Attachment_10_-_ASAE_Background_Paper.pdf

H92222-15-R-0004, Attachment 10

BACKGROUND PAPER

FOR

DISTRIBUTED COMMON GROUND/SURFACE SYSTEM

SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES

ALL-SOURCE ANALYTICAL ENVIRONMENT

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide background information and context for the All-Source Analytical

Environment (ASAE) Request for Proposal (RFP). The information that follows is not to be construed as requirements. It is intended to provide potential contractors with a common baseline understanding of major ASAE concepts and functions.

Background

An important role of United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) is to identify and track situations of interest, terrorist and other criminal activity, in a digital environment of noisy and incomplete information. To fulfill and execute their key analytic missions, Distributed Common Ground/Surface Systems Special Operations Forces

(DCGS-SOF) users require an ASAE to enable them in properly collecting, processing, exploiting, and disseminating data within the Special Operations Forces (SOF) Information Environment (SIE) and across the services, Combat Support Agencies (CSAs), National Intelligence Agencies, and Coalition partner networks.

Functionality includes a data management system that enables prioritization of relevant information, a structure to analyze the data, and capability to share data and products across the enterprise, in a usable fashion that drastically reduces time from data receipt to decision.

SOF users require persistent Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities and the capacity to conduct irregular warfare planning/operations to find, fix, finish, exploit, and analyze high value targets. Timely and actionable intelligence is the most critical component of USSOCOM’s operational mission. DCGS-SOF is a critical back-end ISR Processing, Exploitation, and Dissemination (PED) enterprise capability consisting of personnel, equipment, and facilities.

DCGS-SOF System Overview

DCGS-SOF ingests data from collection sensors and other intelligence sources, shares data across the intelligence community, and provides timely, tailored, all-source intelligence products and services to provide actionable intelligence from multiple Continental United States (CONUS) and forward distributed PED nodes. DCGS-SOF ensures collected ISR data, regardless of sensor or source, can be processed, exploited, and disseminated and that the data is discoverable, accessible, and retrievable by SOF units and mission partners worldwide.

DCGS-SOF is composed of three pillars:

DCGS-SOF PED (Increment 1): DCGS-SOF relies on an interoperable, net-centric architecture with vertical integration across the SOF Information Environment (SIE) and horizontal integration across the

DoD DCGS Family of Systems (FoS) and enterprise. This architecture provides DCGS-SOF with comprehensive access to non-SOF intelligence data and expedites the sharing of SOF ISR data with other

DoD and Intelligence Community(IC) partners. DCGS-SOF supports PED operations for SOF platforms/sensors and also has the flexibility to conduct PED for non-SOF mission partners.

DCGS-SOF SILENT DAGGER (Increment 2): SILENT DAGGER enables the PED of threat communication/signals and multi-INT fusion by providing SOF Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) personnel access to tools and databases standardized across the cryptologic enterprise via NSANet along with means for cross-domain data sharing and dissemination.

DCGS-SOF All-Source Information Fusion (Increment 3): DCGS-SOF All-Source Information Fusion is a broad set of end-to-end PED capabilities integrated across the SIE and interoperable with the Defense

Intelligence Information Enterprise (DI2E) and with the Joint Information Enterprise (JIE). It is focused on solutions that satisfy current and future SOF-peculiar capability gaps while providing essential organic net-centric, collaborative, and distributed PED capabilities for SOF and supporting units and agencies during the full spectrum of global SOF missions.

The DCGS-SOF PMO acquisition Strategy

The desired ASAE solution will address both connected and disconnected operations while optimizing total system performance. Additionally, it will minimize total ownership costs, and ensure that the system is built to optimally accommodate both the characteristics of the user population that will operate, maintain, and support the system without the support from Field Service Representatives (FSRs), and the key missions, operations, and decisions the system must be designed to support.

Definitions and Descriptions of ASAE Functions

The following are descriptions and definitions of some of the most common SOF Specific Advanced Analytical capabilities/functions that describe the potential ASAE solution. They are not requirements; specific requirements are articulated in the USSOCOM DCGS-SOF Functional Requirements Document (FRD).

Link Analysis – Link analysis is a method to gain insights by visualizing social, business, and activities-related connections among people and groups as well as infrastructure, logistics, and production chains. It is used whenever individuals, groups, group activities, or process networks are being reviewed. Link

Analysis enables visualization of disparate intelligence data allowing analysts to evaluate relationships

(connections) between people, places, things, and events. DCGS-SOF makes SOF intelligence information searchable, discoverable, and retrievable and will be the primary data source for any link analysis tool. The need for link charts grows with the increase in data and associated entities and relationships. Link analysis provides added value by clarifying what is known and what may be missing about the entities and relationships being charted. It enables the discovery of key nodes and relationship as well as identifying specific needs for future research. All of this comes together in an easily-understood presentation of data and findings.

Entity Resolution and Entity Extraction – Identity recognition/name disambiguation (or the comparing of many instances of similar names in order to characterize them as unique entities) and relationship detection. Analysts depend on the ability to quickly understand the nuances of the people, places, and events that matter within their domain. Today, much intelligence analysis involves examining the relationship between entities such as their communications and transactions. The data needed to do so is often stove-piped or so voluminous that users are left drowning in a sea of irrelevant data. Entity and relationship resolution can alleviate some of this by focusing on the disambiguation of entities and identity recognition to assist the user in the discovery of networks while allowing for the structuring of complex concepts and relationship detection.

Geospatial Analysis – The application of statistical analysis and other informational techniques to data which has a geographical or geospatial aspect. Example functionality may include but is not limited to: the import and export of common analytic and preferred formats, hot-spotting analysis, geospatial search (text, lat/long, events, entities), create/find routes, creating/drawing buffers with multiple drawing tool options, heat matrices, and heat maps.

Auditing and Alerting Capabilities – Auditing on user activity/data, alerting capability for users, and other rule/role-based alerts.

Collaboration – Enables sharing and interaction across geographic, organizational, and functional boundaries is necessary. A collaborative environment should allow analysts to test hypotheses as well as share and publish data, products, ideas, and investigations.

Data Visualization – Display of data in graphs, histograms, and charts to include the ability to represent varied data such as spatial-temporal data, multiple datasets and bubble charts.

Data Statistics – Measurement of data for errors, precision, accuracy, and bias through the use of statistical analysis.

Disconnected Operations – Operate in a disconnected manner independent of network connectivity.

ASAE Objectives

A successful ASAE software tool capability will increase the warfighter’s ability to efficiently discover patterns, anomalies, connections, and entities of interest through text-based, structured, and geospatial searches as well as through the use of link, relational, geospatial, spatial-temporal, statistical, behavioral, network and other types of analyses. Furthermore, this capability will enable user-driven collaboration across organizational, functional, and geographic boundaries thereby promoting a unified, current, and enterprise-wide intelligence picture with users sharing data and products. The following are high level programmatic objectives for the overall ASAE functionality:

Desired ASAE User Experience

Use of DCGS-SOF User Interface (UI) - The ASAE should utilize the latest DCGS-SOF UI specifications as the foundation to allow users to easily access, organize and arrange all their online tools from within the UI workspace.

Additionally, the ASAE will comply with DCGS-SOF UI design principles such as Loose Coupling, Service

Oriented, Object Oriented, and Open Web Standards.

Look & Feel - The ASAE should be intuitive and help drive DCGS-SOF mission work flows. The ASAE should be consistent with the DCGS-SOF UI in support of multiple user roles and allow for an optimal user experience.

Interaction with Display Elements - The ASAE should provide an interactive UI to help users understand and act on a rich information environment. To accommodate desired interactions, the ASAE should consider the following capabilities related to object elements:

Objects can be selected

Objects can be dragged and dropped on another object

Objects can be engaged in other ways such as through contextual menus

Objects can have associated semantic information

The ASAE display element interaction should be consistent with the DCGS-SOF UI guidelines and allow for an optimal user experience.

Metadata - The ASAE should take full advantage of existing metadata. Leveraging and utilizing the metadata in the

ASAE will enrich analytic capability and help the user make appropriate decisions. It will also allow any products developed to be imminently more discoverable across the SOF enterprise. The DCGS-SOF baseline will continue to be compliant with DoD and IC metadata standards as they evolve.

ASAE Design

Secure Coding - The ASAE should adhere to secure coding practices and be capable of withstanding vulnerability assessments designed to mitigate risk. For example, consider the following coding practices:

Validate input

Code analysis

Architect and design for security policies

Keep code simple

Default deny

Adhere to the principle of least privilege

Sanitize data sent to other systems

Practice defense in depth

Use effective quality assurance techniques

Adopt a secure coding standard

Existing Applications, Databases & Storage - The ASAE will not hinder or degrade the performance of any existing applications or backend services. Additionally, the ASAE software tool will seamlessly integrate with existing applications, the DCGS-SOF Data Layer and the user interface and/or backend services within the overall

ASAE design. It is not intended for the ASAE tool to ingest or store data, but to use the enriched data from the existing DCGS-SOF database.

Extensibility- The ASAE solution will be adaptable and accommodating of new mission applications and/or data sources.

Integration and Interoperability

Open Development Environment - Software development kits (SDKs) and open application program interfaces

(APIs) will be used for the ASAE integration effort to enable seamless third party integration of capabilities.

Utilization of existing DCGS-SOF SDKs and open APIs should be used to the maximum extent possible.

Standardization- the ASAE should facilitate data and application integration through the use of standardized methods, policies, and procedures.

Integration of Actions Between Applications - The integration of the ASAE into the DCGS-SOF environment should provide rapidly configurable applications (e.g. applets, widgets, components) to support multiple user-customizable simultaneous perspectives of data. In many cases, changes in one application might drive changes to others. Examples include: changing the time frame of reference, or changing the focus on a group of targets to a single target. Behaviors to be supported between applications include but are not limited to:

Inter-application communication, or the passing of information between applications

Direct interactions, such as drag and drop of elements, and drawing lines between elements that move and scroll with the elements

Indirect interactions, such as brushing, where one can select/highlight data in one application, changing the display in other applications

Nesting, where application data look and feel and behavior depends on its context. (note that a nested application may look different or show different data)

Inter-application interoperability

Seamless integration and interaction with DCGS-SOF workspaces and workspace components using the standard DCGS-SOF UI APIs

Systems Engineering of the Integration Effort

ASAE Integration into DCGS-SOF Baseline - The ASAE integration will utilize a comprehensive systems engineering approach to ensure the ASAE solution is easily scalable, loosely coupled and desensitized to variability.

It will consider overarching end-to-end System Engineering activities such as:

Understanding user intent and requirements

Providing systems level design documentation and architecture

Working with DCGS-SOF Systems Integrator to integrate and perform baseline test and certification

Providing necessary documentation and products for transition and sustainment

Implementing processes that are flexible, adaptable, and amenable to changes in situations, guidance, or resources without adverse impact on cost or schedule.

Innovation and Best Practices

Reuse- the software tool will leverage existing government investments and facilities where feasible, commercial technology, standards, and best practices and influence the course of the same for the future. Additionally, adopt processes and utilize an integration environment which will serve to leverage existing investments.

Commercial Technologies, Standards, and Practices - The ASAE solution should apply appropriate commercial technologies, standards, and best practices to achieve the integration objectives of this effort.