SOURCES SOUGHT
D -- Request for Information/Sources Sought Notice: STAR METRICS Outreach Support Data Collection, Analysis, and Operations - Draft SOW STAR METRICS
- Notice Date
- 3/11/2013
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541519
— Other Computer Related Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, 6707 Democracy Blvd., Suite 105, Bethesda, Maryland, 20894, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20894
- Solicitation Number
- RFI_NIHLM2013701SRE
- Archive Date
- 4/9/2013
- Point of Contact
- Sheila R. Edmonds, Phone: 3014966546
- E-Mail Address
-
sheila.edmonds@nih.gov
(sheila.edmonds@nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- draft SOW This Request for Information (RFI)/Small Business Sources Sought Notice is for informational and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation or commitment by the Government. This notice is intended strictly for Market Research. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTE (RFQ). NO SOLICITATION EXISTS AT THIS TIME. This is a Request for Information (RFI)/Small Business Sources Sought Notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this RFI is to obtain knowledge and information for project planning purposes and to identify potential sources that may be interested in and capable of performing the work described, and to solicit industry feedback relative to various aspects of the proposed contract effort. The purpose of this notice is to also obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service- disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code is 541519-Other Computer Related Services with a small business size standard of $25.5 million. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Library of Medicine (NLM) is conducting a Market Survey to help determine the availability and technical capability of qualified small businesses, veteran-owned small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses and/or HUBZone small businesses capable of serving the needs identified below: Background Science and Technology for America's Reinvestment: Measuring the Effect of Research on Innovation, Competitiveness and Science (STAR METRICS), is a multi-agency venture comprising the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The goal of STAR METRICS is to build a data infrastructure that will support program evaluation, science policy analysis, and enable the development of metrics related to estimating the effects of federal funding of science and technology research. STAR METRICS will achieve this goal through collaboration between federal agencies, research institutions, the scientific community, and the public. A key to the efforts of this consortium is data collection, management and dissemination guided by policy and relevant federal regulations. Additional information about the program can be found at the following: http://www.starmetrics.nih.gov STAR METRICS is managed by the Office of Extramural Research (OER) at NIH. The STAR METRICS website is hosted by the Center for Information Technology (CIT) at NIH and information technology services are currently provided through contractors with oversight from federal staff. STAR METRICS is organized into two levels of activities. Level I relates to estimating employment resulting from research awards. Level II is in development and will concern development of a database of federal R&D awards. OER expresses an interest in STAR METRICS' streamlined yet scalable operations while achieving cost reduction as it begins to develop Level II activities. An early practical outcome of Level II will be development of a searchable database of awards with information from participating federal agencies. It will be important to design and implement this database to be interoperable with Level I as well as complementary projects and technologies such as SciENCV (http:// rbm.nih.gov/profile_project.htm) Data for STAR METRICS are collected from voluntarily participants such as universities and are also integrated from existing, but separately maintained, federal agency sources. Great importance is placed on data quality and procedures associated with collection, maintenance, and provenance of data. In addition, the assumptions underlying any calculations used to generate quantitative reports are expected to be made available to the scientific community for evaluation and suggestions for improvement. Consequently, all procedures related to data management are expected to be extensively documented, verifiable, and independently reproducible. Purpose The objective of this requirement is to acquire professional IT services for various STAR METRICS activities which will enable continued collection, archival, analysis, maintenance, and dissemination of data and results from this multi-year, longitudinal effort. The NIH/OD/OER seeks information from interested vendors on cost-effective approaches for STAR METRICS' consortium data collection, management, processing, and dissemination of approved information. Project Requirements/Tasks Services acquired will ensure: 1) Technical support to the users of STAR METRICS. 2)Maintenance of the existing repository of Level I STAR METRICS data which contains confidential information relating to employment generated by research awards by to institutions. 3)Design, development and maintenance of a Level II database of research project information as per requirements provided by the STAR METRICS Program Managers and the Interagency Working Group. This database will be populated with information provided by participating federal agencies. 4)Maintenance and enhancement of the STAR METRICS website. Anticipated Period of Performance The period of performance will be a base year plus three (3) additional 12-month option periods. SECTION 508 COMPLIANCE In accordance with FAR 39.2, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act is implemented in this order. Pursuant to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d), as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, all electronic and information technology (EIT) products and services developed, acquired, maintained, and/or used under this contract/order must comply with the "Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Provisions" set forth by the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (also referred to as the "Access Board") in 36 CFR part 1194. Information about Section 508 provisions is available at http://www.hhs.gov/od. The proposed acquisition will be procured in accordance with the policies and procedures under FAR Part 13.5. All responsible sources may submit a capability statement which will be considered by the National Library of Medicine. This Sources Sought Notice is not a Request for Quotes (RFQ), nor is an RFQ available. Information Sought/Capability Statement Respondents should specifically address the technology and research expertise they possess and the ways in which this expertise would support the mission of STAR METRICS. In addition, some organizations may have additional expertise that may be valuable to the venture, such as project management, web-based dissemination, data quality evaluations, and advisory capabilities. As noted below, these too should be precisely specified. 1) All vendors interested in responding to the RFI should address the following questions: a)How could an entity's interests and expertise in areas applicable to providing technology services to the STAR METRICS consortium be useful in a cost effective and efficiently run program? b)How can areas of scientific, statistical, computer science expertise of staff address the needs of the requirement? c)How may any missing expertise required for this effort be obtained? d)What are some suggestions for ways and means by which the information technology needs of STAR METRICS could be managed for cost-efficiency without a reduction in the quality of services? 2) Provide a capability statement demonstrating relevant experience, skills and ability to fulfill the Government's requirements for the above. Please ensure that the following are addressed: a)A description of the entity's interests and expertise in areas applicable to the project requirements and tasks of the providing information technology services to the STAR METRICS consortium. b)Demonstrated experience in managing confidential federal data and grants and awards information. c)Demonstrated experience integrating and harmonizing data from multiple administrative databases, including the disambiguation of individuals and organizations d)Demonstrated experience in designing and managing databases and 508-compliant web portals e)Demonstrated understanding of federal reporting requirements, practices, and policies f)Demonstrated knowledge of existing data sources of potential value in understanding federal R&D and the scientific workforce in the U.S. g)Demonstrated experience in statistical analysis of grants data. h)Demonstrated expertise in the use of R for analysis and visualizations. i)Demonstrated communications capabilities and community outreach capabilities among stakeholders in federal R&D programs. j)Demonstrated experience in intellectual property management, technology transfer, and business development. k)Demonstrated corporate capabilities l)Demonstrated systems engineering experience similar in scope, size and complexity to STAR METRICS. m)Prior experience, if any, with initiatives similar to STAR METRICS. A description of this experience, should include: • Contract name • Contracting Agency or Department • Yearly contract value (in $) • Period of performance • Description of work and how it relates to STAR METRICS goals and requirements Your capability statement should include a list of up to three (3) customers (Government/non-Government) within the past 5-years highlighting similar work in nature, scope, complexity, and difficulty and a brief description of the scope of work. The capability statement should contain enough sufficient detail for the Government to make an informed decision regarding an entity's capacity and potential. The statement should not exceed twenty (20) pages. 3) The capability statement should include references, key personnel, and any teaming arrangements needed to fulfill the requirements. It must identify the responder's small business type and size; DUNS number; NAICS code; and technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses. 4) All RFI/capability statements must be submitted electronically no later than 1:00 PM EST on Monday, March 25, 2013 to Sheila Edmonds at sheila.edmonds@nih.gov. Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Information provided will be used to assess tradeoffs and alternatives available for the potential requirement and may lead to the development of a solicitation. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).
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