SPECIAL NOTICE
D -- 2020 Census Questionnaire Assistance (2020 CQA)
- Notice Date
- 11/6/2015
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 519190
— All Other Information Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, U. S. Census Bureau, Suitland, Acquisition Division, Room 3J438, Washington, District of Columbia, 20233
- ZIP Code
- 20233
- Solicitation Number
- YA1323-16-MS-0001
- Point of Contact
- Donna Cornish, Phone: 3017634514
- E-Mail Address
-
donna.cornish@census.gov
(donna.cornish@census.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- The U.S. Census Bureau plans to acquire the services of a Prime Contractor that can manage the design, development, integration, testing, deployment, and operation of geographically dispersed, and possibly intricate subsystems, processes, and staff, into a cohesive and secure customer service solution for the 2020 Decennial Census Questionnaire Assistance (CQA) program. The 2020 Census will gather information from approximately 150 million US households. The 2020 Census operational model calls for a web-first approach, requesting respondents to use a Census Web interface as the preferred means of completing the 2020 Census Questionnaire. The 2020 CQA operations will provide multi-channel assistance to respondents completing the web-based 2020 Census Questionnaire or who have questions about the 2020 Census process itself, as well as have the ability to collect respondent questionnaire data over the phone. 2020 CQA will deliver human and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) phone assistance to callers as well as utilize email and Web chat channels. Outbound operations will provide support associated with maintaining and improving quality, such as verifying or completing respondent information. The Government plans to execute the 2020 CQA program through a series of phases, including two major exercises leading to the 2020 Census: Phase 1A: The 2017 Census Test will test selective elements of the 2020 Census systems along with the integration between the contractor's systems and those of the Census Bureau. The Government will work with the contractor to evaluate the 2017 Census Test and to incorporate lessons learned into the 2018 End-to-End Test Plan. The 2017 Test will run from approximately mid-March 2017 through mid-July 2017. Phase 1B: The 2018 End-to-End Test will test operational systems and their associated procedures to ensure that they are ready to support 2020 operations. The 2018 End-to-End Test will run from approximately late January 2018 through mid-July 2018 Phase 2: The 2020 Census. April 1, 2020 is 2020 Census Day. Operations will run from approximately late January 2020 and end in early September. Phase 3: Lessons Learned/Closeout. The Government and the Contractor will take part in the 2017 Census Test and 2018 End-to-End Test jointly using realistic scenarios and selected geographical areas of the US. The contractor will support all phases of the 2020 CQA lifecycle including the planning and testing that leads to the 2020 CQA and Outbound Operations, the 2020 Census execution, and a limited period of post-production activities. The acquisition strategy will utilize the advisory multi-step process (hereafter called "voluntary down select") as described in FAR 15.202. "Step One" is the release of a Draft Request for Proposal/Pre-Solicitation Notice that will generally describe the scope and purpose of the 2020 CQA acquisition. The Draft Request for Proposal/Pre-Solicitation Notice is scheduled for release by about mid November 2015 and will contain sufficient information to permit potential offerors to make an informed decision about whether to participate in this acquisition (i.e., they possess demonstrated past experience as a prime successfully managing programs of similar size, scope, and complexity). The notice will request information on similar experience and prime contractor points of contact (POCs) for that experience. For evaluation purposes, POCs will be contacted to evaluate "how well" prime contractors performed work, and similar experience summaries will reflect "whether" prime contractors have performed work similar in scope and magnitude to the 2020 CQA requirements. In the "Step One" process, offerors will be evaluated on a "GO/NO GO" basis. The Census Bureau will evaluate only the Prime Contractor's performance and experience. Performance and experience submitted by any subcontractors or teaming partners will not be evaluated as part of the advisory down select process. The Government will only consider the performance and experience of the prime contractor. Offerors that are evaluated as "NO GO" will receive in writing the general basis for the Census Bureau's finding that it is unlikely the offeror is a viable competitor. In accordance with FAR 15.202(b), the offeror will also be advised, "Notwithstanding the advice provided by the Government in response to their submissions, they may participate in the resultant acquisition." After the voluntary down-select process, the Census Bureau will publish on their website the names of the Prime Contractors invited to proceed to step two. Small businesses are encouraged to contact these companies for subcontracting opportunities. "Step Two" of the evaluation process involves the release of the formal RFP in January 2016 to offerors invited to participate in the acquisition and all others who choose to submit a proposal in spite of the Government's finding that it is unlikely that the offeror is a viable competitor. Based upon the evaluations of each proposal against all evaluation criteria, the Contracting Officer shall establish a competitive range comprised of all the most highly rated proposals, unless the range is further reduced for purposes of efficiency pursuant to FAR 15.306(c)(2). All offerors that are within the competitive range will enter discussions/technical interchange with the government. During the technical interchange, offerors will provide a technical demonstration, at their own expense, of a contact center solution for a representative scenario. The expectations for the demonstration will be released in the draft and final Request for Proposal. During the technical interchange period, the Census Bureau will also hold discussions with the offerors followed by the request for final proposal revisions for evaluation. Contract award is scheduled for June 2016. The CQA Contract Management Office will conduct a pre-proposal conference at the Census Bureau Headquarters in January 2016. This conference will discuss the aforementioned contractual requirements in the context of the 2020 CQA technical and management requirements, as well as a discussion of the acquisition strategy. As soon as details become available regarding the pre-proposal conference, the Census Bureau will post the information on its website at www.census.gov.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOC/CB/13040001/YA1323-16-MS-0001/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Locations within the Continental US (including Alaska and Hawaii), United States
- Record
- SN03940759-W 20151108/151106234257-826ec474b1418fe851e01b5136610520 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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