Submitting a Broad Agency Announcement Proposal
Submitting a BAA proposal is a government requirement that ensures all submissions are given a thorough and fair review. The process is intended to solicit research ideas and is issued under the provisions of the Competition in Contracting Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-369), as implemented in the Federal Acquisition Regulations. BAA submission should be user friendly and allow the submitter the ability to track their submission throughout all phases of the BAA process.
The BAA process begins when the government agency releases the BAA. In this case, the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) released BAA JIEDDO-09-TRNG-01 for Modeling and Simulations. It is at this point that vendors are encouraged to look at their technologies and see if the technology fits into the established parameters set by the BAA.
If a vendor feels that they can fulfill this capability gap, then they move onto the next step of the BAA process, which is registering on the BAA Information Delivery System (BIDS) Website. BAA proposals may only be submitted electronically, therefore making this step an absolute requirement. Once registered, a vendor would next submit a quad chart on the technology, which conveys the essence of the proposed solution on a single page.
When preparing a submission, the vendor needs to ensure that the specific criteria of the requirement are addressed, the solution is clear, and can be accomplished with the proposed technology, cost and schedule. The quad chart includes a document header and four quadrants. The quad chart format and sample are provided at the BIDS Website under Reference Materials. Along with the quad chart, the vendor submits a white paper, which is not to exceed 12 pages in length.
Once the proposal is entered and submitted via the BIDS Website, the proposal goes into assessment phase. It is at this phase that the proposal is compared to BAA to ensure that in fact it actually fulfills the capability gap the agency is looking to fill. Specifically,
• Overall scientific and technical merits;
• Offeror’s capabilities, experience, facilities, techniques or unique combinations of these, which are integral factors for achieving the proposal objectives;
• An assessment of tactical feasibility for deployment using a human system integration evaluation (e.g., implications to manpower, training and operations);
• Proposed cost;
• Doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel and facilities (DOTMLPF) quick-look; and
• Proposed schedule to deliver a prototype that can be tested at a government facility.
Once the assessment is finished, the proposal goes back into the BIDS process for the next stage.
The next stage of the BIDS is the approval or disapproval portion. If a proposal was disapproved, the vendor will be notified via e-mail.
If a proposal is approved, the vendor will be notified via e-mail of the acceptance of the proposal. It is at this point that the vendor will be scheduled to perform a demonstration for JIEDDO. JIEDDO then tracks the program development and moves the program into the training integrated process’s team, which establishes training for the warfighter with the new program.
Instructions for submitting a proposal can be found on the Web page: https://bids. acqcenter.com/jieddo/Portal.nsf, and then following the help link on the left side of the page. The submission of a BAA is meant to provide a smooth transition with visibility on the status of your proposal throughout the duration of the process.