JUSTIFICATION FOR SOLE SOURCE TO POST.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR SINGLE SOURCE (SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITIONS <$150K)

1. The service listed on 1300698377 is available from only one source and competition is precluded for reasons indicated below. There are no substitutes available.

2. This acquisition is restricted to the following source:

Contractor: Intelligent Automation, Inc.

Contractor Address: 15400 Calhoun Dr., Suite 190, Rockville, MD 20855

3. Description of the service required and required delivery date/period of performance.

The contractor shall provide the customized Automated Dive Profile Transmission and Synchronization (Auto-DPTS) software solution using a proprietary algorithm and design.

Required Delivery Date: April 13, 2018.

4. Specific characteristics of the service that limit the availability to a single source e.g., unique features, function of the item, etc.

Intelligent Automation, Inc. (IAI), the contractor actively participating in the Automated Dive Profile Transmission and Synchronization (Auto-DPTS) ONR TechSolutions sponsored project, which was competed under a BAA with the Office of Naval Research (ONR), has already contributed to the early success of this project with funding from ONR. They have invested a great deal of time and energy into jointly working the S&T challenges of this effort with personnel from SPAWARSYSCEN Atlantic.

Previously, IAI had specifically designed a very specific system using a proprietary algorithm for Navy/Air Force Jump (Parachuting) data that is analogous to the one being developed for Auto-DPTS.

The contractor submitted a system design that meets the Navy dive community’s need for automation and analysis of the dive computer and its profile data, which exclusively requires the algorithm from their BAA proposal that was awarded by ONR for this project.

Intelligent Automation, Inc. (IAI) is the sole designer, developer, and integrator of the analytics as a service framework and associated software, as well as algorithms currently being employed to develop a cross-platform mobile application solution to analyze the data from the Cochran dive computer, which allows for automated acquisition and analysis of dive profile data. This technology and their related processes were developed in part by IAI under contract N00014-14-C-0150, and SBIR Phase II W911QY-11-C-0021. SPAWARSYSCEN Atlantic was also provided funding to execute a portion of the development alongside the contractor; however, SPAWARSYSCEN Atlantic needs to outsource more of the development tasking than originally planned based on system/data requirements. Since partnering with IAI, they have obtained the pertinent knowledge of the system interface and the proprietary algorithm that will be used to develop this critical software component, which is crucial to the hundreds of Navy divers around the world.

The development of DJRS V2.0 is due out in March 2018 with the Auto-DPTS project requiring integration no later than March 2018 in order to meet the rapid prototyping schedule requirement as part of the awarded ONR TechSolutions project. The impact of using a contractor other than IAI would not be technically feasible given the on-going joint endeavor between SPAWARSYSCEN Atlantic, IAI, and DJRS V2.0 development teams, and it would cause a failure in delivery of the Auto-DPTS system in time to be ingested into the DJRS, which is a sponsor requirement. This creates an extraordinary urgency to work alongside the DJRS2.0 development team, which is already in motion, to ensure the necessary ties are made between the Auto-DPTS system for its ability to be ingested into DJRS. Because DJRS cannot accept pushes of data, only pulls of data, once the development of DJRS V2.0 is complete, this capability would become a virtually unachievable task, therefore justifying the criticality and promptness of this selection before the March 2018 scheduled release of DJRS V2.0. The framework and integration processes and algorithms that enable this compressed development and deployment schedule are proprietary to IAI, further necessitating their selection as the performer on Auto-DPTS.

If this contractor were not utilized for the remainder of this project, it would be detrimental to the development of the awarded solution; requiring another contractor to conduct their own research and spend additional time and money developing another algorithm that would likely (attempt to) replicate the algorithm that IAI has already developed. This cost and performance slip would prevent the team from meeting schedule requirements. The current project was awarded to use the IAI algorithm and the contractor's prior research and knowledge of the Navy's DJRS (Dive and Jump Reporting) system, as the DJRS system supports both Parachute Jump profile data and Dive profile data.

The original contract for Auto-DPTS was competed and awarded to a joint SPAWARSYSCEN Atlantic and IAI team for the solution that was jointly proposed by an ONR sponsor. Working alongside SPAWARSYSCEN Atlantic, the Navy Experimental Dive Unit (NEDU), Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center (NDSTC), and NSWC Panama City Division (PCD), IAI has initiated development of the Auto-DPTS software over the last 6 months, produced and delivered initial requirements and designs at a significant cost to the Government. As a result, an award to any other source would result in a substantial duplication of cost and time delay to the Government. In addition, award to a source other than IAI puts the program completion at an unacceptable risk level. This selection of IAI is a one-time award due to the criticality of their proprietary contributions within tight and delicate schedule alignment between Auto-DPTS and DJRS V2.0. Following this justified award to IAI, current barriers to contribution by other contractors for future work involving dive computers may be explored for removal.

However, the barriers that justify sole source selection of IAI at this point in time for their contribution to Auto-DPTS include intimate knowledge of a proprietary system and interfaces with Naval dive equipment, pre-existing funds allocated by the ONR sponsor and received by the contractor for detailed tasking and performance, schedule requirements for accelerated fielding of proprietary solutions to ingest in an upcoming software release, and compressed development timelines imposed on the project by the aforementioned software release. These critical, immediate requirements that identify IAI now as the sole source of required support cannot be influenced by SPAWARSYSCEN Atlantic.

The aforementioned barriers are inhibiting the competition of an award through significant risk to performance, dramatically increased cost to develop another algorithm and software, and severe impact to the scheduled completion of a prototype solution within a compressed timeframe.

5. Check and fill in all that are applicable:

The material or service must be compatible in all aspects (form, fit, and function) with existing systems presently installed. Describe the equipment you have now and how the new item/service must coordinate, connect, or interface with the existing system:

A patent, copyright, or proprietary data limits competition. The proprietary data and corresponding level of Government rights (if any) are described as follows:

These are “direct replacement” parts/components for existing equipment and similar parts/components will not meet the Navy’s requirement.

Other information to support a sole source or brand name justification: