National Academy of Sciences (NAS) threat-forecasting workshop

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) intends to negotiate and award a sole source contract to National Academy of Sciences (NAS), 2101 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20418-0007 for an effort entitled “Threat-Forecasting Workshop.”  The statutory authority for this non-competitive action is 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services will Satisfy Agency Requirements, 10 U.S.C 2304(c)(1). 

NAS is the only responsible source capable of fulfilling this requirement without substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition. Further, The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a private, non-profit society of distinguished scholars established by an Act of Congress. The NAS is charged with providing independent, objective advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology. The challenge to adequately prepare for rare events is not unique to the national security community and NAS has the best insight into academia qualified to participate in a workshop. It is possible that the workshop participants will recommend follow-on procurements. Therefore, it is important that an organization with no vested interest in these procurements be in charge of the proceedings. NAS has the unique capabilities and qualifications to provide the required threat-forecasting workshop. In addition, NAS will report the results of this workshop to DTRA and Congress to inform policy decisions, something a commercial source would not be able to accomplish

The scope of this work requires coordinating a workshop, comprising of academic and private sector participants, to discuss rare event prediction methods, techniques, and best practices. The goal is to identify other applicable forecasting methods used in other fields of science, engineering, and medicine that will support RD-CXQ’s mission and the improvement of its developed products. 

This notice of contract action is not a request for competitive proposals; no formal solicitation will be issued as a result of this announcement.  All responsible sources may submit a capability statement which shall be considered by the Government.  The Government will not be responsible for any costs incurred by responding to this notice.  A determination to proceed with this effort on a sole source basis based upon capability statements received and evaluated in response to this announcement is solely within the discretion of the Government.