Proposed Establishment of a Federally Funded Research and Development Center, 1831-1832 [2014-00260]
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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 7 / Friday, January 10, 2014 / Notices
0.375 inches and 2.5 inches in length,
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scope of the order are fasteners having
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a secondary reduced-diameter raised
head section, a centered shank, and a
smooth symmetrical point, suitable for
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Dated: January 6, 2014.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and
Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2014–00263 Filed 1–9–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Institute of Standards and
Technology
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
[Docket No.: 130212127–3999–04]
Proposed Establishment of a Federally
Funded Research and Development
Center
National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:40 Jan 09, 2014
Jkt 232001
The National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST),
Department of Commerce, intends to
sponsor a Federally Funded Research
and Development Center (FFRDC) to
facilitate public-private collaboration for
accelerating the widespread adoption of
integrated cybersecurity tools and
technologies. NIST published three
notices in the Federal Register advising
the public of the agency’s intention to
sponsor an FFRDC and requesting
comments from the public. This notice
provides NIST’s analysis of the
comments related to NIST’s proposed
establishment of the FFRDC received in
response to those notices. These
responses, as well as NIST’s responses
to the many acquisition-related
comments and questions received in
response to the three notices will be
posted on FedBizOpps.
DATES: NIST published portions of a
draft Request for Proposals for public
comment in December 2013.
ADDRESSES: NIST’s responses to
acquisition-related comments and
question and the draft Request for
Proposals will be published for public
comment at www.fbo.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Keith Bubar via email at Keith.Bubar@
nist.gov or telephone 301–975–8329 or
Keith Bubar, NIST, 100 Bureau Drive,
Mail Stop 1640, Gaithersburg, MD
20899–1640.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NIST has
identified the need to support the
mission of the National Cybersecurity
Center of Excellence (NCCoE) through
the establishment of an FFRDC. In
evaluating the need for the FFRDC,
NIST determined that no existing
alternative sources can effectively meet
the unique needs of NIST. The proposed
NCCoE FFRDC will have three primary
purposes: (1) Research, Development,
Engineering and Technical support; (2)
Program/Project Management focused
on increasing the effectiveness and
efficiency of cybersecurity applications,
prototyping, demonstrations, and
technical activities; and (3) Facilities
Management. The proposed NCCoE
FFRDC may also be utilized by other
federal agencies.
The FFRDC will be established under
the regulations found at 48 CFR 35.017.
Comments Received and Responses:
The following is a summary and
analysis of the comments received
during the public comment period and
NIST’s responses to them. NIST
received comments from a total of 46
commenters. NIST received three
comments opposed to establishing the
proposed FFRDC. In addition, NIST
received two comments opposed to
SUMMARY:
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1831
government spending in general, but not
specifically directed toward the
proposed FFRDC. Finally, NIST
received a total of 73 additional
comments/questions from 43
commenters, centered on the proposed
acquisition and other related topics.
A summary of the public comments
opposing the establishment of the
FFRDC, along with NIST’s responses to
each, are as follows:
Comment: Two commenters stated
that hundreds of private sector firms are
capable of performing the tasks
described in the notice.
Response: NIST is aware of the vast
cybersecurity research, development,
engineering, technical, program/project
management and facilities management
capabilities available in the private
sector. The NCCoE meets its unique
mission of increasing the rate of
adoption of more secure technologies by
establishing broad consortia of
academic, government, and private
sector organizations whose engineers
work side-by-side at the center. While
potentially having the appropriate
technical capabilities, private sector
firms motivated by profit and future
competitive opportunities would not
provide the same level of objectivity as
an organization managing an FFRDC.
Comment: One commenter stated that
a Request for Information or draft
Request for Proposals (RFP) would
likely yield numerous responses from
qualified private sector firms.
Response: NIST intends to publish a
draft RFP to allow prospective offerors
an opportunity to ask questions and
provide comments.
Comment: Two commenters stated
that any concerns about organizational
conflicts of interest within the private
sector can be resolved through industry
divestitures and other methods, and can
be fully addressed and prevented
through provisions in the current
acquisition system.
Response: As established under the
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR),
FFRDCs are designed to prevent
potential conflicts of interest from
occurring and to allow for the
independence and objectivity necessary
to collaborate effectively with a broad
consortium of technical organizations.
By establishing an FFRDC, potential
conflicts of interest will be avoided as
the FFRDC operator will not be
motivated by potential competitive
advantages or profit, ensuring a level
playing field for all collaborators on
NCCoE activities. The FFRDC operator
could potentially have access to the
intellectual property of a large number
of possibly competing companies
collaborating on NCCoE activities. The
E:\FR\FM\10JAN1.SGM
10JAN1
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1832
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 7 / Friday, January 10, 2014 / Notices
access to intellectual property of many
companies could present conflicts of
interest for an organization that does not
meet the provisions of FAR 35.017(a)(3).
Comment: One commenter stated that
NIST has not adequately demonstrated
that there are no existing contract
vehicles or FFRDCs available to meet its
needs.
Response: Through conducting
market research, NIST determined that
neither a standard services contractor
nor an existing FFRDC can adequately
meet NIST’s requirement for supporting
the NCCoE. Review of the 40 existing
FFRDCs indicated that only one
incorporated cybersecurity in its
mission and vision statement, Carnegie
Mellon Software Engineering Institute
(SEI), sponsored by the U.S. Army. SEI’s
stated mission is to ‘‘advance the
technologies and practices needed to
acquire, develop, operate, and sustain
software systems that are innovative,
affordable, trustworthy, and enduring.’’
SEI identifies its competencies as
including software engineering and
research, computer security, emerging
software technologies, and acquisition
solutions. SEI’s mission statement and
the focus of its current staff are
significantly narrower than the NCCoE’s
requirement to execute applied research
and collaborate with industry,
academia, and government to accelerate
the adoption of solutions based on
existing commercial-off-the-shelf
products. The use of SEI to support the
mission of the NCCoE would result in
a significant limitation on the range of
services that could be performed and
the range of use cases to be undertaken.
Comment: Two commenters stated
that NIST has not clearly stated the
basis, purpose and mission of the
FFRDC.
Response: In the forthcoming draft
RFP, NIST will articulate its
requirement for the FFRDC with greater
specificity, and prospective offerors will
have the opportunity to ask questions
and submit comments.
Comment: One commenter stated that
creating a new FFRDC would expose
NIST to significant cost vulnerabilities
and potential criticism from Congress
and others.
Response: The competition for an
Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity
(IDIQ) contract, the contracting
mechanism to be used for the FFRDC,
occurs at the base contract level. The
nature of an IDIQ contract does allow
for future actions within the scope of
the contract to be awarded without
further competition. However, NIST
will review the scope of work
thoroughly to identify areas that require
clarification prior to release of the RFP,
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:40 Jan 09, 2014
Jkt 232001
and the IDIQ contract will be competed
to the maximum extent practicable.
NIST will negotiate the cost, terms and
conditions of all task orders with the
FFRDC operator before performance
commences. By using a task order based
IDIQ contract, NIST will balance scope
and cost control while allowing for the
flexibility to address the needs of the
NCCoE.
NIST has posted a notice to the
Federal Business Opportunities (FBO)
Web site with the official responses to
each comment received in response to
the previous three Federal Register
notices, including those comments
summarized above. The FBO Reference
Number for this notice is NCCoE_
FFRDC–FRN_4. NIST published
portions of a draft Request for Proposals
for public comment in December 2013.
Dated: January 6, 2014.
Willie E. May,
Associate Director for Laboratory Programs.
[FR Doc. 2014–00260 Filed 1–9–14; 8:45 am]
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your name and email address. Once you
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Telephone.’’ To join the audio
teleconference using a telephone, call
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would like assistance, please contact
Mr. Kris Kleinschmidt at (503) 820–
2280. Public comments during the
webinar will be received from attendees
at the discretion of the SSC Groundfish
Subcommittee chair.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XD042
Pacific Fishery Management Council;
Online Webinar
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of online webinar.
AGENCY:
The Pacific Fishery
Management Council’s (Pacific
Council’s) Scientific and Statistical
Committee (SSC) Groundfish
Subcommittee will hold an online
webinar to review data-poor overfishing
limit (OFL) estimates for kelp greenling
in Oregon and Washington, new OFL
estimates for the Washington stock of
cabezon, and other business in
preparation for the SSC’s March 2014
meeting. The online SSC Groundfish
Subcommittee webinar is open to the
public.
DATES: The SSC Groundfish
Subcommittee webinar will commence
at 1 p.m. PST, Thursday, January 30,
2014 and continue until 3 p.m. or as
necessary to complete business for the
day.
ADDRESSES: To attend the SSC
Groundfish Subcommittee webinar,
please join online at https://
www.joinwebinar.com and enter the
webinar ID: 701–764–215, as well as
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
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Mr.
John DeVore, Pacific Council;
telephone: (503) 820–2280.
The
specific objectives of the SSC
Groundfish Subcommittee webinar are
to review data-poor OFL estimates for
kelp greenling in Oregon and
Washington, new OFL estimates for the
Washington stock of cabezon, and
review or discuss other items necessary
to prepare for the March 2014 SSC
meeting in Sacramento, CA. No
management actions will be decided in
this webinar.
Although non-emergency issues not
identified in the webinar agenda may
come before the webinar participants for
discussion, those issues may not be the
subject of formal action during this
webinar. Formal action at the webinar
will be restricted to those issues
specifically listed in this notice and any
issues arising after publication of this
notice that require emergency action
under Section 305(c) of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act, provided the public
has been notified of the webinar
participants’ intent to take final action
to address the emergency.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Special Accommodations
This meeting is physically accessible
to people with disabilities. Requests for
auxiliary aids should be directed to Mr.
Kris Kleinschmidt at (503) 820–2280 at
least 5 days prior to the webinar date.
E:\FR\FM\10JAN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 7 (Friday, January 10, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1831-1832]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-00260]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Institute of Standards and Technology
[Docket No.: 130212127-3999-04]
Proposed Establishment of a Federally Funded Research and
Development Center
AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),
Department of Commerce, intends to sponsor a Federally Funded Research
and Development Center (FFRDC) to facilitate public-private
collaboration for accelerating the widespread adoption of integrated
cybersecurity tools and technologies. NIST published three notices in
the Federal Register advising the public of the agency's intention to
sponsor an FFRDC and requesting comments from the public. This notice
provides NIST's analysis of the comments related to NIST's proposed
establishment of the FFRDC received in response to those notices. These
responses, as well as NIST's responses to the many acquisition-related
comments and questions received in response to the three notices will
be posted on FedBizOpps.
DATES: NIST published portions of a draft Request for Proposals for
public comment in December 2013.
ADDRESSES: NIST's responses to acquisition-related comments and
question and the draft Request for Proposals will be published for
public comment at www.fbo.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith Bubar via email at
Keith.Bubar@nist.gov or telephone 301-975-8329 or Keith Bubar, NIST,
100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 1640, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-1640.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NIST has identified the need to support the
mission of the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE)
through the establishment of an FFRDC. In evaluating the need for the
FFRDC, NIST determined that no existing alternative sources can
effectively meet the unique needs of NIST. The proposed NCCoE FFRDC
will have three primary purposes: (1) Research, Development,
Engineering and Technical support; (2) Program/Project Management
focused on increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of cybersecurity
applications, prototyping, demonstrations, and technical activities;
and (3) Facilities Management. The proposed NCCoE FFRDC may also be
utilized by other federal agencies.
The FFRDC will be established under the regulations found at 48 CFR
35.017.
Comments Received and Responses: The following is a summary and
analysis of the comments received during the public comment period and
NIST's responses to them. NIST received comments from a total of 46
commenters. NIST received three comments opposed to establishing the
proposed FFRDC. In addition, NIST received two comments opposed to
government spending in general, but not specifically directed toward
the proposed FFRDC. Finally, NIST received a total of 73 additional
comments/questions from 43 commenters, centered on the proposed
acquisition and other related topics.
A summary of the public comments opposing the establishment of the
FFRDC, along with NIST's responses to each, are as follows:
Comment: Two commenters stated that hundreds of private sector
firms are capable of performing the tasks described in the notice.
Response: NIST is aware of the vast cybersecurity research,
development, engineering, technical, program/project management and
facilities management capabilities available in the private sector. The
NCCoE meets its unique mission of increasing the rate of adoption of
more secure technologies by establishing broad consortia of academic,
government, and private sector organizations whose engineers work side-
by-side at the center. While potentially having the appropriate
technical capabilities, private sector firms motivated by profit and
future competitive opportunities would not provide the same level of
objectivity as an organization managing an FFRDC.
Comment: One commenter stated that a Request for Information or
draft Request for Proposals (RFP) would likely yield numerous responses
from qualified private sector firms.
Response: NIST intends to publish a draft RFP to allow prospective
offerors an opportunity to ask questions and provide comments.
Comment: Two commenters stated that any concerns about
organizational conflicts of interest within the private sector can be
resolved through industry divestitures and other methods, and can be
fully addressed and prevented through provisions in the current
acquisition system.
Response: As established under the Federal Acquisition Regulation
(FAR), FFRDCs are designed to prevent potential conflicts of interest
from occurring and to allow for the independence and objectivity
necessary to collaborate effectively with a broad consortium of
technical organizations. By establishing an FFRDC, potential conflicts
of interest will be avoided as the FFRDC operator will not be motivated
by potential competitive advantages or profit, ensuring a level playing
field for all collaborators on NCCoE activities. The FFRDC operator
could potentially have access to the intellectual property of a large
number of possibly competing companies collaborating on NCCoE
activities. The
[[Page 1832]]
access to intellectual property of many companies could present
conflicts of interest for an organization that does not meet the
provisions of FAR 35.017(a)(3).
Comment: One commenter stated that NIST has not adequately
demonstrated that there are no existing contract vehicles or FFRDCs
available to meet its needs.
Response: Through conducting market research, NIST determined that
neither a standard services contractor nor an existing FFRDC can
adequately meet NIST's requirement for supporting the NCCoE. Review of
the 40 existing FFRDCs indicated that only one incorporated
cybersecurity in its mission and vision statement, Carnegie Mellon
Software Engineering Institute (SEI), sponsored by the U.S. Army. SEI's
stated mission is to ``advance the technologies and practices needed to
acquire, develop, operate, and sustain software systems that are
innovative, affordable, trustworthy, and enduring.'' SEI identifies its
competencies as including software engineering and research, computer
security, emerging software technologies, and acquisition solutions.
SEI's mission statement and the focus of its current staff are
significantly narrower than the NCCoE's requirement to execute applied
research and collaborate with industry, academia, and government to
accelerate the adoption of solutions based on existing commercial-off-
the-shelf products. The use of SEI to support the mission of the NCCoE
would result in a significant limitation on the range of services that
could be performed and the range of use cases to be undertaken.
Comment: Two commenters stated that NIST has not clearly stated the
basis, purpose and mission of the FFRDC.
Response: In the forthcoming draft RFP, NIST will articulate its
requirement for the FFRDC with greater specificity, and prospective
offerors will have the opportunity to ask questions and submit
comments.
Comment: One commenter stated that creating a new FFRDC would
expose NIST to significant cost vulnerabilities and potential criticism
from Congress and others.
Response: The competition for an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite
Quantity (IDIQ) contract, the contracting mechanism to be used for the
FFRDC, occurs at the base contract level. The nature of an IDIQ
contract does allow for future actions within the scope of the contract
to be awarded without further competition. However, NIST will review
the scope of work thoroughly to identify areas that require
clarification prior to release of the RFP, and the IDIQ contract will
be competed to the maximum extent practicable. NIST will negotiate the
cost, terms and conditions of all task orders with the FFRDC operator
before performance commences. By using a task order based IDIQ
contract, NIST will balance scope and cost control while allowing for
the flexibility to address the needs of the NCCoE.
NIST has posted a notice to the Federal Business Opportunities
(FBO) Web site with the official responses to each comment received in
response to the previous three Federal Register notices, including
those comments summarized above. The FBO Reference Number for this
notice is NCCoE--FFRDC-FRN--4. NIST published portions of a draft
Request for Proposals for public comment in December 2013.
Dated: January 6, 2014.
Willie E. May,
Associate Director for Laboratory Programs.
[FR Doc. 2014-00260 Filed 1-9-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-P
