SOLICITATION NOTICE
76 -- SUBSCRIPTION FOR WIDE RANGE OF ECONOMIC DATA FOR THE UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES
- Notice Date
- 8/12/2003
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Acquisition and Grants Office, SSMC4 - Room 7601/OFA61 1305 East West Highway, 7th Floor, Silver Spring, MD, 20910
- ZIP Code
- 20910
- Solicitation Number
- Reference-Number-DG1350-03-RQ-0098GJH)
- Response Due
- 8/26/2003
- Archive Date
- 9/10/2003
- Point of Contact
- G. Jean Hairston, Purchasing Agent, Phone 301-713-0838 x133, Fax 301-713-0808, - Diane Husereau, Contracting Officer, Phone 301-713-0839 x102, Fax (301) 713-0809,
- E-Mail Address
-
jean.hairston@noaa.gov, diane.c.husereau@noaa.gov
- Description
- 76 - SUBSCRIPTION FOR WIDE RANGE OF ECONOMIC DATA FOR THE UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES - The U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA) invites your company to quote on the following: The Department of Commerce (DOC) requires 1) access to computer-based data (Data Access) and 2) model-based economic projections (Forecasting and Analysis) to carry out the Department's program. Summary DATA ACCESS: The Department's interest is in a wide range of economic data for the United States and foreign countries that is documented, current, on-line, and easy to use. Moreover, the Department's interest is in the availability of that data in machine-readable form for off-line use on other computer systems, including personal computers. Additionally, the Department has a general interest in having rapid access to a wide variety of data that is beyond the specific requirements listed below. It is expected that the offeror will provide a complete listing of all the available data that could be accessed should the need arise. The offeror must provide the capability to access all data without having to access multiple programs or execute special program interfaces. The offeror should alert the user when the latter inadvertently attempts to access data not specified in the contract. Downloads of data should automatically result in a Lotus or Excel spreadsheet. The Department's staff that will access the data are principally economic analysts and not computer professionals. The software that the offeror provides for data access and data manipulation must be flexible, easy to use, and time series oriented. The software must not require knowledge of file access techniques or internal data storage formats. The Department will require the offeror to provide complete documentation for all data series. The Department would prefer documentation in hard copy form listing how stored (e.g. database name, series mnemonic, etc.), source, frequency, period covered, any breaks in the series definition (i.e., consistency), and update schedule. The Department would prefer that the data documentation include alphabetical listings of the offeror's mnemonic system as well as alphabetical listings of the original data sources' (e.g., Bureau of Economic Analysis or Federal Reserve System) variable name. If the latter is not provided, the offeror must provide a reasonable description of how an analyst who knows the original source variable name is able to find the variable in the offeror's data banks. The Department requires that all documentation on data series be available on-line, and that on-line help facilities are also available. The Department prefers that information on scheduled and actual series updates be maintained on-line. The Department requires that actual update information be available with each series and also available in a "data notes" file that users are able to consult to determine whether major data components for a particular source have been updated (e.g., the preliminary national accounts series for a recent quarter from BEA). FORECASTING AND ANALYSIS: In addition, the Department requires a model-based set of economic projections covering a wide variety of data about the U.S. economy. The Department's interest is in the structure of the econometric models supporting the forecasts, the quality of analysis used in interpreting the models, and in the quality of the written analyses. This includes the availability of data series required by the model, the transparency and "explainability" of the model assumptions and structure, and in software that is easily used by economic analysts to conduct data analysis, econometric estimation, and model building. It is possible for one offeror to meet the requirements of one of these areas, while another offeror meets the requirements of the other. Detailed Requirements for Data Access UNITED STATES DATA The offeror should provide publicly available U.S. data for a broad range of economic, financial, and demographic series including: National income accounts, industrial production, business sales and inventories, employment and unemployment, labor compensation and wages, consumer and producer prices, export and import prices, energy, international transactions, market exchange rates, interest rates, flow of funds, population, and housing. Data should include available detail and time series as published under the current definitions of the series. Sources for these data should include the principal U.S. federal statistical agencies such as: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Bureau of Economic Analysis Bureau of the Census U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment and Training Administration U.S. Department of Energy Energy Information Administration U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service U.S. Department of Treasury International Revenue Service U.S. Federal Housing Finance Board Sources should also include private-sector organizations including: The Conference Board University of Michigan National Association of Realtors Mortgage Bankers of American Ward's Automotive News Standard & Poor's Corporation Institute of Supply Management Moody's Investor Service INTERNATIONAL DATA The offeror should provide publicly available international data for a range of economic, financial, and demographic series including: national income accounts, industrial production, employment and unemployment, consumer and producer prices, international transactions, market exchange rates and other financial data, and population. Data should include available detail and time series as published under the current definitions of the series. Sources for these data should include the national statistical agencies of at least the following countries and regions: Canada, Mexico Japan, China, Australia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom European Union and Euro Zone Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Columbia, Chile Sources for these data should also include data sets compiled by international organizations including at least: International Monetary Fund International Financial Statistics Direction of Trade Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Main Economic Indicators World Bank World Development Indicators World Trade Organization International Trade Statistics Detailed Requirements for Forecasting and Analysis The Department requires printed forecasts and analyses of current conditions in the U.S. economy. The Department expects all forecasts to be based on similar assumptions of policy behavior and to be mutually consistent. The Department expects that the forecasts will be based on a well-structured model. Elements required of the service are outlined below. a. The model should be capable of forecasting (at a minimum) the major components of the national income and product accounts in considerable detail, such as consumption expenditures, private domestic investment, the international trade sector, and the government sector. b. Forecasts of wages and prices and a financial sector that are fully integrated with the other sectors of the model. c. Forecasts of national economic activity over the short run (2 years) and over the long run (10 years). d. A well-developed industrial sector that provides forecasts of industry sector output, employment, and prices. e. Monthly reviews that contain a discussion of the projections and their justification as well as an analysis of current economic conditions, including all policy assumptions and exogenous variables used in the model. f. Full documentation for the model should be available if requested, including variable definitions and sources, historical observations for variables in the model, equation specifications, estimation results, known simulation properties, results from any validation testing that has been performed, all simulation levers used to control model performance, and add factors used to improve or alter model results. g. The model must be promptly re-estimated following the release of data revisions affecting estimation period variables incorporated in the model. h. Consulting support from economists or industry specialists and from econometricians familiar with the model must be provided GENERAL SYSTEMS SUPPORT REQUIREMENTS The Department must make maximum use of existing equipment to access the offeror's system. Any requirements for hardware and software not now owned by the Department would be an unnecessary, expensive burden. Communications. The offeror is expected to support accessing data through TCP/IP. System Response. The offeror must guarantee operation of the main system for 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Personal Computer Issues. The use of personal computers by component units within the Department varies considerably. For some units, the availability of software of the offeror's computer system that supports data downloading will be of primary interest. Virtually all component organizations own IBM PC or compatible machines. The software should run in Windows versions (98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP). As noted previously, any download software should support a variety of file formats to permit the Department staff to input the data into several different software packages. Offeror's direct support of the file structure employed by a variety of packages would be welcome, but to preserve flexibility, offeror should support standard PC ASCII, delimited ASCII, DIF, WK1 and XLS formats. Account Billing Information. To avoid delays in tracking expenditures, the Department requires that each component organization be provided copies of their respective bills. These copies should be provided in a timely manner. These copies are in addition to those copies offeror will submit with invoices for payment. INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS MUST REQUEST IN WRITING TO OBTAIN A COPY OF THE REQUEST FOR QUOTATION AND STATEMENT OF WORK BY AUGUST 26, 2003. For additional information and instructions, please contact: JEAN HAIRSTON, NOAA, US FAX: 301/713-0808, JEAN.HAIRSTON@NOAA.GOV. PLEASE REFERENCE DG1350-03-RQ-0098(GJH).
- Web Link
-
Link to FedBizOpps document.
(http://www.eps.gov/spg/DOC/NOAA/AGAMD/Reference-Number-DG1350-03-RQ-0098GJH)/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: U.S. Department of Commerce/ESA 1401 Constitution Ave., N.W., Room 4861 Washington, DC 20230
- Zip Code: 20230
- Country: US
- Zip Code: 20230
- Record
- SN00399147-F 20030814/030812222809 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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