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NAICS CODE: 541715
FEDERAL AGENCY NAME: Department of the Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command, AFRL - Rome Research Site, AFRL/Information Directorate, 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome, NY, 13441-4514
BAA ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE: Initial announcement
BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (BAA) TITLE: Quantum Information Sciences
BAA NUMBER: FA8750-20-S-7006
PART I – OVERVIEW INFORMATION
This announcement is for an Open, 2 Step BAA which is open and effective until 30 Sep 2024. Only white papers will be accepted as initial submissions; formal proposals will be accepted by invitation only. While white papers will be considered if received prior to 2PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) on 30 Sep 2024, the following submission dates are suggested to best align with projected funding:
FY20 by 31 Jan 2020
FY21 by 30 Sep 2020
FY22 by 30 Sep 2021
FY23 by 29 Sep 2022
FY24 by 29 Sep 2023
Offerors should monitor the Contract Opportunities on the Beta SAM website at https://beta.sam.gov in the event this announcement is amended.
CONCISE SUMMARY OF TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENT: The Air Force Research Laboratory - Information Directorate (AFRL/RI) is soliciting white papers under this Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for research, design, development, concept testing, evaluation, experimentation, integration and delivery of Quantum Information Sciences supporting the implementation and use of Command, Control, Communications, Computers & Intelligence (C4I)-related information and communications technologies and techniques. In particular, this effort seeks to advance and assess advanced algorithm designs and technologies harnessing emerging quantum computing techniques to support AFRL/RI’s C4I mission.
Research at AFRL/RI’s Rome Research Site, located in Rome, NY, focuses on a range of activities to include information and signal processing, communications and networking technology, cyber research, and high performance computing. Many problems fundamental to these disciplines can be expressed as optimization problems governing relationships, and then represented as mathematical equations. Quantum computing provides a non-classical computing method for finding the global minimum (optimal solution) given these objective functions and constraints to rapidly arrive at the solution.
AFRL/RI has established a Quantum Information and Science branch (RITQ). Research within this branch will include Quantum Algorithms and Computing, Memory-Node-Based Quantum Networking, Quantum Information Processing, Superconducting Hybrid Quantum Platforms, and Quantum Information Sciences. These technologies will have both in-house and contractual based requirements to support the overall mission of the RITQ branch.
Further, AFRL/RI is interested in developing a user community around this emerging technology, to consist of other U.S. Government organizations (federal, state, and local), U.S. Government contractors and commercial industry, and academia (both public and private).
BAA ESTIMATED FUNDING: Total funding for this BAA is approximately $49.9M. Individual awards will not normally exceed 36 months with dollar amounts normally ranging from $0.5M to $2M. There is also the potential to make awards up to any dollar value as long as the value does not exceed the available BAA ceiling amount.
ANTICIPATED INDIVIDUAL AWARDS: Multiple Awards are anticipated.
TYPE OF INSTRUMENTS THAT MAY BE AWARDED: Procurement contracts, grants, cooperative agreements or other transactions (OT) depending upon the nature of the work proposed. In the event that an Other Transaction for Prototype agreement is awarded as a result of this competitive BAA, and the prototype project is successfully completed, there is the potential for a prototype project to transition to award of a follow-on production contract or transaction. The Other Transaction for Prototype agreement itself will also contain a similar notice of a potential follow-on production contract or agreement.
AGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION: All white paper submissions and any questions of a technical nature shall be directed to the cognizant Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) as specified below (unless otherwise specified in the technical area):
BAA MANAGER:
Kristi Mezzano
AFRL/RITQ
525 Brooks Rd
Rome, NY 13441-4505
Telephone: (315) 330-2448
Email: [email protected]
Questions of a contractual/business nature shall be directed to the cognizant Contracting Officer, as specified below:
Amber Buckley
Email: [email protected]
Emails must reference the solicitation (BAA) number and title of the acquisition.
Pre-Proposal Communication between Prospective Offerors and Government Representatives: Dialogue between prospective offerors and Government representatives is encouraged. Technical and contracting questions can be resolved in writing or through open discussions. Discussions with any of the points of contact shall not constitute a commitment by the Government to subsequently fund or award any proposed effort. Only Contracting Officers are legally authorized to commit the Government.
Offerors are cautioned that evaluation ratings may be lowered and/or proposal rejected if proposal preparation (Proposal format, content, etc.) and/or submittal instructions are not followed.
AMENDMENT 1 to BAA FA8750-20-S-7006
The purpose of this modification is to republish the original announcement, incorporating any previous amendments, pursuant to FAR 35.016(c).
This republishing also includes the following changes:
No other changes have been made.
PLEASE SEE ATTACHMENT FOR FULL ANNOUCEMENT DETAILS.
AMENDMENT 2 to BAA FA8750-20-S-7006
The purpose of this modification is to republish the original announcement, incorporating any previous amendments, pursuant to FAR 35.016(c).
This republishing also includes the following changes:
No other changes are made.
SEE ATTACHMEN FOR FULL ANNOUNCEMENT DETAILS.
Amendment No. 3 to BAA FA8750-20-S-7006
The purpose of this amendment is to:
5. In accordance with AFRLI 61-113, S&T Protection, Contractors/Recipients are required to submit with their proposal a Standard Form 424, "Research and Related and Senior and Key Person Profile (Expanded), as well as a Security Program Questionnaire, which are included in the RI-Specific Proposal Preparation Instructions and can be accessed at:
https://sam.gov/opp/e628c811fafe041accdddf55fb8539bf/view?keywords=AFRL-BAA-GUIDE&sort=-relevance&index=&is_active=true&page=1. Always reference the
newest versions of these documents. Complete and submit the required forms with your proposal to the technical point of contact (TPOC) listed in Section VII-Agency Contacts AND [email protected].
Contractors will be required to provide documentation of their Security Program Plan for initial Institution S&T Protection Program Review. The purpose of requesting the plan is to evaluate the offeror’s capacity for protecting the Government’s S&T and failure to demonstrate a plan adequate to meet the needs of the requirement may be grounds for considering the proposal unawardable. In the event a security risk is identified and the Government has determined the security risk exceeds the acceptable threshold, the Contractor/Recipient will be notified and informed of the termination/decline of award. The Government will be only required to provide a general statement of the reasoning due to Government OPSEC measures.
After award, the Contractor/Recipient will be required to re-submit the Standard Form 424 as an annual requirement to the points of contact listed above.
No other changes are made.