The U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) is seeking an online resource for its McDermott Library that will combine military, global security, and armed conflicts data, according to a solicitation released today.
The online resource will combine the data to help USAFA personnel conduct “their research and instructional goals, and support the USAFA outcomes vital to cadet success, particularly in areas of critical thinking, national security, and the warrior ethos,” the solicitation said.
The solicitation further detailed required capabilities that proposers should include in their solutions, including:
- Analysis of reports and datasets related to global security, political risk, and military conflict;
- Open source data from a secure and reputable source for vetted content;
- Detailed reports on military capabilities of strategically important countries;
- Search and data extraction abilities for “state and non-state military organizations, insurgencies, armed groups, combat capabilities, special and joint operations, global and regional missions in air, space, cyber and other warfare environments”;
- Global data coverage from at least 160 countries across different military services and international organizations;
- Built-in data tools to enable evaluation and analysis of resource data for “economies. Equipment, forces, and personnel”; and
- The ability to cover data from at least the past 30 years, but preferably 50 or more years.
The document also states requirements for solutions to organize data based on certain criteria, such as force composition, types of equipment used by each country or organization, force deployments from and to regions, intelligence information, expert analysis, and other information.
Further, USAFA requests that the resource have online tutorials and demonstrates, the ability to support 1,200 users and have multi-user access, and the ability to update and enhance at no cost. Proposals are due by Sept. 16.