Justification_and_Approvals.pdf

This document is a Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition for a high-performance computing (HPC) contract between the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the University of Illinois. The 6½-year contract, effective from 18 March 2025, will provide a supercomputing environment with OpenRosetta and OpenRosetta 3D technologies, including compute nodes, graphic processing units (GPUs), central processing units (CPUs), RAM processing, and storage capabilities.

The contract's primary objectives include generating elevation foundation data using automation/artificial intelligence, producing digital surface models covering 30 million square kilometers of Defense Gridded Elevation Data, and supporting NGA's strategic partnerships across government, industry, and academia. The sole-source contract was congressionally directed, with NGA conducting market research and determining the University of Illinois as the only available source. The contract will enable NGA to process geospatial data, develop advanced AI and machine learning applications, and create NGA-formatted products for government systems, with all deliverables having unlimited government purpose rights.