SPECIAL NOTICE
A -- Request for Information(RFI) Advanced All-Source Fusion ATO
- Notice Date
- 8/14/2009
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 541712
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Army, U. S. Army Materiel Command, US Army C-E LCMC Acquisition Center - DAAB07, US Army C-E LCMC Acquisition Center - DAAB07, ATTN: AMSEL-AC, Building 1208, Fort Monmouth, NJ 07703-5008
- ZIP Code
- 07703-5008
- Solicitation Number
- W15P7T09RS154
- Archive Date
- 11/12/2009
- Point of Contact
- William M. Schwartz, 410.436.2196<br />
- E-Mail Address
-
US Army C-E LCMC Acquisition Center - DAAB07
(william.m.schwartz@us.army.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Advanced All-Source Fusion ATO Request for Information (RFI) July 2009 This is a Request for Information (RFI) synopsis. This RFI is for planning purpose only. This is NOT a request for Quotations or Proposals. No solicitation document exists and formal solicitation may or may not be issued by the Government as a result of the responses to this RFI. The Government will not pay for any response expenses. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response. Background Todays tactical intelligence systems focus on either document (mostly unstructured) or sensor (structured) intelligence sources. The Purpose of the Advanced All-Source Fusion (A2SF) effort is to provide an initial set of algorithms and analysis tools that integrate into the Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate (I2WD) Fusion Exploitation Framework (FEF) and enable FULL SPECTRUM fusion (integrate information from all intelligence sources into one data model). Traditionally we talk about hard target entities such as equipment, facilities, electronic communication, etc. that come mostly from sensors or well-structured data sources as contrasted with soft target entities like individuals, organizations, events that come mostly from unstructured data sources. Many entity types can be defined, derived or related from either structured or unstructured data sources; therefore it is critical to provide a framework where fusion algorithms and analysis tools can operate over a full spectrum data model to provide an accurate fused picture. The A2SF effort will integrate all-source data to provide discovery and tracking services of entities and their relationships over the full spectrum of operations. The Payoff is an increase in analysts effectiveness and productivity being able to find the relevant information quickly and to discover patterns and trends in the data. The focus is on identifying high value entities (HVEs) such as individuals, organizations, events, facilities, equipment, financial transactions, etc. We will work closely with the DCGS-A program office and the TRADOC Capabilities Manager to ensure we are developing relevant capabilities. Each year we will participate in an operational exercise such as Empire Challenge (EC) with the goal to annually assess capabilities that prove useful (TRL 6) and could be transitioned, while continuing development of some harder problems into the option years. Description U.S. Army Communications-Electronic Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC), I2WD is conducting this RFI to determine potential capability and innovative approaches for the A2SF Advanced Technology Objective (ATO). There are no systems today that seamlessly integrate hard and soft target information providing a full spectrum capability. We will provide the DCGS-A Fusion Exploitation Framework (FEF) and an associated data model, and are looking to industry for enhanced fusion algorithms and innovative analysis tools that contribute to a full spectrum capability from existing hard and soft information sources. The A2SF ATO is comprised of four primary components -Modular fusion algorithms -Innovative analysis tools -GOTS provided Fusion Exploitation Framework -GOTS provided data model This RFI requests industry to provide information on approaches and best practices for accomplishing the envisioned A2SF effort. The input to this system will be a set of tactical Multi-INT information. The fusion framework provides a mechanism for ingesting multiple formats and allows easy integration of new formats. The output will be a populated and enhanced set of data (structured in accordance with the Government-off-the-Shelf (GOTS) data model) visualized thru a set of analysis tools. The major focus of this effort will be on fusion algorithms and the use of the analyst tools to demonstrate the integration of both soft and hard intelligence information to provide a complete picture a full spectrum fusion approach. The data model will be entity focused (not document or report focused) allowing for a complete set of algorithms to fully describe the known, perceived and derived entities in the battlespace. Both the baseline data model and the FEF will be provided. It is anticipated that the data model may need to be extended to accommodate new and innovative fusion algorithms and analysis tools. The basic core concepts of the GOTS data model will be held firm, but there is recognition that new and innovative extensions will be considered, especially in the areas of pedigree, geospatial and temporal fuzzy representation. It is also assumed that new data sources and algorithms will be provided into the fusion framework. While not all RFI responders will be intimately familiar with the DCGS-A Fusion Exploitation Framework you can assume that assistance and some training along with a complete SDK would be provided at the beginning of any effort. We are specifically seeking industry input on one or both of the following topics: Modular Fusion Algorithms and Innovative Analysis Tools. Responses to either one or both topics will be considered. Topic 1: Modular Fusion Algorithms I2WD is looking for capability to provide fusion algorithms that either ingest data into the provided data model or enhance/modify/build-up existing data. (JDL Model Levels 0, 1, and 2). There are two classifications of fusion algorithms in the FEF: Specific and General. Specific Fusion Algorithms (SFAs) subscribe to specific types of source information, translate, identify and insert (fuse) the information into an existing set of entities (defined by the data model). Ingested data could be USMTF messages, sensor data, RDF from semantic extraction, etc. It is the responsibility of these fusion algorithms to ingest the various forms of hard/soft, structured/unstructured data, create, extract or otherwise identify the appropriate entities and relationships and then insert/update that information in the data store. Standardized data formats (e.g., TML, SML, RDF, and other fusion markup languages) are encouraged. General Fusion Algorithms (GFAs) subscribe to specific types of entities or entity-attribute changes and perform more advanced fusion (e.g. correlation, aggregation, relationship identification, etc). Both SFAs and GFAs cooperate via a messaging process (e.g., JBOSS) to notify and to be notified of changes of entities (objects) when any other participating algorithm creates, updates, or removes a targeted data record. We are looking for any number of algorithms necessary to provide aspects of a full-spectrum all-source fusion capability. Industry may suggest types of data to ingest and the kind/category of fusion (some simple examples are level 1 fusion for individuals or level 2 associations between organizations and facilities, etc). We are looking for innovative modular fusion algorithms that will contribute to a holistic all source fusion capability for DCGS-A and other potential customers. Topic 2: Innovative Analysis Tools I2WD is looking for capabilities that provide innovative approaches for providing full spectrum fusion- focused analyst tools. It could be assumed that these tools themselves could be considered human-assisted fusion. They may also be dependent on a set of fusion algorithms existent in the A2SF framework. Innovative Analysis tools can integrate into the Fusion Exploitation Framework in a number of ways. They might be user-assisted fusion algorithms, they could provide enhancements to extracting information from the data store, and they might be innovative ways of discovering patterns in the data. As mentioned above, the data store contains USMTF messages, hard-target sensor data, RDF from semantic extraction, etc. These Innovative Analysis Tools should provide information that enables the all-source Fusion process. Some example analysis tools might be: 1.Foreign name resolution 2.Multi-INT tracking with sparse observations 3.Financial transition analysis 4.Activity or organization Mission Member analysis 5.Data mining for activity discovery and/or relationship discovery 6.Organization tracking across multiple points of presence These are only examples; I2WD is looking to industry to providing information on other innovative approaches. It is assumed that the data model may need to be extended and that integrated query, discovery and other capability may need to be integrated into the data store in order to provide new capability. Response We are asking industry to provide a response to this RFI that includes: "Provide a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) cost estimate for the A2SF effort per year. "Propose an approach for incorporating, supporting and validating 3rd party submissions of Fusion components and Analytic Tool implementations. "Propose a commercial software licensing approach that minimizes license management costs and leverages COTS products availability under DoD enterprise license vehicles. "Propose a version release strategy (frequency and scope) that incorporates technology change, vendor releases and new capabilities in a spiral development approach. "Articulate and evaluate risks associated with the A2SF effort and your approaches. Describe the risk areas from a cost, schedule and technical perspective with your rationale. Responses to this RFI are to be unclassified and received no later than 1700 EST 14 September. All interested parties shall respond in as clear a manner as possible to each of the areas listed above. Information is preferred in soft-copy form in Microsoft Word and shall not exceed 20 (twenty) pages. If softcopy cannot be provided, written information will be accepted no later than 14 September 2009. You may forward your responses to via email address to: Hai.Phu@us.army.mil and Ricky.Chung@us.army.mil; Subject Line: A2SF RFI. All information must be in writing or via e-mail, telephone requests for additional information will not be honored. You may forward responses to US Army, RDECOM, CERDEC, I2WD, Bldg. 600, Fort Monmouth, NJ, 07703, ATTN: AMSRD-CER-IW-FF (Mr. Hai Phu) or the following e-mail address: Hai.Phu@us.army.mil. Acknowledgement of receipt will be issued. If you choose to submit proprietary information, mark it accordingly. Classified information will be accepted by mail only, but please mark it accordingly and send it via proper channels. Classified information can be sent to US Army, RDECOM, CERDEC, I2WD, Bldg. 600, Fort Monmouth, NJ, 07703, ATTN: Security Office. The inner wrapping shall be addressed to: ATTN: AMSRD-CER-IW-FF (Mr. Hai Phu ).
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