SOURCES SOUGHT
A -- Biological Threat Assessment Program (BTRA)
- Notice Date
- 7/1/2014
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541712
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, Washington, District of Columbia, 20528, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20528
- Solicitation Number
- RFI-14-STBTRA
- Archive Date
- 7/16/2014
- Point of Contact
- Shayani Mukherjee, , Michael E. Jones,
- E-Mail Address
-
shayani.mukherjee@hq.dhs.gov, michael.jones@hq.dhs.gov
(shayani.mukherjee@hq.dhs.gov, michael.jones@hq.dhs.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- 1. Response Due Date: July 15, 2014 12 pm Eastern Time Information and data obtained from this RFI will be used by DHS S&T to develop requirements and criteria and to make recommendations and decisions on the development of an appropriate planning and procurement strategy that may be included in future solicitations for proposals. This is a Request for Information (RFI) as identified in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.201 (c) (7). This is not a Request for Proposal (RFP) nor a Request for Quotation (RFQ). A solicitation is not being contemplated at this time, and this notice shall not be construed as a commitment by DHS S&T to issue a solicitation, nor does it restrict DHS S&T to a particular acquisition approach. Any information submitted by respondents to this RFI is strictly voluntary. 2. Background The Homeland Security Act of 2002 states that DHS S&T will "support basic and applied homeland security research to promote revolutionary changes in technologies; advance the development, testing and evaluation, and deployment of critical homeland security technologies; and accelerate the prototyping and deployment of technologies that would address homeland security vulnerabilities." Pursuant to this mission, the Chemical and Biological Defense Division (CBD) seeks technologies to prevent and defend against a chemical and biological attack. The potential for infectious diseases and biologically derived materials to be used by adversaries against the United States to great effect remains a concern for the country. One of the missions for the Department of Homeland Security's Biological Threat Characterization Program (BTCP) is to understand the potential threat posed by biological materials so that preparedness and response efforts can be appropriately prioritized to best protect the nation. To do this, the BTCP conducts experimental research to characterize and assess biological materials of concern. The number of biological materials that could pose a threat is numerous and resources are limited making it necessary to prioritize research efforts to address the most concerning problems first. Provided in this proposal is an approach to prioritize research efforts in a manner that leverages risk information from the Bioterrorism Risk Assessment (BTRA) program conducted by the Science & Technology Directorate in DHS. 3. Objective This project leverages previous gap analysis efforts performed in the Biological Threat Risk Assessment (BTRA) program where high priority knowledge gaps were identified as those parameters where the supporting research was deemed to be lacking (i.e., low confidence) and the impact of the parameter was deemed high based upon model sensitivity analysis. It is desired to fully develop the method to include data quality criteria designed to support the BTCP mission, expand the number of agents assessed, and refine the calculation to support measurement of BTCP progress over the long term. To support the objectives of the BTCP, this project will develop objective data quality criteria that can be vetted by the BTCP with interagency partners, perform sensitivity studies using the BTRA models to assess parameter importance in estimating consequence, and develop a visualization tool, the BTCP Research Prioritization Measure (RPM) Calculator that allows the BTCP to assess research priorities and understand the underlying information that supports the prioritization. Ultimately, the methodology and tool can be used by the BTCP to track progress on agent research and serve as a rational way to determine research investments may be better directed towards less-studied and emerging threats rather than biological agents of more traditional concern. 4. Requested Information Interested parties are requested to submit a Statement of Capability outlining past work that is related to the objective of the requirement as stated above. The Statement of Capability shall address all of the following points listed below: • Bio-Terrorism Risk Modeling  Hardware (classified high performance computer and servers) necessary to run complex multivariate probabilistic risk assessments and Monte Carlo simulations supporting biodefense decisions.  Expertise in providing expert evaluation of biological agent open and classified R&D literature to evaluate biodefense knowledge gaps.  Information or access to databases containing information on the US biological research and development efforts of the 1950s-1970s for the purposes of evaluating that information to inform the current prioritization of biological agent R&D. • Experience in Biodefense Research  Companies/organizations that have supported other government agencies through bio-defense research and development activities. Such work includes production, processing and dissemination of biological agents up to risk group 3. If previous experience is being claimed, those companies/organizations are required to provide, in their response to this Request for Information, a brief description of the type of work that it had performed and identify a United States Government Point of Contact (name, telephone, and email address) for reference purposes.  Experience with animal model development with up to risk group three pathogens.  Companies/organizations that have highly controlled and validated collection methods for quantifying various types of bioaerosols (virus, bacteria, toxin, rickettsia).  Companies/organizations that have experience characterizing aerosols generated through a variety of small and medium scale devices. • Security and Suitability  Companies/organizations that have the ability to produce, handle, store and transmit classified information. Companies are required to identify if they have DHS Suitability clearances and identify what types of security clearances, validity of those clearances that they hold and identification of what Federal agency/organization granted them clearance. 5. Response Submission Guidelines The Government points of contact for this requirement are Mr. Michael Jones, Contracting Officer and Ms. Shayani Mukherjee, Contract Specialist. Interested parties capable of providing this information should submit a Statement of Capability containing the above referenced information via e-mail to michael.jones@hq.dhs.gov and shayani.mukherjee@hq.dhs.gov. Each submission should be virus-scanned prior to being sent. Electronic submission is required. Responses shall be received no later than July 15, 2014 12 pm Eastern Time. The page limit for all responses is not to exceed eleven (11) single-sided, single spaced 12 font size, 8 ½ x 11-inch pages, including a 1-page executive summary. Any information provided by industry to the Government as a result of this RFI is strictly voluntary. Responses will not be returned. No entitlements to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges to the Government will arise as a result of contractor submission of responses, or the Government's use of such information. The information obtained from industries responses to this RFI may be used in the development of an acquisition strategy and future RFP. Respondents should include the following information: 1. Organization name, mailing address, e-mail address, telephone and FAX numbers, website address (if available), and the name, telephone number, and e-mail address of a point of contact having the authority and knowledge to clarify responses with Government representatives. 2. Name, title, telephone number, and e- mail addresses of individuals who can verify the demonstrated capabilities identified in the responses. 3. If private company: Business size for NAICS Codes size 541711 (standard 500 employees) and status, if qualified as an 8 (a) firm (must be certified by SBA), Small Disadvantaged Business (must be certified by SBA), Woman-Owned Small Business, HUBZone firm (must be certified by SBA), and/or Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (must be listed in the VetBiz Vendor Information Pages). 4. DUNS number, CAGE Code, Tax Identification Number, and company structure (Corporation, LLC, partnership, joint venture, etc.). Companies also must be registered in the System Award Management (SAM at www.sam.gov ) to be considered as potential sources. 5. Summary of past performance identifying similar work done with other Federal Agencies. The Statement of Capability shall be UNCLASSIFIED. NOTE: E-mail submissions are subject to size and type restrictions (typically limited to less than 2 megabytes in size and only non-executable attachments such as.doc or.pdf files) as well as any other appropriate network security measures. It is the respondent's responsibility to verify the e-mail was received and can be viewed. All responses must address each of the above sections.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DHS/OCPO/DHS-OCPO/RFI-14-STBTRA/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: TBD, United States
- Record
- SN03412137-W 20140703/140702003121-138369c18d7c9c8e95766eb035218e64 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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