Non-Personal Professional Services of a Software Developer to Port FV3 Dycore Code Using OpenACC

***NOAA'S ACQUISITION & GRANTS OFFICE, WESTERN ACQUISITION DIVISION-BOULDER, OCIO/HI PERFORMANCE COMPUTING AND OAR/GFDL INTENDS TO NEGOTIATE, ON A SOLE SOURCE BASIS, UNDER AUTHORITY OF FAR 13.106-1(b)(1), WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING LOCATED AT LARAMIE, WY TO PROVIDE SERVICES TO PORT THE ENTIRE FV3 DYCORE USING OPENACC STANDARDS TO RUN ON GPU ARCHITECTURE.

***THE SOLE SOURCE DETERMINATION IS BASED ON THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION'S (NOAA) REQUIREMENT THAT UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING ALREADY HAS SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCE WITH THE NOAA FV3 MODEL AS WELL AS A PARTNERSHIP WITH NVIDIA WHO OVERSEES THE OPENACC STANDARD.

“THE UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING IS VERY ACTIVE IN THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY AND IS DOING SIMILAR DEVELOPMENT WORK IN SOFTWARE ENGINEERING FOR USE IN GPU SYSTEMS. GPUS ARE AN UP AND COMING TECHNOLOGY THAT REQUIRES SPECIALIZED PROGRAMMING TECHNIQUES AND EXPERTISE IN PORTING TRADITIONAL CPU CODE TO GPUS.

THE UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING HAS AN ESTABLISHED BENCH OF GPU PROGRAMMERS THAT ARE WELL VERSED IN PORTING A MYRIAD OF PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES TO THE OPENACC STANDARD. ANY OTHER ENTITY PURSUING THIS REQUIREMENT WOULD HAVE A SPIN UP PERIOD IN EITHER FAMILIARIZING WITH THE FV3 CODE OR THE OPENACC STANDARD AND THEN WORKING ON THE SPECIFIC PORTING CHALLENGES WHICH WOULD SIGNIFICANTLY ADD TO THE OVERALL COST OF THE REQUIREMENT. IN THE FUTURE, NOAA REALIZES THAT SPIN UP COSTS WILL LIKELY FACTOR IN OTHER PORTING REQUIREMENTS TO EXPAND THE VENDORS AVAILABLE TO DO THIS WORK. HOWEVER, NOAA IS STILL IN THE EVALUATION PERIOD OF DETERMINING THE EFFICACY OF SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT AND PORTING BEFORE THE SCALE IS INCREASED.

THE REQUIREMENT FOR PORTING FROM ONE PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE TO ANOTHER IS NOT IN ITSELF UNIQUE TO THE POINT THAT ANY ENTITY THAT IS MOTIVATED AND WILLING TO INVEST RESOURCES WILL BE ABLE TO FULFILL THIS REQUIREMENT ADEQUATELY. THERE IS HOWEVER, A TREMENDOUSLY HIGH BARRIER TO ENTRY FOR THE SPECIFIC PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES FOR THIS PARTICULAR REQUIREMENT OF PORTING AN EXISTING NOAA MODEL TO ANOTHER LANGUAGE AND STANDARD OF OPENACC.”

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: 09/01/2022 THROUGH 09/30/2023

***THIS NOTICE OF INTENT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS AND NO SOLICITATION PACKAGE IS AVAILABLE. HOWEVER, FIRMS THAT BELIEVE THEY CAN FULLY MEET THE GOVERNMENT'S REQUIREMENTS MAY
SUBMIT SUBSTANTIATING DOCUMENTATION IN WRITING TO THE IDENTIFIED POINT OF CONTACT WITHIN 15 DAYS AFTER PUBLICATION OF THIS SYNOPSIS. SUCH DOCUMENTATION WILL BE EVALUATED SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF DETERMINING WHETHER OR NOT TO CONDUCT THIS PROCUREMENT ON A COMPETITIVE BASIS. A DETERMINATION BY THE GOVERNMENT NOT TO CONDUCT A COMPETITIVE PROCUREMENT, BASED UPON RESPONSES TO THIS NOTICE, IS SOLELY WITHIN THE DISCRETION OF THE GOVERNMENT. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE IN RESPONSE TO THIS NOTICE.