Amendment 0003 W911SR24RRAPID QA.xlsx

XLSX spreadsheet 27 KB Posted Apr 26, 2024

Attached to: Rapid Access to Products in Development (RAPID) Request for Project Proposals (RPP)
Solicitation number: W911SR249RAPID
Issued by: Department of the Army Materiel Command Army Contracting Command Aberdeen Proving Ground

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Written by GovTribe AI · Apr 26, 2024

This document is an Amendment 0003 to a Request for Project Proposals (RPP) for the Rapid Access to Products in Development (RAPID) prototype project under the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Defense Acquisition Bax-X BAA.

The RPP provides details on the RAPID project objectives, which include implementing a minimal viable product (MVP) encompassing at least 10 threat families and 15 developmental medical countermeasure products, with the goal of expanding the MVP to cover the full known and emerging threat space in a follow-on prototype. The RPP outlines specific evaluation factors, proposal format requirements, and a tentative project schedule. Key details include:

Proposals are due by May 1, 2024
The government may request a full proposal from selected offerors after evaluating the initial preproposals
Awardees will not be responsible for the operations and maintenance of NIPR, SIPR, and JWICS systems, but will need to interface with them
The prototype phase will not require security clearances or an authority to operate (ATO), but compliance will be needed for any follow-on effort

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File	Type	Posted
Amendment 0002 W911SR24RRAPID QA.xlsx	XLSX spreadsheet	Apr 24, 2024
W911SR24RRAPID QA.xlsx	XLSX spreadsheet	Apr 22, 2024
W911SR-24-9-RAPID RPP W911SR-RAPID Final_11APR2023x.pdf	PDF	Apr 11, 2024

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RPP W911SR24RRAPID

Number	Reference	Question	Answer
1	Page 1, #1, Page 2, #5	The Government states that the next step may be a request for a full proposal, additional discussions, or awards may be made. Under #5, the Government states similar. Please clarify if the award will be made after the request for a full proposal or if there is the possibility that an award will be made based on the preproposal. We believe additional information provided after pre-proposal will help industry better formulate full proposals and provide more accurate technical solutions and pricing.	Per paragraph A.5, "Government will review and evaluate the submitted preproposals which may result in a selection of one or more to consider for an award. The Agreements Officer may issue a request for full proposal (RFFP) from the selected preproposal(s) considered for funding. The Government may issue an agreement for an award based on the proposal submission or may require submission of additional details." Selection of offeror(s) to consider for an award may result from the preproposal submisson. An RFFP may be issued to consider for funding the selected submission(s).
2	Page 1, #3	The Government states this is a request for project proposal and not a preproposal. Please clarify if this is the pre-proposal and if down selected there will be another request for proposal.	Please reference the response to question 1.
3	Page 5, #19	Please confirm that introduction letters, tables of content, glossary and other administrative sections do not count towards the 11 page limit	There is no requirement for introduction letters, tables of content, glossary and other administrative sections. Paragraph 19 details the requirements.
4	Page 5 and 6, #20	Please confirm funds availability and best value are not evaluation factors.	Paragraph 20 lists the evaluation factors considered.
5	Page 6, #20	Please confirm that resumes or bios do not count against the 11 page limit	Please see the response to question #3.
6	Page 8, Project Objectives #2	Please confirm that under this contract the awardee will not be responsible for O&M of NIPR, SIPR, and JWICS. Rather, just any interfaces or data exchanges between the solution and these systems. Please also clarify the level of clearance required for O&M of these data exchanges.	No O&M under this contract. Frameworks for establishing the prototype on classified (SIPR/JWICS) are part of the prototype phase; however no classified data will be used during the prototype phase.
7	Page 15, Special Requirements	Will the Government please clarify what security clearances are required for personnel and facilities for the prototype. The Government states that security clearances are not required for access to unclassified data. Does the Government anticipate use of classified data in the prototype?	Frameworks for establishing the prototype on classified (SIPR/JWICS) are part of the prototype phase; however no classified data will be used during the prototype phase. Up to CUI data will be be included in the prototype phase.
8	N/A	Please confirm that any assumptions included will not count towards the 11 page limit.	Paragraph 19 lists the requirements for the submission. Assumptions should be included within the 11 page submission.
9	Page 18, Special Requirements	Please confirm that the prototype and supporting systems will not require an ATO and that provisions for the Risk Management Framework will apply to the final system that will be built after final down select.	The prototype build will need to be accessable via a cloud interface but ATO and RMF will not apply during the prototype phase.
10	Page 21, Travel	Please provide guidance on travel ROM pricing required. Does the Government required 15% travel in the prototype (12 months) and final prototype stages (15 months) built into the ROM?	For planning purposes estimate 2-3 ppl up to 40 days total travel between 2-3 trips in support of USG exercises/events
11	Page 15, Security and Classified Data	It is stated that the Prime Contractor shall create a Subcontract DD 254 in the National Industrial Security Program Contract Classification System (NCCS). Are alternative methods for subcontract DD 254s allowed?	The prototype phase will not include a DD254. Compliance will be required in the seperate follow on action for the prototype selected for deployment. The Security and Classified Data section was included for offeror awareness of the anticipated security requirments.
12		Will the government sponsor for facility and security clearance?	The USG will not sponsor facility and security clearances.
13		Is there a template for this proposal that you can share with me?	There is no established template. Offerors should generate their own which conforms to the RPP requirements.
14		Is there a ROM table template that you can share with me?	There is no established ROM template. Offerors should generate their own which conforms to the RPP requirements.
15		The solicitation instructions ask for a high-level breakdown of the structure. Can you clarify what level this needs to be?	Per Section A010 of the RPP “The offeror shall provide a four-level WBS with costs and schedule (top level is program, level 2 is Stage, level 3 are major tasks, level 4 are subordinate tasks). For the lowest task level, the offeror shall provide a breakdown for labor, material, and other indirect costs. “
16		Given the importance and complexity of the system and related data, will you consider a two week extension to appropriately develop a recommended architecture, evaluate security needs, develop a rough order of magnitude, and plan and develop our response with the most effective solution for JPEO CBRND EB?	Given the program timelines, and extension will not be considered at this time.
17		Can you please confirm if there will be a direct award(s) following this RPP, or will there be an RFFP? Considering more optimal delivery if given more time either through an extension or an RFFP.	Selection will be made based on the RPP response, however a RFFP will be issued to successful candidate(s).
18		We met with the Government for a 1-on-1 during the February Industry Day. Do we have approval to reach out to that team for a follow-up discussion on RAPID?	All questions should be submitted per the instructions outlined in the RPP. No follow-up discussions will be considered.
19		We are in the process of formalizing our application for Request for Project Proposal. W911SR-24-R-RAPID and need to determine if clearance is required prior to submitting this application.	A clearance is not required to submit a response; however, offerors should document your plan to obtain appropriate clearances necessary when needed.
20	pg 9	Which components, within Table #2, are part of MVP requirements?	Table 2 is a list of non-inclusive desirable characteristics for the MVP. Offerors should propose an appropriate mix to meet the goals of the RPP based on their solution to the requirement.
21		Table 2 item #1 references Platform One as an example approved DoD Cloud Service that could be used for implementation of the RAPID solution. Can the Government clarify if the Platform One Party Bus platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offering which operates under a Continuous ATO (cATO) is a viable option for hosting the RAPID system. Since in this case RAPID would fall under the Party Bus ATO, we assume this would require reciprocity from the RAPID Authorizing Official (AO).	Offerors should propose a cloud service that best meets the needs of the proposed system.
22		How many users does the government anticipate being a part of the MVP, and subsequently production?	up to 75 maximum for MVP, 250 for production
23	pg 5, para 1	Can the government confirm that font sizes of 9, times new roman are allowable for all graphics, tables, figures, and exhibits?	Confirmed
24	pg 5, para 2	Can the government confirm that fold out pages (i.e., 11"x17") will count as 1 page?	Confirmed, however this is an electronic submission. No hardcopies are requested.
25	pg 5, para 1	Section 19 states that "Preproposals shall be submitted in accordance with CBRND-BAA-22-01 Section VIII “Other Transaction Agreements” Subsection 11 “Submission Procedures."

As a result of this guidance, and after reviewing Subsection 11 within the aforementioned BAA, we have found a discrepancy between the RPP instructions for "W911SR-24-R-RAPID" and the BAA "W911SR-22-R-CBRN".

Subsequently, can the government clear up the following discrepancy found within the instructions for this RPP OTA?

1. Please confirm the evaluation factors that will be used to determine an award for this Pre-proposal OTA. The evaluation factors within the Full Proposal section within BAA "W911SR-22-R-CBRN" are used in the Pre-proposal RPP "W911SR-24-R-RAPID." For example "Key Personnel" and "Past Performance" do not appear to be applicable to this Pre-Proposal.

Paragraph 20 of the RPP stipulates the criteria used in evaluation of the submissions.
26	pg 9	Table 2 item #1 specifies "Stand-Alone System" as the component. Can the Govt clarify if Stand-Alone system in this context means that the system must be portable to different environments and not locked to a single Cloud Service Provider or other similar environment/platform	"Stand-Alone System" means the MVP prototype will not be integrated into another C2 system.
27		The requirements state the project proposal should document key personnel, can the government provide more details on the Project Manager and other key personnel qualifications that the government requires? (Section A.20.vi., page 6)	Qualifications, capabilities and experience are subject to the offeror's proposed staffing. The announcement did not specify any mimimum qualifications.
28		In the Past Performance section, the government states that provided past performance must be of "satisfactory performance record." Can the government please provide evaluation criteria for what constitutes a "satisfactory" level? (Section A.20.x., page 6)	A.20.x stipulates "documented satisfactory performance record. In the case of an offeror without a record of relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available, the offeror may not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance." . If the offeror does not have any officially documented past performance rating, then the submission should document accordinagly.
29		In the Military and Program Relevance section, the government states that offerors must "address an outstanding requirement and balance or reduce programmatic risk of the current DoD countermeasure development program." Can the government please clarify what is meant by this requirement? (Section A.20.ii., page 5)	This is an overall generalized statement used for both announced and indendent submissions. For this announced requirement, the outstanding requirement is documented in the RPP. Offerors may address how their submission may address/reduce programatic risk of the DoD countermeasure program as well.
30		Can the government confirm that JPEO-CBRND-EB has access to Oracle licenses for use within the proposed solutions?	All submissions should include the requirement for licensing of all software, with the exception of microsoft products.
31		Can the government please identify the "Support Contractors" to be utilized for the review of proprietary information? (Section A.6., page 2)	Support contractors will be providing administrative and subject matter expert review. Evaluations will be performed by Government civilians. Contractors supporting JPL EB include; JRAD, MITRE, Booz Allen, and Clark Creative Solutions.
32		Section 19 of the RPP states, “the preproposal must also include an anticipated rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost for the efforts described in the preproposal…demonstrating a high level breakdown…based on fiscal year.” However, Section A010 states “The offeror shall provide a four-level WBS with costs and schedule (top level is program, level 2 is Stage, level 3 are major tasks, level 4 are subordinate tasks). For the lowest task level, the offeror shall provide a breakdown for labor, material, and other indirect costs. “ Can you please confirm you want the detailed (subordinate task) breakdown for the preproposal? And will the cost breakdown per subordinate task count towards the 11 page limit?	The "Project Management Objectives" section, page 12, is a listing of anticipated reporting for your consideration in developing cost, schedule, and performance post award only.
33		Will the government allow for the contractor to obtain a traditional application level ATO after the contract award date?	Yes.
34		Is there a team size in mind? We are wondering how much budget is available for this execution.	The offeror should propose the size of team and anticipated cost.
35		What do you mean by “threat space coverage” and “different levels of maturity” here? Efficient review of threat space coverage with existing MCMs at different levels of maturity, to include an interactive and user-friendly visualization of threat space coverage.	In the RPP, "threat space" is used to represent the entire constellation of chemical and biological agents of concern to the CBDP. "Coverage", in this context, is meant to describe the subset of these threats for which medical countermeasures are available. "Level of maturity" is meant to denote the stage of development ranging from discovery to FDA licensure.
36		Can you clarify the request here? 3. The Offeror will be responsible for creating and incorporating current information relevant for development of novel MCMs against DoD-relevant chemical and biological threats (e.g., cell receptors, pathogenicity, LD50, endemic range, animal models, etc.). This generally does not include intelligence community analysis of threat space, though links to those analyses may be required. Are we expected to gather information from public sources (or the private sector) in order to map them to DoD-relevant chemical and biological threats?	Correct, the proposer should expect to gather information from public and private sources in order to map them to DOD chemical and biological threats.
37		What are the main differences between the proof-of-concept and the final prototype? How many more threat families and development products will be added in the prototype? Is there any other information you could add that would give us a sense for the difference in scope?	RPP Project Objective 10: Implementation of a minimal viable product encompassing at least 10 threat families and 15 developmental products. The proof of concept is the minimal viable product evaluated after ~12 months. The final prototype will expand the MVP to cover remaining known and emerging threat space.
38		How do we determine an MCM’s tier? This will help us determine if we need ML/AI processes for classifying within the data pipelines.	Each tier has an accompanying rubric against which the MCM will be compared to determine tier status. Table 1 presents a generic example of metric categories but the tier metric will be further developed/refined during the course of the contract. Offerors are encouraged to propose efficient and automated processes to classify MCMs into tiers.
39		Volume: How much data, approximately, are we talking about here for the two phases? 1GB, 1TB, 1PB?	Prototype phase: USG estimates ~0.1 - 1TB / Follow on: USG estimates multiple TBs
40		Velocity: For the real-time objective, what is the latency requirement? Approximately 100 ms or 5 minutes?	The offeror should propose an appropriate latency speed they feel will provide "close to real time" data identification and retrieval.
41		Frequency: How often will we receive data? Is it constant data flow? Hourly? Daily?	The offeror should propose an appropriate update frequency to meet RPP objectives of "close to real-time"
42		Access type: Will this be a push or pull system? In other words, will we need to go access data in other locations (databases, storage locations, etc.) or will we receive messages, files, or other items from different providers?	The system should have push/pull capabilities. Data will be pulled from existing sources and pushed by USG
43		Type: You mentioned it will be structured, semi-structured, and unstructured. It would be great to get a few examples of the different data types. Are these PDFs? Specific images of inventory?	Non-inclusive list of potenital data types - PDFs, Excel CSV files, PowerPoint, Word. Example content might include non-clinical study results in SEND format, investigational new drug application in eCTD format, European clinical study reports in ICH E3 format, etc.
44		Network: Will this live within the DoD’s on-premise infrastructure? Or can we leverage cloud providers, (with the right guardrails), for the prototype?	Cloud access is preferred, RPP Table 2 for details
45		Access: Can you provide some more detail on how you expect users to access the UI? Will they use government credentials via SSO? VPN? Anything else?	User access must comply with DOD DEVSECOPS (Table 2, Section 3)
46		Open-Source: Do you have specific DoD guidelines on what tools, languages, or software packages you would like us to use or, more importantly, avoid?	The objective of this requirement is to create a data ingestion functionality that can be ported across multiple platforms, systems, and performers if deemed necessary by the USG, without the need to reprogram/redesign or incur additional licensing costs. The offeror should propose a solution that complies with DOD DEVSECOPS (Table 2, Section 3)
47		AI: What AI tools are you comfortable with us using? Are LLMs an option? How about multi-modal foundational models? Do models need to be fully interpretable?	USG is comfortable with AI tools and Offerors should propose AI tools that are relevant to the proposed solution to the RPP. Proposed AI tools should be interpretable.
48		Can contractors start the security clearance process prior to the acceptance of a proposal?	The prototype phase will not require an immediate clearance
49		Can contractors access the required security trainings ahead of contract award?	The prototype phase will not require an immediate clearance
50		Is there an overall budget for this program? Given the USG’s intent to make multiple awards for Stage 1, are budget limitations anticipated for the proof-of-concept stage?	The number of awards will be limited to the amount of funding, however the overall budget will not be disclosed.
51	5	Can the government verify the contact e-mails provided in the RPP? One e-mail includes a comma, which is probably invalid. In addition, the cited BAA Section 11, Submission Procedures for Preproposals, on page 38, gives a different e-mail address from the three addresses in the RPP: usarmy.detrick.mcs.mbx.baa@mail.mil	Amendment 0001 to the BAA posted on SAM.gov revised the email address to usarmy.detrick.dod-jpeo-cbrnd.mbx.baa@army.mil.
52	5	The RPP says “Literature searches are recommended for documenting the strengths of the proposed project.” Can Offerors include lists of works cited outside the page limit of 11 pages?	A list of works cited can be submitted as an appendix to the proposal, outside of the 11 page limit.
53	9	Can the government clarify their definition of “stand-alone”? For example, will the stand-alone system exist on an imaged USG computer, or an approved DoD cloud service?	"Stand-Alone System" means the MVP prototype will not be integrated into another C2 system.
54	15	The schedule presented in Table 3 does not align exactly with the schedule constraints discussed in other parts of the RPP. For example, Table 3 has the final system delivered in 15 months, but Objective #8 on page 9 says “full system accessibility within 2 years of agreement award.” and Objective 10 indicates an “approximate 12-month proof-of-concept demonstration.” Period and Place of Performance section indicates the Period of Performance is 1 year from date of award. Please clarify the expected schedule.	Page 9 Objective 8 delineates an estimated timeline.Page 14 Period and Place of Performance delineates a timeline related to the military exercise. Page 15, Table 3 Milestone Delivery Table delineates prospective milestone dates. All dates are subject to negotiation. For clarity, Page 15, Table 3 Milestone Delivery Table denotes the approximate schedule.
	Pg 17	BAA says “Type Font: 12 point Times New Roman, single spaced.” Can offerors use minimum 10-point font size within figures and tables if needed?	Please reference the response to question 23.

File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated Apr 26, 2024.