SoleSourceJustification-OKNInnovationSprint_Signed.pdf

SOLE SOURCE - SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITIONS

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

RECOMMENDATION AND DETERMINATION TO SOLICIT FROM ONE SOURCE

I recommend that NSF negotiate with Knowinnovation only for the Open Knowledge Network Innovation Sprint

I have reviewed other products/services to identify other vendors which might meet NSF’s requirements through one of the following methods:

GSA Schedule Open Market Price Lists

X Previous requirements X Other: Market Research

FAR 19.502-2 requires award to Small Business for supplies or services with an anticipated dollar value exceeding $3,000. If applicable specify why award is being recommended to other than a Small Business.

X No other Small Company can supply the equipment or service The Company does not have a small business distributor that can supply the equipment or service

GSA schedule does not provide the equipment or service from small business Other:

The total estimated cost, including shipping and handling (if applicable), of this effort is $150,000.

This recommendation is made pursuant to FAR 6.302, for circumstances involving unusual and compelling urgency, and FAR 13.106, for the acquisition of supplies or services determined to be reasonably available from only one source. Competition is impractical for the following reasons:

Background Building on the NSF Convergence Accelerator Program’s Open Knowledge Network (Track A), NSF is collaborating with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy seeks to develop an “Innovation Sprint.” The goal of this multi-month effort is to understand the scope of potential opportunities and challenges to develop an Open Knowledge Network (OKN). Participants from government, academia, industry, non-profits and other sectors will work collectively to identify the elements of and lay the foundation for a potentially transformative open knowledge network – an open data infrastructure representing information about real-world objects and relationships among those objects with the potential to fuel discovery, open new research pathways, and support the development of AI resources.

Justification The goal of this Innovation Sprint is to define an overarching road map to develop a proto-OKN. This sprint effort must first deftly work with government colleagues to identify and develop use-cases based on public needs and public data. The sprint will then need to bring together those government agency personnel with academics conducting research on knowledge graphs and ontologies in many topic areas as well as industry professionals with relevant tools and expertise. After use-cases are identified, teams of stakeholders will be brought together and nutured around specific use-case “sprint projects,” to define and refine the challenges and scope of each project idea which will cross multiple disciplines, agencies, and sectors. In June 2022, the sprint teams will be brought together to share what they have learned in a “design” workshop to produce a recommendation road map and final report. The scope of this effort requires a facilitation provider with significant experience managing scientific, research outcomes-driven https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/initiatives/convergence-accelerator/portfolio events and engagements. The service provide must have facilitation experience with engaging stakeholders across multiple disciplines and multisector efforts. KnowInnovation has successfully managed multiple scientific, research-driven events and IdeasLabs for NSF programs in at least four NSF Directorates that have produced well-regarded, actionable outputs.

The NSF Convergence Accelerator is a young program, who is managing the OKN Innovation Sprint, and this OKN Innovation Sprint is a novel effort for NSF. However, it is in many rsespects a scaled up IdeasLab. Knowinnovation has been the exclusive provider of development and support services for the facilitation of past NSF IdeasLabs and that expertise is crucial for this new “sprint” effort. Like IdeasLabs, the OKN Innovation Sprint will bring together a highly multidisciplinary mix of stakeholders. A California State University report on an IdeasLab facilitated by KnowInnovation noted the facilitation expertise needed to “drive lateral thinking and radical approaches”.

A key element of the OKN Innovation Sprint (as was also true with past NSF IdeasLabs) is the careful planning of activities through collaboration meetings between NSF Program Officers and other stakeholders together with Knowinnovation activity managers. The sprint effort must catalyze novel ideas and new productive relationships between stakeholders who have no prior interaction and minimal understanding of each other’s needs and perspectives. This will require careful activity construction and social engagement management. These are key elements of Knowinnvation’s work in IdeasLab pre-activity preparation with NSF.

Facilitation of the multi-month sprint projects requires a multi-faceted collaboration platform that facilitates synchronous and asynchronous engagement among diverse participants. Because the approaches of different sprint teams are expected to evolve over the course of the sprint, KnowInnovation’s proprietary online “KIStorm” platform will be an effective and valuable tool, especially since it’s structure, layout, and access parameters can be easily modified over the course of the sprint activities. This tool will be used to capture insights during each spring exercise and to develop and deliver the proto-OKN road map.

This sprint effort will additionally benefit from an organization that is familiar with the use-oriented goals of the Convergence Accelerator. KnowInnovation has coordinated more than half a dozen “ideation” workshops for the NSF Convergence Accelerator and is familiar with the application-oriented outputs expected by this new program. Roadmaps produced by other KnowInnovation efforts, such as the Reintegrating Biology effort, point to the specific expertise that KnowInnovation also provides in producing outputs that can inform future efforts by NSF.

Finally, the sprint effort is already underway with the kick-off event scheduled to occur Feb. 22-24, 2022.

KnowInnovation has the necessary staff resources available to manage a large initial event followed by a multi-month effort to develop and deliver the proto-OKN road map.

No other comparable contractor has been identified through market research that is able to provide the quick startup for pre-activity planning, the expertise in catalyzing novel ideas and new productive relationships, a collaboration platforme built specifically to facilitate highly interactive engagement and shown to be effective for roadmap ideation, and has the necessary staff resources available.

Pursuant to FAR 5.201, this proposed contract action will be synopsized in FedBizOps. The results received in writing will be added to this document by addendum.

Pursuant to FAR 5.201, the proposed contract action was synopsized. No other firms requested consideration under this procurement.

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

Contracting Officer Date

12/02/2021