SATPC0036254 Tab 06 RDSS..pdf

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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER

RECOMMENDATION AND DETERMINATION TO SOLICIT FROM ONE SOURCE

OR BRAND NAME

PICK ONE

Sole Source:

I recommend that NASA, NASA Shared Services Center negotiate with Arizona State University only for a Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 (HLS) AI Geospatial Foundation Model (GeoFM) for Science-driven Advances for Earth Observation. The total estimated cost of this effort is and the estimated period of performance or lead-time for delivery is September 1, 2024 through February 28, 2026.

OR

Brand Name Justification:

I recommend that NASA, NASA Shared Services Center negotiate with only with vendors who can provide the subject band name from Manufacture Name for Enter Supply or Service to be procured. The total estimated cost of this effort is Enter Dollar amount and the estimated period of performance or lead-time for delivery is Date.

This recommendation is for the acquisition of supplies or services determined to be reasonably available from only one source/only one manufacture. Competition is impractical for the following reasons (please answer the questions below):

1. What are the reasons for soliciting only the suggested source/suggested brand name? Please provide the unique characteristics of the items or services along with the supporting rationale and the market research performed to substantiate your reason for the suggested source/brand name.

The design and development of "AI Foundation Models for Science", led by the NASA Inter-agency Implementation and Advanced Concepts Team (IMPACT) at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), are being conducted as an open, collaborative effort grounded in NASA SMD's principles of Open Science [https://science.nasa.gov/open-science/]. As such, various organizations are participating in this effort in specific areas and at different levels. The Cyberinfrastructure and Computational Intelligence (CICI) Lab at Arizona State University (ASU) has been a part of this open collaboration, providing their specific science expertise to IMPACT. This solicitation seeks to focus their current efforts to address specific IMPACT application needs. The CICI team supports development of new methods, software frameworks and state-of-the-art geospatial solutions dedicated to studying global climate change, polar environment and its sustainable development, terrain morphology, and urbanization among others. The CICI team uses deep learning techniques, distributed and cloud computing, semantics and ontology, spatial pattern analysis, scientific visualization, spatial cross-validation and categorizing testing data according to geographical region, image resolution, landscape, and/or climate zone to address scientific and technological challenges associated with GeoFMs needing explicit geospatial location training and testing data in order to improve models in these areas. AI Foundation models (FM), in particular, provide flexibility for users to pretrain a single model and then customize it for specific downstream tasks such as landslide mapping and crop mapping. The CICI team will provide research and science expertise to support the development of a Foundation Model for related Geospatial applications. Their highly specialized data science techniques are required to meet the development and research requirements needed for the design of novel downstream science use cases to test and evaluate the GeoFM. Specific use cases related to global climate change, sustainable development, terrain morphology, etc. are of significant value to their research and science communities.

2. What is the impact to the government if another vendor/brand is used? Include any dollar, schedule, or compatibility impacts if possible.

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Due to their current level and specific areas of involvement, no other vendor provides the subject matter expertise required to develop the specialized Geospatial use cases for the development and evaluation of this Foundation Model. Therefore, the schedule and fiscal ramifications of finding a suitable replacement for this requirement are not feasible.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

Background/Rationale: Artificial intelligence (AI) model development is playing an important role in advancing our understanding of science. Foundation models (FM), in particular, provide flexibility for developers to pretrain a single model and then customize it for specific downstream tasks. The NASA IMPACT team is developing a foundation model for Geospatial and Climate change applications and is seeking support in designing, building and evaluating the GeoFM to advance and explore a wide range of tasks within these fields.

Date

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****FOR NSSC SAT USE ONLY****

The above justification in pursuant to one of the following (only select one):

☐ - Recommendation and Determination to Solicit from One Source (RDSS): For open market purchases, pursuant to FAR 5.101(a)(1), the proposed contract action will be placed on SAM.gov under the authority of FAR 13.106 - 1(b)(1)(i).

☐ - Recommendation and Determination to Solicit from One Source (RDSS): For open market purchases, pursuant to FAR 5.101(a)(2), the proposed contraction action was not placed on SAM.gov as oral solicitation will be used to solicit quotation under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(c).

☐ - Recommendation and Determination to Solicit from One Source (RDSS): For open market purchases, pursuant to FAR 5.202(a)(2), the proposed contract action is exempt from publication on SAM.gov because the government would be seriously injured if the Agency complies with the time periods specified in FAR 5.203.

☐ - Brand Name Justification (BNJ): For open market purchases, pursuant to FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i), the acquisition of the referenced brand name item is hereby justified. (Under $25,000)

☐ - Brand Name Justification (BNJ): For open market purchases, pursuant to FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i), the acquisition of the referenced brand name item is hereby justified. Pursuant to FAR 5.201, any contract action over $25,000 shall be synopsized in the Government wide Point of Entry (GPE) and the brand name justification must be attached.

☐ - SEWP/IDIQ Brand Name Justification (BNJ): For schedule/IDIQ purchases, pursuant to FAR 16.505(4)(i) (ii), the acquisition of the referenced brand name item(s) is hereby justified. (under $30,000)

☐ - SEWP/IDIQ Brand Name Justification (BNJ): For schedule/IDIQ purchases, pursuant to FAR 16.505(a)(4)(i)(ii)(iii)(A), the acquisition of the referenced brand name item(s) is hereby justified. Any action over $30,000 the brand name shall be posted on the agency website used to solicit offers for orders.

☐ - Limited Source Justification (LSJ) Sole Source: For GSA orders, pursuant to FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B), only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized. Action will be performed against GSA Contract ___________________.

☐ - Limited Source Justification (LSJ) Brand Name: For GSA orders, pursuant to FAR 8.405-6(b), the item is peculiar to one manufacturer. A brand name item, whether available on one or more schedule contracts, is an item peculiar to one manufacturer.

☐ - Exception to Fair Opportunity (EFO): For SEWP orders or orders placed against other IDIQ contracts, under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA) and Pursuant to FAR 16.505(b), exemption under FAR 16.505(b)(2) used is based on the following:

☐ (A) The agency need for the supplies or services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays ☐ (B) Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized.

☐ (C) The order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.

I hereby accept the above stated recommendation and determine that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available.

X Contracting Officer