SCO-BAA-16-01.pdf

Broad Agency Announcement

Office of the Secretary of Defense

Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO)

SCO-BAA-16-01

17 June 2016

SCO-BAA-16-01 2

Table of Contents

PART I: OVERVIEW INFORMATION

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. Areas of Interest B. Proposal Phases

II. AWARD INFORMATION

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. Eligible Applicants B. Procurement Integrity, Standards of Conduct, Ethical Considerations, and Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCI)

IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

A. Address to Request Application Package B. Content and Form of Application Submission C. Submission Dates and Times D. Other Submission Requirements

V. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

A. Evaluation Criteria B. Review and Selection Process

VI. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

A. Selection Notices B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

C. Reporting

VII. AGENCY CONTACTS

VIII. OTHER INFORMATION

SCO-BAA-16-01 3

PART I: OVERVIEW INFORMATION

• Federal Agency Name: Office of the Secretary of Defense Strategic Capabilities Office

(SCO)

• Funding Opportunity Title: SCO Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)

• Announcement Type: Initial Announcement

• Funding Opportunity Number: SCO-BAA-16-01

• Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers (CFDA): 12.630 - "Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering" Dates o Posting Date: 17 June 2016, o Worksheet Due Date (to be considered for initial funding opportunities): two (2) weeks after posting date, 12:00pm (ET) o BAA Closing Date: 16 June 2021, 12:00pm (ET)

• Concise description of the funding opportunity: The Strategic Capabilities Office of the

Office of the Secretary of Defense is soliciting abstracts and proposals that aligns with its mission to provide cost-effective, strategic alternatives for shaping and countering emerging near peer threats for rapid fielding. Novel concepts are sought in the following focus areas:

Autonomy, Command and Control, Cyber, Sensors, and Weapon Technologies.

• Anticipated individual awards: Multiple awards are anticipated.

• Types of instruments that may be awarded: Procurement contracts

• BAA Email: SCO-BAA-16-01@sco.mil

• BAA Mailing Address:

Strategic Capabilities Office

ATTN: SCO-BAA-16-01

675 North Randolph Street Arlington, VA 22203-2114

• Agency contact o Contracting Officer: Fatimata Diallo o Contracting Agency: Army Research Lab (ARL) o PHONE: 301-394-5501 o EMAIL: fatimata.diallo.civ@mail.mil mailto:SCO-BAA-16-01@sco.mil

SCO-BAA-16-01 4

PART II: FULL TEXT OF ANNOUNCEMENT

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

The Office of the Secretary of Defense – Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) is soliciting proposals for innovative uses of novel concepts that could be rapidly fielded and provide cost-effective, strategic alternatives for shaping and countering emerging near peer threats.

The SCO’s mission is to identify, analyze, demonstrate and transition game-changing applications of novel concepts to shape and counter emerging threats and to demonstrate innovative prototypes in the near term, leading to additional capabilities for the warfighter. In addition, SCO combines capability innovation with concepts of operation and information management to develop novel concepts often crossing Service, Defense-Intelligence, and multi-classification divides.

A. Areas of Interest

SCO is interested in submissions aligned to their mission that provide advanced capabilities in the following primary categories: Autonomy, Command, Control, Communications, Computers & Intelligence (C4I), Cyber, Sensors and Weapons Technologies. The subcategories listed under each primary category represent areas of interest, but are not exhaustive. Vendors may submit proposals that fall under one of the primary categories, but does not fall under any of the listed subcategories.

• Autonomy o Improved Human/Autonomous System Interaction and Collaboration (HASIC) solutions for ground, sea and air vehicles o Manned/unmanned Army ground vehicle collaboration that reduces risk to mission or risk to force o Manned/unmanned tactical aircraft collaboration that improves targeting or weapon magazine depth for 5th gen aircraft

• Command, Control, Communications, Computers & Intelligence (C4I) o Human Computer Interfaces (HCI), including augmented reality sensors, for enhancing Soldier situational awareness by combining disparate data sources into one visual workspace o Commercial technology that enables secure communications for Army ground vehicles or dismounts o Low probability of intercept, low probability of detection (LPI/LPD) communication waveforms and architectures for air, land, or sea platforms o Supercomputing tools that support semantic processing

• Cyber o Network protection tools that provide ways to identify network vulnerabilities and provide automated operational security capabilities

• Sensors o Radio Frequency (RF) or Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) components for sensing and fusing air, land, or surface threat data

• Weapons Technologies o Alternative Guidance, Navigation & Control (GN&C) and data link options for air and undersea weapons

SCO-BAA-16-01 5

o Alternative undersea weapons concepts, including air-delivered lightweight torpedo concepts o Rapid prototyping concepts using additive manufacturing techniques o Alternative warhead designs

B. Contract Phases

Proposals must include two (2) phases as described below:

• Phase I (six-twelve months): Detailed analysis, through modeling and simulation or other technical means, to prove feasibility of the proposed advanced warfighting innovative concept with an interim report at four, six and eight months and final report at twelve months.

The objective is for the proposed system concept to have applications across military services or Defense/Intelligence operations.

• Phase II (24 months): Upon successfully completing Phase I and subject to the availability of funds, the proposal should identify the technical challenges of designing and fielding the improved system. The proposal should identify an approach to overcome the technical challenges. The proposal should identify a concept of operational risk factors. The proposal should provide an estimate of the hardware/software system and life cycle cost. The proposal should provide a high level timeline to execute the proposed innovation through design, test and in-field demonstrations.

II. BAA worksheets that are in compliance with the requirements of this BAA (see section IV APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION) will be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation factor 1 (Technical) set forth in this BAA. Offerors submitting successful BAA worksheets will be invited to submit abstracts.

III. Abstracts that are in compliance with the requirements of this BAA (IV APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION) will be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation factors 1 (Technical) set forth in this BAA. Offerors submitting successful Abstracts will be invited to submit Proposals.

IV. Proposals that are in compliance with the requirements of this BAA (IV APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION) will be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation factors 1, 2, and 3 (Technical, Past Performance, and Cost) set forth in this BAA.

This Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) is being issued, and any resultant selection will be made, using procedures under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 35.016. Any negotiations

SCO-BAA-16-01 6

and/or awards will use procedures under FAR 15.4. Worksheets, Abstracts and Proposals received as a result of this BAA shall be evaluated in accordance with evaluation criteria specified herein through a scientific and engineering peer review process. Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) BAAs are posted on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website (https://www.fbo.gov/). The following information is for those wishing to respond to the BAA.

https://www.fbo.gov/

SCO-BAA-16-01 7

V. AWARD INFORMATION

SCO anticipates funding a limited number of proposals under this announcement. The level of funding has not been predetermined and will depend on the quality of the proposals and the availability of funds. Awards will be made to proposers whose proposals are determined to be the most advantageous and provide the best value to the Government, all factors considered, including the potential contributions of the proposed work, overall funding strategy, and availability of funding (reference Section VIII. A below).

The Government reserves the right to

- select for negotiation all, some, one, or none of the proposals received in response to this announcement;

- accept proposals in their entirety or to select only portions of proposals for award;

- fund proposals in increments and/or with options for continued work at the end of one or more phases;

- remove proposers from award consideration should the parties fail to reach agreement on award terms within a reasonable time or the proposer fails to provide requested additional information in a timely manner.

Proposals selected for award negotiation may result in a procurement contract. In all cases, the Government contracting officer shall have sole discretion to select award contract type and to negotiate all contract terms and conditions with selectees. Publication or other restrictions will be applied, as necessary, if SCO determines that the research resulting from the proposed effort will present a high likelihood of disclosing performance characteristics of military systems or manufacturing technologies that are unique and critical to defense. Any award resulting from such a determination will include a requirement for SCO permission before publishing any information or results on the program.

SCO-BAA-16-01 8

VI. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. Eligible Applicants

All responsible sources capable of satisfying the Government's needs may submit a proposal that shall be considered by OSD (SCO). Performance of these efforts may require a Secret or higher facility clearance/storage capabilities. Also, access to accredited facilities and systems to process information at these classification levels may also be required.

B. FAPIIS Disclosures

i. The Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) will be checked prior to making an award. The web address is: http://www.fapiis.gov/fapiis/index.jsp.

The applicant representing the entity may comment in this system on any information about itself that a Federal Government Official entered. The information in FAPIIS will be used in making a judgment about the entity’s integrity, business ethics, and record of performance under Federal awards that may affect the official’s determination that the applicant is qualified to receive an award.

ii. 52.209-11 –Representation by Corporations Regarding Delinquent Tax Liability or a Felony Conviction under any Federal Law (Feb 2016)

(a) As required by sections 744 and 745 of Division E of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L 113-235), and similar provisions, if contained in subsequent appropriations acts, the Government will not enter into a contract with any corporation that--

(1) Has any unpaid Federal tax liability that has been assessed, for which all judicial and administrative remedies have been exhausted or have lapsed, and that is not being paid in a timely manner pursuant to an agreement with the authority responsible for collecting the tax liability, where the awarding agency is aware of the unpaid tax liability, unless an agency has considered suspension or debarment of the corporation and made a determination that suspension or debarment is not necessary to protect the interests of the Government; or

(2) Was convicted of a felony criminal violation under any Federal law within the preceding 24 months, where the awarding agency is aware of the conviction, unless an agency has considered suspension or debarment of the corporation and made a determination that this action is not necessary to protect the interests of the Government.

(b) The Offeror represents that—

(1) It is [ ] is not [ ] a corporation that has any unpaid Federal tax liability that has been assessed, for which all judicial and administrative remedies have been exhausted or have lapsed, and that is not being paid in a timely manner pursuant to an agreement with the authority responsible for collecting the tax liability; and

(2) It is [ ] is not [ ] a corporation that was convicted of a felony criminal violation under a Federal law within the preceding 24 months.

(End of provision)

SCO-BAA-16-01 9

iii. 252.209-7992 Representation by Corporations Regarding an Unpaid Delinquent Tax Liability or a Felony Conviction under any Federal Law- Fiscal Year 2015 Appropriations.

See DoD Class Deviation 2015-O0005, Prohibition Against Using FY 2015 Funds to Contract with Corporations that Have an Unpaid Delinquent Tax Liability or a Felony Conviction under Federal Law, issued December 29, 2014. Contracting officers shall include the attached provision in all solicitations that will use funds made available by the Consolidated and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235}, including solicitations for the acquisition of commercial items under FAR part 12.

REPRESENTATION BY CORPORATIONS REGARDING AN UNPAID

DELINQUENT TAX LIABILITY OR A FELONY CONVICTION UNDER ANY

FEDERAL LAW-FISCAL YEAR 2015 APPROPRIATIONS

(DEVIATION 2015-O0005) (DEC 2014)

(a) In accordance with sections 744 and 745 of Division E, Title VII, of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235), none of the funds made available by this or any other Act may be used to enter into a contract with any corporation that-

(1) Has any unpaid Federal tax liability that has been assessed, for which all judicial and administrative remedies have been exhausted or have lapsed, and that is not being paid in a timely manner pursuant to an agreement with the authority responsible for collecting the tax liability, where the awarding agency is aware of the unpaid tax liability, unless the agency has considered suspension or debarment of the corporation and made a determination that this further action is not necessary to protect the interests of the Government; or

(2) Was convicted of a felony criminal violation under any Federal law within the preceding 24 months, where the awarding agency is aware of the conviction, unless the agency has considered suspension or debarment of the corporation and made a determination that this action is not necessary to protect the interests of the Government.

(b) The Offeror represents that-

(1) It is [] is not [] a corporation that has any unpaid Federal tax liability that has been assessed, for which all judicial and administrative remedies have been exhausted or have lapsed, and that is not being paid in a timely manner pursuant to an agreement with the authority responsible for collecting the tax liability,

(2) It is [] is not [] a corporation that was convicted of a felony criminal violation under a Federal law within the preceding 24 months.

C. Procurement Integrity, Standards of Conduct, Ethical Considerations, and Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCI)

Current Federal employees are prohibited from participating in particular matters involving conflicting financial, employment, and representational interests (18 U.S.C. §§ 203, 205, and 208). Prior to the start of proposal evaluation, the Government will assess potential conflicts of interest (COIs) and will promptly notify the proposer if any appear to exist. The Government

SCO-BAA-16-01 10

assessment does not affect, offset, or mitigate the proposer’s responsibility to give full notice and planned mitigation for all potential organizational conflicts, as discussed below.

In accordance with FAR 9.5 and without prior approval or a waiver from the SCO Director, a contractor cannot simultaneously provide scientific, engineering, and technical assistance (SETA) or similar support and be a technical performer. As part of the proposal submission (not required for abstracts), all members of a proposed team (prime proposers, proposed subcontractors and consultants) must affirm whether they (individuals and organizations) are providing SETA or similar support to SCO through an active contract or subcontract.

All facts relevant to the existence or potential existence of OCIs must be disclosed. The disclosure shall include a description of the action the proposer has taken or proposes to take to avoid, neutralize, or mitigate such conflict. If, in the sole opinion of the Government after full consideration of the circumstances, a proposal fails to fully disclose potential conflicts of interest and/or any identified conflict situation cannot be effectively mitigated, the proposal will be rejected without technical evaluation and withdrawn from further consideration for award.

If a prospective proposer believes a conflict of interest exists or may exist (whether organizational or otherwise) or has a question as to what constitutes a conflict, a summary of the potential conflict should be sent to SCO-BAA-16-01@sco.mil before preparing a proposal and mitigation plan.

SCO-BAA-16-01 11

VII. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

A. Address to Request Application Package

This document contains all information required to submit a response to this BAA. No additional forms, kits, or other materials are needed except as referenced herein. No request for proposal (RFP) or additional announcement regarding this opportunity will be issued.

Federal Business Opportunities website (www.fbo.gov) contains the BAA. The proposer may request that SCO mail a copy of the BAA.

Worksheet submissions that are successful will receive abstract and proposal submission information.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

1. The application process is in three (3) stages as follows:

Stage1: In order to conserve valuable offeror and Government resources and to facilitate determining whether a proposed research idea meets the guidelines described herein, prospective offerors contemplating submission of an abstract or proposal are required to submit a Broad Area Announcement Worksheet to the BAA Coordinator at BAA-16-01@sco.mil. Successful BAA Worksheets will be invited to submit Abstracts. A favorable response to a BAA Worksheet is not an assurance that an Abstract on the worksheet’s topic will be selected.

Stage2: Abstracts— Abstracts that are in compliance with the requirements of this BAA (see section IV APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION) will be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation factor 1 (Technical) set forth in this BAA. The purpose of the requesting abstracts is to minimize the labor and cost associated with the production of detailed proposals that have very little chance of being selected for funding. The abstract shall provide a synopsis of the proposed project, including brief answers to the following questions:

o What is your novel concept?

o How will this meet the timeline for demonstration in PART II; I; B (contract phases)?

o What new and novel capabilities will the novel concept bring to the warfighter?

o Who is the potential transition partner?

o How much will it cost and what is the projected cost across its life cycle?

o How rapidly can the enhancement be fielded?

Successful Abstracts will be invited to submit Proposals. Abstracts that are not determined to be relevant to SCO will receive a “No Interest” letter. Responses will be sent by email to the point of contact listed on the cover sheet and SCO will make every effort to return responses within 30 days. A favorable response to an abstract is not an assurance that a full proposal on the abstract’s topic will ultimately be selected for award negotiation.

NOTE: If an offeror is discouraged from providing a full proposal after the Stage 2 review of Abstracts, the offeror should understand that the proposed research has such a negligible chance of being funded as to be considered a poor use of resources to submit a full proposal.

SCO-BAA-16-01 12

Stage 3 Full Proposals—After Stage 2 reviews are completed, and an offeror has received an invitation to submit a proposal, the offeror should submit full proposal in accordance with the requirements set forth in this BAA.

NOTE: Full proposals must be submitted in order for the offeror to receive consideration for funding.

Worksheet Format: See Appendix A

Abstract Format: Abstracts shall not exceed a maximum of six (6) pages including the cover sheet and all figures, tables, and charts. All pages shall be formatted for printing on 8‐1/2 by 11 inch paper with 1‐inch margins and font size not smaller than 11 point. Font sizes of 8 or 10 point may be used for figures, tables, and charts. Document files must be in .odx, .doc, .docx, .xls, or .xlsx formats. Submissions must be written in English.

Abstracts must include the following components:

- Cover Sheet: Provide the administrative and technical points of contact (name, address, phone, email, lead organization). Include the BAA number, title of the proposed project, primary subcontractors, estimated cost, duration of the project, and the label “Abstract.”

- Technical Plan: Describe clearly what is being proposed and what difference it will make (qualitatively and quantitatively) if successful. Outline and address all technical challenges inherent in the approach and possible solutions for overcoming potential problems. Describe the innovative aspects of the project in the context of novel capabilities and approaches.

- Statement of Work, Cost and Schedule: Provide the principal work activities, appropriate specific milestones (quantitative, if possible) at intermediate stages of the project to demonstrate progress, and a brief plan for accomplishment of the milestones.

Provide a cost estimate for resources over the proposed timeline of the project.

2. Proposals

Proposals consist of Volume 1: Technical and Management Proposal (including mandatory Appendix A) and Volume 2: Cost Proposal.

Proposers are encouraged to submit concise, but descriptive, proposals. Specific examples of problems, approaches, or goals are preferred to qualitative generalities. Information incorporated into Volume 2: Cost Proposal which is not related to cost will not be considered.

All pages shall be formatted for printing on 8‐1/2 by 11‐inch paper with 1‐inch margins, single‐ line spacing, and a font size not smaller than 12 point. Font sizes of 8 or 10 point may be used for figures, tables, and charts. Document files must be in .odx, .doc, .docx, .xls, or .xlsx formats.

Submissions must be written in English.

Proposals not meeting the format prescribed herein may not be reviewed.

a. Volume 1: Technical and Management Proposal

SCO-BAA-16-01 13

Volume 1 must include the following components:

i. Cover Sheet: Include the following information.

- Label: “Volume 1: Technical and Management Proposal”

- BAA number (SCO‐BAA‐16‐01)

- Proposal title

- Lead organization (prime contractor) name

- Technical point of contact (POC) including name, mailing address, telephone, and email

- Administrative POC including name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address

- Place(s) and period(s) of performance

- Other team member (subcontractors and consultants) information

- Proposal validity period (minimum 120 days)

- Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code

- Proposer’s reference number (if any)

ii. Table of Contents: Proposals must include a Table of Contents (TOC). The order of the contents within the proposal and the level of details of the TOC is at the discretion of the proposer.

iii. Executive Summary: Provide a synopsis of the proposed project, including answers to the following questions:

o What are your novel concepts?

o How will this meet the timeline for demonstration in PART II; I; B (Contract

Phases)?

o What new and novel capabilities will the novel concepts bring to the warfighter?

o Who is the potential transition partner?

o How much will it cost, what is the projected cost across its life cycle?

o How rapidly can the enhancement be fielded?

The executive summary should include a description of the key technical challenges, a concise review of the technologies proposed to overcome these challenges and achieve the project’s goal, and a clear statement of the novelty and uniqueness of the proposed work. If applicable, identify other Government solicitations to which this technology has been proposed and whether a funding decision is still pending.

iv. Goals and Impact: Describe what the proposed team is trying to achieve and the difference it will make (qualitatively and quantitatively) if successful. Describe the innovative aspects of the project in the context of novel capabilities and approaches, clearly delineating the uniqueness and benefits of this project in the context of the state of the art, alternative approaches, and other projects from the past and present. Describe how the proposed project is revolutionary.

Describe the deliverables associated with the proposals and any plans to transition it to a customer or further the work. Discuss the mitigation of any issues related to sustainment of the technology over its entire lifecycle, assuming the technology transition plan is successful.

SCO-BAA-16-01 14

v. Technical Plan: Outline and address technical and systems challenges inherent in the approach and possible solutions for overcoming potential problems. Demonstrate a deep understanding of the challenges and present a credible (even if risky) plan to achieve the project’s goal. Discuss mitigation of technical risk. Provide appropriate measurable milestones (quantitative if possible) at intermediate stages of the project to demonstrate progress, and a plan for achieving the milestones.

vi. Management Plan: Provide a summary of expertise of the proposed team, including any subcontractors/consultants and key personnel who will be executing the work. Identify a principal investigator (PI) for the project. Provide a clear description of the team’s organization including an organization chart that includes, as applicable, the relationship of team members; unique capabilities of team members; task responsibilities of team members; teaming strategy among the team members; and key personnel with the amount of effort to be expended by each person during the project. Provide a detailed plan for coordination including explicit guidelines for interaction among collaborators/subcontractors of the proposed project. Include risk management approaches.

Describe any formal teaming agreements that are required to execute this project. List Government‐furnished materials or data assumed to be available.

vii. Personnel, Qualifications, and Commitments: List key personnel (no more than one page per person), showing a concise summary of their qualifications, discussion of previous accomplishments, and work in this or closely related research areas. Indicate the level of effort in terms of hours to be expended by each person during each contract year and other (current and proposed) major sources of support for them and/or commitments of their efforts. SCO expects all key personnel associated with a proposal to make substantial time commitment to the proposed activity and the proposal will be evaluated accordingly. It is SCO’s intention to put key personnel conditions into the awards, so proposers should not propose personnel that are not anticipated to execute the award.

Also include a table of key individual time commitments as follows:

Key Individual

Project Status (Current, Pending, Proposed)

2017 2018 2019

Name 1

Proposed SCO Project

Proposed xx hours xx hours xx hours

Project Name 1

Current n/a n/a n/a

Project Name 2

Pending xx hours n/a n/a

Individual Name 2

Proposed SCO Project

Proposed n/a xx hours xx hours

SCO-BAA-16-01 15

viii. Capabilities: Describe organizational experience in relevant subject area(s), existing intellectual property, or specialized facilities. Discuss any work in closely related research areas and previous accomplishments.

ix. Statement of Work (SOW): The SOW must provide a detailed task breakdown, citing specific tasks and their connection to the interim milestones and metrics, as applicable.

Each year of the project should be separately defined. The SOW must not include proprietary information. For each defined task/subtask, provide the following five sections:

1) A general description of the objective.

2) A detailed description of the approach to be taken to accomplish each defined task/subtask.

3) Identification of the primary organization responsible for task execution (prime contractor, subcontractor(s), consultant(s)), by name.

4) A measurable milestone, (e.g., a deliverable, demonstration, or other vent/activity that marks task completion).

5) A definition of all deliverables (e.g., data, reports, software) to be provided to the

Government in support of the proposed tasks/subtasks.

x. Schedule and Milestones: Provide a detailed schedule showing tasks (task name, duration, work breakdown structure element as applicable, performing organization), milestones, and the interrelationships among tasks. The task structure must be consistent with that in the SOW. Measurable milestones should be clearly articulated and defined in time relative to the start of the project.

xi. Appendix A: This section is mandatory and must include all of the following components.

If a particular subsection is not applicable, state “NONE”.

1) Team Member Identification: Provide a list of all team members including the prime, subcontractor(s), and consultant(s), as applicable. Identify specifically whether any are a non‐US organization or individual, FFRDC and/or Government entity. Use the following format for this list:

Name

Role (Prime, Subcontractor or Consultant)

Organization Non-US?

Org. | Ind.

FFRDC or Govt?

2) Organizational Conflict of Interest Affirmations and Disclosure: If none of the proposed team members is currently providing SETA or similar support as described in Section III.B, state “NONE”.

SCO-BAA-16-01 16

If any of the proposed team members (individual or organization) is currently performing SETA or similar support, furnish the following information:

Prime Contract Number A description of the action the proposer has taken or proposes to take to avoid, neutralize, or mitigate the conflict

3) Intellectual Property (IP): If no IP restrictions are intended, state “NONE”. The

Government will assume unlimited rights to all IP not explicitly identified as having less than unlimited rights in the proposal.

For all technical data or computer software that will be furnished to the Government with other than unlimited rights, provide (per Section VI.B.1) a list describing all proprietary claims to results, prototypes, deliverables or systems supporting and/or necessary for the use of the research, results, prototypes and/or deliverables. Provide documentation proving ownership or possession of appropriate licensing rights to all patented inventions (or inventions for which a patent application has been filed) to be used for the proposed project.

Use the following format for these lists:

NONCOMMERCIAL

Technical Data and/or Computer Software To be Furnished With Restrictions

Summary of Intended Use in the Conduct of the Research

Basis for Assertion

Asserted Rights Category

Name of Person Asserting

(List) (Narrative) (List) (List) (List)

COMMERCIAL

Technical Data and/or Computer Software To be Furnished With

Summary of Intended Use in the Conduct of the Research

Basis for Assertion

Asserted Rights Category

Name of Person Asserting

4) Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) Notices and Certification: Per Section VI.B.10, any proposer who submits a proposal which, if accepted, will result in a CAS-compliant contract, must include a Disclosure Statement as required by 48 CFR

SCO-BAA-16-01 17

9903.202. The disclosure forms may be found at

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/procurement_casb.

If this section is not applicable, state “NONE”.

b. Volume 2 ‐ Cost Proposal

This volume must include all the listed components. No page limit is specified for this volume.

The cost proposal should include a working spreadsheet file (.xls) that provides formula traceability among all components of the cost proposal. The spreadsheet file should be included as a separate component of the full proposal package. Costs must be traceable between the prime and subcontractors/consultants, as well as between the cost proposal and the SOW.

Pre‐award costs will not be reimbursed unless a pre‐award cost agreement is negotiated prior to award.

i. Cover Sheet: Include the same information as the cover sheet for Volume 1, but with the label “Volume 2: Cost Proposal”

ii. Cost Summary: Provide a single‐page summary broken down by fiscal year listing cost totals for labor, materials, other direct charges (ODCs), indirect costs (overhead, fringe, general and administrative (G&A), etc.), and any proposed fee for the project. Include costs for each task in each year of the project by prime and major subcontractors, total cost and proposed cost share, if applicable.

iii. DCAA-Accepted Accounting System

A) Before a contract can be awarded, the Contracting Officer must confirm that the offeror has a Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA)-accepted accounting system in place for accumulating and billing costs under Government contracts [FAR 53.209-1(f)]. If the offeror has DCAA correspondence, which documents the acceptance of their accounting system, this should be provided to the Contracting Officer (i.e. attached or referenced in the proposal). Otherwise, the Contracting Officer will submit an inquiry directly to the appropriate DCAA office and request a review of the offeror’s accounting system.

B) If an offeror does not have a DCAA-accepted accounting system in place, the DCAA review process can take several months depending upon the availability of the DCAA auditors and the offeror’s internal processes. This will cause a delay in contract award.

C) For more information about cost proposals and accounting standards, view the link titled “Information for Contractors” on the main menu on their website.

iv. Field Pricing Assistance http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/procurement_casb

SCO-BAA-16-01 18

During the pre-award cost audit process, the Contracting Officer will solicit support from DCAA to determine commerciality and price reasonableness of the proposal [FAR 15.404-2].

Any proprietary information or reports obtained from DCAA field audits will be appropriately identified and protected within the Government.

v. Sample Cost Proposal – “Piece by Piece”

A) To help guide offerors through the pre-award cost audit process, a sample cost proposal is detailed below. This sample also allows the offeror to see exactly what the Government is looking for; therefore, all cost and pricing back-up data can be provided to the Government in the first cost proposal submission. Review each cost element within the proposal, and take note of the types of documentation that the Contracting Officer will require from the offeror.

B) Direct Labor: The first cost element included in the cost proposal is Direct Labor. The Department of Defense (DoD) requires each proposed employee to be listed by name and labor category.

Below is the Direct Labor as proposed by our sample offeror:

DIRECT LABOR YEAR 1 YEAR 2

Employee Name

Labor Category

Direct Hourly Rate

Hours Total Direct Labor

Direct Hourly Rate

Hours Total Direct Labor

Andy Smith

Program Manager

$55.00 720.00 $39,600.00 $56.65 720.00 $40,788.00

Bryan Andrew

Senior Engineer

$40.00 672.00 $26,880.00 $41.20 672.00 $27,686.40

Cindy Thomas

Principal Engineer

$50.00 512.00 $25,600.00 $51.50 512.00 $26,368.00

David Porter

Entry Level Engineer

$10.00 400.00 $4,000.00 $10.30 400.00 $4,120.00

Edward Bean

Project Administrator

$25.00 48.00 $1,200.00 $25.75 48.00 $1,236.00

Subtotal Direct Labor

(DL)

$97,280.00 $100,198.40

1) For this cost element, the Contracting Officer requires the offeror to provide adequate documentation in order to determine that each labor rate for each

SCO-BAA-16-01 19

employee/labor category is fair and reasonable. The documentation will need to explain how these labor rates were derived. For example, if the rates are DCAA approved labor rates, provide the Contracting Officer with copies of the DCAA documents stating the approval. This is the most acceptable means of documentation to determine the rates fair and reasonable. Other types of supporting documentation may include General Service Administration (GSA) contract price lists, actual payroll journals, or Salary.com research. If an employee listed in a cost proposal is not a current employee (maybe a new employee, or one contingent upon the award of this contract), a copy of the offer letter stating the hourly rate - signed and accepted by the employee - may be provided as adequate documentation. Sometimes the hourly rates listed in a proposal are derived through subjective processes, i.e., blending of multiple employees in one labor category, or averaged over the course of the year to include scheduled payroll increases, etc. These situations should be clearly documented for the Contracting Officer.

2) Another cost element in Direct Labor is labor escalation, or the increase in labor rates from Year 1 to Year 2. In the example above, the proposed labor escalation is 3% (ex., Andy Smith increased from $55.00/hr in Year 1, by 3% to $56.65/hr in Year 2). Often times, an offeror may not propose escalation on labor rates during a 24-month period. Whatever the proposed escalation rate is, please be prepared to explain why it is fair and reasonable [ex., A sufficient explanation for our sample escalation rate would be the Government’s General Schedule Increase and Locality Pay for the same time period (name FY) in the same location (name location) was published as 3.5%, therefore a 3% increase is fair and reasonable].

C) Other Direct Costs (ODCs): This section of the cost proposal includes all other directly related costs required in support of the effort i.e., materials, subcontractors, consultants, travel, etc. Any cost element that includes various items will need to be detailed in a cost breakdown to the Contracting Officer.

1) Direct Material Costs: This subsection of the cost proposal will include any special tooling, test equipment, and material costs necessary to perform the project. Items included in this section will be carefully reviewed relative to need and appropriateness for the work proposed, and must, in the opinion of the Contracting Officer, be advantageous to the Government and directly related to the specific topic.

a) The Contracting Officer will require adequate documentation from the offeror to determine the cost reasonableness for each material cost proposed. The following methods are ways in which the Contracting Officer can determine this

[FAR 15.403-1].

i) Adequate Price Competition. A price is based on adequate price competition when the offeror solicits and receives quotes from two or more responsible vendors for the same or similar items or services. Based on these quotes, the offeror selects the vendor who represents the best value to the Government.

SCO-BAA-16-01 20

The offeror will be required to provide copies of all vendor quotes received to the Contracting Officer.

Note: Price competition is not required for items at or below the micropurchase threshold ($3,000) [FAR 15.403-1]. If an item’s unit cost is less than or equal to $3,000, price competition is not necessary. However, if an item’s total cost over the period of performance (unit cost * quantity is higher than $3,000, two or more quotes must be obtained by the offeror.

ii) Commercial Prices. Commercial prices are those published on current price lists, catalogs, or market prices. This includes vendors who have prices published on a GSA-schedule contract. The offeror will be required to provide copies of such price lists to the Contracting Officer.

iii) Prices set by law or regulation. If a price is mandated by the Government

(i.e. pronouncements in the form of periodic rulings, reviews, or similar actions of a governmental body, or embodied in the laws) that is sufficient to set a price.

b) Below is the list of Direct Material costs included in our sample proposal:

DIRECT MATERIAL COSTS: YEAR 1 YEAR 2

Raw Materials $35,000.00 $12,000.00

Computer for experiments $4,215.00 $0.00

Cable (item #12-3657, 300 ft) $1,275.00 $0.00

Software $1,825.00 $1,825.00

Subtotal Direct Materials Costs (DM): $42,315.00 $13,825.00

ii) “Raw Materials”: This is a generic label used to group many material items into one cost item within the proposal. The Contracts Officer will require a detailed breakout of all the items that make up this cost. For each separate item over $3,000 (total for Year 1 + Year 2), the offeror must be able to provide either competitive quotes received, or show that published pricing was used.

iii) “Computer for experiments”: Again, this item is most likely a grouping of several components that make up one system. The Contracts Officer will require a detailed breakout of all the items that make up this cost. For each separate item over $3,000 (total for Year 1 + Year 2), the offeror must be able to provide either competitive quotes received, or show that published pricing was used.

iv) “Cable”: Since this item is under the simplified acquisition threshold of

$3,000, competitive quotes or published pricing are not required. Simply

SCO-BAA-16-01 21

provide documentation to show the Contracting Officer where this price came from.

v) “Software”: This cost item could include either one software product, or multiple products. If this includes a price for multiple items, please provide the detailed cost breakdown.

Note: The price for Year 1 ($1,825) is below the simplified acquisition threshold; however, in total (Year 1 + Year 2) the price is over $3,000, so competitive quotes or published pricing documentation must be provided.

c) Due to the specialized types of products and services necessary to perform these projects, it may not always be possible to obtain competitive quotes from more than one reliable source. Each cost element over the simplified acquisition threshold ($3,000) must be substantiated. There is always an explanation for HOW the cost of an item was derived; show us how you came up with that price!

d) When it is not possible for an offeror to obtain a vendor price through competitive quotes or published price lists, a Contracting Officer may accept other methods to determine cost reasonableness. Below are some examples of other documentation, which the Contracting Officer may accept to substantiate costs:

i) Evidence that a vendor/supplier charged another offeror a similar price for similar services. Has the vendor charged someone else for the same product?

(Two (2) to three (3) invoices from that vendor to different customers may be used as evidence.)

ii) Previous contract prices. Has the offeror charged the Government a similar price under another Government contract for similar services? If the Government has already paid a certain price for services, then that price may already be considered fair and reasonable. (Provide the contract number, and billing rates for reference.)

iii) DCAA approved. Has DCAA already accepted or verified specific cost items included in your proposal? (Provide a copy of DCAA correspondence that addressed these costs.)

2) Below is the remaining ODC portion of our proposal including equipment, subcontractors, consultants, and travel. Assume in this scenario that competitive quotes or catalog prices were not available for these items:

OTHER DIRECT COSTS: YEAR 1 YEAR 2

Equipment Rental for Analysis $5,500.00 $5,600.00

Subcontractor – Lockheed $25,000.00 $0.00

Consultant: John Bowers $0.00 $12,000.00

SCO-BAA-16-01 22

Travel $1,250.00 $1,250.00

Subtotal Other Direct Costs (ODC): $31,750.00 $18,850.00

a) “Equipment Rental for Analysis”: The offeror explains that the Year 1 cost of $5,500 is based upon 250 hours of equipment rental at an hourly rate of $22.00/hr. One (1) invoice from the vendor charging another vendor the same price for the same service is provided to the Contracting Officer as evidence.

Since this cost is over the simplified acquisition threshold, further documentation to determine cost reasonableness is required. The offeror is able to furnish another invoice charging a second vendor the same price for the same service.

b) “Subcontractor – Widget, Inc.”: The offeror provides a copy of the subcontractor quote to the Contracting Officer in support of the $25,000 cost.

This subcontractor quote must include sufficient detailed information (equivalent to the data included in the prime’s proposal to the Government), so that the Contracting Officer can make a determination of cost reasonableness.

i) As stated in Section 3.5(c)(6) of the DoD Cost Proposal guidance, “All subcontractor costs and consultant costs must be detailed at the same level as prime contractor costs in regards to labor, travel, equipment, etc. Provide detailed substantiation of subcontractor costs in your cost proposal.”

ii) In accordance with FAR 15.404-3, “the Contracting Officer is responsible for the determination of price reasonableness for the prime contract, including subcontracting costs”. This means that the subcontractor’s quote/proposal may be subject to the same scrutiny by the Contracting Officer as the cost proposal submitted by the prime. The Contracting Officer will need to determine whether the subcontractor has an accepted purchasing system in place and/or conduct appropriate cost or price analyses to establish the reasonableness of proposed subcontract prices. Due to the proprietary nature of cost data, the Subcontractor may choose to submit their pricing information directly to the Contracting Officer and not through the prime. This is understood and encouraged.

iii) When a subcontractor is selected to provide support under the prime contract due to their specialized experience, the Contracting Officer may request sole source justification from the offeror.

c) “Consultant – John Bowers”: Again, the offeror shall provide a copy of the consultant’s quote to the Contracting Officer as evidence. In this example, the consultant will be charging an hourly rate of $125 an hour for 96 hours of support. The offeror indicates to the Contracting Officer that this particular consultant was used on a previous contract with the Government (provide contract number), and will be charging the same rate. A copy of the

SCO-BAA-16-01 23

consultant’s invoice to the offeror under the prior contract is available as supporting evidence. Since the Government has paid this price for the same services in the past, determination has already been made that the price is fair.

d) “Travel”: The Contracting Officer will require a detailed cost breakdown for travel expenses to determine whether the total cost is reasonable based on Government per diem and mileage rates. This breakdown shall include the number of trips, the destinations, and the number of travelers. It will also need to include the estimated airfare per round trip, estimated car rental, lodging rate per trip, tax on lodging, and per diem rate per trip. The lodging and per diem rates must coincide with the Joint Travel Regulations. Please see the following website to determine the appropriate lodging and per diem rates: http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/ . Additionally, the offeror must provide why the airfare is fair and reasonable as well. Sufficient back up for both airfare and car rental would include print outs of online research at the various travel search engines (Expedia, Travelocity, etc.) documenting the prices for airfare and car rentals thus proving why your chosen rate is fair and reasonable.

i) Below is a sample of the travel portion:

TRAVEL

Trips Travelers Nights Days Unit Cost Total Travel

Airfare per roundtrip

1 1 $996.00 $996.00

Lodging per day 1 1 1 $75.00 $75.00

Tax on

Lodging

(12%) per day 1 1 1 $9.00 $9.00

Per Diem per day 1 1 2 $44.00 $88.00

Automobile 2

Rental per day 1 1 $41.00 $82.00

Subtotal Travel

$1,250.00

D) Indirect Rates: Indirect rates include elements such as Fringe Benefits, General &

Administrative (G&A), Overhead, and Material Handling costs. The offeror shall indicate in the cost proposal both the indirect rates (as a percentage) as well as how those rates are allocated to the costs in the proposal.

SCO-BAA-16-01 24

Below is the Indirect portion of our sample proposal:

INDIRECTS YEAR 1 YEAR 2

Subtotal Direct Labor (DL): $97,280.00 $100,198.40

Fringe Benefits, if not included in Overhead, rate

(15.0000 %) X DL =

$14,592.00

$15,029.76

Labor Overhead (rate 45.0000 %) X (DL + Fringe) =

$50,342.40

$51,852.67

Total Direct Labor (TDL): $162,214.40 $167,080.83

1) In this example, the offeror includes a Fringe Benefit rate of 15.00% that it allocated to the Direct Labor costs. They also propose a Labor Overhead rate of 45.00% that is allocated to the Direct Labor costs plus the Fringe Benefits.

2) All indirect rates and the allocation methods of those rates must be verified by the Contracting Officer. In most cases, DCAA documentation supporting the indirect rates and allocation methods can be obtained through a DCAA field audit or proposal review. Many offerors have already completed such reviews and have this documentation readily available. If an offeror is unable to participate in a DCAA review to substantiate indirect rates, the Contracting Officer may request other accounting data from the offeror to make a determination.

E.) Cost of Money (COM): If Cost of Money (an imputed cost that is not a form of interest on borrowings (see FAR 31.205-20); an “incurred cost” for cost-reimbursement purposes under applicable cost-reimbursement contracts and for progress payment purposes under fixed-price contracts; and refers to— (1) Facilities capital cost of money (48 CFR 9904.414); and (2) Cost of money as an element of the cost of capital assets under construction (48 CFR 9904.417)) is proposed in accordance with FAR 31.205-10, a DD Form 1861 is required to be completed and submitted with the contractor’s proposal.

F.) Fee/Profit: The proposed fee…