Deadline Date: Wednesday 28 August 2024

Requirement: Specialized Information Exchange Requirement Consultant for NATO Infrastructure Services Centre (NISC)

Location: Off-Site

Note: Please refer to your Subcontract Agreement, article 6.4.1.a, which states “Off-Site Discount: 5% (this discount is applicable to all requirements, and applies when the assigned personnel are permitted to work Off-Site, such as at- home)”. Please be sure to price this discount in your overall price proposal when submitting bids against off-site RFQs

Required Start Date: 7 October 2024

End Contract Date: 31 December 2024

Required Security Clearance: NATO SECRET

1 OVERALL PROJECT SCOPE

The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency) is providing technical support to the Digital Standardization and Interoperability (DSI) Branch of the NATO Digital Staff (NDS) to develop and maintain data & information exchange solutions underpinning the consultation and command & control functions of the Alliance.

The NATO Infrastructure Services Centre (NISC) has a requirement for an individual subject matter expert (SME) to work as directed by the DSI Branch on behalf of the NCI Agency in support of the NDS/DSI Programme of Work (POW) for 2024. The specific expertise of the SME is to be in the area of Information Exchange Requirements (IER) as defined in APP-15.

2 TASKS FOR ENGINEERING SERVICE

MTFs are character oriented messages used in NATO operations and exercises to exchange structured textual information between allied forces. Many NATO messages are also used to exchange information nationally. The messages are built on the underlying technical standard ADatP-03 which specifies the syntax that govern the construction of the messages.

This work is focused on providing the IER that will lead to this ADatP-03 message.

3 ACTIVITIES AND DELIVERABLES

Activities

Under the direction of the project manager or assigned task leader, the selected individual consultant is required to conduct the following activities:

• Contribute and provide deliverables to support the development of the requirement to meet the APP-15 Step 1 IER for the proposed MTF supporting the new Maritime C2 Information Exchange Profile..

• Contribute and provide deliverables to support the further development of the requirement to meet the APP 15 Step 2 IER for the proposed MTF supporting the new Maritime C2 Information Exchange Profile.;

• Contribute and provide deliverables to support the further development of the requirement to meet the APP-15 Step 3 IER for the proposed MTF supporting the new Maritime C2 Information Exchange Profile.

• By contributing to this work, it is foreseen that travel (which includes transport, hotel and subsistence) will be necessary for 1 x Maritime specific community of interest IER building meeting (Northwood, North London, England, 2 days late September, 2024) and 1 x Senior Maritime IER Panel (SMIERP) meeting, (Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA, 21st to 25th October 2024).

The contractor’s activities will be limited to the above-mentioned task.

Deliverables

All of the defined deliverables are based on the IER steps as detailed in APP-15 and as listed above under Activities. These deliverables should be delivered to the NDS in accordance with the accepted formats for IER building in APP-15.

All deliverables are to be peer reviewed within the deliverable cycle within the context of the IER building meeting and the SMIERP. Input and guidance will be provided by NDS in written from and/or during the targeted review meetings.

The following specific deliverables are expected from this statement of work:

D001: Step 1 IER delivered to the NDS no later than 21st October 2024. Due to the short notice activation of this contract the risk of meeting this deliverable does not lie with the contractor. The NDS will manage such matters as required.

D002: Step 2 IER delivered to the NDS by the 11th November 2024. Due to the short notice activation of this contract the risk of meeting this deliverable does not lie with the contractor. The NDS will manage such matters as required.

D003 : Step 3 IER delivered to the NDS and submitted to the Information Exchange Requirement Harmonization Working Group (IERHWG) repository so as to meet the 30 day silence period prior to the second IERHWG of 2024. Due to the short notice activation of this contract the risk of meeting this deliverable does not lie with the contractor. The NDS will manage such matters as required. The deadline is 06th December 2024.

The expected classification level of the deliverables is NATO UNCLASSIFIED. However, in some particular circumstances it might be decided that a part of the deliverables will be classified as NATO RESTRICTED.

The execution of duties may require the consultant(s) to access information, as well as CIS systems, classified up to NATO SECRET.

Coordination and reporting

The contractor shall participate in a kick-off meeting within four working weeks after the signing of this contract. This will be a virtual meeting executed via electronic means using Conference Call capabilities.

During the kick off meeting, the contractor will provide and discuss a plan for executing the tasks under this statement of work. Purchaser and Contractor will discuss the plan and amend where appropriate.

The contractor will provide email minutes containing, at least decisions and actions decided during the meeting.

The contractor shall participate in regular status meetings, either in-person (where possible) or via electronic means using Conference Call capabilities.

The rhythm for these meetings will be decided at the kick-off meeting but are likely to remain flexible to meet the business needs of both parties.

The contractor will initiate these meetings and provide email minutes containing at least decisions and actions decided during the meeting.

4 SPECIFIC EXPERTISE REQUIRED

[See Requirements]

5 PAYMENT SCHEDULE

This requirement is for the delivery of the products identified in Section 3. Payment will be provided based on these deliveries as indicated in the table below. As indicated in paragraph 3 under “Deliverables, payments may have to be adjusted to coincide with the completion of D001, D002 and D0003 :

Deliverable 1 – D001

Delivered Date: 21st October 2024

Deliverable 2 – D002

Delivered Date: 11th November 2024

Deliverable 3 – D003

Delivered Date: 06th December 2024

Invoices shall be accompanied with a Deliverable Acceptance Sheets (Annex C) signed by the project authority.

6 SECURITY CLEARANCE

The duties of the consultants require a valid NATO SECRET security clearance.

7 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The personnel are required for the period starting 07th October 2024 through 31 December 2024.

8 TERMS

This is a Completion-type contract requires consultants with complementary skills to complete the work.

Work on the contract will primarily be performed off-site at the consultant’s own office. Office space and computer equipment will be provided at NATO HQ in Brussels for access during scheduled visits for the duration of this contract; contractor is responsible for office space and computer equipment at their own facilities.

This Task Order will require scheduled travel. The travel, lodging and associated expenses for the two meetings stated under Activities are included in the price of the bid (NTE), such that the purchaser shall not be invoiced.

The inside NTE meetings shall be 1 x Maritime specific community of interest IER building meeting (Northwood, North London, England, 2 days late September, 2024) and 1 x Senior Maritime IER Panel (SMIERP) meeting, (Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA, 21st to 25th October 2024).

Extraordinary travel (Purchaser Directed Travel) may be required to other NATO or non-NATO locations as necessary. In the event of this unforeseen meeting being called, and subsequently approved by the NDS, the cost of all travel and subsistence will only be authorized if the budget of this contract can support it. It will require advanced coordination with the customer and would have to be identified before Dec. 6.

Extraordinary Travel expenses will be reimbursed in accordance with Article 5.5 of AAS+ Framework Contract.

NATO will retain the intellectual property rights for all products developed in relation to this project.

All scripts, documentation and required code will be stored as directed by NDS.

All deliverables will be stored as directed by NDS.

Requirements

4 SPECIFIC EXPERTISE REQUIRED

We require a candidate who is a senior data modeler expert with experience specifically in both IER creation and MTF Message definition along with maintenance processes and MTF Message creation techniques. The following experience/expertise is essential for this requirement:

• Expert knowledge of ADatP-03 specifications and relevant NATO STANAGs
• Demonstrated experience in creating or updating NATO IERs as defined in APP-15.
• Demonstrated, recent (last 5 years) experience in creating Maritime specific IER’(s) related to White Picture and Recognized Maritime Picture (RMP).
• Demonstrated, recent (last 5 years) experience of working in NATO technical and operational committees and working groups, including direct experience with the HQ MARCOM and the SMIERP.

6 SECURITY CLEARANCE

• The duties of the consultants require a valid NATO SECRET security clearance.