Request for Information for Geographic Research, Integration, Development and Support (GRIDS III)

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. The US Army Corps of Engineers, Army Geospatial Center (AGC), is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) / Sources Sought to perform market research in order to determine the availability of firms which possess the capability to execute the requirements provided below. No proposals are being requested or accepted in response to this RFI. This announcement does not obligate the Government to award a contract, nor does it obligate the Government to pay for any preparation costs.

Requirment:
The anticipated formal solicitation is for an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC) with a maximum value of $200M, over a five year ordering period. This RFI/Sources Sought is NOT a request for proposals, nor does it restrict the Government as to the ultimate acquisition approach. Therefore, we invite any size business concerns to provide a capability statement in response to this RFI/Sources Sought.

The AGC has a world-wide requirement. There is a need to acquire special skill sets, systems engineering, and technical services to accomplish its mission, which is to coordinate, integrate and synchronize geospatial information requirements and standards across the Army; develop and field geospatial-enterprise enabled systems and capabilities to the Army and the Department of Defense; and to provide direct geospatial support and product to Warfighters. The services to be procured are non-personal and are not inherently Government functions. Activities to be performed include Research, Applied Research and Development, Verification and Validation, Integration, Testing, Support of Geospatial Systems and Services, Sensor(s) Development, System Engineering, Integration, Materiel Fabrication, Experimentation, Management Assistance and Operational Support of Geospatial Technologies. Valid domain areas include Topographic and Geospatial Engineering, Military Intelligence, Mission Command, Modeling and Simulation, Sustainment, Maintenance and Special Operations.

Feedback addressing the clarity, feasibility, scope and potential alternative means of meeting the Government's requirement is sought. The anticipated North American Industry Classification System Code (NAICS) for these requirements is 541712. The business size standard for this NAICS is 500 employees. Your response should identify your business size (large or small) in relation to this NAICS Code.

Security Requirements:
Contractor personnel will require DoD security clearance at least at the SECRET level for key personnel. Handling of material up to SECRET is required. TOP SECRECT/SCI Facility clearance is required for on-site support at AGC. Storage Clearances of at least SECRET level are required.

Capabilities Package:
AGC is assessing the existence of sources and is requesting capability packages from industry on the requirements listed below. AGC is seeking a Prime capable of providing all the services listed as items (1) through (17) below, independently or through the use of Subcontractors and/or partners. At a minimum, the Prime must demonstrate the capability to independently provide the services listed as items (1) through (4). The Prime may employ Subcontractors and/or Partners for the remaining services, items (5) through (17). Interested sources shall possess and demonstrate an in-depth understanding of all the requirements listed below. Responses are limited to no more than 25 pages, consisting of font size 12and must demonstrate your ability to provide the following specific required services:

1. Conduct Geospatial and GEOINT Systems research, development, engineering,
analysis and operations, including identifying and addressing gaps in geospatial
science & technologies.

2. Integrate, execute and transition C4ISR concepts, processes and architectures.

3. Formulate and execute Joint Capabilities Technology Demonstrations (JCTDs),
prototypes and Quick Reaction Capabilities (QRCs) relevant to GEOINT
requirements.

4. Provide operational services of various combat support capabilities - including
field operational services, both CONUS and OCONUS, during war.

5. Identify the utility and implementation shortfalls of policy and procedures from
various Government organizations and Non-Government Organizations (NGO), and
Military Commands.

6. Analyze the Army's geospatial portfolio (data, systems, techniques, processes
and policies, people and organizations) for the purpose of application
rationalization, system integration, cost benefit analyses, trade studies and
assessing state of the art geospatial technology.

7. Conduct experiments, demonstrations, and test and evaluation of software
intensive systems that display data on a geospatial foundation.

8. Assess geospatial data producer's standardized and documented geospatial
production processes, tools, data management, products, and quality, in order to
certify the producer as a Trusted Partner for AGC foundation geospatial data
production.

9. Assess accuracy, reliability, and operational utility of remote sensing and
C4ISR geospatial intelligence collection systems.

10. Perform vigorous verification, validation and assessment (VV&A) on emergent
geospatial tools and methods to the standards and specifications documented in
US Army regulation.

11. Develop and apply new technologies and processes related to Geospatial/GEOINT
Exploitation tools, Full Motion Video (FMV), Activity-Based Intelligence (ABI),
Structured Observation Management (SOM), Advance Geospatial Intelligence (AGI),
Wide Area Motion Imagery (WAMI) and other trade crafts.

12. Develop, integrate and operate ground segments/stations for the ISR payload
types (e.g., Electro-optical Infrared (EO/IR), Hyperspectral Infrared Sounder
(HIS), Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), RADAR, Signals Intelligence
(SIGINT), communications, etc.).

13. Identify future research requirements and transition technology to develop
capabilities for prototypes, demonstration systems, Programs of Record, and
Combatant Commands. (I.e. to Program of Records and COCOMs) and to operations.

14. Examine and evaluate technologies and tools from Government, Academia, and
Industry including, but not limited to, Commercial Joint Mapping Toolkit
(C/JMTK) and Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence,
Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) tools.

15. Acquire, fuse, and disseminate various sources of information (i.e., Geospatial
Intelligence (GEOINT), Counterintelligence/Human Intelligence (CI/HUMINT),
Signals Intelligence (SIGNIT), Measurement and Signature Intelligence (MASINT),
Imagery Intelligence (IMINT), Human Cultural, etc.) at various echelons, from
handheld devices to other modes of analysis and data dissemination to be
equally shared across the civilian and military stakeholders (i.e., Non-
Governmental Organizations (NGOs), interagency partners, private voluntary
organizations, international/coalition partners, host nations, commercial
sector and academia) from unclassified through National System level.

16. Prepare documentation to support planning, designing developing and
implementing large scale enterprise geospatial systems, and geospatial software
development; Develop common geospatial applications, services, and widgets.
Develop training and integrated logistics products such as training support
packages, lesson plans, program of instruction, user manuals, materials, media,
manuals, assessment plans etc. to support enterprise implementation.

17. Develop and operate test suites of hardware and software that are capable of
testing the exchange of geospatial data between Army mission command systems.
Conduct tests and experiments on the test suite.

Responses:
The information provided in the RFI is subject to change and does not bind the Government. Interested sources are discouraged from submitting commercial literature in response to this RFI. Any submissions of such product literature or catalog cut sheets will be treated separate from, and will have no bearing on, any subsequent evaluation of proposals submitted in response to any resulting future formal Request for Proposals (RFP). AGC has not made a commitment to procure any of the products or services discussed, and the release of this RFI should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. AGC will not pay for information or comments provided and will not recognize any costs associated with submission of comments. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned. RESPONSES ARE DUE NO LATER THAN 27 OCTOBER 2014, 12:00 PM, EST. Direct all questions regarding this Sources Sought to the attention of Collin Applewhite, Contract Specialist, Phone: (703) 428-7863, Email Collin.w.applewhite@usace.army.mil; Calvin Mitchell Jr., Contracting Officer, Phone (703) 428-8340.

Note: This notice is not a request for Proposals, Invitation for Bid, or a Request for Quotes.