Summary: This is a Request for Information (RFI) issued for market research purposes only, and in no way obligates the Government to issue a solicitation or otherwise make a contract award. There is no solicitation available at this time. Requests for solicitation and inquiries related to the same will not receive a response. Any and all information submitted in response to this RFI is strictly voluntary. The Government will not pay for any information submitted in response to this RFI and all information submitted shall become the property of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). DTRA makes no future guarantees of a request for proposal release related to this effort. The technical responses received from industry will be used to inform future DTRA investments in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Data Science (AI/ML/DS) in support of DTRA’s countering WMD and emerging threats mission areas. If a solicitation is issued it will be announced at a later date, and all interested parties must respond to that solicitation announcement separately from the response to this announcement. Mission: The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is the intellectual, technical and operational leader for the Department of Defense (DoD) in the national effort to detect, deter, and defeat weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and emerging threats. Under DTRA, DoD resources, expertise and capabilities are combined to ensure the United States remains ready and able to address the present and future WMD threat. The Agency performs five essential functions to accomplish its mission: Drive Efforts to Reduce WMD Threats Support U.S. Treaty Implementation and Verification Activities Deliver Capabilities to Address WMD and Emerging Threats Support Nuclear Deterrence Identify Vulnerabilities and Mitigation Strategies RFI Purpose: This RFI is specifically directed at collecting information about AI/ML/DS technologies or capabilities being developed by commercial companies, universities, FFRDCs, and other organizations with applicability to DTRA’s mission and essential functions. The provided information will be reviewed and used to invite select organizations to demonstrate the technologies/capabilities to DTRA personnel. There is no guarantee an organization will be invited to provide a demonstration and responding to the RFI does not obligate the government to invite a company for a demonstration. Any demonstrations would be for market research purposes only, and in no way obligates the Government to issue a solicitation or otherwise make a contract award. Any and all demonstrations conducted as part of this RFI are strictly voluntary, and organizations assume all costs for the preparation and delivery of demonstrations. The Government will not pay for any information provided as part of the demonstrations. DTRA makes no future guarantees of a request for proposal release related to any demonstrations. DTRA AI/ML/DS Focus Areas: DTRA will primarily focus development and use of AI/ML/DS technologies in the following mission areas: Improve situational awareness and decision-making for CWMD, CTN, and deterrence missions with the development of AI/ML/DS modeling and simulation, predictive analytics, and other capabilities. Develop or adapt AI/ML/DS capabilities that reduce the time for or automate the identification of CWMD, CTN, and deterrence terms, objects, activities, or entities in data. Develop or adapt AI/ML/DS capabilities that rapidly and efficiently deliver information to meet CCMD, other DoD or allied partner, and warfighter critical operational needs. DTRA AI/ML/DS Technology Interest Areas: DTRA is interested in receiving information about any AI/ML technologies that can help Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) and Emerging Threats. Organizations are encouraged to submit responses for one or more of the below technology interest areas, relevant to DTRA’s Focus Areas: General: AI-enhanced Modeling & Simulation (highest interest) Computer Vision (highest interest) Natural Language Processing (highest interest) High Performance Computing Knowledge Representation Reasoning Multi-Agent Systems Search and Planning Data Related: Data Analytics Data Capture, Collection and Fusion Data Infrastructure, Architecture, and Framework Data Integration and Management Data Storage and Accessibility Data Visualization and Interpretation tools Cloud Solutions for Data Transfer and Harmonization Automated Data Labeling Heterogeneous Data Solutions (e.g., types of data and collection format) Strategies for dealing with missing/limited data Synthetic data generation for machine learning (e.g., supporting zero/one shot learning) Specific: Detection of Spectral Emissions Sensor Data Integration Leveraging AI/ML/DS Designing Chemical/Biological (CB) Experiments Accounting for AI/ML Requirements (standards for data capture, storage, metadata etc.) Leveraging AI for CB Asset Management on the Battlefield Virtual, Mixed or, or Augmented Reality using Digital Twins in Synthetic Environments (e.g., modeling and simulation of human exposure to CB effects) Cloud Solutions For Data Transfer and Harmonization of Multiomic Datasets (e.g., genomics, microbiomics, proteomics) Human/Computer Interface (i.e., Brain-Computer Interface, Neural-Computer Interfaces, and Human Machine teaming ) Modeling and Simulation to support Multi-domain Operational War Gaming and Course of Action Analysis Extracting Actionable Information from Noisy Data Submission Instructions: Respondents may submit a response in a format of their choosing, NOT TO EXCEED three pages per technology/capability submitted. Clear and concise responses are encouraged so the value of the technology/capability to DTRA’s missions is quickly and clearly understood. Respondents will be expected to follow their internal information security policies and any appropriate internal or government supplied security guidance to insure that responses to this RFI are properly classified. Any proprietary concepts or information should be clearly identified as such. Data and information submitted in response to this RFI will not be returned. Any data submitted may be reviewed by non-government consultants/experts who are bound by appropriate non-disclosure requirements. For all RFI responses, a non-proprietary cover page is requested identifying your organization name, technical point of contact, contact information and known or anticipated conflict of interest issues. Only electronic submissions of information to the email address specified will be accepted. RFI responses should be sent to the following email address,
[email protected], as an attachment of no greater than 10 megabytes in Word, PowerPoint or PDF. All emails should include, in the subject line, the RFI number and the submitting organization’s name. Responses must be submitted electronically not later than 11:59PM EST on 15 October 2021. RFI Feedback: DTRA anticipates revising and resubmitting this RFI after the closing date based on the quality of responses received. Respondents are welcome to include suggestions in their response on how the RFI could be improved to better inform industry of DTRA’s AI/ML/DS needs and interests. Suggestions can be on a separate page from technology/capability responses, and will not count towards the three page limit. Confidentiality: The government reserves the right to use the non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).