Sole Source Intent Notice (LMI; Vehicle Crowd-Sourcing Challenge)

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Tactical Technology Office (TTO), intends to award a sole-source contract to Local Motors, Inc. (LMI), of Chandler, Arizona for a Vehicle Crowd-Sourcing Challenge effort. LMI is a developer and supplier of crowd-sourced custom vehicles that employs a vast social network and collaboration tools to compete, judge, and develop novel vehicle concepts which are subsequently manufactured by a supplier network and assembled in LMI's micro-factories. The Vehicle Crowd-Sourcing Challenge will leverage LMI's existing infrastructure to crowd-source the design, manufacturing, and assembly of a militarily-relevant body for an existing off-road vehicle chassis and powertrain design. This is intended to serve as a pilot and proof-of-concept activity for future DARPA vehicle crowd-sourcing efforts which the Government intends to solicit competitively. The proposed contract action is for supplies or services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under the authority of FAR 6.302-1, "Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements." As the developer, owner, and operator of a large, existing crowd-sourcing social network; a crowd-sourcing collaboration environment for vehicle design; an infrastructure for advertising, promulgating, conducting, and judging challenge-style competitive developments; a rapidly responsive custom supplier network; and an appropriate micro-factory manufacturing facility, LMI possesses unique knowledge, capabilities, and intellectual property necessary to carry out the required effort. No other source would be capable of satisfying the requirements for an affordable and complete end-to-end solution within the aggressive timeframe necessary to meet the Government's needs. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals and no solicitation is currently available. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement. Responses/proposals received within forty-five (45) days after date of publication of this notice will be considered by the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed effort on a full and open basis is solely within the discretion of the Government. Interested parties may identify their interest and capability to meet the requirements by submitting a white paper and past performance data by no later than 12:00 PM (noon), August 30, 2010 to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Attn: Mr. Christopher Glista, Contracts Management Office (CMO), 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203-1714 or via email to christopher.glista@darpa.mil. Questions shall be submitted to the above email address. Please refer to Special Notice 10-61. It is noted that DARPA's Tactical Technology Office (TTO) maintains an annual office-wide Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) seeking system and subsystem level technologies that enable revolutionary improvements to the efficiency and effectiveness of the military. Parties wishing to respond to this notice are invited, as an alternative, to submit a white paper against DARPA-BAA-10-09 "Innovative Systems for Military Missions."