Request for Information (RFI)
DARPA-SN-17-29
Potential opportunity to discuss new DSO research initiatives
Responses Accepted: Until 4:00 PM (Eastern) on March 28, 2017
URL: http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities
Point of Contact: DSO RFI Coordinator, DiscoverDSODay2017@darpa.mil
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) announces the opportunity for potential performers to meet with a DSO program manager (PM) to discuss mutual research interests. These meetings will be held in conjunction with the Discover DSO Day event scheduled for June 15, 2017 in Arlington, Virginia. Nearer the event, DARPA will publish a separate announcement at www.fbo.gov to announce registration and provide additional details.
All meetings will be held in person and only a limited number of meeting times are available. To take advantage of this opportunity, interested parties must submit an executive summary as described herein. DSO will review the executive summaries and—based on their context and the interest they generate within DSO—will choose respondents for participation for in person meetings with DSO PM(s) to discuss the executive summary’s contents in more detail. Those chosen to participate will be able to register for Discover DSO Day in advance of the general public. DSO is interested in executive summaries describing innovative approaches and technologies that enable revolutionary advances in areas that fit within DSO’s mission, although exceptional executive summaries in other topics may also be considered. Executive summaries presenting ideas that primarily result in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice are explicitly not of interest to DSO. Information regarding DSO’s mission and current focus areas may be found at http://www.darpa.mil/about-us/offices/dso.
Members of the community who do not submit an executive summary, or are not chosen for a meeting with a DSO PM, are still welcome to register for Discover DSO Day. Individuals who simply want to better understand how DSO and DARPA does business do not need a PM meeting and therefore should not submit an executive summary. Instead, such individuals should register to attend the planned Discover DSO Day event, which will include a session on this subject. As stated above, registration information will be provided in a separate announcement anticipated for publication in late Spring 2017.
SUBMISSION INFORMATION
Responses to this RFI must be submitted to the current DSO Office-wide Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), DARPA-BAA-16-46, which is available on the DARPA/DSO Opportunities page at http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities?tFilter=&oFilter=2&sort…. All responses must conform to the requirements outlined therein for executive summaries, with the following caveats.
Individual respondents may not submit more than three executive summaries; each submission may only address a single idea or concept. No classified or ITAR-controlled
DARPA-SN-17-29 2
information may be included in any submission.
Executive summaries submitted in response to this RFI must address the content
requested in DARPA-BAA-16-46 as follows:
• Section IV.B.1.a.i.(1): Add “Discover DSO Day”
• Section IV.B.1.a.ii: Address the following elements, as applicable.
o Provide a precise, jargon free one-sentence response to at least the first five of
the Heilmeier Questions:
1. What are we trying to do?
2. How does this get done, at present?
3. What is new about our approach?
4. If we succeed, what difference do we think it will make?
5. How long do we think it will take?
6. Can we transition?
7. How much will it cost?
o Identify the scientific phenomena or hypothesis under consideration.
o Describe how the concept will lead to new disruptive science/technologies.
o Identify any unique trait(s) the respondent might bring to bear on the problem.
All executive summaries submitted in response to this RFI are requested by 4:00 PM on March
28, 2017. Note: although DARPA-BAA-16-46’s published deadline for executive summaries is
May 2, 2017, those submitted in response to this RFI must be received by 4:00 PM on March 28,
2017 in order to be considered for a PM meeting. DSO will acknowledge receipt of RFI
responses in accordance with Section IV.C of DARPA-BAA-16-46.
DSO will make every effort to notify respondents as to whether they have been chosen for a PM
meeting by April 20, 2017. Notifications will be emailed to the POC(s) listed on the submission
cover sheet.
CONTACT INFORMATION
All technical and administrative correspondence and questions regarding this RFI should be
emailed to the DSO RFI Coordinator at DiscoverDSODay2017@darpa.mil. Emails sent
directly to individual DSO staff or any other mailbox may result in delayed/no response.
Please refer to DARPA-SN-17-29 in all correspondence.
DISCLAIMERS AND IMPORTANT NOTES
Submission of an executive summary is neither a prerequisite for registering to attend
Discover DSO Day nor a guarantee of being chosen for a meeting with a DSO PM.
Furthermore, submitting multiple executive summaries will not increase the likelihood of a
meeting with a DSO PM. Respondents should also note that being chosen for a meeting in
no way guarantees future funding of the submitted idea.
No classified or ITAR-controlled information shall be presented or discussed in any PM
meeting or at Discover DSO Day.
All times listed in this RFI and DARPA-BAA-16-46 are Eastern Time.