NIST Public Safety Innovation Accelerator Program – First Responder 3D Indoor Tracking Prize | 2020 NIST PSIAP FR3D 01

Opportunity Information: Apply for 2020 NIST PSIAP FR3D 01

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), within the U.S. Department of Commerce, is soliciting applications under the NIST Public Safety Innovation Accelerator Program (PSIAP) to select an organization to act as the Prize Administrator for the First Responder 3D Indoor Tracking (FR3D) Prize. Rather than funding a single technical solution directly, this opportunity is designed to fund the creation and operation of a prize competition that can draw in a broad field of innovators from industry and academia. The central goal is to catalyze major performance leaps in indoor localization and tracking for first responders, particularly in complex building environments where GPS is unreliable or unavailable.

The FR3D Prize competition is focused on a very specific operational problem: accurately locating and tracking first responders indoors in three dimensions, across a range of building types, without relying on any pre-deployed, dedicated infrastructure. In practical terms, this means competitors are expected to push sensor and system capabilities to work in real-world indoor settings without requiring a building to be instrumented ahead of time with special beacons or custom installed equipment. NIST positions this as a difficult, high-impact challenge for public safety, and the prize format is intended to attract solutions that can be tested head-to-head under realistic conditions.

Applicants are expected to bring strong expertise in designing and running prize competitions, and to work closely with NIST technical staff and a broader community that includes industry, academia, and public safety stakeholders. The Prize Administrator role covers the full lifecycle of the competition: developing the prize structure and rules, managing project planning and timelines, conducting outreach to recruit competitors, coordinating logistics for live testing and evaluation events, administering judging and scoring processes, ensuring integrity and transparency, and handling the operational details required to execute the competition effectively. In short, the funded work is the administration and delivery of the FR3D Prize program, not simply research and development in isolation.

The funding mechanism is a cooperative agreement, which typically indicates substantial involvement by the federal agency during the period of performance, especially on technical direction, milestones, and coordination with stakeholders. The opportunity is categorized as discretionary and falls under the Science and Technology and other Research and Development activity area, with CFDA number 11.609. The Funding Opportunity Number is 2020 NIST PSIAP FR3D 01, and the opportunity title is "NIST Public Safety Innovation Accelerator Program - First Responder 3D Indoor Tracking Prize."

Key published parameters include an award ceiling of $4,000,000. The notice also lists "ExpectedAwards: 100," which may reflect the anticipated number of prize awards or competition-related awards made through the overall prize structure rather than the number of cooperative agreements, but the core takeaway is that this program is structured to support a prize ecosystem with potentially many recipients on the competitor side while NIST funds the administrator to run the competition.

The application process is handled through Grants.gov only, with explicit language that paper applications are not accepted and late submissions will not be reviewed. The timeline provided includes a pre-application deadline of 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on December 9, 2019, and a full application deadline of 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on April 20, 2020. Eligibility is listed as "Others" with clarification referenced in the full announcement under an "Additional Information on Eligibility" section, which suggests that a range of organization types may be able to apply depending on the specific eligibility criteria detailed in the full funding notice.

Overall, this opportunity is best understood as NIST seeking an experienced prize-competition operator to build and run a high-profile challenge aimed at breakthrough indoor 3D tracking for first responders, leveraging a monetary prize purse and rigorous, real-world testing to accelerate innovation and identify high-performing approaches that could improve safety and situational awareness during indoor emergency operations.

• The Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NIST Public Safety Innovation Accelerator Program – First Responder 3D Indoor Tracking Prize" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 11.609.
• This funding opportunity was created on Oct 09, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Dec 09, 2019 Pre-Applications must be received at Grants.gov no later than 1159 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday, December 9, 2019. Full-Applications must be received at grants.gov no later than 1159 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday, April 20, 2020. Applications received after this deadline will not be reviewed or considered. Paper applications will not be accepted.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $4,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 100 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for 2020 NIST PSIAP FR3D 01

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: