Draft_NGC2 RWP.docx

REQUEST FOR WHITE PAPERS (RWP)

NEXT GENERATION COMMAND AND CONTROL (NGC2)

W9128Z-25-R-NGC2

PROGRAM MANAGER NGC2

U.S. ARMY PROGRAM EXECUTIVE OFFICE COMMAND, CONTROL, COMMUNICATIONS, AND NETWORK (PEO C3N)

Controlled by: PM NGC2

UNCLASSIFIED

POC: COL Christopher W. Anderson, PM NGC2

1. Through this Request for White Paper (RWP), Program Manager NGC2 seeks rapid iteration and delivery of a scalable prototype framework as described in the attached Statement of Objectives (SOO). The Government is hereby requesting formal submission of White Papers to execute a formal agreement under 10 USC 4022, Other Transaction Authority (OTA) for the prototype project described below.

Upon receipt of a White Paper submitted in response to this RWP, the next steps are as follows:

· The Government will evaluate the White Paper.

· Discussions among the parties, whether verbally or in writing, will occur as appropriate.

· The Government may request a full proposal from the offeror.

· Additional discussions will occur as necessary.

· Award may be made after evaluation and selection of successful submission(s). (Note: Awards are dependent upon the availability of funds.)

2. This RWP is issued to request white papers in compliance with USC 4022 and is being issued for planning purposes only. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to award an agreement, nor will the Government pay for the information solicited.

3. Any resultant award(s) may be issued as a prototype Agreement under the authority of 10 USC 4022, with the expectation that quantities necessary for production, including fielding and testing new capabilities, may be non-competitively procured from the successful performer(s) of a prototype project in a follow-on production contract or other transaction agreement.

4. The Government will review/evaluate the submitted White Papers and if there is Government interest, the Agreements Officer may issue a request for full prototype proposal (RPP) in response to this RWP. The Government may award up to three (3) agreements based on the submission or may require submission of additional details. The award of Prototype agreements shall be for the development of prototypes that are directly relevant to enhancing the mission effectiveness of personnel of the Department of Defense and the supporting platforms, systems, components, or materials proposed to be acquired or developed by the Department of Defense, or to improvement of platforms, systems, components, or materials in use by the Armed Forces. A prototype project can generally be described as a preliminary pilot, test, evaluation, demonstration, or agile development activity used to evaluate the technical or manufacturing feasibility or military utility of a particular technology, process, concept, end item, effect, or other discrete feature. Only a warranted Agreements Officer may obligate the U.S. Government to the expenditure of funds for awards under this Announcement.

5. Evaluation will be performed by Army personnel to enable the selection of the best White Paper submission(s), and/or subsequent full proposal submission(s). After evaluation and selection, up to three (3) awards may be made to the successful offeror(s). Subsequent awards depend upon the availability of funds and fulfillment of requirements and priorities determined to exist at the time of award. In some cases, funding priorities may change as certain scientific tasks are addressed and new mission assignments arise. Award(s) may also be dependent upon demonstration by the offeror that they have adequately addressed the requirements.

6. The U.S. Government does not fund preparation of proposals or support work efforts or tasks that are inferred from discussions with technical project officers. The Offeror will not be reimbursed for any costs incurred prior to the effective date of the agreement. There are certain post-employment restrictions on former Federal officers and employees as defined in 18 USC 207 and FAR 3.104-3(d). If an offeror believes a post-employment restriction or conflict of interest exists, notification should be sent to the Agreements Officer prior to initiating efforts on a full proposal.

7. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 USC 552) provides a statutory basis for public access to official U.S. Government records. “Records” are defined to include documentation received by the U.S. Government in connection with the transaction of public business. Certain types of information submitted to the Government in a process having the potential for award of an OT may be exempt from disclosure requirements of FOIA for a period of five (5) years from the date the Government receives the information. The types of information listed above may continue to be exempted, in whole or in part, from disclosure after the expiration of the five (5) year period if it falls within an exemption to the FOIA such as trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person that is privileged or confidential. It is the Offeror’s responsibility to adequately mark any submitted information in accordance with the FOIA.

8. The Government is prohibited from soliciting and awarding actions to awardees that have engaged or are suspected to have engaged in criminal, fraudulent, or seriously improper conduct.

9. Prospective awardees shall complete electronic annual representations and certifications at https://sam.gov. By submission of an offer, the Offeror acknowledges the requirement that prospective awardees MUST be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database prior to award and through final payment of any contract resulting from this RWP. Offerors that are not registered should consider applying for registration immediately upon receipt of this solicitation. To remain registered in the SAM database after the initial registration, the Offeror is required to review and update, on an annual basis from the date of initial registration (or subsequent updates), its information in the SAM database to ensure it is current, accurate and complete.

10. Data submitted that cannot be disclosed to the public for any purpose, or used by the Government except for evaluation purposes, shall be marked appropriately on the title page and/or specific data sheets.

11. Questions regarding this announcement may be submitted by email to the below email addresses prior to 5 business days of the closing date.

12. The Government may award a follow-on production contract or Other Transaction (OT) for any OT awarded under this CSO if: (1) that participant in the OT, or a recognized successor in interest to the OT, successfully completed the entire prototype project provided for in the OT, as modified; and (2) the OT provides for the award of a follow-on production contract or OT to the participant, or a recognized successor in interest to the OT.

13. Proposals, Brochures, or other descriptions of general organizational or individual capabilities will not be accepted as a White Paper. An email will acknowledge receipt of a proposal. Generally, the Project Manager of the submitting organization should receive a decision letter or email upon completion of the evaluation and determination.

14. Administration: The Government will retain comments and information received in response to this RWP. All written responses must be received by the due date. Submission should be identified with a Subject Line of the Responding Organization and RWP Title. Material that is advertisement only in nature is not desired. Late submissions will not be considered.

15. Prototyping Phases:

The Government is notionally planning for up to three (3) phases. These phases may be exercised in sequential order or non-sequential order. The Government reserves the right to award multiple vendors to any/all phases of the OTA. Continued competition on this prototype project will be based on evaluation of vendor proposed capabilities, performance, and available resources.

Phase 1: Initiation - not to exceed (NTE) three (3) months from award; this phase provides the Government the opportunity to evaluate the proposed teaming approach with a mechanism for government involvement, agile execution, and emergent solution architecture against access processes and procedures for integration of the solution. This phase may include direct engagement with an Army unit or Army labs to initiate prototyping activity.

Phase 2: Application(s) Integration - NTE nine (9) months from award; This phase provides the Government the opportunity to evaluate the ability to integrate third (3rd) party applications, microservices, and/or AI/ML models. Iteration of the prototype solution and backlog management continues in this phase to ensure efficient project progress while also onboarding/supporting 3rd parties.

Phase 3: Network Integration - NTE sixteen (16) months from award; This phase provides the Government the opportunity to evaluate the ability to integrate the solution into the tactical network and tactical infrastructure while further iterating on the prototype solution.

16. Requirements: See attached Statement of Objectives (SOO).

17. White Paper Submissions: White Papers shall be submitted in accordance with Commercial Solutions Opening “W918Z25SA002” Subsection 3.2 to the below listed mailboxes only.

The Offeror shall propose a feasible and innovative approach demonstrating how the Offeror’s prototype and potential production solution will be implemented in alignment with Attachment 0001 – Prototype SOO requirements. All proposed approaches shall also consider all applicable cost, schedule, and performance risks.

Government Furnished Information (GFI) to be provided via Joint Communications Marketplace (JCM):

· Common Services UAF Reference Framework

· USDR&E MOSA Implementation Guidebook

Each Offeror shall provide:

1. A technical white paper in response to Attachment 0001- Prototype Statement of Objectives (SOO) requirements. Page count limit: Eight (8), broken out as the following: Two (2) pages for data mesh, two (2) pages for all other components, one (1) page landscape initial architectural diagram, and three (3) pages for all assumptions listed.

a. Identify solution partners/teammates and components provided, including a description of the approach to manage the emergent reference architecture throughout prototyping.

b. Describe the mechanism for Government involvement in any adjustments to teaming arrangements throughout prototype development and delivery.

c. Describe -aaS offerings and components proposed, alignment to the appropriate layer depicted in the Notional NGC2 Data-Centric Architecture (Figure 1 of the SOO), and what the Government would need to provide to enable Offeror operation, including identification of any assumed Government dependencies related to the services.

d. Describe how a 3rd party developer adds a component service or app to the architecture, including the supporting role of the offeror.

e. Describe agile development approach (DevSecOps) to include how third-party developers add components and applications

f. Identify any commercial license products included in the architecture.

g. Assumption: Team Lead may establish P3 with ECMA (or other government agency) to cover compute/store costs or other larger enterprise components of the solution.

h. Assumption: The total Period of Performance shall not exceed 16 months.

i. Assumption: The solution once complete shall be structured to scale to one (1) Army Division with all downtrace and enabling units, and may include Corps HQ as well.

j. Assumption: The Government will have unlimited rights to the emergent reference architecture and associated technical data package for the emergent reference architecture. This includes the initially proposed architecture and each iteration of update throughout prototyping.

2. Demonstrated Prior Success (One (1) page)

Summarize prior successes where the Offeror(s) brought together a range of companies to solve a complex problem, and coordinate and manage the Team Composition and Expertise.

3. Affirmation of Business Status Certification (One (1) page)

Include a separate form for each company that would be a participant to the prototype project, if awarded an OT. (Note: this document is included as an attachment to each RWP).

4. Company Viability (Two (2) pages) Provide a brief overview of the Company. Provide a summary of current fundraising to date or a summary of the top line (gross sales/revenues). Provide a summary of product commercialization and go-to-market strategy.

5. Estimated Price/Schedule (No page limit)

Provide a rough order of magnitude (ROM) price and notional schedule for how this concept may be prototyped within the DoD.

6. Data Rights Assertions (No page limit)

The WP will identify any IP involved in the effort and associated restrictions on the Government’s use of that IP.

Submissions must include sufficient detail to warrant a decision or otherwise will not be considered. Submissions cover page must identify appropriate POC’s in addition to company address and UEI and CAGE codes. If the offeror is not listed in SAM.gov, then the extent of their submission package to SAM should be documented.

Submissions must be delivered by the date and time expressed in announcement or will not be considered.

18. White Paper Evaluation Criteria: White Papers Proposals received as a result of the announcement will be evaluated for merit per CSO W918Z25SA002, Section 3.2.

In order to be considered for award, the Government will evaluate the extent to which the Offeror’s approach complies with the assumptions found in the SOO, Section 10, and the below criteria:

1) Relevance of the White Paper in addressing the RWP.

2) Company’s approach and/or underlying technology is unique, underutilized and/or innovative

3) Technical Merit and feasibility of the solution to address Government RWP and SOO

4) Evaluation of Company’s Demonstrated Prior Success

5) Evaluation of company viability

6) The rough order of magnitude (ROM) price and notional schedule is acceptable

7) The potential impact of data rights assertions

The Government reserves the right to enter into negotiations directly from Request for White Papers.

19. Prototype Proposal Submission Criteria: Prototype Proposals shall be submitted in accordance with Commercial Solutions Opening W918Z25SA002” Subsection 3.3 to the below listed mailboxes only.

Each proposal submitted will consist of two volumes: Volume 1 shall provide the technical proposal; Volume 2 shall address the price/cost/schedule portions of the proposal. Companies may propose their own internal terms and conditions (e.g., Service License Agreements (SLA) and/or End User License Agreements (EULA)) to be considered during negotiations with the Government. Companies should note that there are certain terms and conditions the Government is unable to accept. However, projects awarded through the CSO are flexible to adopt customary industry standards where it is otherwise legal and where it meets the Government's needs.

Volume 1 Technical Proposal

Title Page - Company Name, Title, Point of Contact Name, Date, E-Mail Address, Phone, and Address and any subcontractors or team members. If registered in SAM.gov, include the Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code, and Unique Entity Identification (UEI) code.

Propose a Draft Statement of Work - The SOW shall be aligned to the SOO identifying the work to be performed and the deliverables. The development of a final, agreed upon SOW will be a collaborative effort between the Company and the Government. Provide a detailed project schedule that outlines the various phases of work to be accomplished within the proposed period of performance. You may refer to the White Paper that prompted this proposal request, but do not duplicate it.

Government Support Required - Identify the type of support, if any, the Company requests of the Government in general such as facilities, equipment, data, and information or materials.

Oral Presentations - Oral Presentations will be used to present Elements 1 through 4 in Volume 1- Technical. PowerPoint slides are permitted to support the Offeror’s live oral presentations. Offerors shall provide a copy of all presentation slides to Government POCs listed in this RWP on the date which proposals are due. Any slides or material not presented in the Offerors’ allotted time will be removed from the presentation and disregarded by the Government. The Government reserves the right to remove any material that is illegible. Unsolicited changes to the presentation submission will not be accepted.

The Agreements Officer will schedule oral presentations for the offerors and the dates/times will be emailed out with a minimum of 7 days in advance of the presentation date. The Government's intention is for the participants in the oral presentation to be significant contributors to the performance of the team during execution.

Each Offeror will be allotted a not to exceed 2-hour window to conduct their presentation. The oral presentation schedule will be as follows:

· Introductions

· Presentation of Element 1 - Team Lead and Team Composition

· Methods and approach demonstrate knowledge of technical landscape/engineering processes, accounts for risks, and actively manages team members/relationships with a proposed mechanism for Government involvement.

· Presentation of Element 2 - Data Layer

· Deployment in a container runtime environment independent of the other platform components

· MOSA compliance

· Presentation of Element 3 - Platform

· Design enables integration of 3rd party and government common services and applications

· Design demonstrates initial common/core components

· Describes the supporting role of the Team Lead in 3rd party development of apps and services

· MOSA compliance

· Singular design is container native (cloud and edge)

· Utilization of agile development

· Presentation of Element 4 - Applications

· Supports container-native applications

· Q&A/Conclusion

Offerors may not electronically record any part of the oral technical presentation process. The Government will record the oral presentation in whole. This presentation will be available to the Government only.

The Government reserves the right to ask follow-up questions during and after the oral presentation. Offerors should be prepared to provide clarifications and additional information as requested by the Government evaluators. The Government may engage in a dialogue with Offerors to better understand their proposed solutions and to address any concerns or ambiguities. Offerors shall build in time for Government questions and responses into their presentation time window.

The Government intends to conduct these presentations virtually via Microsoft Teams and anticipates the Agreements Officer, Agreements Specialist, Legal Counsel, and the Evaluation Team members will be in attendance for the presentations. The Agreements Officer retains sole discretion to require, invite or allow other Government personnel to attend.

Volume 2 Price Proposal

The Company shall propose a total price, broken down by phase/milestone to complete the effort and provide any other data or supporting information that is necessary for the determination of a fair and reasonable price. This can include, but is not limited to, commercial price catalog or other proprietary information to help the Government assess the reasonableness of the project price . The Government encourages innovative pricing methods for scaling NGC2; for example, consumption/usage/customer satisfaction models rather than per-unit pricing.

Additionally, while not required to be specifically addressed in the proposal (with the exception of the 1/3 cost-share requirement, if applicable), the Government will review the proposal to determine if the following statutory requirements are met:

1. Fits the definition of a prototype

2. Quantity: quantity is limited to that needed to prove technical or manufacturing feasibility or evaluate military utility

3. Meets mission effectiveness standard: Is directly relevant to enhancing DoD mission effectiveness

4. Meets non-traditional participation/cost share requirement: Non-traditional defense contractor contributes to a significant extent or not; if not, 1/3 cost share implementation is addressed

5. Defense Utility: Solution is applicable to a DoD platform, system or component

20. Prototype Proposal Evaluation Criteria: Prototype Proposals received as a result of the announcement will be evaluated for merit per CSO W918Z25SA002, Section 3.3 and in accordance with the below criteria.

a. Whether the proposed solution enhances and/or accelerates innovative development contributing toward mission accomplishment.

b. Technical merit of the proposal with an emphasis on innovative solutions. Additionally, technical maturity, feasibility, and achievability will be considered. And if applicable, the degree to which a defined commercialization path or strategy exists.

c. Realism and/or adequacy of the proposal performance schedule.

d. Reasonableness of the price.

21. Selection for Award: See CSO W918Z25SA002 Section 4.0 image1.jpeg