Subject: NSFNET - NSF Program Guideline
From: Dot Baker <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 20 Mar 92 08:05 EST

Hi,
   Please post to the NIH Listserver as:
     NSFNET.920320
 ---------------------------- Text of forwarded message -----------------------
Title       : NSF9224--Network Information Services Manager(s) for
              NSFNET and NREN
Type        : Program Guideline
NSF Contact : CISE
Date        : March 19, 1992

 
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
 
NETWORK INFORMATION SERVICES
 
MANAGER(S)FOR NSFNET AND THE NREN
 
Project Solicitation

I. PURPOSE OF THIS SOLICITATION
 
The rapid growth of the NSFNET has created the need for expanded
network information services.  That growth, together with the
expiration of the funding arrangement for the NSFNET National
Service Center (NNSC), has prompted this solicitation for one or
more Network Information Services Managers (NIS Manager(s)) for the
NSFNET.
 
This solicitation invites proposals for one or more NIS Manager
organizations to:  extend and coordinate directory and database
services and information services for the NSFNET; and provide
registration services for non-military internet networks now
performed by the Defense Information Systems Agency Network
Information Center (the DISA NIC).  The DISA NIC will continue to
provide for the registration of military networks.
 
It is anticipated that this solicitation will result in one or more
five-year cooperative agreements between NSF and the
organization(s) chosen as the NIS Manager(s).  NSF funding is
expected to be approximately $2,000,000 per year.
 
This project solicitation is issued pursuant to the National
Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended (42 U.S.C. 1861 et seq)
and the Federal Cooperative Agreement Act (31 U.S.C. 6305) and is
not subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulations.

II.  BACKGROUND
 
During the past two decades computer networks have facilitated
collaboration among members of many research and education
communities and provided them with remote access to information
and computing resources.  These networks have continued to grow
both in the number of users connected and in the capabilities
provided to the individual users.  It is anticipated that such
networks will become essential to research and education during
this decade.  In particular, the collection of interconnected
networks known as the Internet has become important for many
research communities.  It is also of increasing importance for
education.
 
Today more than 5,000 networks comprise the Internet.  These
networks link together hundreds of thousands of computers and
millions of users throughout the world.  The domestic, non-military
portion of the Internet includes NSFNET.  It also includes other
federally sponsored networks such as NASA Science Internet (NSI)
and Energy Sciences Network (ESnet).  NSFNET, NSI, and ESnet, as
well as some other networks of the Internet, are related to the
National Research and Education Network (NREN) which was defined
in the President's Fiscal 1992 budget and which has been
au-thorized by the passage in December, 1991, of Public Law
102-194.
 
The NREN is projected to evolve from a part of the Internet
containing portions of NSFNET, NSI, and ESnet.  This evolution will
reflect the legal requirements of the various sponsoring agencies.
For example, NASA and DOE are mission agencies whose networks'
traffic must relate to the agencies' missions.  NSF, on the other
hand, is chartered to support most science and engineering research
and education; hence NSFNET can carry all traffic contemplated for
the NREN and may in fact support additional traffic as well.
 
Because of the breadth of the charter of the NSFNET, it is
projected that it will continue to serve an expanding base of
research and education users.  The provision of enhanced network
information services for NSFNET will be an important part of the
expansion in user base.
 
In cooperation with the Internet community, the National Science
Foundation has developed this solicitation for one or more NIS
Managers to provide and/or coordinate Registration Services,
Directory  and Database Services, and Information Services for the
NSFNET.  It is anticipated that the definition and provision of
these services will help facilitate the evolution of the NSFNET and
the development of the NREN.  References to NSFNET in this
solicitation should in general be understood to include the NREN
as well.
 
Certain network information services are currently being offered
by a variety of providers.  Some of these existing services are as
follows.
 
o    Internet registration services (and some information services)
are provided by the DISA NIC operated by Government Services, Inc.
(GSI).
 
o    Some NSFNET end user information services have been provided
by the NSF Network Service Center (NNSC) operated by Bolt Beranek
and Newman (BBN) and some NSFNET end user information services have
been provided by campus-level computing and networking
organizations.
 
o    Information services for various federal agency backbone
networks are provided by the sponsoring agencies (e.g., ESnet
information services are provided by DOE and NSI information
services are provided by NASA).
 
o    Information services for campus-level providers have been
provided by NSFNET mid-level network organizations.
 
o    Information services for NSFNET mid-level network providers
have been provided by Merit, Inc. under Cooperative Agreement
NCR-8720904 as part of the management of the NSFNET backbone.
 
It is expected that the NIS Manager organization(s) selected for
award(s) as a result of this solicitation:   will, as discussed in
Section III below, provide services to end users and to campus- and
mid-level network service providers; will replace certain network
service providers (such as those mentioned in the first and second
bullets above); and will coordinate with mid-level and other
network organizations (such as those mentioned in the third through
fifth bullets above).

III.  Project Requirements
 
Considerable latitude exists for creative proposer responses to
this solicitation and a definitive list of services will not be
given.  This latitude exists for several reasons.  First, the
provision of network information services on the scale called for
in this solicitation is a novel undertaking for which innovative
solutions are sought.  Second, it is possible for responders to
propose to charge user fees for some services and the income from
such fees could affect the total amount of services offered.
 
The services shown below are grouped into two categories, priority
and desirable.  As stated above, the given list of services should
not be viewed as definitive and proposers are encouraged to propose
other services that they feel are important.

A. Priority Services
 
All services listed below that are preceded with a "(P)" are
priority services, and an award for those services will be made,
if possible.  (This does not imply that all responders must propose
priority services since multiple NIS Manager awards may be made.)

B. Desirable Services
 
All services listed below that are not preceded with a "(P)" are
viewed as suggested services that may be considered by proposers
as they prepare their responses.
 
Some services listed below are to be provided to end users and
others are to be provided to other network information service
providers.  The NIS Manager(s) called for in this solicitation will
be primarily a "NIS for NISs" but should also function as a "NIS
of first resort" and a "NIS of last resort" for end users.  NIS of
first resort refers to activities such as helping a potential
network user find a more localized contact who will assist with
the process of becoming a network user.  NIS of last resort refers
to activities such as assisting a network user who has proceeded
from more local to less local requests for help without resolving
a problem or getting a question answered.  In many cases, however,
the NIS Manager(s) would work with network service providers who
are closer to the end users.
 
Thus the provision of some of the services listed below might be
accomplished by coordinating information resources and services
provided by others.  A coordinated, hierarchical set of information
services should result from the collaboration of the NIS Manager(s)
with (but not limited to) the mid-level and campus-level providers
of network information services.  Responders should seek to utilize
such resources and services where possible rather than to duplicate
them.
 
The following list is divided into three subareas:  registration
services, directory and database services, and information
services.

1.  (P) Registration Services
 
The provider of registration services will function in accordance
with the provisions of RFC 1174.  As stated in RFC 1174, "[T]he
Internet system has employed a central Internet Assigned Numbers
Authority (IANA) for the allocation and assignment of various
numeric identifiers needed for the operation of the Internet.  The
IANA function is performed by the University of Southern
California's Information Sciences Institute.  The IANA has the
discretionary authority to delegate portions of this responsibility
and, with respect to numeric network and autonomous system
identifiers, has lodged this responsibility with an Internet
Registry (IR)."  Moreover, in cooperation with the IANA, the IR may
create delegate registries to carry out registration services for
specified domains.
 
The NIS Manager responsible for non-military registration services
will function either as the IR or as a delegate registry authorized
by the IR to provide non-military registration services.  NSF,
DISA, and other interested parties will determine which
organization (the DISA NIC, the NSFNET NIS Manager, or another
organization) will function as IR and which will function as a
delegate registry.The NIS Manager responsible for non-military
registration services will in any case be required to work with
the DISA NIC to design and implement a transition plan that will
minimize inconvenience to the networking community during and after
the transition.  Non-military internet registration services to be
provided include the following:
 
o    Domain name registration  (currently averaging 229 new
requests per month with a total of 3,950 already registered)
 
o    Domain name server registration  (currently averaging 56 new
requests per month with a total of 4,976 already registered)
 
o    Network number assignment  (currently averaging 523 new
requests per month with a total of 38,561 already registered)
 
o    Autonomous system number assignment  (currently averaging 18
new requests per month with a total of 2,284 already registered)

2.  Directory and Database Services
 
Proposed directory implementations should utilize distributed
database and other advanced technologies wherever practicable.
This may place the NIS Manager(s) in a coordination role with
respect to other organizations that have created and maintained
relevant directories and databases.  Procedures for creation and
maintenance of proposed directories and databases should be clearly
specified.
 
A.  (P)  A "Directory of Directories" which points to other
directories and databases such as those listed below in 2B and 2C
 
B.  Desirable Directory Services
 
     i.  users accessible by name, discipline, and
         organization
 
    ii.  institutions on the network and characteristics of their
         connections
 
   iii.  organizations accessible by function
 
    iv.  resources available on the network (e.g., computing
         facilities, libraries, databases)

C.  Desirable Database Services
 
     i.  databases of  contributed materials
 
    ii.  databases of communications documents such as RFCs, FYIs,
         IDs, and IENs
 
   iii.  databases maintained for other groups, possibly for fee

3.  Information Services
 
A.  (P)  Network Reference Desk Services These services should
provide for electronic mail, facsimile, telephone, and postal
queries and should be available for personnel from mid-level and
campus networks and for end users and must include the following:
 
o     answer general questions,
 
o     distribute general information in response to questions,
 
o     route questions to the appropriate information source,
 
o     record and track all queries,
 
o     prepare and provide to NSF (for planning purposes) summary
reports and analyses of all queries, and
 
o     develop and deploy a NIS trouble ticket system (using
available software as appropriate) for queries and NIS problems
that cannot be immediately resolved.  (This should complement, not
replace, Network Operations Center trouble ticket systems.)

B.  (P) Coordination Services
 
Coordination services will involve all NSFNET NIS Manager
organizations and must include the following:
 
o     convene a NIS Liaison Council whose main function would be
coordination and information sharing among organizations such as
mid-level network service providers and others as appropriate,
 
o     work with appropriate agencies to encourage international
cooperation between and coordination of network information
services, and
 
o     represent the NIS Manager organization(s) to appropriate
administrative bodies.

C.  Educational Services
 
i) Training  Services:
 
    a.  develop and deliver courses, seminars, and conferences
        on operational and technical topics (such as on how to run
        a NIS)
 
    b.  provide instructors for selected end-user courses
 
    c.  make presentations to selected affinity groups interested
        in establishing logical networks
 
    d.  develop presentations for potential network users and
        institutions
 
    e.   make developed materials available to appropriate groups
 
    f.   provide information on training methodologies to
        appropriate groups
 
ii) Outreach Services:
 
    a.   publish a monthly newsletter for end users and/or provide
         materials for use by other newsletters
 
    b.   publish a monthly network report like the current
         "Internet Monthly Report"
 
    c.   work with the appropriate groups to distribute materials
         dealing with network security
 
    d.   work with the appropriate groups to help K-12 school
         districts and two- and four-year colleges increase their
         level of networking involvement

 
iii) Documentation Services:
 
   a.   develop and provide customizable end-user training
        materials using a variety of media
 
   b.   develop and provide "how to" templates covering the use
        of the network
 
   c.   develop, collect, and provide documents describing
        resources available on the network
 
   d.   develop, and provide a historical archive of network
        development
 
   e.   develop and provide self-evaluation guidelines for
        mid-level and campus NIS providers
 
   f.  maintain and distribute a written procedures and policies
       manual relating to network use

 
IV.  QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS SOLICITATION
 
In order that all proposers receive the same information, all
questions regarding this solicitation should be directed to the
NSF in the manner indicated below.  All questions must be submitted
in writing.  Questions must be received by 3:00 P.M. Eastern
Standard Time, Monday, March 30, 1992, at:
 
     National Science Foundation
     Division of Networking and Communications Research and
        Infrastructure
     1800 G Street, N.W., Room 416
     Washington, D.C. 20550
 
     ATTN: G Strawn (NIS Inquiry)
 
Telephone, facsimile, and electronic mail questions will not be
accepted.Substantive questions received and the NSF's answers to
them will be sent to all solicitation recipients approximately
fourteen (14) calendar days thereafter.

 

 
 
V. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION INFORMATION
 
A.  Who May Submit
 
Proposals for the implementation of and operation as NIS Manager
may be submitted by U.S. entities including academic institutions,
not-for-profit or for-profit or-ganizations, or any combination
thereof.
 
Proposers may include consortia of several organizations.  Should
an award be made to a consortium in response to this solicitation,
that consortium must have a single lead organization, and the
Principal Investigator (PI) must be an employee of that
organization.
 
It is recommended that appropriate  administrative officials of
proposing organizations be familiar with the policies and
procedures stated in the NSF Grant Policy Manual1 (GPM) which are
applicable to NSF awards.  If a proposal is recommended for an
award, the NSF Division of Grants and Contracts will request
certain organizational, management, and financial information from
the submitting organizations.  These requirements are described in
Chapter III of the NSF GPM.

B.  Key Personnel
 
For each award made, the individual designated as principal
investigator/project director and other personnel deemed critical
to the effort will be named in a key personnel clause which
requires NSF approval prior to diversion or replacement.  The
principal investigator/project director will be the primary point
of contact with NSF.

C.  Proposal Submission and Due Date
 
Ten (10) copies of the proposal, including one copy bearing
original signatures, should be mailed to:
 
     Proposal Processing Unit - Room 223
     Attn: Network Information Services Project, NSF 92-24
     National Science Foundation
     1800 G Street, NW
     Washington, D.C. 20550
 
Only one (1) copy of NSF Form 1225, Information About Principal
Investigator/Project Director, should be sent, attached to the
original signed proposal.
 
Proposals may also be submitted electronically.  For information,
contact the Electronic Proposal Submission Program Director,
Division of Information Systems (DIS), via phone (202) 357-7439,
or via electronic mail ([email-masked]).
 
Proposals submitted in response to this solicitation must:  (a)
be received by NSF no later than Monday, May 18, 1992; (b)  be
postmarked no later than five (5) days prior to the deadline date;
or (c)  be sent via commercial overnight mail no later than two
(2) days prior to the deadline date to be considered for award.
Proposals submitted electronically will be dated when they enter
the NSF system.

D.  Rights to Proposal Information
 
A proposal that results in an NSF award will become part of the
record of the transaction and will be available to the public on
specific request.  Information or material that NSF, after
consultation with the awardee, determines to be of a privileged
nature will be held in confidence to the extent permitted by law,
including the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552).  Without
assuming any liability for inadvertent disclosure, NSF will seek
to limit dissemination of such information to its employees and,
for purposes of evaluation of the proposal, to outside reviewers.
 
Accordingly, any privileged information contained in the proposal
should be clearly marked or indicated (as with an asterisk or
highlighter) and identified by a legend similar to the following:
"Following is ((proprietary) or (specify)) information that (name
of proposing organization) requests not be released to persons
outside the Government, except for purposes of evaluation."

E.  Evaluation of Proposals
 
Proposals will be reviewed in accordance with the special criteria
given below.  Evaluation of proposals in response to this
solicitation will be administered by the Division of Networking and
Communications Research and Infrastructure of NSF (NSF/DNCRI).
 
The proposals will be reviewed by one or more merit review panels
chosen by NSF.  The merit review panels may include representatives
of other federal agencies.  At the discretion of NSF, site visits
may also be conducted.
 
The proposal or proposals offering the greatest overall merit in
meeting the requirements of the NIS Manager(s) Project will be
determined in accordance with the general criteria and the
following special criteria which are listed in descending order of
importance:
 
o     Quality and quantity of the proposed network information
services.  Also, the quality of performance measures which the
proposer must develop and adopt to ascertain (at least annually)
the quality and quantity of the proposed network information
services.
 
o     Comprehension of the current Internet environment, vision as
to how the NSFNET should evolve, and vision as to how network
information services should be provided during this evolution.
 
o     Capability to design and provide and/or coordinate the
proposed information services.  Factors include:  use of innovative
(but not untested) approaches, such as distributed data bases;
ability to adjust to rapidly changing service requirements; and
ability to develop, adopt, and employ new technologies and relevant
standards.
 
o     Capabilities and experience of key personnel including those
that are part of any subcontract.
 
o     Ability to work with other network service providers and
organizations, both domestic and international.
 
o     Quality of the proposed NIS Manager facilities.While the
overall cost of the proposed services--both to the government and
to the networking community as a whole--will be considered during
proposal evaluation, the primary basis for selection will be the
evaluation criteria shown above.

VI.  AWARD INFORMATION
 
The Foundation reserves the right to make one or more awards as a
result of proposals received in response to this solicitation.  If
multiple awards are made, the responsibilities for registration
services will be made to a single proposer, but directory and
database services and information services may be divided and/or
duplicated as deemed appropriate.  NSF also reserves the right to
make no award.
 
Should one or more awards be made, it is contemplated that they
will be Cooperative Agreements providing operational support for
a period of five (5) years.  It is expected that any resulting
awards will be announced in the summer of 1992.
 
Following the award(s), the NIS Manager for Registration Services
will be required to develop operations agreements with the DISA
Internet Registration contractor (GSI) to insure that domestic and
international Internet Registration continues to operate smoothly
both during the transition and afterwards.
 
The progress, plans, and services of the NIS Manager(s) will be
assessed annually.  In particular, the quality and quantity of the
services should be ascertainable annually during the period of the
agreement by performance measures which the proposer must develop
and adopt.  Determination(s) may be made at any time about any
additional, increased, decreased, or modified services within the
general scope and context of the agreement and NSF may negotiate
appropriate modification(s) to the award(s).
 
After 24 months of operation, the performance of the NIS Manager(s)
will be externally reviewed.  The review will determine if the NIS
Manager(s) are meeting the established goals and objectives.  The
review will be used to determine whether NSF will continue to
support the awardee(s) at the previously agreed to level.
 
Awards resulting from this solicitation are administered in
accordance with the terms and conditions of GC-1, "Grant General
Conditions", and CA-1, "Cooperative Agreement General Conditions".
Copies of these documents are available at no cost from the NSF
Forms and Publications Unit, via phone (202)357-7861, or via
electronic mail ([email-masked]).  More comprehensive information is
contained in the NSF GPM.

VII.  CONTENTS OF PROPOSAL
 
Proposals should be prepared as follows in accordance with the
guidelines contained in the brochure Grants for Research and
Education in Science and Engineering, (GRESE) (NSF 90-77 rev 8/90)
(available from the NSF Forms and Publications Unit as referred to
above).  Each proposal should reflect the unique combination of the
proposing organization's interests and capabilities in providing
information services to support research and education users of the
NSFNET.  Since reviewers will be asked to review more than one
proposal, lengthy proposals are not recommended.  The narrative
portion (Sections I through M below) should be not more than 15 (8
1/2 x 11 inch) single-sided pages of singlespaced text (with one
inch margins and 10 point type).  A separate budget
narrative/business plan (Section S below) should not be more than
six similar pages (exclusive of the required budget forms which
comprise Section R).  Appendices other than those from the GRESE
brochure and Appendix A described below will not necessarily be
considered in the merit review process.  Proposals should be
securely fastened together, but not placed in ring binders.
 
The proposals should contain the following Sections A through S,
plus Appendix A.  (references to appendices are to those in GRESE
brochure):
 
A.     NSF Cover Page(s) (Appendix IV).  All consortium members
       and/or all major subcontractors should complete and submit
        a copy of this page.
 
B.     Information about Principal Investigator/Project Director
       (Appendix III).  Attach one copy to the original signed
       proposal.  Do not include the form within the body of the
       proposal.
 
C.     "Certification Regarding Lobbying" form.  See page 26 of
        GRESE.
 
D.     Results from prior NSF support.
 
E.     List of collaborators within past 48 months and names of
       graduate and postdoctoral advisors of each investigator.
 
F.     Current and pending support for key individuals (Appendix
        VII).
 
G.     Table of Contents with page numbers keyed to the major
       sections of the proposal.
 
H.     Executive Summary of no more than two pages which provides
       a brief description of the proposed effort.
 
I.     A plan to accomplish the tasks and furnish the services
       described in Section III (Project Requirements) of this
       solicitation.2
 
J.     Explicit procedures for monitoring the quality, availability
       and effectiveness of the services provided.
 
K.     Evidence of organizational knowledge and understanding of
       the current Internet environment and vision of how the
        NSFNET should evolve.
 
L.     Documentation of the qualifications of the proposing
       organization(s), including:
 
o     experience applicable to the provision, operation and
management of the NIS Manager(s) Project; and
 
o     if a consortium and/or major subcontracts are proposed,
experience in managing subcontracts with special emphasis on
establishing performance standards and monitoring quality control.
 
M.     Documentation of technical and managerial qualifications of
       key personnel.  (Curricula vitae  of key personnel should
       be placed in Appendix A.)
 
N.     Explicit procedures for interaction with NSF/DNCRI.
 
O.     Explicit procedures for interaction with existing Network
       Information Services (NISs) and Network Operation Centers
       (NOCs).
 
P.     (For Registration Services proposers) A clear plan for the
       transition from current procedures and practices to those
       proposed for non-military network Internet Registration
       services and explicit procedures for interaction with the
       DISA NIC.
 
Q.     Explicit procedures for interaction with international
       organizations and network providers.
 
R.     Summary Proposal Budget (NSF Form 1030) for the cumulative
       five-year period plus individual annual budgets (on NSF
       Form 1030) for each year (Appendix V).  As instructed on the
       reverse side of NSF Form 1030, identify each year's request
       (e.g., "Cumulative Budget", "First Year", etc.) in the
       margin at the top right of the form.
 
S.     A proposed five-year budget narrative/business plan
       (referred to as "the narrative" in this paragraph) for
      funds requested from NSF.  The narrative should be organized
      by the three subareas of Registration Services, Directory and
      Database Services, and Information Services described in
      Section III, Project Requirements of this solicitation on a
      per year basis.  The narrative should contain information
      about the services proposed and explain the significant
      costs associated with the individual subareas proposed.  The
      annual costs of each subarea should be explained in
      sufficient detail to allow identification of such items as
      the proposed level of effort for professional and support
      personnel (and associated direct and indirect costs),
      travel, equipment, sub-contracting and profit (if any).  If
      for estimating purposes, the proposer normally uses fully
      loaded labor rates, such rates may be used if their
      derivation is explained.
 
Appendix  A.  Curricula Vitae
 
Biographical information (limited to two pages) on the principal
investigator and other key individuals from all organizations who
will be directly involved in the management and operation of the
project.  Lists of publications for each individual should be
limited to the ten most relevant.
 
----------------------------------------

1 The NSF Grant Policy Manual (NSF 88-47, July 1989) is for sale
through the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing
Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.  Telephone (202)783-3288.
 
2 Upon completion of the project, a Final Project Report (NSF Form
98A), including the Part IV Summary, will be required.  Applicants
should review this form prior to proposal submission so that
appropriate tracking mechanisms are included in the proposal plan
to ensure that complete information will be available at the
completion of the project.

..stis file is nsf9224
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