Request for Information: Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of University Programs (OUP) Center of Excellence (COE)Phase IX Basic Ordering Agreements (BOA)

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Centers of Excellence (COE) THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This Request for Information (RFI) supports the Office of University Programs (OUP). The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate, Office of University Programs (OUP), is requesting information from the scientific community regarding the continued utilization of Basic Ordering Agreements (BOAs) with current Centers of Excellence (COEs). COE have significant homeland security science, technology, engineering, and mathematics capabilities, including subject matter expertise in laboratories and testing. Through the BOAs, DHS Components can issue task orders for research, analysis, and related services aligned with the unique expertise of the respective COEs. Funds are committed by each Component through the issuance of their task orders under respective BOAs. DHS S&T intends to fund projects within the scopes of work of existing and future COEs requiring a contracting vehicle. DHS S&T proposes issuing five-year BOAs. The BOAs will be for Homeland Security mission-related unclassified and classified research, development, analysis, and technical services requested by any DHS office or Component agency (Component) that are within the scope of each COE's cooperative agreement. This RFI is for planning purposes only and shall not be construed as an obligation on the part of the Government. This is NOT a Request for Quotations or Proposals. No solicitation documents exists, and the Government may or may not issue a formal solicitation as a result of the responses received to this RFI. Furthermore, those who respond to this RFI will not receive feedback from DHS to their submissions other than acknowledgment of receipt, provided a submitter request such an acknowledgement and addresses the mandatory responses/questions at (a)(1) - (a)(11) identified under Section 2.0, Responses Requested. The Government will not pay for any response or demonstration expenses. All costs incurred responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party's expense. Failure to respond to this RFI will not preclude participation in any resultant procurement. Any information received will become the property of the Government and will not be returned to the submitter. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or sensitive information. 1.0 DESCRIPTION 1.1 Background The Homeland Security Act of 2002 granted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the authority to create university-based COEs using grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts. The COEs have significant Homeland Security-related science, technology, engineering, and mathematics capabilities to provide technical services to DHS including: subject matter expertise, laboratories, engineering and other testing facilities, databases, computer models, computer software and hardware, analytical tools, etc. The COEs are directly aligned with one or more of the DHS Components, creating linkages between DHS and other customers, as well as providing enduring multi-disciplinary research, development, testing, evaluation, education and training capabilities for DHS and the Nation. The COEs are authorized by Congress and chosen by the DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) through a competitive selection process. The designation of "Center of Excellence" is awarded to a university that brings together leading experts and researchers from other institutions, agencies, laboratories, think tanks, and the private sector to conduct multidisciplinary research and education for homeland security solutions. The S&T OUP's mission is to maximize DHS's return on investment in university-based research and education. OUP funds grants and cooperative agreements to the COEs to establish fundamental research and education programs in specific multi-disciplinary subject matter areas at each COE. DHS S&T expects the universities that comprise the COEs will obtain additional sources of funding beyond OUP's base funding in order to support more directed research, development, testing, evaluation, education, and training. Other S&T Divisions and DHS Components frequently need to access the capabilities created by the COEs at the lead or partner universities, e.g. for directed research, analysis, technical services- both unclassified and classified- as well as DHS-specific education and training that cannot be performed under S&T s grants and cooperative agreements. Through this RFI, DHS S&T is pursuing strategies to meet emerging requirements. 1.2 Discussion DHS S&T seeks comments on the use of a BOA to accommodate DHS requirements for COE research, analysis, and technical services-unclassified and classified-, as well as DHS-specific science and engineering education and training. DHS S&T proposes to award a BOA to the current and future COE research lead university, to be renewed once after five years, and again at the end of its period of performance, renewals being subject to suitable COE progress in research, development, test, evaluation, education, and training. OUP will determine the need for a BOA for the COE research lead by matching university capabilities with DHS's requirements and needs (S&T will address high priority requirements first). The following thrust areas will be covered under Phase IX of the COE BOAs: Center for Accelerating Operational Efficiency (CAOE) Center for Criminal Investigations and Network Analysis (CINA) Soft-target Engineering to Neutralize the Threat Reality (SENTRY) A BOA enables DHS components to access the capabilities, experience, research results, technology, models and data that the COEs have developed with DHS funding. Characteristics: Versatile umbrella agreements between a federal agency (DHS in this case) and performing institutions (the lead university from the COE Enables contracting officers within the funding agency to issue task orders to performers that are within the scope of the BOA Designed to address the needs of DHS for specific research questions with deliverables at an identified cost and on scheduled performance Awarded for a five-year period of performance DHS S&T anticipates that the COE research lead university will use BOA subcontracts with current or new organizations to access the best possible skills, knowledge, and capabilities needed to address each task order. The DHS Office of Procurement Operations (OPO) S&T Acquisition Division will issue and administer the BOA. DHS Components' contracting offices will issue and administer their task orders under the BOA, subject to a determination by the S&T contracting officer's representative (COR) that the requested goods or services are within the scope of the BOA. The OPO will publish and issue an ordering guide to explain to ordering officers at all DHS Components how to issue task orders under the BOA. Task orders issued under the BOA will be predominantly firm fixed price. However, the BOA will contain pertinent terms and conditions that will facilitate the issuance of fixed price or cost reimbursement type task orders as determined by the ordering contracting officer of the relevant DHS component. Designated ordering officers at DHS offices and Components will be able to issue task orders under the COE BOA for unclassified or classified research, scientific or technical analyses, and technical services related to homeland security challenges and solutions. Orders will fit within the broad scope of COE capabilities and may include: a) Creating technologies and models b) Utilizing facilities and technologies c) Providing subject matter expert review, presentation, or testimony d) Testing and evaluation e) Conducting analyses or assessments f) Developing and delivering education and training materials g) Performing other relevant services within an existing COE scope of work. CAOE will support real-time decision making by applying advanced analytical tools that enable the DHS to achieve improvements in operational efficiency, and to address homeland security-related threats and hazards. This includes the identification or development of data management and analysis tools and techniques that can help DHS to secure the homeland, foster a thriving economy, and protect civil rights, liberties, and privacy. CAOE will apply operations research and systems analysis principles to a complex and diverse mission set, emphasizing project scalability (i.e., how research methodologies and/or results can be transferable to DHS components). As well as applying modern quantitative techniques to provide a deeper understanding of the dynamics related to homeland security missions. CAOE will also conduct research on the complexity and heterogeneity of risks in its portfolio, as well as its quantitative/qualitative limitations in comparing risks or devising measurable units of risk. CINA will conduct end user-focused research to enhance investigation strategies to address transnational criminal organizations' (TCO) activities and other homeland security related crimes. This COE will also provide education and professional development to improve the cost-effectiveness of criminal investigations, prosecution, prediction and prevention. The overarching goal of the Center will be to develop methods, tools, knowledge-products, and technology-based solutions for agents, officers and investigators to better coordinate investigative strategies with on the-ground activities to predict, thwart and prosecute these crimes. CINA researchers, faculty and students will work closely with DHS components and other federal, state and local law enforcement partners to develop and deploy tools and methods to diagnose and determine how to exploit the vulnerabilities of TCOs. The Center will provide tools to administrators, criminal investigators, patrol personnel, and planners to create competitive strategies and tactics that effectively disrupt and dismantle TCO networks. SENTRY will develop strategies and innovative solutions to secure environments that are easily accessible to large numbers of people, such as crowded spaces and transportation systems, from targeted attacks that inflict grave injury to human life and property. These environments often have limited security or protective measures, making them vulnerable to attack, which requires the development of next-generation tools and methodologies. A significant focus of SENTRY will be on transitioning research outputs for use by DHS operational components, other homeland security end users, policy makers, decision makers across all levels of industry and government, and community leaders. Potential SENTRY projects will focus on protecting crowded spaces and transportation environments; improving collaboration across public and private environments; and new approaches to secure crowded spaces with novel engineering design concepts. 2.0 RESPONSES REQUESTED a) Mandatory Responses/Questions: 1) Describe your university's/organization's knowledge, experience, and capacity to administer FAR-based contracts and, in particular, BOAs. 2) Describe your university's/organization's willingness to accept a FAR-based BOA and task/delivery orders under the BOA in fulfillment of future DHS research, analysis, and technical services requirements. 3) Does the award of a BOA impose a burden on your university/organization and on your partner organizations that you cannot accommodate given your institution's current skills, capabilities, experience, and resources? Please explain. 4) Which FAR-based contract type is preferred for orders issued under a BOA, if awarded to your university/organization for COE-related research, analysis, and technical services? [For example: Firm Fixed Price (FFP), Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF), Cost Plus Award Fee (CPAF), Time and Materials (T&M).] Please rank order, from most preferred to least preferred, the contract types listed above. 5) Are you willing and able (having the necessary facilities, practices, procedures, etc.) to accept and perform sensitive but unclassified (SBU) task orders under a FAR-based BOA? 6) Are you willing and able (having the necessary facilities, practices, procedures, etc.) to accept and perform classified task orders under a FAR-based BOA? 7) Describe your understanding and management practices for advancing technologies in the disciplines identified in Section 1.2. Discussion. This includes describing processes in use at the submitting organization that manages the advancement of research through commercialization and market deployment. 8) Describe the kinds of research, analysis, and technical service projects that your COE/organization might perform for DHS Components under the aforementioned BOA. Include project examples. 9) What other questions or concerns should DHS S&T consider with respect to implementing this BOA contracting approach? 10) Since research performed under this BOA will address DHS mission needs, the availability of the results of such research for publication might be limited. Does this present an issue? 11) Are there any issues regarding intellectual property rights that DHS should consider as it prepares its BOA for issuance? DHS expects to use the FAR clause on data rights 52.227-14 with Alt II, III, & IV. Pursuant to that clause, DHS expects to review scientific articles prior to publication to ensure that DHS's security & mission needs are considered. 3.0 RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS At this time, proprietary information is not being requested. Respondents wishing to submit proprietary information should specifically mark or identify any information they perceive as proprietary/confidential for which they seek added protection. To the extent that any proprietary data is submitted with the RFI responses, it will be properly protected by DHS S&T. Government technical experts drawn from staff within Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other federal agencies may review responses. The Government may use selected support contractor personnel to assist in the review of the RFI responses. These support contractors will be bound by appropriate non-disclosure agreements to protect proprietary information. 4.0 SUBMISSION OF DOCUMENTATION Respondents, at a minimum, must address the mandatory responses/questions identified under Section 2.0 Response Requested, (a)(1) - (a)(11) and clearly identify which item is being answered for each response. Information must contain: - Name and Address of Firm/Organization - Phone Number and Email Address of Firm/Organization - Business Size of Firm/Organization - Socio-economic status of Firm/Organization - Unique Entity ID for Firm/Organization - Is your firm/ organization registered with the System for Award Management (SAM) at http://www.sam.gov DHS will not consider or review unsolicited proposals submitted in response to this RFI. Requirement of responses: pages numbers must be placed at the bottom left-hand corner, 12-point font, 1-inch margins, 8.5" by 11" paper, and no more than six (6) pages in length, including images, data displays, charts, graphs, and tables. Respondents must submit their information in electronic versions (Microsoft Word or PDF format) to the LeShanna Calahan (Contracting Officer) at leshanna.calahan@hq.dhs.gov, Kimberly O'Neill (Contract Specialist) at kimberly.oneill@hq.dhs.gov and DHSCOEBOA@HQ.DHS.GOV by January 3, 2023 at 10:00 AM EST. The email - SUBJECT line must include the words "70RSAT23RFI000004 BOA Phase IX RFI Response."