Federated Co-Production of 3D Geospatial Data Assessment Event

Federated Co-Production of 3D Geospatial Data Virtual Assessment Event

09 July 2020
Submissions Closed on 16 June 11:59 PM EST

Purpose

SOFWERX, in concert with USSOCOM Program Executive Office SOF Digital Applications (PEO-SDA), seeks to accelerate the application of commercially‐derived software innovation into deployable warfighting capabilities in support of Special Operations Forces (SOF). Early identification of Warfighter needs and continuous engagement with users during software development and fielding will support increased lethality and efficiency.

This activity is an Assessment Event (AE) under USSOCOM Commercial Solution Opening (CSO) for Mission Support Systems. Potential prototype projects will be directly relevant to enhancing the effectiveness of software intensive programs, platforms, components, algorithms, or processes for Federated Co-Production of 3D Geospatial Data. The CSO and assessment will result in awards for solutions for innovative commercial technologies through a multi‐phased, competitive process.

What is an Assessment Event (AE)?

USSOCOM submits specific problems to solve and SOFWERX utilizes its ecosystem and market research to attract best-of-breed submissions to solve the problem. USSOCOM, subsequently, reviews and selects participants with the highest value to present and/or demonstrate their capability in a one-on-one session with Government Stakeholders.

CSO Technology Area of Interest (AOI): Federated Co-Production of 3D Geospatial Data

USSOCOM seeks Industry innovation in a phased approach to transforming the existing data production system. A pilot project will demonstrate a proof of concept for federating government, commercial, and open source capabilities at small scale. This includes creation of automated tools and processes for data generation, geo-registration, and correlation of 2D and 3D geospatial data by multiple providers to be combined in a SOF-unique, standards-based geospatial data foundation.

Phased build out of an engineering/development environment will transition legacy capability on a project-by-project basis as new, federated capabilities are scaled out. Co-production will accelerate on-demand processing and increase interoperability between mission command and simulation systems providing decision support to Special Operations Forces.

Iterative prototyping of future capability will continue after test and evaluation and before deployment to the federated production environment. Automated workflows capable of integrating new sensor data and rapidly adapting to new AI/ML algorithms for computer vision are required to meet SOF requirements for battlespace visualization supporting real world mission planning, rehearsal, and execution.

The Technology Area of Interest is focused on new, novel, or provocative commercial solutions with architectures and technical attributes that can be prototyped via a phased approach during a 10-12 month period and operationally fielded through a number of agile iterations into a federated co-production capability.

Objectives include:

Federated Co-Production Framework
Source Data Acquisition
Automated Data Processing
Correlation with Authoritative Basemap
Data Interoperability
Portable Runtime Environment
Error Correction and Feedback
Open Source, Collaborative Effort

See bottom of the page for a link to additional information regarding the technology area of interest and objectives.

Timeline

Completed Phase 1 – 13 May 2020 to 16 June 2020 CSO Technology AOI Open: Solution Briefs addressing the specific AOI will be accepted. Submissions will be reviewed independently against evaluation criteria in the CSO announcement linked below.

Questions Due – 03 June 2020 NLT 6:00 PM EST: Interested offerors may submit questions regarding specific technology objectives or in preparation for the Solutions Brief. Responses to questions are posted at the bottom of this website.
17 June 2020 to 22 June 2020 Downselect: Companies with favorably evaluated Solution Briefs will receive an invitation for advancement on or around 22 June 2020. USSOCOM may proceed directly to Phase 3 after a successful Phase 1 evaluation.

Completed Phase 2 – 09 July 2020 Virtual Assessment Event: USSOCOM will host Phase 2 invitees virtually, wherein each company will have an allotted amount of time to pitch or demonstrate its proposed solution to stakeholders and hold any discussions necessary for assessment. Capabilities will be reviewed independently against evaluation criteria in the CSO linked below. Participation in Phase 2 is at the company’s expense. Discussions may occur outside of the pitch/demo session. Favorably evaluated solutions will advance to Phase 3.

Note: Phase 2 is optional, and may not always be conducted, or may not be required for every successful Phase 1 submission. We aim to complete Phase 3 evaluations and Company notification within 30 calendar days of the assessment and/or receipt of additional requested information. All companies will receive Phase 2 notification, however, only favorably evaluated solutions will enter Phase 3 of the CSO process.

Phase 3 – Through 10 August 2020 Request for Prototype Proposal (RFPP): USSOCOM will issue an RFPP only to those companies that we intend to award a contract or agreement for their proposed solution. Companies will collaboratively build Statements of Work for their specific solutions with the Government team and negotiate contract/agreement terms and conditions for award. The purpose of the prototype is to demonstrate a phased approach for fielding an innovative commercial solution including a federated co-production system on operational networks. Awards under this CSO will be either FAR-based Firm Fixed Price contracts or Other Transaction Agreements under 10 U.S.C. 2371b for Prototypes Projects with potential follow‐on non‐competitive Production Agreements. Contract type will be determined during Phase 3. Multiple awards may be made to pursue dissimilar solutions should they all meet the technical criteria and funds are available.

Phase 4 – August 2020 to May 2021 Iterative Prototyping: Companies will have an opportunity to demonstrate the viability and effectiveness of capabilities for operational use via an agile methodology. Prototypes for new, novel, or provocative commercial solutions include architectures and technical attributes that enable Federated Co-Production and can be tested during a 10-12 month evaluation period. USSOCOM will complete the final capability assessment and may exercise an option for follow on production without further competition. The successful company(ies) will field increments of operational capability to the global SOF enterprise through a number of agile iterations within the first year of the contract or agreement. Increments satisfy an initial set of Warfighter/End User needs, security, and testing with working features to meet minimum functional capabilities in the above technical objectives and shape future iterations.

Questions?

For event-related questions, please contact Jessica Pecoraro, jessica.pecoraro@sofwerx.org
Questions on the CSO may be sent to the Contracting/Agreements Office Lanora Means, lanora.means@socom.mil