USCC Partnership Intermediary Agreement

1.0 United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) Capabilities Development Group (CDG) has an interest in entering into a Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA), under the authority of 15 U.S.C. 3715, with a Partnership Intermediary to provide services for USCYBERCOM to increase the likelihood of success in the conduct of cooperative or joint activities between USCYBERCOM and small business firms or institutions of higher education as defined in 20 U.S.C. 1001, or educational institutions within the meaning of 10 U.S.C. 2194, to stimulate and promote technology development, and outbound and inbound transfer of technology between USCYBERCOM CDG and academia, industry, and Federal laboratories. Any resultant PIA will be a Non-Federal Acquisition Regulation based agreement made pursuant to the authority of 15 U.S.C. 3715. 2.0. General Information: 2.1. Agency: US Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) 2.2. Program Office: Capabilities Development Group (CDG) 2.3. Announcement Number: USCC-PIA-SEP2017 2.4. Closing Date: This Special Announcement will remain open until October 30, 2017, 4:00 PM Eastern Daylight Savings Time (EDST) unless superseded, amended, or cancelled. White papers may be submitted any time during this period subject to the submission process described in this Special Notice. 2.5. Agreement Point of Contact (POC): Agreement POC: Ms. Kelly Beck, Phone 301-688-2103, Email [email protected] 2.6. Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA) Areas of Interest: USCYBERCOM is interested in receiving white papers from all responsible sources who meet the definition of "partnership intermediary" as that term is defined in 15 U.S.C. 3715(c). Authorities and References: 15 U.S.C. § 3710, Utilization of Federal Technology; 15 U.S.C. § 3715, Use of Partnership Intermediaries; DoD Directive 5535.3, DoD Domestic Technology Transfer (T2) Program; DoD Instruction 5535.8, DoD Technology Transfer (T2) Program Specific Objectives for the Partnership Intermediary Agreement contemplated under this Special Notice include: 2.7 Cyber Collaboration and Innovation Environment. The intent of any resultant PIA is to accelerate the delivery of innovative capabilities to the cyber warfighter. It is an interactive process designed to assess the viability of technologies while simultaneously refining user requirements. Intermediaries should clearly articulate how they will provide an environment to USCYBERCOM, academia, industry, and other government organizations that facilitates access to world-renowned facilities and researchers; develops and maintains synergistic relationships with the entrepreneur community and nontraditional defense contractors; facilitates government partnerships for the transition of knowledge and technology; and expands academic programs to include fluid collaboration spaces (physical and virtual). The physical and virtual collaboration spaces contemplated should be state of the art, easily scalable and reconfigurable, and properly equipped to protect both physical property and information. Offerors are expected to identify and shape opportunities to share /develop collaborative research facilities with fabrication capabilities at either USCYBERCOM or partner organizations. Offerors shall address how they will increase USCYBERCOM's visibility in online research communities via data hubs, blogs, and other web strategies. Events targeted to facilitate collaboration may include: 2.8 Additional details are included in the DRAFT Statement of Objectives (SOO) attached to this notice. This effort is intended to result in a PIA, which is a Non-Federal Acquisition Regulation based agreement made pursuant to the authority of 15 U.S.C. 3715, and will be the result of negotiations. Responsible sources who meet the definition of "partnership intermediary" are encouraged to provide White Papers that propose the best way to meet the intent of the DRAFT SOO, with the knowledge that specific requirements may be met in a variety of ways that will be subject to negotiation. 2.9 It is also USCYBERCOM's intent that this agreement provide a very flexible relationship and venue, with low overhead costs due to the unique nature of the partnership intermediary relationship. 3.0 Submission Instructions for Special Notice USCC-PIA-SEP2017. 3.1 PIA Forecast: The Government anticipates establishing a long-term agreement to allow for the PIA to continue through the next several years. 3.2 White Paper Submission and Review Periods: The Special Notice will open on September 29, 2017, and close on October 30, 2017, 4:00 PM EDST. USCYBERCOM intends to conduct white paper reviews within 30 days of the closure of this announcement. At the end of the review, USCYBERCOM will notify Offerors whether their white papers were selected for submission of a proposal. 3.2.1 Format: White papers shall meet the following requirements: (1) Paper Size - 8.5 x 11 inch paper; (2) Margins - 1"; (3) Spacing - single; (4) Font - Times New Roman, 12 Point; (5) Microsoft Office 2010 or compatible format and/or PDF format. The Integrated Master Schedule is not restricted in size. The naming convention of white papers shall conform to the following format: Organization Name_WhitePaperTitle_MMDDYYYY.doc or pdf and contain no more than 50 characters and no special characters. 3.2.2 Number of Pages for White Paper: All white papers submitted in response to this Special Notice shall not exceed 12 pages. The cover page is not counted in this page limit. All pages other than the cover page shall be numbered. 3.3 Criteria, Relative Importance, and Method for Selecting Responses for Award Consideration: 3.3.1. Review Method: The Government will review each white paper for selection of those with the greatest potential to meet the needs of USCYBERCOM Partnership Intermediary requirements based on the areas stated in the DRAFT SOO. Initially, a determination will be made if each Offeror is technically qualified in meeting the statutory definition of a "partnership intermediary," and has a comprehensive understanding to undertake Partnership Intermediary role based on the information stated in the white paper. The Government will determine the most technically competent and capable Partnership Intermediary of the qualified Offerors using the criteria below. 3.3.2. Review Criteria: The Government will review the Offeror's capability to meet the technology requirements using the following specific criteria listed in descending order of importance: 3.3.2.1. Relevance: The Government will review the Offeror's description of the contemplated PIA and verify that it meets the Specific Objectives for the Partnership Intermediary Agreement contemplated in Section 2 of the Draft SOO. The Offeror's proposed facilities and equipment will be reviewed to assess its capability to perform as a Partnership Intermediary pursuant to applicable authorities. 3.3.2.2. Innovative or Revolutionary Approach: The Government will assess the Offeror's capability to satisfy the Partnership Intermediary requirements by reviewing the Offeror's unique, innovative, or revolutionary approach plan and the ability to meet USCYBERCOM's stated needs for innovation, collaboration, fabrication, technology transfer, and STEM outreach. 3.3.2.3. Price/Cost: The Government will make a determination of the fairness and reasonableness for the price/cost described in the white paper. The Offeror will be assessed whether the PIA can be successfully performed from the costs stated by the Offeror. (Note: Any funding provided under a resultant PIA would be incremental in nature to support specified task(s). These task(s) would be prioritized and subject to the availability of funds). 3.3.2.4. Schedule: The Offeror's schedule will be evaluated based on the reasonable level of effort; the resources, facilities, and equipment available; and the allocation of time per major task. USCYBERCOM would like the PIA to start as soon as possible with a phased implementation of the objectives identified in this Special Notice. 3.3.3. Notification of Selection: All Offerors submitting white papers will be contacted by the Government, either with written correspondence informing them that the effort described in the white paper submission is not of interest to the Government, or with a request for a formal cost and technical proposal by a specified date. 3.4 Document Submissions - General: All correspondence, to include submission of white papers, shall be directed to Contracting points of contact identified in paragraph 2.6 of this announcement. Upon notification of white paper selection, Offerors will have up to 14 calendar days to prepare and submit a proposal in accordance with the format and instructions that will be provided by the USCYBERCOM Agreements Officer. 3.5. Disclaimers/Notifications: USCYBERCOM reserves the right to select all, some, partial white paper content, or none of the white papers received in response to this Special Notice. USCYBERCOM reserves the right to initiate clarification of white papers and other material submitted in response to this Special Notice with Offerors when deemed necessary. All awards are subject to the availability of funds. Offerors will not be reimbursed for white paper development costs. There shall be no basis for claims against the Government as a result of any information submitted in response to this Special Notice. White papers and other material submitted with the white paper for review purposes under this Special Notice will not be returned. 3.6. White Paper Disclosures: It is the policy of USCYBERCOM to treat white papers as sensitive competitive information and to disclose the contents only for the purposes of review. Non-government personnel may be used to facilitate the review process. **ITEM OF NOTE** Notification is hereby provided that Covered Government Support Contractors as defined in Defense FAR Supplement (DFARS) 252.227-7013, 7014, 7015, and 7025, will act as advisors to the Government to review and provide support during white paper submission evaluations. When appropriate, Covered Government Support Contract advisors may also have access to Offeror's proposals and may be utilized to objectively review a proposal in a particular functional area and provide comments and recommendations to the Government's decision makers. They may not establish final assessments of risk, rate, or rank Offeror's proposals. All Covered Government Support Contract advisors shall comply with procurement integrity laws. The Government shall take into consideration requirements for avoiding conflicts of interest and ensure advisors comply with safeguarding proprietary data. Submission of a white paper, and/or proposal in response to this Special Notice constitutes approval to release the submitted information to Covered Government Support Contract advisors, and that the Offeror (or party asserting restrictions) has waived the requirement for separate non-disclosure agreements.