Science and Technology Integration Lab

Science and Technology Integration Lab (STIL) 04 February 2013 This announcement constitutes a Sources Sought, Request for Information (RFI) ONLY. The Virginia Contracting Activity (VaCA) is issuing this RFI for planning purposes only and solely for information; it does not constitute a formal solicitation, Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue a formal solicitation or RFP. This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service. VaCA is not seeking proposals at this time. Responders are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any cost incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested parties expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future solicitation or RFP. The following information is provided to assist Market Research of industry to identify sources of services that meet the Government's requirements. In the event of a formal solicitation announcement, it will be issued via Federal Business Opportunities (http://www.fbo.qov). It is the responsibility of potential offerors to monitor the website for any information that may pertain to this RFI. The information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. 1. Description: VaCA is seeking to identify qualified sources capable of performing some or all of the following functions: The Science and Technology Integration Lab (STIL) seeks support in digital forensics to investigate, determine, and document methods to develop innovative methods and tools for the field of digital forensics. The STIL identifies, evaluates and develops technology solutions to support digital and media forensic technology. The STIL performs identification, evaluation, development, integration and transition of tools to end users, provides an array of technical and program support, and provides space and associated logistics support to the STIL. The Government seeks daily management on all aspects of the STIL's infrastructure, including, but not limited to lease and maintain a facility for STIL operation, square footage will be approximately 6,500 to 9,000 SF within the Northern Virginia area, operating systems installation and maintenance, documentation of system configurations, user support, virus remediation, equipment and software license(s) purchases and/or renewal. and network up-time of 95% or better. 2. Scope: The Government seeks qualified prospective sources that can perform the following tasks as advised by the Government. a) Develop and integrate technologies relating to the field of computer vision, to include object detection, object recognition, scene identification, key frame detection, and other relevant areas. b) Develop and integrate technologies relating to the field of machine learning, to include language identification, language translation, entity extraction, similarity modeling, data clustering, and other relevant areas. c) Develop and integrate technologies relating to the field of signals processing, to include audio identification, speaker identification, speaker diarization, nonvisable/audible spectrum, content similarity, and other relevant areas. d) Develop and integrate technologies relating to the field of human language technologies, to include language identification, entity extraction, entity resolution, content similarity, context categorization, identity resolution, machine translation, and other relevant areas. e) Develop and integrate technologies relating to the field of large/big data analysis, to include data mining, data visualization, link analysis, and other relevant areas. f) Evaluate technologies delivered to the government from external sources to determine their technical strengths, weaknesses, and overall performance. g) Provide other technical, programmatic, and logistics support as directed by the Government as the Government's mission needs and priorities dictate. 3. Requested Information: Prospective sources, possessing the qualifications, capability, and experience to respond to this RFI, in part or in whole, are invited to submit documentation, with no more than five (5) pages, all inclusive, Times New Roman style, and 12 point font) providing a concise narrative of current capabilities to meet the requirements as detailed above under Sections 1 and 2 and outlining the following items: a) Company information, which includes point of contact, address, type of company, size and level of facility clearance, CAGE code and DUNS number. b) Description of experience in the field of digital and media forensic technology. c) Research, development and other past work to improve digital and media forensic technology. d) Description of experience operating and maintaining a research and development laboratory specializing in technologies listed in the scope of this document. e) Research and past work performed developing protocols, procedures, testing and evaluation plans, and training materials. f) Description of technical and management capabilities to assess current technologies, design and development of advanced digital and media forensic technology, training to end users. g) Description of the quality control and quality assurance processes and procedures implemented to ensure reproducible results. h) Description of labor categories of current and future staff/personnel to support the general requirements with commercial pricing details or GSA,/GWAC rates, categories, descriptions, and contract reference information. i) A list of facility costs associated with operating a 6,500 to 9,000 SF space within the Northern Virginia area to include operations and maintenance. j) Is your interest in this area as a prime contractor or sub-contractor? k) Describe your in-house partnering ability with sub-contractors. l) How much transition time would the company require to perform all requirements of this program? m) Are you currently registered in the Central Contractor Registry (CCR), Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA), and System for Award Management (SAM)? 4. Submission Instructions: Interested Parties are requested to respond to this RFI inclusive of answers to the requested information listed in Section 3 above. a) The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology). Based on this NAICS code what is your company's size status? b) VaCA reserves the right to review late submissions but makes no guarantee to the order of or possibility of review of late submissions. Responses shall be submitted via email ONLY to contact@example.gov. c) Responses shall be in Microsoft Word compatible format, no more than five (5) pages all inclusive, Times New Roman style, 12 point font and due no later than (NLT) 3:00 PM (local Eastern Time), 15 February 2013. d) Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED and completely separated. Please be advised that no submissions will be returned. All submissions will be disposed of in accordance with the instructions provided in prospective sources response. If no instructions are listed, the VaCA will dispose of at the organization's discretion. e) RFI submission, in its entirety, shall be marked up to UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO. f) Responses to this RFI may be evaluated by non-Government technical experts. The program office has contracted for various non-Government, scientific, engineering, technical, and administrative staff support services, some of which require contractors to obtain access to proprietary information submitted by other contractors. All non-Government support personnel have signed and are bound by the appropriate nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) and organizational conflicts of interest (OCI) statements. The Government may also use these selected support contractor personnel as technical advisers in the evaluation of responses. Non-Government staff support personnel will not have access to responses labeled by the Offerors as "Government Access Only". Non-Government staff support contractors in an administrative role will only handle proposals labeled by the offerors for "Administrative Purposes Only". g) Prospective offerors are advised that only a Government Contracting Officer is legally authorized to commit the Government. 5. Special Considerations: Performance requires contractor personnel to possess a final Top Secret clearance with a Single Scope Background Investigation (SSBI), and shall be eligible for indoctrination to the Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) level. Some positions may require a Counter Intelligence (CI) polygraph examination if additional accesses are required. The offeror is responsible for obtaining all necessary security clearances for contractor personnel.