SOLICITATION NOTICE
B -- SELECTION OF INDUSTRY SUB-SECTORS FOR DATA HARMONIZATION EFFORTS
- Notice Date
- 9/15/2003
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- Contracting Office
- Small Business Administration, Office of Administration, Office of Procurement and Grants Management, 409 Third Street, S.W., 5th Floor, Washington, DC, 20416
- ZIP Code
- 20416
- Solicitation Number
- SBAHQ-03-Q-0054
- Response Due
- 9/24/2003
- Archive Date
- 9/24/2003
- Point of Contact
- Diane Butler, Contract Specialist, Phone (202) 205-7049, Fax (202) 481-1641, - Diane Butler, Contract Specialist, Phone (202) 205-7049, Fax (202) 481-1641,
- E-Mail Address
-
diane.thompson@sba.gov, diane.thompson@sba.gov
- Description
- STATEMENT OF WORK Business Gateway / E-Forms Initiative SELECTION OF INDUSTRY SUB-SECTORS FOR DATA HARMONIZATION EFFORTS THE SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION HAS AN OPEN REQUIREMENT FOR SERVICES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE STATEMENT OF WORK. QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS REGARDING THIS REQUIREMENT WILL ACCEPTED UNTIL SEPTEMBER 22, 2003. THIS IS A SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION. Please deliver 3 copies by September 24, 2003 @ 12:00pm. NO FAX Copies or E-mails will be accepted. 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.2 Identification 1.2 Background Reducing the regulatory burden on citizens and business owners and automating internal government processes to increase value and reduce costs are key elements of both the President?s Management Agenda (PMA) and the Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA). In its report to the Congress (June 2003), the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act Task Force recommends that e-forms and harmonizing data collection and dissemination be given high priority to achieve this burden reduction. Reducing the paperwork burden is an important objective of the Business Gateway (BG) initiative (Formerly the Business Compliance One Stop.) Because forms are the primary means of data collection and input mechanism into federal databases, they also generate massive duplication and overlap in multiple databases. BG will ?unify? the situation by addressing this redundancy both at the data and the forms levels by working with industry sectors to determine the data collected and attempt to unify the information collection to collect once and use numerous times (COUNT). The initial phase of the initiative will focus on the five most regulated industries: Trucking, Mining, Food, Health Care, and Chemicals. Work has already begun on the first two industries. The purpose of this project is to select a sub-sector in each of the Food, Health Care and Chemicals industries to be the target of data harmonization during FY 2004. 1.3 Required Methodology The Food, Health Care, and Chemical industries include a number of sub-sectors as defined by the economic census (see appendix A). The trucking project has been limited to covering General and Specialized freight trucking. The same kind of scoping and definition process needs to be carried out for Food, Health Care, and Chemicals based on a number of factors (see a preliminary list in Section 3.0). The SBA project has identified possible industry sub-sectors and their paperwork burden (see attachment: The Regulatory Burden in Five Industries). The contractor shall determine a reasonable number of factors that will significantly impact the probability of success in each of the sub-sectors, determine who to interview among regulators, industry representatives, associations, vendors of industry software, states; conduct interviews and document values for each sub-sectors by the identified factors influencing project success in a report. The report shall recommend between 1 and 3 sub-sectors to target, listed in priority order, with reasons for recommendations and prioritization for each industry. Finally the contractor shall convene and facilitate a focus session/round table with those interviewed or others to elicit comments on the report and determine validity of the reports recommendations. 2.0 OBJECTIVE The objective is to select a sub-sector and/or related forms cluster for data harmonization and forms simplification and consolidation in each of three industries. Forms cluster means a group of related forms where the industry sees them as related to each other and ripe for the efforts of the project even if they do not perfectly align with a single industry sub-sector. The challenge is to find a sub-sector or forms cluster where the probabilities of successful data harmonization and forms simplification and consolidation are high. SBA believes there is a higher probability of success if: ? The industry is already engaged in efforts to build XML schemas and other data standards, ? There are willing public and private champions, ? There are already efforts to do what our project proposes, ? There are vendors providing software that use data mining and other methods to assist firms in filing Federal forms, ? There are efforts at the state level in overhauling data requirements, ? The industry sector or forms cluster to be addressed is reasonably scoped, ? There is a lot of redundancy in data requirements in industry sector or forms cluster, ? There is a strong need to act to address a problem or relieve a large paperwork burden that inhibits economic growth, and ? Flexible and innovative software/solutions vendors who can adapt their products to incorporate the harmonized data and forms created by the project in the routine processes and features of that product 3.0 SCOPE The contractor will have to quickly compile sufficient facts to permit the selection of industry sub-sectors in a manner that will ensure project success. A preliminary list of factors includes: ? Size of the sub-sector ? The volume and complexity of Federal forms within the sector ? How much redundancy exists between forms ? The value harmonization of those forms will provide ? The availability of a regulatory agency champion for changing the forms ? The availability of an industry champion for changing the forms ? Associations that can serve as champions or cooperate with the project ? Intermediates and customer agents that can cooperate with project ? Pre-existing and ongoing efforts to establish industry data models, schema, dictionaries, standards, and common practices ? Whether pre-existing industry data efforts have addressed government required data contained within the forms ? Pre-existing public and private efforts to accomplish the simplification, harmonization, and/or consolidation goals of the project and the level of success of those efforts (for example, trucking has a long history of efforts, many successful, to standardize and streamline a number of forms and regulatory processes) ? The availability of vendors who produce industry and government software solutions to champion the project and work to incorporate the data and form process into the solutions they sell to the selected industry and to government ? Current roadblocks regarding data collection and forms that need to be fixed before harmonization should be considered 4.0 TASK AND DELIVERABLE DESCRIPTION There are a number of tasks to be completed. The Business Gateway project has already developed a list of the relevant NAICS codes for potential candidates, and a report of the regulatory burden in the five selected industries. The contractor shall: 1. Improve and further define the indicators essential to the probability of success and create a matrix/table format for analysis and recommendations of each factor by sub-sector and/or forms cluster 2. Through research, document review, and contacts with regulators, industry representatives, industry associations, third party vendors of software, state agencies, and other persons or entities determined by the contractor in consultation with SBA, collect facts for each indicator 3. Talk to representatives from concerned industries to get their views on the need for harmonization and the possibilities of success and then validate the contractor?s sub-sector, forms cluster, and prioritization recommendations and analysis 4. A report containing a summary of input received, analysis of choices, recommendations as to the 1 to 3 sub-sectors and/or forms clusters in each industry to be selected, and the feedback received from the validation process Deliverables: 1.0 A list of tasks and the final list of factors (see 3.0 and 4.1.1 above) for SBA approval 2.0 A report that includes the following: 2.1 A list of persons, organizations contacted, and their views 2.2 A single appendix containing electronic copies of documents or links to the Internet location of such documents used in preparation of the report 2.3 A completed matrix of indicators by sub-sector and/or forms cluster 2.4 Recommendations in summary narrative form and within the matrix 2.5 Feedback received in validation activities 3.0 Presentation of this report to Business Gateway Program Management Office and representatives from industry verticals 5.0 EXPERTISE Essential Skills Needed: ? Excellent communication skills needed to converse with diverse individuals ? Ability to clearly document project scope using business terminology ? Ability to clearly articulate the problem at hand and ? Excellent problem solving ability ? Knowledge of industry business and data systems The vendor must be sure that the project scope is clear and complete before he or she can begin gathering information. Defining and documenting the project scope requires the vendor to understand why the project has been initiated (project statement of purpose) and the goals of the project (project objectives). An important contribution of the vendor to the project is the discipline to analyze the business problem without "jumping" to a solution. In addition, a complete project scope will name and define all of the organizations that will be involved with the project; this may include people, systems, internal departments, and outside organizations (project external interactions). Other important components of the project scope documentation include the project viewpoint, project assumptions, and business risks. These components give the vendor the information necessary to prioritize and focus their information gathering. 6.0 DELIVERY SCHEDULE The work must be completed according to the following schedule. Optional deliverables will be coordinated for delivery date if needed: Deliverable Due Date Project plan and factor list 3 working days after award 9.0 ADMINISTRATIVE CONSIDERATIONS 10.0 TRAVEL 10.1 Travel There will be no reimbursement for travel expenses incurred within the Washington, DC metropolitan area. 11.0 PERSONAL SERVICE The client has determined that use of the GSA requirements contract to satisfy this requirement is in the best interest of the government, economic and other factors considered, and this task order is not being used to procure personal services prohibited by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 37.104 titled "Personal services contract." 12.0 SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS 12.1 General All documents and deliverables described in this SOW and amendments or modifications shall be submitted in paper and electronically (MS Office Suite, final report in MS Word). 12.2 Staffing Resumes of assigned personnel must be kept on file for review as required. The resumes shall indicate which expertise requirement(s) of section 2.3 are being met by the individual(s). 12.3 Delivery Instructions All deliverables shall be delivered to the client no later than the date specified in the SOW. Deliverables are to be transmitted with a cover letter, on the prime contractor's letterhead, describing the contents. Concurrently, a copy of the cover letter and deliverable is to be furnished to the SBA Project Manager. 12.4 Inspection and Acceptance In the absence of other agreements negotiated with respect to time provided for government review, deliverables will be inspected and the contractor notified of the Government?s findings within 5 workdays after receipt of a deliverable. If the Government does not respond to the deliverable within the 5 workday periods, the deliverable shall be deemed to be acceptable. The Project Manager, Project Coordinator and the contractor will meet on a weekly basis to review performance: to inspect work for compliance with the SOW, and the contract and all modifications thereto. Reviews will normally be held at the SBA building site; however, the Project Manager at her discretion may request the review at the contractor?s location or some other site within the Washington metropolitan area. 12.5 Procedures for Payment Billing and payment shall be accomplished in accordance with the contract. The contractor shall have the invoice certified by the Project Manager. 12.6 Proposal Submission Offerors must prepare and deliver technical and cost proposals that will be evaluated in determining the ?best value? proposal. Proposals shall separately identify a schedule and cost for each task. Offerors are requested to limit proposals to 10 pages. 12.6.1 Technical Proposal Instructions Offerors are requested to submit a statement of qualifications outlining their firm?s capabilities and experience with respect to the effort described herein. Professional Staff resumes are not included in the page limitation, but are themselves limited to 2 pages. Offerors shall specifically address all of the elements listed in the following: Project Plan including deliverables and delivery schedule Past Performance/Corporate Experience including descriptions of projects similar in scope and size performed during the past two- (2) years, including references. Sufficient information should be provided to allow the Government to contact the agencies/organizations served and assess the quality of the services provided. Professional Staff including a statement of qualifications for each staff person to be assigned to the project including a description of the experience, accomplishments, abilities, and training directly relevant to this effort and a copy of their full resumes. 12.6.2 Price Proposal Instructions Fixed price proposal 13.0 TECHNICAL EVALUATION FACTORS AND EVALUATION METHODOLOGY Technical proposal will be evaluated against the following criteria: Technical Factor One (10 points): Technical Understanding of Requirements and Viability of Methods Proposed to Produce Deliverables and Comply With the Delivery Schedule Basis of Evaluation: Offers will be evaluated to determine the offeror?s demonstrated understanding of the technical requirements and suitability of the proposed approach, deliverables, and schedule to the project needs and requirements. Technical Factor Two (10 points): Past Performance/Corporate Experience Basis of Evaluation: The proposal will be evaluated to assess the corporate experience of the offeror with respect to projects similar in scope and size to the work described herein. Technical Factor Three (50 points): Professional Staff Basis of Evaluation: The resumes submitted by the offeror will be evaluated to assess the availability and qualifications of the proposed staff, their experience in similar projects, and their capability to fully and professionally accomplish the objectives stated herein. The successful contractor will maintain the level of expertise covered by the professional staff proposed with the offer for the duration of the contract. If a staff member leaves the project, his/her replacement must have the same level of experience, education, etc. Any replacement staff is subject to the review and acceptance of the Project Manager. 14.0 PRICE EVALUATION FACTORS AND EVALUATION METHODOLOGY The Government will make award to the responsible offeror whose offer conforms to the solicitation and is most advantageous to the Government, cost or price and other factors considered. For this solicitation, technical quality is more important than cost or price, as follows: WEIGHT Technical 70 pts Cost 30 pts (b) Cost points will be calculated as follows: (1) The lowest priced technically acceptable proposal receives 30 points. (2) The other proposals in the acceptable range receive points according the following ratio: Cost Formula Points for Proposal (N) = Price of Lowest Price Offeror x30 Price of Proposal (N) Example: ABC Company, Inc (Lowest price proposal) 30 pts $42,030 XYZ Company, Inc proposal price = $44,160 XYZ Company, Inc. = $42,030 Cost Formula Points = $44,160 = .952 x 30 = 28.56 pts. 15.0 ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST & NON DISCLOSURES 1. The contractor will not be eligible to compete for the prime implementation contracts 2. The contractor?s attention is directed to FAR Subpart 9.5, Organizational Conflicts of Interest. The information gained about the initiative and the business case cannot be shared with others in the contractor?s organization or industry. All information is limited to government personnel and constituents named by the government project manager. 16.0 METHOD OF AWARD Award will be based on the best value to the government, price and other factors considered
- Place of Performance
- Address: Small Business Administration, 409 3rd Street, S.W., Suite 5000, Washington, DC
- Zip Code: 20416
- Zip Code: 20416
- Record
- SN00434935-W 20030917/030915213443 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |