IARPA releases RFI for Echo program

On September 21, the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity released a request for information for its Echo program (IARPA-RFI-16-08). Responses to this RFI are due no later than 4:00 pm Eastern Time on October 19.

The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) is seeking information on technologies to characterize containers with unknown contents.  This request for information (RFI) is issued solely for information gathering and planning purposes; this RFI does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals. The following sections of this announcement contain details of the scope of technical efforts of interest, along with instructions for the submission of responses.

In the course of duty, government personnel encounter unconventional containers potentially filled with chemical, biological, or explosive materials and precursors. These containers must be characterized to ensure the safety of personnel and others in the vicinity.

IARPA is seeking innovative concepts for a reliable, man portable system that can quickly characterize the contents of a containment vessel.  The technical solution should be able to accomplish diagnostic tasks without penetrating the integrity of the container but physical contact with the outside of the container is permissible.  The solution should maintain a high degree of threat identification accuracy (i.e. level of confidence associated with the match/non-match of physical signatures from distinct observations) while attempting to reduce Size, Weight and Power (SWAP), as well as complexity associated with handling the equipment.  In addition, while a self-contained system is preferable, a system that uses radio-frequency (RF) communications links to connect to remote processors would be considered as well.

Full information is available here.

Source: FedBizOpps