Lewis-Burke Associates LLC – October 26, 2022
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced its new Information Innovation Office (I2O) Office-Wide Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) seeking revolutionary research ideas in artificial intelligence, cyber operations, network security, human-system interaction, and autonomy on October 26. I2O’s mission is to ensure and advance the U.S. competitive advantage in a broad range of information technologies, through “core technical foundations and the design of novel application concepts based on these foundations.” This BAA seeks ideas for topics not being addressed by ongoing I2O programs or other published solicitations. Potential proposers are highly encouraged to review the current I2O programs and solicitations to avoid proposing efforts that duplicate existing activities or that are responsive to other published I2O solicitations. I2O programs are organized into four thrust areas:
- Proficient Artificial Intelligence: I2O is focused on exploring and advancing a full range of AI techniques, including symbolic reasoning, statistical machine learning, grounded cognition, meta-learning, explanation and assurance, and hybrid methods. Approaches that further the theoretical grounding of robust and trustworthy AI systems; help establish AI engineering tools, techniques, and processes to develop, debug, test, evaluate, validate, and verify robust and trustworthy AI systems; and support human machine symbiosis, including the efficient use of data, compute, and energy, are particularly of interest.
- Advantage in Cyber Operations: The I2O cyber operations portfolio includes techniques, tools, and frameworks for the full range of cyber operations and involves many layers and stages in systems, from endpoint to endpoint. Approaches that can develop robust, predictable, and controlled defensive and offensive cyber capabilities are of particular interest.
- Confidence in the Information Domain: The information domain has become critical both to stability and to multi-domain operations in modern warfare. I2O programs focus on understanding online activity, building better technical models of strategic and tactical operations in the information domain, developing technologies to support stabilization efforts, and building on these efforts to create improved situational awareness to inform strategic decision-making. Approaches that support the measurement of the information domain and information operations, support countering broad-based or targeted information attacks, and can inoculate a population against information attacks are of particular interest.
- Resilient, Adaptable, and Secure Systems: I2O is focused on creating new techniques, technologies, and tools that can lead to improvements in engineering practice for software-based systems for the military and its supply chain. Approaches that support scaling formal engineering practices to a broader variety of software and hardware systems and reduce the expertise necessary to employ formal methods are particularly of interest.
Eligibility: All responsible sources are eligible. Federally Funded Research and Development Centers and government entities are subject to direct competition limitations. Full eligibility information is available in the BAA.
Important dates: Abstracts are due September 22, 2023, by 12 p.m. ET, and full proposals are due October 27, 2023, by 12 p.m. ET.
The full announcement can be viewed here.