.504 and 9.506, the Government will evaluate OCI mitigation plans to avoid, neutralize or mitigate potential OCI issues before award and to determine whether it is in the Government’s interest to grant a waiver. The Government will only evaluate OCI mitigation plans for proposals that are determined selectable under the solicitation evaluation criteria and funding availability. The Government may require proposers to provide additional information to assist the Government in evaluating the offerors OCI mitigation plan. If the Government determines that an offeror failed to fully disclose an OCI; or failed to provide the affirmation of AFRL support as described above; or failed to reasonably provide additional information requested by the Government to assist in evaluating the proposer’s OCI mitigation plan, the Government may reject the proposal and withdraw it from consideration for award.

5. S&T PROTECTION. In accordance with AFRLI 61-113, S&T Protection, Contractors/Recipients are required to submit with their proposal a Standard Form 424, "Research and Related and Senior and Key Person Profile (Expanded), as well as a Security Program Questionnaire, which are included in the RI-Specific Proposal Preparation Instructions and can be accessed at:

https://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. Complete and submit the required forms with your proposal to the technical point of contact (TPOC) listed in Section VII-Agency Contacts AND AFRL.RIOF@us.af.mil.

Contractors will be required to provide documentation of their Security Program Plan for initial Institution S&T Protection Program Review. The purpose of requesting the plan is to evaluate the offeror’s capacity for protecting the Government’s S&T and failure to demonstrate a plan adequate to meet the needs of the requirement may be grounds for considering the proposal unawardable. In the event a security risk is identified and the Government has determined the security risk exceeds the acceptable threshold, the Contractor/Recipient will be notified and informed of the termination/decline of award. The Government will be only required to provide a general statement of the reasoning due to Government OPSEC measures.

After award, the Contractor/Recipient will be required to re-submit the Standard Form 424 as an annual requirement to the points of contact listed above.

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.

All responsible sources may submit a bid, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency.

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:

FY21 by 04 Dec 2020 FY22 by 03 Dec 2021 FY23 by 02 Dec 2022 FY24 Digital Engineering Model-based Analysis Focus Area by 12pm EST 14 JUL 2023 FY24 by 01 Dec 2023

White papers will be accepted until 2 PM EST on 30 Sept 2024, 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 Sept 2024.

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 2 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 FA8750-20-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), 32 CFR Part 117, as it provides baseline standards for the protection of classified information and prescribes the requirements concerning Contractor Developed Information under paragraph §117.13. 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/RITA 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. Cost share will not be a factor in selection for award.

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: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CFR-2012-title2-vol1/CFR-2012-title2-vol1-part25-appA.

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://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.

g) SUPPLIER PERFORMANCE RISK SYSTEM (SPRS). Offerors should have a BASIC NIST SP 800 171 DoD Assessment in the SPRS (https://www.sprs.csd.disa.mil/). Basic assessment is to be conducted by the offeror.

V. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION:

1. CRITERIA: The following criteria, which are listed in descending order of importance and 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:

a. Overall Scientific and Technical Merit -- Including the approach for the development and/or enhancement of the proposed technology. The technical concepts should be clearly defined and developed, the technical approach must be sufficiently detailed to support the proposed concepts and technical claims.

b. Capabilities and Related Experience - The extent to which the offeror demonstrates relevant technology and domain knowledge to establish that the offeror has credible capability and experience to complete the proposed work.

c. Openness, Maturity and Assurance of Solution - The extent to which existing capabilities and standards are leveraged and the relative maturity of the proposed technology in terms of reliability and robustness.

d. Reasonableness and realism of proposed costs and fees (if any)

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 on the BAA team 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 identify those with the greatest potential to meet the Air Force’s needs based on the criteria above. If funding is available for an identified white paper, AFRL/RI will request a formal technical and cost proposal from the Offeror. For white papers not of interest to the Government, or for which funding is not available, those Offerors will receive letters from the Government indicating the basis for non-selection.

1. SECOND STEP – Proposal Review and 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) In parallel with the technical evaluation, the Government will review this SF424 and Security Program Questionnaire submitted by the Contractor in order to satisfy the S&T Protection requirements IAW AFRLI 61-113. In the event a security risk is identified and the Government has determined the security risk exceeds the acceptable threshold, the Offeror will be notified and informed of the declination of award.

d) 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.

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

3.RESPONSIBILITY/QUALIFICATION (R/Q) (FORMERLY FAPIIS) PUBLIC ACCESS: The Government is required to review and consider any information about the applicant that is in SAM.gov 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 SAM.gov 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.

4.ADEQUATE PRICE COMPETITION: As this BAA is an Open BAA, adequate price competition is not anticipated since there is no set response time, and proposals are evaluated at the time of receipt. Offerors whose proposals are selected for award will be expected to submit certified cost and pricing data on contracts exceeding $2M (the threshold is $7.5M for small businesses or nontraditional defense contractors).

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 2020, and RI-Specific Proposal Preparation Instructions, MAY 2023, which may be accessed at: https://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) and OTs (10 USC 4021 (previously 10 USC 4002, 2371) , and Other Transactions for Prototype which are governed by 10 USC 4022 (previously 10 USC 4003, 2371b) and 10 USC 4023 (previously 10 USC 4004, 2373). 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.