STARbase: An Innovative Solution for Platform Agnostic Data Storage

USSOCOM collects, stores, and provides access to a variety of multi-INT data that analysts and operators must discover, fuse, and make sense of to guide tactical decisions at the edge and achieve operational success. Currently, USSOCOM analysts and operators access mission data in a variety of environments - from the austere, bandwidth and compute constrained tactical edge to high bandwidth and high compute reach back facilities - on a variety of devices through a variety of tools and interfaces that return data in a variety of data formats. Behind the scenes, USSOCOM and partner elements store and index this data using a number of different formats, approaches and technologies. Due to this diversity of environments, data and approaches, it is currently difficult for analysts and operators to quickly and seamlessly access the data they need or discover linkages across disparate sources. Further, the burden of collecting and converting data into a common format for analysis typically falls on analysts, increasing cognitive load, wasting analysis cycles and reducing overall analytic efficiency and effectiveness. USSOCOM seeks to develop a Platform Agnostic Data Storage Infrastructure that employs innovative technical approaches to overcome these challenges and achieve cognitive overmatch with our adversaries, empowering the Hyper-Enabled Operator (HEO) by reducing the time to complete the Observe, Orient, Decide, Act (OODA) loop for data analysis. \n\n Black Cape proposes to conduct a feasibility study of innovative approaches and solutions to address USSOCOM needs described above. We believe our understanding of USSOCOM data and mission needs born from our decades of experience supporting USSOCOM, related Special Operations Command (SOC) elements, and a variety of organizations within the Department of Defense (DoD) makes us uniquely qualified to identify the right combination of technologies for this effort. In particular, we will focus on evaluating possible technologies and recommending a solution that minimizes overall operating costs while delivering capabilities that can operate effectively in a variety of environments - from the cloud to the tactical edge - and run on commodity and low size, weight, and power (SWaP) devices. We believe one of our current capabilities, Spatial-Temporal Analysis and Reasoning Database (STARbase), addresses a significant number of these needs. With this in mind, we propose to include STARbase as a candidate and evaluate it and its underlying technology components and approaches against alternative approaches, while assessing the feasibility of retrofitting and deploying STARbase to meet all of the USSOCOM needs outlined in the request for proposal.