Peace Corps, Office of Contracts, Rm. 1420E, 1111 2O th St. N.W., Washington, DC 20526

70 -- DEVELOPMENT OF AN ELECTRONIC APPLICATION SYSTEM SOL PCORPS-99-Q-1039 DUE 090999 POC Meg Russell, Contracting Officer, (202) 692-1625 E-MAIL: Click here to contact the Contracting Officer., mrussell@peacecorps.gov. The following amendment is a modification to the combined synopsis/solicitation for the development of an Electronic Application for the Peace Corps PCORPS-99-Q-1039. The following questions have been asked and shall be answered in this amendment. Q 1) Will the Peace Corps or the contractor be responsible for paying for the ISP services needed for server hosting for the web-site (mandatory item #4)? If the responsibility rests with the contractor, for what term will hosting be required for evaluation purposes (as the ISP costs will need to be factored into the proposal costs)? Q 2) How many people will be using the system and how many of these will be on LANs; how many on standalone or mobile computers? A. The Peace Corps receives about 10,000 applications a year. It is difficult to say how many of those will use the Web application when it is available -- perhaps 20% in the first year? All of the users will be members of the general public, so none of them will be on a LAN and there is no way of knowing what kind of computers they'll be using. In terms of how the Peace Corps staff access the application data, it depends on the system design. It is reasonable to expect that Peace Corps staff would need to access the information over a LAN or using a secure Internet connection, rather than on their desktops. Q 3) Where will training be held; will there be multiple sites? Can the training be delivered through net-meeting or other internet-based "live" training or do you want live, on-site training in multiple regions? If you want live training, do you have training facilities, or should we provide them? A. The Peace Corps does have an on-site training facility at headquarters. On-site training is not required unless the Offeror thinks it is essential for educating system users. Other training alternatives, such as technical documentation or online training, are options. Q 4) Would we host the server, or would we set up the web site on a server that the Peace Corps is hosting? A. The Peace Corps will nothost the system. Several of the mandatory elements address the requirements for the Offeror's hosting of the system. Q 5) How many applicants would be stored in the database? A. There will be anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000 (20% to 100% of total applicants) each year. Presumably there may be partial applicants, i.e. those who do not complete the entire application. There is no data on how many people begin but never finish their applications. The Peace Corps does provide about 100,000 applications per year. Q 6) Are there other documents associated with an applicant (scanned transcripts, medical records, etc.)? A. Yes, please refer to the mandatory elements. Q 7) Could we get more detail regarding the business processes involved? How are applicants processed? A. Currently, the application information on paper is shared among several disparate offices by mailing. Some is entered into a database and shared over the network. This system is somewhat inefficient and may well change over time. For that reason, the requirements focused on the end user, and their ease of use in transmitting the data to us, rather than on our internal processes. Q 8) Should we combine the database with leads from other sources? A. The database for on-line applications is distinct from an Inquiry Management System, which is one of the optional elements. The Inquiry Management System would include leads from all sources, some input by Web users and some input by internal users as the result of a phone call, response card, etc. If there's a way for the Offerer to provide both systems and make them work together in a complementary way, this should be included in the proposal as part of the optional elements. Q 9) Should we also allow electronic forms from non-web sources (for example, you might mail a diskette that could be returned with the completed information for those without web access)? A. This could be an optional element, but it's not a mandatory element. Q 10) What kind of reporting would you want from the system? A. Offerors may have a number of optional offerings. Any required elements are mentioned already in the synopsis/solicitation. Q 11) Is there a sample of the primary application document available? A. Yes, it's at http://www.peacecorps.gov/volunteer/apply/download.html. Q 12) What are the citizenship requirements of the developers for PCORPS-99-Q-1039? A. Please reference Federal Acquisition Regulation clause 52. 212-3 Offeror's Representations and Certifications -- Commercial Items. This section can be accessed on-line at http://www.arnet.gov/farloadmain52.html. Q 13) Can this proposal be e-mailed to you? If so, should a paper copy be mailed as well? A. Yes, a proposal can be emailed, mailed or both. The following clauses DO NOT apply to this acquisition: FAR 52.225-9 BUY AMERICA ACT-TRADE AGREEMENTS ACT-BALANCE OF PAYMENTS PROGRAMS; FAR 52.225-21 BUY AMERICA ACT-NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT IMPLEMENTATION ACT-BALANCE OF PAYMENTS PROGRAM. The due date for the submission of proposals for this synopsis/solicitation remains to be September 09, 1999, 11:00 a.m. eastern standard time. Posted 08/27/99 (W-SN373493). (0239)

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