SAM #NIST-NOI-26-01690

Sole Source Notice: Latent Fingerprint Ground Truth Determination Support Services for NIST

This notice announces NIST's intent to award a sole-source contract for latent fingerprint ground truth determination support services. - Agency: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Information Technology Laboratory - Sole-source vendor: Schwarz Forensic Enterprises, INC. (SFE) - Service required: Determination of ground truth source finger position for 3,000 latent fingerprint images - Supports the Evaluation of Latent Friction Ridge Technology (ELFT) program - Critical for accurate measurement of automated identification algorithm error rates - Justification for sole source: - SFE originally served as certified latent print examiners and human subjects protection research experts for the N2N Challenge collection - SFE possesses unique IRB-approved data and raw context required for source verification - NAICS code: 541990 (All Other Professional, Scientific and Technical Services) - SFE qualifies as a small business under this code - No solicitation package will be issued; interested parties may submit capability statements for consideration - Place of performance: NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899

Description

Notice of Intent to Sole Source

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) intends to negotiate on a sole-source basis with Schwarz Forensic Enterprises, INC. (SFE) under the authority of RFO 12.102(a) for Latent Fingerprint Ground Truth Determination Support Services.  

Background Information and Basis for Sole Source

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Information Technology Laboratory, Information Access Division, Image Group requires contractual support for Latent Fingerprint Ground Truth Determination Support Services. This requirement is critical for the Evaluation of Latent Friction Ridge Technology (ELFT) to provide an accurate measurement of current automated identification algorithm error rates.

As part of the IARPA Nail-to-Nail (N2N) Challenge, NIST acquired a significant corpus of friction ridge imagery. While a portion was released as “NIST Special Database 302,” a critical volume of data was intentionally sequestered at NIST for biometric technology evaluations. This sequestered data has never been seen by technology evaluation participants, ensuring high confidence in benchmark results. Because the latent fingerprints requiring correlation originated from larger regional photographs containing additional test prints, maintaining strict sequestration is imperative. Introducing a new contractor to this sensitive environment would risk the integrity of the ELFT test corpus, as SFE has already been successfully trusted with keeping this derived and raw data sequestered.

The primary objective is to determine the ground truth source finger position for 3,000 latent impression images. SFE is in a unique position as they were the original certified latent print examiners (CLPE) and human subjects protection research experts responsible for the initial data collection. Consequently, SFE is the only source in possession of the raw context and Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved data necessary to verify source determinations without requiring NIST to release raw, un-redacted imagery to a third party, which would further jeopardize sequestration.

Due to SFE’s unique possession of the IRB approval data and their role in the original N2N Challenge collection, they are the only source capable of meeting this requirement without compromising the sequestered nature of the ELFT evaluation.

General

The North American Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 541990 - All Other Professional, Scientific and Technical Services.  The small business size standard is $19.5 million.  Schwarz Forensic Enterprises, INC. is a small business under this NAICS code.

No solicitation package will be issued. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotations; however, responses received by the listed due date, will be considered by the Government.

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 normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.

Interested parties that believe they could satisfy the requirements listed above for NIST may clearly and unambiguously identify their capability to do so in writing on or before the response due date for this notice. This notice of intent is not a solicitation. Any questions regarding this notice must be submitted in writing via email to Hing Pan Wong at hnw6@nist.gov. All responses to this notice of intent must be submitted so that they are received at hnw6@nist.gov no later than the aforementioned due date in the sam.gov posting.

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