A -- Establishment of the ICAHST

The Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate, Office of Systems Engineering and Development has a requirement to establish a laboratory facility to conduct independent, mission oriented technology assessments and critical experiments to evaluate the suitability and effectiveness of information technologies developed by industry, national laboratories, and academia for the homeland security community. To support this requirement, the Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate, Office of Systems Engineering and Development intends to establish a Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) completion contract on a sole-source basis with Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL), 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723-6099. This contract will be awarded on the basis of Federal Acquisition Regulation 41 United States Code 253 (c) (3)—industrial mobilization, engineering, developmental, or research capability, or expert services. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-3(a)(2)(ii), awards may be made to establish or maintain an essential engineering, research, or development capability to be provided by an educational or other non-profit institution or a federally funded research and development center. JHU/APL is a not-for-profit federally funded research and development organization that operates on a strictly non-competitive basis, primarily at the direction of the Department of Defense and performs Research, Development, Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) for DOD and other Government Departments/agencies. One of the major objectives of the ICAHST program was to develop a laboratory facility to conduct test and evaluation of information technology capabilities that are of interest to multiple Government agencies. The collaboration will allow the Government to achieve cost savings and performance improvements. The Government when establishing ICAHST, set forth the requirements (1) location of the facility on neutral ground outside control of one agency; (2) the facility must be capable of hosting a SCIF facility to process information at the TS/SCI level, and (3) that the organization had to be a non-profit or Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC). The Government, did a comprehensive study and identified JHU/APL as the preferred location for the facility. In addition, JHU/APL has a 6,000 square foot SCIF on-site. JHU/APL has solidly established contacts with multiple intelligence community members to further the goals of the ICAHST. JHU/APL, in addition, through its educational, non-profit status, its ability to draw on research and development resources over a broad spectrum of subject areas and is the only institution that meets the Government’s technical requirements of the ICAHST program. This synopsis is being issued for information purposes only. This notice of intent is NOT a request for competitive proposals. Solicitation documents are NOT available. See Numbered Notes 22 and 26****