The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with the Massachusetts Institutes of Technology/Lincoln Laboratory (MIT/LL). MIT/LL is a non-profit organization which operates as a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC). In accordance with FAR, Section 35.107 this proposed effort cannot be performed by in-house or contractor resources. MIT/LL has had work ongoing on automatic speaker recognition research for the U.S. Secret Service for a number of years, and has been nationally recognized for that work. The team at MIT/LL consistently places first in the yearly NIST- sponsored speaker recognition evaluations. Lincoln advanced the research in higher-level features in speech and voice during a workshop led by Lincoln at Johns Hopkins University in the summer of 2002. The impact of this workshop was evident in the 2003 NIST speaker recognition workshops as participants followed MIT’s lead and brought higher-level features into their systems. These higher-level features have already improved error rates of automatic systems.As a recognized expert in this area, MIT/LL brings a range of research capabilities and awareness of operational systems and concepts which cannot be duplicated without significant delay and additional cost to this effort. The Verbal Identification Program will develop methods to improve speaker recognition for forensic application domains, including harnessing the higher-level features in human speech that discriminate among speakers; and incorporate these methods and analyses into modules to be used in a user interface for expert-driven examinations. It supports the HSARPA Program by developing the appropriate tools and technology to assist in the identification of foreign terrorists via speech and voice. Therefore, no solicitation will result from this announcement. The period of performance shall be 24 months from the date of award. The government anticipates a firm fixed-fee contract. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotations and no solicitation package will issued. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the government. Information will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive requirement.

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