DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM SBIR 21.4 Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) Army Applied SBIR Opportunity (ASO) Announcement April 1, 2021: ASO issued for pre-release April 14, 2021: Army begins accepting proposals May 20, 2021: Deadline for receipt of proposals no later than 12:00 p.m. ET IMPORTANT Deadline for Receipt : Proposals must be completely submitted no later than 12:00 p.m. ET, May 20, 2021. Proposals submitted after 12:00 p.m. will not be evaluated. The final proposal submission includes successful completion of all firm level forms, all required volumes, and electronic corporate official certification. Classified proposals will not be accepted under the DoD SBIR Program. This BAA and the Defense SBIR/STTR Innovation Portal (DSIP) sites are designed to reduce the time and cost required to prepare a formal proposal. The DSIP is the official portal for DoD SBIR/STTR proposal submission. Proposers are required to submit proposals via DSIP; proposals submitted by any other means will be disregarded. Proposers submitting through this site for the first time will be asked to register. Effective with this announcement, firms are required to register for a login.gov account and link it to their DSIP account. See section 4.14 for more information regarding registration. The Small Business Administration, through its SBIR/STTR Policy Directive, purposely departs from normal Government solicitation formats and requirements and authorizes agencies to simplify the SBIR/STTR award process and minimize the regulatory burden on small business. Therefore, consistent with the SBA SBIR/STTR Policy Directive, the Department of Defense is soliciting proposals as a Broad Agency Announcement. SBIR/STTR Updates and Notices: To be notified of SBIR/STTR opportunities and to receive e-mail updates on the DoD SBIR and STTR Programs, you are invited to subscribe to our Listserv by emailing
[email protected]. Help Desk: If you have questions about the Defense Department's SBIR or STTR Programs, please call the DoD SBIR/STTR Help Desk at 1-703-214-1333, or email to
[email protected]. Topic Q&A : The Topic Q&A for this BAA opens on April 1, 2021 and closes to new questions on May 4, 2021 at 12:00 PM ET. Proposers may submit written questions through Topic Q&A at https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/submissions/login or through the SBIR Mailbox at usarmy.pentagon.hqda-asa-alt.mbx.army-applied-sbir-program@mail.mil. In Topic Q&A, the questioner and respondent remain anonymous and all questions and answers are posted electronically for general viewing. Once the BAA closes to proposal submission, no communication of any kind with the topic author or through Topic Q&A regarding your submitted proposal is allowed. Questions should be limited to specific information related to improving the understanding of a particular topic’s requirements. Proposing firms may not ask for advice or guidance on solution approach and you may not submit additional material to the topic author. If information provided during an exchange with the topic author is deemed necessary for proposal preparation, that information will be made available to all parties through Topic Q&A. Proposing firms are advised to monitor Topic Q&A during the BAA period for questions and answers. Proposing firms should also frequently monitor DSIP for updates and amendments to the topics. This Army Applied SBIR Opportunity (ASO) is issued under the Army Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for SBIR/STTR 21.4. All proposals in response to the technical area(s) described herein will be submitted in accordance with the instructions provided under 21.4, found here: https://beta.sam.gov/opp/b79ded14dcf54451bcfb11bddf5cd259/view?keywords=%22army%20sbir%22&sort=-relevance&index=opp&is_active=true&page=1. a. Eligibility The eligibility requirements for the SBIR/STTR programs are unique and do not correspond to those of other small business programs. Please refer to Section 3.1, Eligible Applicants, of BAA 21.4 for full eligibility requirements. b. Anticipated Structure/Award Information Please refer to Section 1, Funding Opportunity Description, provided in BAA 21.4 for detailed information regarding SBIR/STTR phase structure and flexibility. For this BAA, Department of the Army will accept Phase I proposals for the cost of up to $259,613 for a 6-month period of performance. Proposers should refer to Section 4, Application and Submission information, of BAA 21.4 for detailed proposal preparation instructions. Proposals that do not comply with the requirements detailed in BAA 21.4 and the research objectives of this ASO are considered non-conforming and therefore are not evaluated nor considered for award. Phase I proposals shall not exceed 5 pages. Phase I commercialization strategy shall not exceed 2 pages. This should be the last section of the Technical Volume and will not count against the 5-page limit. Please refer to Appendix A of BAA 21.4 for detailed instructions on Phase I proposal preparation. c. Evaluation of Proposals Section 5, Evaluation of Proposals, in BAA 21.4 provides detailed information on proposal evaluation and the selection process for this ASO. d. Due Date/Time Full proposal packages (Proposal Cover Sheet, Technical Volume, Price/Cost Volume, and Company Commercialization Report inclusive of supporting documentation) must be submitted via the DoD SBIR/STTR Proposal Submission website per the instructions outlined in BAA 21.4 Section 4.3 Electronic Submission no later than 12:00 p.m. ET, May 20, 2021. Army SBIR 21.4 Topic Index A214-017 Pandemic Entry and Automated Control Environment (PEACE) OBJECTIVE: Current Department of Defense force protection capabilities require the physical handling of Common Access Cards (CAC) and other DoD-issued identification cards. This process results in the physical handling of cards which are known vectors of diseases and which can result in large percentages of personnel being exposed. This is issue is specifically pertinent to bases and installations such as the Pentagon, military bases, and highly secured special facilities. Pandemic Entry & Automated Control Environment (PEACE) utilizes the metadata already collected and stored on CAC cards and related databases to facilitate rapid and seamless entry capability with the additional utility of providing both entry as well as internal control of personnel distribution and activities. In time, this capability could further be leveraged to promote network security as well as control of weapons and their platforms under respective programs of record. DESCRIPTION: Current identity management requires having a physical card (something you have) which is subject to compromise and in a pandemic environment results in a significant risk to the population that is to be protected. PEACE leverages biometric (something you are) and other metadata (something you know, i.e. password) already collected, so that entry operations to bases and installations can be conducted safely and the military’s mission successfully accomplished. Use of PEACE provides real-time validation of persons at the entry point location as well as within the installation and various facilities. PHASE I: Provide a white paper outlining a strategy towards gaining this capability that leverages current CAC card metadata (including biometrics) and other respective metadata. To the extent possible, the approach should comply with open standards and leverage existing infrastructure to include sensors currently employed for entry operations. The goal should be to increase throughput of personnel at entry points by order of magnitude over existing procedures while increasing safety and security. It is permissible to leverage other electronic systems commonly carried by military and governmental personnel. However, such leverage should not affect standard entry during degraded operations (i.e. failure of electrical system, cellular network, etc.). PHASE II: Successfully demonstrate the system's capabilities at an entry point as well as within the base/facility on a military installation. PHASE III: The objective is a flexible system of identification that is not reliant on something one is carrying and that provides a comparable or superior level of protection while providing scalable, reliable and smarter DoD force protection capabilities. This capability will be used across DoD and governmental agencies and would apply for commercial and general public use without compromising any aspect of the privacy or security of the process or participating individuals. Objective capabilities would be used to secure access to sensitive/classified areas, access and operations of critical weapons/respective platforms, and homeland protection in urban areas. Commercial applications include venues such as Disney World where annual passes are sold as well as major sporting events whose tickets are subject to counterfeiting. KEYWORDS: Biometrics; meta data; force protection; entry control sensors; REFERENCES: USAWC Strategy Research Project, United States Homeland Security and National Biometric Identification, by COL Peter S. Janker, 9 April 2002 https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-janker-771a259 Research Opportunities and the Future of Biometrics, Unique problems based on providing fake biometrics, https://www.nap.edu/read/12720/chapter/7 Gold, S. (2013). Iris biometrics: a legal invasion of privacy?. Biometric Technology Today, 2013(3), 5-8. Doi: 10.1016/S0969-4765 (13) 70053-5 Retrieved from Academic Search Complete, February 18th, 2014 Nelson, Lisa S. (2011). America Identified: Biometric Technology and Society. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. Sutrop, M., & Laas-Mikko, K. (2012). From Identity Verification to Behavior Prediction: Ethical Implications of Second Generation Biometrics. Review Of Policy Research, 29(1), 21-36. Doi: 10.1111/j.1541-1338.2011.00536.x Retrieved from Academic Search Complete, February 19th, 2014 Yue, L. (2008). Identifying Legal Concerns in the Biometric Context. Journal Of International Commercial Law & Technology, 3(1), 45-54. 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