By 
On October 4, the U.S. Army posted the fifth Request for Information for DCGS-A Capability Drop 2. Responses are due no later than 4:00 p.m. Eastern on November 9.
Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG) in support of the Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare, and Sensors (PEO IEW&S), Project Manager Distributed Common Ground System-Army (PM DCGS-A), is conducting market research to identify commercial items to satisfy current DCGS-A requirements pertaining to United States (U.S.) Army’s DCGS-A Data Fabric and Analytics capability. The Government invites all business and academic organizations to respond to this RFI notice.
This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. The Government may revise its draft requirements at any time, or may elect not to proceed with a procurement. Solicitations are not available at this time. Requests for a solicitation will not receive a response. This notice does not constitute a commitment by the United States Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. This RFI is not an authorization to begin work, and the Government will not pay any costs that contractors may incur in response to this RFI.
Contractors are not required to respond to this announcement, but may do so at their own cost. The United States Government will not pay for information requested nor will it compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing information provided to the United States Government.
The Government also intends to hold an Industry Day in accordance with this RFI. The Government will not pay any costs resulting from attendance at an Industry Day.
Additionally, the Government may conduct a market research product demonstration in accordance with all or part of this RFI. The Government will not pay any costs resulting from attendance or participation at a market research product demonstration.
Only contractors that respond to this RFI are eligible to participate in a market research product demonstration, which is for market research purposes only. Due to schedule and other constraints, the Government may limit participation in a market research demonstration. The Government will not award any contracts solely as a result of a market research product demonstration.
Failure to respond to this RFI, or failure to participate in a market research product demonstration, will not preclude contractor participation in any RFP or procurement, if any is issued.
Background
The DCGS-A is a systems of systems comprised of an extensive intelligence architecture that enables distributed processing and information sharing of data from sensors and other sources across the globe; software tools to help the users perform the analyses, update, and share intelligence products; servers that store data and collected intelligence; and alignment to a set of common standards that enable integration of new technology, processes, and ideas. As technology evolves and new warfighting requirements emerge, the DCGS-A capability set needs to be updated to meet the user needs.
This RFI is focused on identifying commercial items to upgrade/replace the current DCGS-A data architecture as well as introduce several additional analytics and system management functions. Specifically, Capability Drop (CD) 2 focuses on the modernization and enhancement of the DCGS-A Data Fabric and Analytics capabilities across multiple echelons, by providing a scalable solution that provides an adaptable Data Management Architecture (DMA), automated analytics, and common core services.
Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Capability Manager – Foundation (TCM-F) has developed, in conjunction with the Intelligence Center of Excellence (ICoE), Deputy Chief of Staff G2, Forces Command (FORSCOM) G2, and Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM), a draft Capability Drop requirements document outlining the operationally relevant requirements for DCGS-A’s Data Fabric and Analytics capability.
Responses to this RFI may be used by the Government to determine invitees for a market research product demonstration based on criteria such as: number and quality of the responses, the number of CD2 requirements a solution can currently meet, operational or other history demonstrating the requirements, additional capabilities of interest to the Government, overall technical risk, and the limited availability of Government resources to accommodate a demonstration. Only companies that respond to this RFI, in full, with existing commercial items that currently meet or have the potential to meet, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 2.101 Definition of a “commercial item,” may be invited to a market research product demonstration. If requested, market research product demonstrations are intended to be completed prior to the end of Calendar Year 2018.
Full information is available here.
Source: FedBizOpps
