Inactive

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE This is a Sources Sought Notice ONLY. Requests for copies of a solicitation will not receive a response. This Notice is for planning purposes only and is not a Request for Propos... SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE This is a Sources Sought Notice ONLY. Requests for copies of a solicitation will not receive a response. This Notice is for planning purposes only and is not a Request for Proposal or Request for Quotation or an obligation on the part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for conducting a follow-on acquisition. NIST does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Notice, or otherwise pay for the information requested. No entitlement or payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by NIST will arise as a result of submission of responses to this Notice and NIST use of such information. NIST recognizes that proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary data and present it as an addendum to the non-restricted/non-proprietary information. In the absence of such identification, NIST will assume to have unlimited rights to all technical data in the information paper. NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS EXIST AT THIS TIME. Background: The National AI Initiative Act of 2020 (DIVISION E, SEC. 5001) became law on January 1, 2021, providing for a coordinated program across the entire Federal government to accelerate AI research and application for the Nation’s economic prosperity and national security. The mission of the National AI Initiative is to ensure continued U.S. leadership in AI research and development, lead the world in the development and use of trustworthy AI in the public and private sectors, and prepare the present and future U.S. workforce for the integration of AI systems across all sectors of the economy and society. Section 5104 of the act mandated the establishment of the National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee (NAIAC or Committee) in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The Committee shall advise the President and the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Office (NAIIO) on matters related to the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative (Initiative). The purposes of the Initiative are: (1) ensuring continued United States leadership in artificial intelligence research and development; (2) leading the world in the development and use of trustworthy artificial intelligence systems in the public and private sectors; (3) preparing the present and future United States workforce for the integration of artificial intelligence systems across all sectors of the economy and society; and (4) coordinating ongoing artificial intelligence research, development, and demonstration activities among the civilian agencies, the Department of Defense, and the Intelligence Community to ensure that each informs the work of the others. NIST has been directed by Congress to support the NAIAC in its mission. Thus, in an effort to support the NAIAC in completing its mission, NIST is seeking contractor services to support the NAIAC by conducting research; documenting committee findings, collaborating with NAIAC Members or collaborators on research; and producing technical analysis of the committee’s findings, and recommendations as described in Section 5104(d) and Section 5104(e) of the Act. Description of Contract Requirement: The objective of this procurement is for the contractor to provide support and technical analysis to NIST for one year to identify topical areas of concern as described in Section 5104(d) and Section 5104(e) of the Act. The Contractor shall provide technical and analytical support for the full NAIAC, including its working groups and Subcommittee. The Contractor shall coordinate through the COR or designee with fellows, student volunteers, and offsite collaborators to complete the following tasks: Task 1: 1.1. The Contractor shall conduct research using a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods as requested by the full NAIAC, including its working groups and Subcommittee, on topic areas pertaining to the duties enumerated in section 104 of the Act and shall include: The current state of the United States' competitiveness and leadership in artificial intelligence, including the scope and scale of United States investments in artificial intelligence research and development in the international context; The progress made in implementing the AI Initiative and an impact review using mutually agreed upon criteria identified by the NAIAC Members or NIST subject matter experts The state of the science around artificial intelligence, including progress toward artificial general intelligence; Issues related to artificial intelligence and the United States workforce, including matters relating to the potential for using artificial intelligence for workforce training, the possible consequences of technological displacement, and supporting workforce training opportunities for occupations that lead to economic self-sufficiency for individuals with barriers to employment and historically underrepresented populations, including minorities, Indians (as defined in 25 U.S.C. § 5304), low-income populations, and persons with disabilities; How to leverage the resources of the Initiative to streamline and enhance operations in various areas of government operations, including health care, cybersecurity, infrastructure, and disaster recovery; Whether ethical, legal, safety, security, and other appropriate societal issues are adequately addressed by the Initiative; Opportunities for international cooperation with strategic allies on artificial intelligence research activities, standards development, and the compatibility of international regulations; Accountability and legal rights, including matters relating to oversight of artificial intelligence systems using regulatory and nonregulatory approaches, the responsibility for any violations of existing laws by an artificial intelligence system, and ways to balance advancing innovation while protecting individual rights; and How artificial intelligence can enhance opportunities for diverse geographic regions of the United States, including urban, Tribal, and rural communities. 1.2. Additionally, the contractor shall provide support to NAIAC’s Law Enforcement and Artificial Intelligence Subcommittee, which is statutorily required to provide advice and recommendations through the main Committee on matters relating to the development of artificial intelligence relating to law enforcement, including advice on: Bias, including whether the use of facial recognition by government authorities, including law enforcement agencies, is taking into account ethical considerations and addressing whether such use should be subject to additional oversight, controls, and limitations; Security of data, including law enforcement’s access to data and the security parameters for that data; Adoptability, including methods to allow the United States Government and industry to take advantage of artificial intelligence systems for security or law enforcement purposes while at the same time ensuring the potential abuse of such technologies is sufficiently mitigated; and Legal standards, including those designed to ensure the use of artificial intelligence systems are consistent with the privacy rights, civil rights and civil liberties, and disability rights issues raised by the use of these technologies. Task 2: The Contractor shall draft NAIAC reports that include the advice and recommendations pertaining to the statutory duties of the NAIAC and its Subcommittee, derived from Contractor research and analysis, meeting synthesis, and input from the Committee, working group, and Subcommittee members, and NAIAC support staff in an agreed upon format deemed acceptable by the COR. Task 3: The Contractor shall prepare a fact sheet or memo with pertinent information related to the meeting or topic area being discussed in advance of NAIAC, working group, or Subcommittee meetings. The COR/TPOC will advise the Contractor if a fact sheet or memo will be needed and the completion date for any deliverables will be mutually determined by the Contractor and COR. Task 4: The Contractor shall attend full NAIAC, working group, and subcommittee meetings for the purpose to synthesize conclusions and consolidate findings or recommendations into an outline as a basis for the interim report for the NAIAC’s review and approval. Task 5: Once approved, the contractor shall develop an interim report based on the outline in collaboration with NAIAC for the committee’s review and approval. Task 6: (Optional Task): The contractor shall provide the interim report to a technical review board for review/comments. The contractor shall assist the Government with drafting a Request for Information (RFI) for public comments. Task 7: The contractor shall finalize the report based on the feedback gathered for the NAIAC’s review and approval. NIST is seeking a contractor with an understanding of how to navigate the coordination of a Federal Advisory Committee (FAC) with an atypical reporting structure. Unlike other FACs which report directly to the managing agency, this FAC body will be managed by NIST but report to OSTP and the Office of the President. The contractor supporting the NAIAC will engage in conversations and conduct research that may be sensitive or include sensitive data, and will be required to provide impartial analyses of the Committee's recommendations. In addition, the contractor shall have capabilities in AI-related science, technology and policy to address the Government’s requirements. The contractor’s capability statement shall demonstrate a combination of skills and knowledge needed to provide the services to support NAIAC’s mission and provide a bridge to combine empirical and evidence-based research, data analysis, rigorous methodologies (both quantitative and qualitative), and academic literature reviews with professional knowledge, practice, and understanding of policy. To the extent possible, respondents should focus their capabilities statements to address its ability to fulfill this requirement, as summarized in the following key task areas: Research and develop impartial reports on AI-related topics and/or address policy questions identified by the NAIAC Members prior to committee meetings. Synthesize NAIAC findings or recommendations into a report outline and provide supplemental research that may be subsequently used to draft the final NAIAC report (see example) NIST is seeking responses from all responsible small business sources. The small business size standard associated with the NAICS code for this effort, 541990, is $16.5 Million. Please include your company’s size classification and socio-economic status in any response to this notice. After the results of this market research are obtained and analyzed, NIST may conduct a competitive procurement and subsequently award a contract. Companies that can provide such services are requested to email a written response describing their abilities to hingpan.wong@nist.gov by no later than the response date for this sources sought notice. A determination by the Government not to compete the proposed acquisition based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Each response should include the following Business Information: Contractor Name, Address, UEI Point of Contact Name, Phone Number, and Email address Contractor Business Classification (i.e., small business, 8(a), woman-owned, HubZone, veteran-owned, etc.) as validated in System for Award Management (SAM). All offerors must register in the SAM located at http://www.sam.gov. Description of your company’s capabilities as they relate to the services described in this notice. Vendors may describe the company’s or personnel’s experience in the private or government sectors that is similar to the requirement as described in this document to demonstrate corporate capabilities. Indication of whether the services described in this notice are currently offered via your company’s GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts, Government-wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), or other existing Government-wide contract vehicles; and, if so, the contract number(s) for those vehicles. Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in finalizing its market research. Responses are limited to a total of twelve (12) pages. The responses must be in MS Word format. Pages shall be 8½-inch x 11-inch.