The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) is sponsoring a Proposers Day webcast to provide information to potential proposers on the objectives of an anticipated Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for the Ground Truth (GT) program. The Proposers Day will be held via webcast on April 20, 2017 from 1:00PM to 4:00PM. Advance registration is required for viewing the webcast. Note, all times listed in this announcement and on the registration website are Eastern Time.

The goals of the Ground Truth Proposers Day are to: (a) introduce the research community (Proposers, Academia, and Government) to the Ground Truth program vision and goals; (b) explain the mechanics of a DARPA program and the milestones of this particular effort, and (c) encourage and promote teaming arrangements among potential organizations that have the relevant expertise, facilities, and capabilities for executing a research and development program responsive to the Ground Truth program goals.

DARPA anticipates releasing the Ground Truth BAA in mid-April 2017. If released, the BAA will be available on the Federal Business Opportunities website at https://www.fbo.gov and on http://www.grants.gov/. Following the event, DARPA may post the presented materials as well as a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list to the DARPA/DSO Opportunities website.

To maximize the pool of innovative proposal concepts, DARPA strongly encourages participation by non‐traditional performers (including small businesses, academic and research institutions, and first‐time Government contractors) in events such as this and any subsequent solicitations.

Program Objective and Description

The social sciences can play important roles in assisting military planners and decision-makers who are trying to understand complex human social behaviors and systems, potentially facilitating a wide range of missions including humanitarian, stability, and counter-insurgency operations. Current social science approaches to studying behavior rely on a variety of modeling methods—both qualitative and quantitative—which seek to make inferences about the causes of social phenomena on the basis of observations in the real-world. Yet little is known about how accurate these methods and models really are, let alone whether the connections they observe and predict are truly matters of cause and effect or mere correlations.

To improve knowledge of social science modeling’s capabilities and limitations, DARPA is announcing its Ground Truth program. The program aims to use artificial, yet plausible, computer-based social-system simulations with built-in “ground truth” causal rules as testbeds to validate the accuracy of various social science modeling methods.

A goal is to use a series of Ground Truth challenges to explore new multi-disciplinary teaming approaches for enabling rapid “solution-oriented” social science modeling capabilities.

Teaming

DARPA highly encourages teaming before proposal submission and, as such, will facilitate the formation of teams with the necessary expertise. Potential proposers may choose to be included on the (optional) Proposer Profile List by submitting a one-page profile consisting of their contact information (name, organization, email, telephone number, mailing address and, if applicable, organization website); a brief description of their technical competencies; and, if applicable, their desired expertise from other teams/organizations.

All profiles must be emailed to GroundTruth@darpa.mil no later than 5:00PM on April 19, 2017. Following the deadline, the consolidated teaming profiles will be sent via email to the proposers who submitted a valid profile. Specific content, communications, networking, and team formation are the sole responsibility of the participants. Neither DARPA nor the DoD endorses the information and organizations contained in the consolidated teaming profile document, nor does DARPA or the DoD exercise any responsibility for improper dissemination of the teaming profiles.

Registration Information

The Ground Truth Proposers Day will be webcast on April 20, 2017 from 1:00PM to 4:00PM. Note, all times listed in this announcement and on the registration website are Eastern Time. There is no registration fee for the Proposers Day webcast.

Registration opens: As of publication of this announcement.
Registration website: http://events.sa-meetings.com/GroundTruthProposersDay
Registration closes: April 19, 2017 at 12:00PM or when capacity is reached, whichever comes first.

Advance registration via the above website is required in order to receive access to the webcast and is mandatory for every individual intending to view the webcast either alone or as part of a group.

Registrants in excess of the maximum capacity limitations (500 individuals) will be added to a waitlist. Individuals who are unable to register because capacity has been reached or the deadline has occurred may request to be added to the waitlist. If slots become available due to cancellations, the slots will be filled on a first come, first served basis from the waitlist.

Eligibility

DARPA hosts Proposers Day to promote teaming arrangements between researchers; provide potential performers with information on whether and how they might respond to the Government's research and development solicitations; and to increase efficiency in proposal preparation and evaluation. Therefore, Proposers Days are open only to registered potential proposers. Registration is open to potential proposers who are U.S. Citizens, U.S. Permanent Residents, and Foreign Nationals. The Proposers Day event is closed to the general public and media.

Q & A

Administrative, technical, and contractual questions about the Ground Truth program should be emailed to GroundTruth@darpa.mil. All questions must be in English and must include the name and email address of a point of contact. Following the Proposers Day, DARPA will post an FAQ list to the DARPA/DSO Opportunities website.

Contact Information

Please refer to the Ground Truth Proposers Day in all correspondence.

• Technical Point of Contact: Dr. Adam Russell, Program Manager, GroundTruth@darpa.mil
• Registration Website: http://events.sa-meetings.com/GroundTruthProposersDay
• DARPA/DSO Opportunities Website: http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities?tFilter=&oFilter=2&sort=name

Disclaimers and Important Notes

Viewing the Ground Truth Proposers Day webcast is voluntary and is not required to propose to the anticipated Ground Truth BAA. Interested parties to this notice are cautioned that nothing herein obligates the Government to issue a solicitation. The Proposers Day does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or abstracts. This announcement is issued solely for information and program planning purposes and is not a Request for Information (RFI). Since this is not an RFI, no submissions against this notice will be accepted by the Government. No classified, ITAR controlled, or proprietary information shall be included in submitted materials or shall be presented or discussed at the Proposers Day. DARPA will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred to participate in this Proposers Day. Recording the Proposers Day webcast is not permitted.