Attachment 1
GED/Integrated Intelligence Space Program Office
FY 2015 Prospector Program Area of Interest
Released By:
Gordon D., Contracting Officer
Release Date:
6 August 2015
Final Date to Submit Proposals:
16 September 2015
2
Contents
1.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 3
1.1 Area of Interest Overview ................................................................................................................... 3
1.2 Specific FY15 Prospector Focus Areas .............................................................................................. 3
2.0 FY15 PROSPECTOR BAA SCHEDULE .............................................................................................. 5
3.0 Deviations from FY15/16 GED/I2 SPO BAA Umbrella......................................................................... 5
4.0 FY15 Prospector BAA Evaluation......................................................................................................... 5
5.0 FY15 Prospector BAA Proposal Deliverables ........................................................................................ 6
5.1 FY15 Prospector BAA Proposal Deliverable Formats ....................................................................... 6
6.0 EVALUATION CRITERIA ................................................................................................................... 8
6.1 PHASE I - Evaluation of One Page Abstract and SF 328................................................................... 8
6.2 PHASE II – Technical & Management Evaluation ............................................................................ 9
7.0 CONTRACT AWARD ......................................................................................................................... 10
7.1 Milestone Payments .......................................................................................................................... 10
7.2 Contract Type.................................................................................................................................... 10
7.3 Deliverables ...................................................................................................................................... 10
7.4 Government Participation ................................................................................................................. 11
8.0 PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS and NOTICES ....................................................... 12
8.1 Validity Period .................................................................................................................................. 12
8.2 Instructions, Conditions and Notices to Offerors.............................................................................. 12
8.2.1 Proposal Submission Instructions .................................................................................................. 12
9.0 QUESTIONS ....................................................................................................................................... 12
3
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Area of Interest Overview
This is an Area of Interest (AOI) Attachment to accompany the Fiscal Year 2015/16 (FY15/16)
GED/I2 SPO Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) Umbrella. The FY15/16 GED/I2 SPO BAA
Umbrella and this FY15 Prospector AOI comprise a complete Prospector BAA.
GED I2 SPO BAA Umbrella
Prospector AOI Attachment
Prospector BAA
Prospector is an unclassified acquisition that seeks new agile partners to apply their best
technologies on an emerging set of challenges. This acquisition is designed to solicit proposals
from contractors that are not traditionally involved with NRO development activities. A goal of
Prospector is to adapt existing technology, techniques, and tools to the NRO mission.
Proposals that do not meet the requirements outlined in the FY15/16 GED/I2 SPO BAA
Umbrella and this AOI will be eliminated from consideration for FY15 Prospector BAA
funding.
1.2 Specific FY15 Prospector Focus Areas
There are three focus areas for the FY15 Prospector AOI. Offerors must submit a proposal that
satisfies, addresses, or aligns with one or more FY15 Prospector Focus Area. Each offeror is
limited to submitting one proposal per FY15 Prospector AOI Focus Area, with a maximum of
three proposals.
The three FY15 Prospector Focus Areas are:
Focus Area 1: Visualization: Visual Analytics is the science of analytical reasoning facilitated
by interactive visual interfaces. Visual analytic techniques aid in the perception, exploration and
reasoning of complex information using interactive graphic techniques. Visualization of large
volumes of data (millions of data points) blended from independent sources is needed to
correlate, discover trends and patterns, characterize behavior, and identify key areas for further
investigation. Quantitative visualization is the charting and graphing of quantitative data ranging
from simple data bars of counts of entities to more complex visualizations that include multiple
data sets, aggregate information, multiple perspectives of the same data, computed trends,
probabilities and other domain-specific, derivative information. The visualization of Geospatial
Information Systems (GIS) enhanced data in 2D and 3D spatial and temporal displays provides
unique opportunities to discover insights, but current visualization tools cannot easily handle the
high volumes which occur in large data environments. Current visualization tools also fail to
handle the multi-dimensional complexity which comes with blended data from multiple
independent sources. The government is interested in technologies that take advantage of
4
emerging commercially-based infrastructure technologies (i.e. Cloud) for rendering and
visualizing very large data sets.
Focus Area 2: Discovery of Unknowns: Most of the current analytic and processing methods
are based on inductive reasoning which draws conclusions by looking at specific data and
looking for known entities, behaviors or patterns in the data. Every process for discovery has a
level of confidence associated with the process which identifies the error rate for the
process. Conclusions based on inductive reasoning are limited by the specific data used for the
starting point and are essentially limited to finding evidence related to “known” entities,
signatures or patterns of life previously discovered. New analytic techniques are needed which
are designed to discover unknown entities and establish analytic correlations based on observed
activity. These methods should utilize deductive analytical processes on blended sources of data
in a spatial and temporal context to understand and establish analytic correlations based on
observed activity. These new discovery methods and engines may use a single technique or an
ensemble of techniques including machine learning, neural networks, chaos theory and other
applicable methodologies. The government is interested in technologies that take advantage of
emerging commercially-based technologies (i.e. Blind statistical correlations, neural networks,
Bayesian belief networks, etc.).
Focus Area 3: Estimating Credibility of Estimation in Blended Data Environments:
Methods for uncertainty quantification and level of confidence assessment within a single data
set or process are well established using statistics; however, when data is blended from multiple
independent data sets/sources with different levels of uncertainty/confidence, new statistical
techniques must be used to quantify the confidence of estimates or error rates of the algorithms
used to discover trends and patterns, characterize behavior, and identify key areas of
interest. Quantification metrics of credibility must be calculated so they can be tracked and
reported using intuitive methods that improve the ability of decision makers to act with the
associated uncertainty/confidence in mind. The government is interested in determining the
required data for calculating credibility measurements in blended data environments and new
methods with sound statistical foundations which can be used to calculate the credibility
measures when data is blended from multiple independent sources. The determination of what
feedback is required for data source providers to understand their confidence in the larger
"equation" or while being combined with other data sources is an important metric for increasing
data source worth. The means by which to capture the justification used for complex confidence
calculations to enable after action "forensics" is also valuable.
5
2.0 FY15 PROSPECTOR BAA SCHEDULE
The FY15 Prospector BAA AOI will follow the closed proposal submission and
evaluation process as described in the FY15/16 GED/I2 SPO BAA Umbrella Section 2.3.
Offerors must submit proposals by the proposal submission date stated in Table 1 below.
Evaluations of all proposals received will begin after the specified proposal submission close
date. Proposals are evaluated concurrently in a consolidated evaluation process. Proposals are
evaluated, scored, and those proposals deemed awardable are consolidated into a single rank
ordered list. Contract awards will be made depending upon funding availability. All proposals
received by 1400 Eastern Time (ET) on the proposal due date will be evaluated prior to making
any award. Any proposals received after this time will not be evaluated.
The FY15 Prospector BAA schedule and any and all changes will be posted to the unclassified
NRO Acquisition Resource Center (ARC) website, https://acq.westfields.net
Table 1: FY15 Prospector BAA Schedule
06 August 2015
Post BAA on Fed Biz Ops, and ARC
16 September 2015
Final Day to Submit Proposal
14 October 2015
Estimated Award Notified
28 October 2015
Contract award Period of Performance begins
28 April 2016
End of Period of Performance
NOTE: The contract award date is dependent upon Fiscal Year availability of funding and/or
completion of evaluation of proposals. If funds or evaluations are not available or complete,
then contract award(s) will be made as soon as the funds or evaluations are available/complete.
3.0 Deviations from FY15/16 GED/I2 SPO BAA Umbrella
FY15 Prospector proposals will not have to include a Transmittal letter or a Vendor Payment
Information Plan (PIP). All other terms and conditions stated in the FY15/16 I2 SPO BAA
Umbrella apply. If a contractor is notified that their proposal was accepted for funding, they
will have ten (10) business days to submit a Transmittal letter and a PIP.
4.0 FY15 Prospector BAA Evaluation
1. Phase 0 – Evaluation Preparation. This phase is an initial administrative review to ensure
each proposal is complete, and to sort proposals for subsequent detailed evaluation
6
according to focus area (e.g., visualization, discovery of unknowns, estimating
credibility).
2. Phase I – Evaluation of one page Abstract and Security. Phase I is conducted to
determine which, if any, proposals are qualified for evaluation in Phase II. Only the one
page proposal abstract and SF 328 will be used in the Phase I evaluation.
3. Phase II – Technical and Management Evaluation. This phase is a detailed review and
analysis of the proposal video to determine the overall suitability for funding under the
FY15 Prospector BAA. During this phase, a panel of subject matter experts from across
the NRO will evaluate the proposals according to the criteria in section 6.2. The proposal
should provide evaluators a description of the technical goals, programmatics, and
demonstrated Offeror expertise. Price & Contract compliance and Security evaluations
will be conducted on proposals recommended for Phase III.
4. Phase III – Awardability Determination. During this final phase of the evaluation
process, all proposals that are suitable for funding will be forwarded to the Awardability
Determination phase. Evaluators will establish a final ranking of the proposals based on
which proposals are considered most advantageous to the Government
5.0 FY15 Prospector BAA Proposal Deliverables
The FY15 Prospector BAA proposal includes three (3) deliverables: a one (1) page abstract, a
seven (7) minute video, and a completed SF 328 – Certificate Pertaining to Foreign Interests
delivered at the same time.
5.1 FY15 Prospector BAA Proposal Deliverable Formats
1. The first submission to the FY15 Prospector Program AOI is an abstract that shall not
exceed one (1) letter size page with margins of at least 0.5 inches. The required font is
Calibri, 11 pitch, which also applies to all graphics and tables, including schedules. As
these graphics and tables may be created in tools other than Word (PowerPoint, Project,
etc.), the Offeror should take care when inserting graphics and tables. Any text which is
condensed when inserting may be ignored as illegible. The abstract will be evaluated in
Phase I.
 The content of the abstract shall include:
i. Proposal Title: The Title shall be brief, intelligible to a technically literate
reader, and Unclassified.
ii. Name and address of Offeror: Indicate which of the POCs should be
notified of the results of the proposal evaluation
iii. Focus Area addressed
iv. Duration of Effort
v. Price of Effort
7

In addition to the required information listed above, the abstract shall include a
description of the work to be accomplished in sufficient detail to facilitate Phase 1
evaluation (6.1.1).
2. The second submission to the FY15 Prospector Program AOI (delivered at the same time
as the Abstract) is a Video containing an overall description of the proposed concept.
The video is a summary and augmentation to the abstract that will provide context to the
Offeror’s submission. After evaluating the one page abstract in Phase 1, the Prospector
review team will make a recommendation to the Prospector Program Manager (PM)
regarding whether or not to review the proposal video. Videos shall not exceed seven (7)
minutes in length. Any time period after 7 minutes will be truncated prior to evaluation,
or the proposal may be eliminated for not adhering to required instructions. Acceptable
formats for the Video include WMV, MP3/MP4 and AVI. The Video will be evaluated
in Phase II in accordance with 6.2.
 The content of the video shall include:
i. Summary: Summary of products, methods, and/or techniques applicable
to the relevant topic area(s).
ii. Benefits: Product features, benefits, and outcomes possible within
different situations or use cases. Addresses items identified in technical
and management criteria section 6.2.1 and 6.2.2.
iii. Application: Explanation of how product and/or methods/techniques can
be applied to various data sources with large volumes of diverse structured
and unstructured data (e.g. scalability, conditioning required for data
ingest/understanding, etc.).
 Examples of video sequencing templates are included below (Note: the below
templates are included for illustration purposes only. Offerors are in no way
restricted to the below examples):
Figure 1- Possible Video Sequencing
8
3. The third submission to the FY15 Prospector Program AOI (delivered at the same time as
the Abstract and Video) is a completed SF 328 – Certificate Pertaining to Foreign
Interests. The SF 328 will be evaluated in Phase I.
6.0 EVALUATION CRITERIA
General Considerations. The FY15 Prospector BAA evaluation will be conducted within a
competitive Source Selection environment. The objective of this effort is to solicit the widest
range of innovative concepts and select those that meet the objectives of the Prospector Program.
During the evaluation phase, a tiered elimination process will be used to select proposals for
funding.
6.1 PHASE I - Evaluation of One Page Abstract and SF 328
Phase I is conducted to determine which, if any, proposals are qualified for full evaluation in
Phase II. Only the one page proposal abstract and the SF 328 – Certificate Pertaining to Foreign
Interests will be used in the Phase I evaluation.
6.1.1. Abstract Criteria
To be qualified for full evaluation, the abstract must have sufficient merit based on the following
criteria:




Uniqueness and Innovativeness of the proposed effort. The degree to which the
proposed effort presents unique and innovative development, or how it advances proven
technology.
Responsiveness of the proposed effort to the AOI. The degree to which the proposed
effort addresses and responds to the specified AOI, as described in Section 1.2.
Price NTE $350K. The proposed price must be in US dollars
o The proposals either meet, or do not meet the price criteria
Period of Performance (PoP) for Demonstration NTE 6 Months.
For this phase of the evaluation, the uniqueness and innovativeness of the proposed effort are the
most important criteria. Offerors are strongly cautioned that the one page Abstract must address
all of the above criteria. Failure to address all of the areas will result in elimination from further
consideration.
6.1.2 Security Criteria
The security evaluation will focus on the Offeror’s foreign ownership, control or influence.
Security will be evaluated on a Pass/Fail basis. A failing grade in the Security evaluation may be
cause for removal of a proposal from further consideration for contract award. The following
criteria are applied during the security evaluation:
9
a) Evaluation of the SF 328 – Certificate Pertaining To Foreign Interests (Attachment 4 of
the FY15/16 I2SPO BAA Umbrella)
6.2 PHASE II – Technical & Management Evaluation
Proposals that successfully pass Phase I of the evaluation process will be evaluated in Phase II
using a 7 minute video. Phase II is conducted to determine which, if any, proposals are awarded.
For this phase of the evaluation, technical criteria are significantly more important than
management criteria.
6.2.1 Technical Criteria
Technical criteria will be evaluated and scored based on the degree to which the video addresses
the following:
a. Identifies the focus area(s) and clearly articulates what the Offeror is proposing to
do to demonstrate their capability for the focus area(s).
b. Adequately explains the characteristics, volume, and conditioning of the data
being used to demonstrate the technology.
c. Discusses a sound technical approach to be used to achieve the demonstration and
why the proposed technical approach is the most appropriate for pursuing the
Prospector Focus Areas in Section 1.2.
d. Demonstrates an understanding of the technical challenges associated with the
ability of the technology/technique to operate upon other datasets (e.g. diverse
data sources, structure/unstructured data, etc.) and outlines a comprehensive
approach to overcome these challenges.
e. Establishes credibility through one or more of the following: maturity level,
customers, or history.
6.2.2 Management Criteria
Management criteria will be evaluated and scored based on the degree to which the proposal
addresses the following:
a. Presents a realistic project schedule that identifies key events which will result in
a demonstration capability.
6.2.3 Technical and Management Evaluation Scale
Each of the technical and management criteria indicated above will be evaluated using the scale
provided below:
 EXCEPTIONAL. The proposal exceeds standard by a substantial margin. The offeror
has more than met all needs, schedules, experience levels, and expectations and
10
approaches the best that could be proposed by a qualified offeror. No areas of
deficiency are noted.

GOOD. The proposal slightly exceeds standard. The offeror meets all needs,
schedules, experience levels, and expectations, and surpasses some.

SATISFACTORY. The proposal meets standard. The offeror has adequately met
needs, schedules, experience levels, and expectations in a fashion that corresponds to
an average standard proposal by a qualified offeror. Areas of deficiency are more
nearly offset by areas that are above average than is the case in "MARGINAL"
proposals.

MARGINAL. The proposal almost meets standard, but has one or more deficiencies.
The offeror has adequately met most, but not all, needs, schedules, experience levels,
and expectations in a fashion that corresponds to a nearly average standard proposal by
a qualified offeror. Areas of deficiency are mostly offset by areas that are at least
satisfactory.

UNSATISFACTORY. The proposal does not meet standard. Most needs, schedules,
experience levels, and expectations have not been adequately met. Areas of deficiency
are not offset by better performance in other areas, or there is a significant deficiency
in one or more areas.
7.0 CONTRACT AWARD
If selected, the Offeror’s Abstract and 7 min video will be the basis of the contract award.
7.1 Milestone Payments
Forty percent of the contract funding will be awarded at the Kickoff meeting. The balance of the
funding will be awarded after the final demonstration and report are delivered to and accepted by
the government.
7.2 Contract Type
The Government intends to award multiple Firm Fixed Price (FFP) type contracts. The contract
shall have a PoP of 6 months, with no options. Funding shall not exceed $350,000 for the entire
project. Award of any contract pursuant to this FY15 Prospector BAA is contingent upon the
availability of funds.
7.3 Deliverables
If a proposal is awarded, the minimum required contract deliverables are a kickoff meeting, a
closeout meeting, a final demonstration, and a final written report. Proposals may indicate
deliverables beyond the minimum required.
11
Kickoff Meeting. Within fifteen (15) business-days of a contract being awarded, the Awardee
shall host a kickoff meeting at a location accepted by the Government. This meeting shall
include a short briefing by the Awardee detailing their understanding of the tasks, and the
deliverables. The Awardee may request an additional interim meeting with the Prospector
Program Office around three (3) months after the Kickoff meeting.
Closeout Meeting. Prior to the end of the period of performance, the Awardee shall host a close
out meeting at a location accepted by the Government. This meeting shall include a briefing by
the Awardee detailing the performance on the project, a demonstration of the Area of Interest
proposed in the original abstract and 7 minute video, an overview of the final report, any issues
uncovered, and any deviations from the proposal.
Final Demonstration. The final demonstration should emphasize the AOI(s) proposed in the
original abstract and seven minute video to allow the Government to determine the possibility of
use in future Government programs. The demonstration should highlight the innovative
functionality of the awardee’s technology (e.g. Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS), Government
Off-the-Shelf (GOTS), Open Source Software (OSS), etc) using data which is complex, sparse
and blended from at least three independent sources. The final demonstration should describe the
methods used to achieve the innovative functionality being demonstrated. The data should
contain at least 5 million observations for a range of entities (persons, places, events, facilities,
etc.) and have multiple attributes per observation including both a spatial attribute which has
been georeferenced (latitude, longitude) and a temporal attribute (time of occurrence). These
datasets should be described in detail (type of data, number of observations, variables in each
dataset, which variables were used to blend the data, etc.) in the final demonstration/presentation.
The demonstration should be presented in four (4) hours or less at the vendors chosen site,
accepted by the Government.
Written Report. The final written report shall document the following:
a)
b)
c)
d)




detailed description of the technology used in the demonstration,
detailed description of the innovative methods used in the demonstration
description of the data used in the demonstration
maturity of the technology product illustrated by one or more of the following
areas:
history of the evolution of the technology
Commercial or Government applications of the technology
types of Customers using the technology
roadmap of how the technology will evolve
7.4 Government Participation
Each project selected for funding under this BAA will be assigned a Government Contracting
Officer (CO) and a Contracting Officer Technical Representative (COTR)/Project Manager from
12
the GED/I2 SPO. The Prospector Government CO and COTR/Project Manager must be invited
to participate in the project’s kickoff, closeout, and any other significant program events.
8.0 PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS and NOTICES
Abstracts and Videos must be UNCLASSIFIED.
All documents and videos must be complete and provide adequate information to be understood
by the Prospector evaluation team. The objective is to provide a sufficient explanation so the
evaluator does not have follow-on questions. If any section of the proposal does not meet the
guidelines given in this FY15 Prospector BAA AOI, the proposal may be eliminated from
consideration.
8.1 Validity Period
This FY15 Prospector BAA Validity Period is in accordance with the schedule published in
Section 2.0. Offerors must submit their proposal(s) before 1400 ET on 16 September 2015.
8.2 Instructions, Conditions and Notices to Offerors
The Funding Award Authority (FAA) reserves the right to fund any project submitted under the
BAA process. In the event that none of the BAA submissions meet the objective of the
Prospector program, the FAA reserves the right to not fund any of the submitted proposals.
GED will not furnish equipment, material, labor or facilities.
8.2.1 Proposal Submission Instructions
The FY15 Prospector AOI solicitation is unclassified and will be posted on the NRO Acquisition
Center of Excellence (ACE), Acquisition Research Center (ARC) Business Opportunities
website. Offerors shall submit the unclassified abstract proposal electronically via
https://acq.westfields.net . The CD/DVD video submission must be postmarked on or before
the submission due date and shall be mailed to:
Acquisition Center of Excellence
Attn: Prospector – Gordon Dodson/Mary Neal
14660 Lee Road
Chantilly VA 20151
All proposals will be evaluated concurrently.
9.0 QUESTIONS
Questions concerning this FY15 Prospector BAA AOI should be addressed to the Contracting
Officer using the Questions and Answers tab on the unclassified ARC Website located at
https://acq.westfields.net .