'Unleashing Data at Speed and Scale' Needs Statement

Title: Unleashing Data at Speed and Scale Needs Statement Background Information is central to all military functions. Rapid and reliable access to data is key to maintaining an enduring U.S. advantage in times of peace and crisis. As the network of data sources and decision-makers grows, as does the urgency to respond to emerging situations, so does the demand for the Department of Defense (DoD) to discover innovative solutions that enable the secure collection, storing, processing, monitoring, analyzing, and communicating of data at speed and scale . The Innovation & Modernization (I&M) Office, within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (R&E)), will conduct an Innovation Outreach Solutions Meeting on April 15-16, 2024 in McLean, Virginia. This meeting is conducted in close coordination with Joint Staff Intelligence (J2) and the U.S. Army Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Task Force (ISR-TF). The event will focus on discovering leap-ahead technologies for ensuring the DoD realizes the full promise of its data and is positioned to inform operational decision-making at any place and any time . Additional details on focus areas can be found in Section A. Technical Description . The Innovation Outreach Solutions Meeting provides a forum for selected technology developers to make brief technical presentations and engage with DoD and U.S. interagency representatives about their potential solutions. The submission process, detailed below, only requires basic developer information and 100 words or less about their proposed solution to be considered for participation. Results of the Innovation Outreach Solutions Meeting inform Government decision-makers and promotes a collaborative ecosystem that accelerates the development and transition of promising innovative technologies. A. Technology Need Descriptions Unleashing Data means emphasizing the need for delivering high-quality data at the speed of relevance and at the scale of our global mission. Key characteristics for optimal solutions should ensure data is: Visible, Accessible, Understandable, Linked, Trustworthy, Interoperable, and Secure (VAULTIS). [i] This Solutions Meeting seeks to identify solutions that embody these attributes, while enabling the Warfighter to act with increased confidence and efficiency. Moving Data: The DoD requires critical data to be accessible at a moment’s notice. This means ensuring data can be transmitted anywhere at any time so that they are readily accessible and visible when needed most. Moving data solutions may include: Long-Distance Transmissions: Solutions for transmitting and receiving data and signals over distances greater than currently achieved. Multi-Domain Communications: Enabling technologies for connecting with data sources located not only on the ground, but anywhere from the stratosphere to the seafloor. Resilient Networking: Agile networks and data management techniques (e.g. multipath) for reliably transmitting through environments where interference or degraded connectivity is expected. Improved Bandwidth: Solutions for increasing/maximizing existing bandwidth at reduced power. Edge Computing: The ability to collect, manage, store, and disseminate data while operating in environments where communications may otherwise be degraded, disconnected, or contested. Innovative Communications: Novel approaches for communicating or transmitting data (e.g. quantum and laser technologies). Processing Data: Simply moving data is insufficient if the right content does not arrive at the right place at the right time. Resources are needed to quickly coordinate the flow of data, ensuring interoperability between disparate sources and linking relevant data elements so they arrive at the decision-maker simultaneously. Processing data solutions may include: Data Orchestration: Tools and techniques to triage influxes of data (volume) and accelerate delivery of the most pressing information (value) to the right people at the right time. Data Tagging: Automated technologies for expediting the tagging, cataloguing, and storing data so that they can be rapidly located and retrieved on-demand. Data Fusion: Scalable tools for automatically sifting through and integrating relevant data from thousands of inputs, including enabling interoperability between disparate sources, so decision-makers may react based on insights from all relevant sources. Data Security: Machine learning tools for detecting and locating anomalies, resulting from either non-compliance or nefarious activity, with data or within the data management network in real-time. This may include cyber behavior or technical anomaly detection. Unleashing Data: Unleashing data means rapidly transforming data into actionable information. Decision-makers need to quickly understand influxes of information, and trust the underlying data, so they may confidently respond as situations unfold. Understanding data may include: Information Visualization Tools: Flexible software applications that can be leveraged to make it easier for consumers to recognize the content, context, and applicability of data and information. This also includes tools for visualizing anomalies within the data management network itself. Automated Alerts and Recognition: Algorithms for locating, classing, characterizing, and identifying items of interest. Novel solutions should emphasize improved recognition that reduces false alarms compared with current capabilities. Enhancing Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML): Tools for confidently ingesting data and information into existing AI/ML capabilities and training next-generation algorithms. B. What is a Solutions Meeting : Solutions Meetings provide a forum for connecting technology developers with the DoD and U.S. Government stakeholders to accelerate the discovery, development, and transition of innovative solutions for operational challenges. Invited developers each provide an unclassified 25-minute technical brief (including Q&A) on their solution to attending U.S. Government stakeholders and invited industry peers. Briefs may not include proprietary information in order to foster open discussions. Solutions Meetings also schedule opportunities for breakout discussions for further promoting collaboration between attendees. The “Unleashing Data at Speed and Scale” Innovation Outreach Solutions Meeting will be held April 15-16, 2024 in McLean, Virginia . In-Person attendance is expected for all developers and Government attendees. Technology developers selected to brief are responsible for their own travel and all other expenses associated with participation in the Innovation Outreach Solutions Meeting. The DoD does not guarantee funding or follow-up work to selected and/or participating technology developers but may provide developers additional follow-on opportunities based on applicability and other factors. C. Submission Instructions: The following information is required in the application. Email subject line: “Unleashing Data Solutions Meeting” All application information below must be contained in the body of the email. No attachments are allowed. Company name Website address Point of Contact (POC), email, and phone number, and alternate POC (if desired) A 100-word or less description of the technology that the company plans to discuss if selected to present at the Innovation Outreach Solutions Meeting. This description must focus on the technology and the envisioned use - NOT a description of the company. Select ONE of the above technology areas (Moving Data/Processing Data/Unleashing Data) that BEST fits your technology solution. DO NOT SUBMIT CLASSIFIED INFORMATION DO NOT SUBMIT ACQUISITION PROPOSALS. The Government does not award contracts based solely on this announcement. Submission of an application does not guarantee an invitation to participate in the ‘Unleashing Data at Speed and Scale’ Solutions Meeting or any other DoD events. All applications must be received on or before 5:00 PM EDT, 22 February 2024. Submission of an application does not guarantee an invitation to the Innovation Outreach Solutions Meeting. D. Protection of Information Protection of Information: All briefs are held at the unclassified level. Participating technology developers are reminded that proprietary information is not to be included during technical briefs. It is the responsibility of the participants to not divulge any proprietary information during briefs or other discussions during the Solutions Meeting. The U.S. Government, including OUSD R&E, have no rights to any intellectual property briefed or provided by technology developers as part of their participation in the Solutions Meeting. Publications and Endorsements: Participants shall agree to confer and consult with OUSD R&E (I&M) prior to the publication of any press release directly related to the Solutions Meeting. OUSD R&E (I&M) shall confer and consult with any participants prior to the publication of any press release that directly includes a written or visual reference to the name of their organization, employees, or technology. Participants will not use the name, logo, or images of any U.S. Government organization, employee, or contractor without prior approval from the relevant organization. E. Additional Information: University affiliated research centers (UARCs), federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs), and/or contractor consultant/advisors to the Government may review and provide support during evaluation of applications. When appropriate, non-Government advisors may be used to objectively review a particular functional area and provide comments and recommendations to the Government. All advisors shall comply with procurement integrity laws and shall sign non-disclosure and rules of conduct/conflict of interest statements. The Government shall take into consideration requirements for avoiding conflicts of interest and ensure advisors comply with safeguarding proprietary data. Submission in response to this Special Notice constitutes approval to release the submittal to Government support contractors. [i] United States Department of Defense. “Data, Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence Adoption Strategy.” November, 2023.