ROME, N.Y., 16 May 2010. U.S. Air Force researchers want to establish a research center of excellence in assured cloud computing, and they are looking to partner with a college or university to host and collaborate in assured cloud computing research.
The Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate in Rome, N.Y., issued a broad agency announcement (BAA-10-10-RIKA) Friday, which seeks to establish a University Center of Excellence (UCoE) in Assured Cloud Computing to do research not only in secure computing over blue and/or gray networks, but also whatever is necessary to accomplish Air Force cloud computing.
AFRL researchers want to determine if critical mission information can reach its destination through the computer cloud with predictable latency, rather than packets simply reaching their destinations, without leading to system instability.
The UCoE in Assured Cloud Computing will be joint effort of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) in Arlington, Va.,, the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate in Rome, N.Y., and a college or university.
This collaborative group will do high-priority Air Force research in information assurance for virtual machines and for internet-based and intranet-based computing to help understand how network information exchange influences overall network performance and behavior.
In this way, Air Force researchers want to develop ways to assess and influence the predictability of heterogeneous Air Force communication networks that assure data transfer, computations, and assured operations in hostile, contested, and high interference environments.
Colleges and universities interested in participating should have expertise in cloud computer monitoring, virtual machine design, formal protocol design, as well as information and mission assurance. Additional expertise in estimation theory in local and global environments, theory for the design and analysis of communication protocols, and management of computational and communications resources is a plus.
Researchers from the UCoE will work with the Air Force Research Lab on critical military cloud computing challenges, and will have access to state-of-the-art laboratories to support cutting-edge research to verify mathematically derived results. These efforts are expected to direct refinements of mathematical models.
Total funding for this BAA is approximately $6 million over six years. White-papers will be accepted until 11 Jun 2010, but the Air Force does not want to see formal proposals yet.
Send white papers to contracting officer Lynn G. White by e-mail at [email protected], by fax at 315-330-8120, or by post to AFRL/Information Directorate, ATTN Lynn G. White, 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome, N.Y 13441-4514. For questions or concerns, contact White by phone at 315-330-4996.
More information is online at https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USAF/AFMC/AFRLRRS/BAA-10-10-RIKA/listing.html.
