The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is seeking information related to ideas and solutions to build artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and data science (DS) capabilities leveraging a development, security, and operations (DevSecOps) approach within a consolidated platform.

08/26/2022 at 09:00 AM EST

                                                                           

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is seeking information related to ideas and solutions to build artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and data science (DS) capabilities leveraging a development, security, and operations (DevSecOps) approach within a consolidated platform. More specifically, DTRA desires to expand its capabilities in one or more of the following areas, and integrate these capabilities with an existing repository of software applications, common code libraries and artifacts:

• Data Storage Environment for structured and unstructured data
• AI Development Environment
• Software Development Environment
• Web interface

*This notice is for market intelligence purposes only and in no way obligates the Government to issue subsequent Calls to Industry or otherwise make a project award(s)

                                                         

·     The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Digital Battlespace Management Division (RD-CBI) is actively researching and developing technologies for chemical and biological defense to provide early warning and decision support to the Warfighter. Research efforts include traditional software development as well as innovative artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and data science (DS) technologies. RD-CBI has established a prototype repository of software applications, common code libraries and artifacts, and necessary tools for development, integration, containerization, and hardening of software applications. The centralized repository is hosted on a FedRAMP-approved cloud service provider (CSP) with Department of Defense (DoD) Impact Level 4 security controls in place. This environment is CSP agnostic utilizing GitLab as the foundation of the environment. Software that has been (or will be) delivered is assessed in this environment to understand the current state of source code, common code libraries, and containerization and hardening in accordance with DISA guidelines.

                                                         

·    RD-CBI has a broad initiative to establish a data and AI platform to store and harmonize datasets for early warning of exposure to emerging biological threats, develop and validate reproducible pipelines for host-level early warning of threat exposure, and enable characterization and understanding of biological threat pathogens.  Currently, these two disparate capabilities are operating on separate platforms and environments and do not interface or share resources, tools, or software code.

                                                         

·    DTRA RD-CBI aims to establish a single, consolidated architecture for a development, security, and operations (DevSecOps) environment that provides an end-to-end solution for AI/ML development, analysis, and agile software development (Figure 1). The solution would provide data storage, data analysis, model development and training, software development tools, software containerization and hardening, change management and deployment solutions.  The ultimate goal is to construct a solution that would facilitate data and code sharing and reuse amongst US Government programs, and enable DevSecOps of software and AI/ML solutions for biological and chemical defense.

 

The operational capability would provide a cloud-hosted data storage, data analysis, model development and training, software development tools, software code repository to include organization/handling of common code libraries and artifacts that can be leveraged by multiple teams, software containerization and hardening in accordance with DISA guidelines, and deployment solutions.  The solution needs to be compliant with DoD Impact Level (IL) 4 security controls at a minimum but with an eye to integrate IL2 data sources as well as possibly move the environment to IL5 and/or IL6 if needed with appropriate risk management controls and security reference guide (IL6) in place in order to apply for authorization to operate (ATO) . The software environment will provide an end-to-end solution to share data lakes, share AI/ML algorithms and software code, provide assessment of capabilities against DoD containerization and Risk Management Framework standards, and transition solutions via a DevSecOps environment.

      

Responses to this call are limited to 5 pages and should address some or all of the following questions:

1.   Which of the AI Software Experimentation and Development System components (Figure 1) can your organization support the development of?

2.   Provide a summary of how you can address one or more of the capabilities outlined in the Performance Objectives above, including availability and/or developmental status of current technologies and relevant past performances.

3.   Is your organization currently providing similar services under any U.S. Government contracts? If yes, for which agency(s)? Please provide the following information on such contracts:

a.       Contract number(s)

b.       Contract Type

c.       Contracting Officer(s) and Administrative Contracting Officer(s) POCs (phone/email)

d.       What types of labor categories are you providing under these contracts?

e.       Data rights and license assertions associated with your existing U.S. Government contracts?

4.   Is your organization currently providing similar services commercially?  If yes, for what companies and/or organizations are these services provided?

5.   How long has your organization been providing these types of services? How long has your organization provided this type of service to the Federal/DoD/State government?

6.   Is your organization willing to team with the existing integrator of the software repository?

                                                                       

Responses shall be limited to five (5) 8x11 pages in total, using 12-point Times New Roman font and 1" margins, including all appendices or attachments. 

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08/11/2022 at 11:59 AM EST