SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- Accounting Translation Services
- Notice Date
- 10/30/2004
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 561990
— All Other Support Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Army, Project and Contracting Office, Project and Contracting Office, Iraq, Republican Presidential Compound APO, Baghdad, Iraq, AE, 09316
- ZIP Code
- 09316
- Solicitation Number
- Reference-Number-W914NS-05-RFI
- Response Due
- 11/15/2004
- Archive Date
- 11/30/2004
- Description
- Request for Information: Seeking Providers for English to Arabic Translation Services of Accounting & Technical Books, including related legal services, Arabic language book printing in Iraq, marketing, distribution (in Iraq), project management and online publishing collaboration services. Location of requester: US Embassy, Baghdad, Iraq Location of service provider: Any location - contact can be by email and Fedex. (Except printers, distributors and marketers should be based in Iraq). Date: October 25, 2004 Point of Contact: Rebecca M. Schaffer, Contracting Officer Rebecca.schaffer@cpa-iq.org and Vance Jochim, Internal Audit Consultant for the Iraq Commission on Public Integrity (CPI) jochimvl@state.gov or vjochim@webworks66.com Overview The US Embassy Consultant on Internal Audit for the new Iraq Commission on Public Integrity (CPI) in Baghdad, Iraq, is seeking to find names of sub-contractor or primary contractor service firms that have capabilities to provide written English to Arabic translation services related to professional reference works in the fields of internal auditing, information systems auditing, performance and operational auditing, government auditing, fraud investigation, time management, supervision, management, etc. CPI is a new Iraqi Government anti-corruption agency established by the Coalition Provisional Authority. There are not many well regarded, current textbooks on the above technical subjects that have been translated to Arabic. The translated publications would improve Iraq's accounting controls and internal auditing skills to help prevent corruption in the government and commercial sectors. The firms chosen for these projects may be referred to other similar translation projects initiated by other US Government advisors once they have completed a project in a timely and quality manner. Even if the vendor can only provide evidence of experience for one of the objectives below, we would like to know about them as possible sub-contractors for that category of service. We will either act as the primary contractor, or assign a primary contractor while recommending sub-contractors. 1. Project Management and Final Editing for Arabic Context We are seeking to know about translation project managers who can provide arabic editing guidance for each translation project. After the initial translation from English to Arabic described in section 2 below (which could be by another provider), they would use experienced Arabic language accounting professors and editors (preferably having authored or edited similar publications) to modify the wording, sections, examples, etc. to fit the Arabic world. The result would be a book containing all the relevant technical information from the original English language book, but modified to fit the arabic world and context. This service might be provided by the same firms that qualify for section 2 below, or be a different firm. We expect the translation to be provided using a commonly used online publishing collaboration software (see section 6 below) where electronic files can be shared, viewed and edited via the internet. The use of publication review committees (with quick response times) is encouraged. It is the intention of CPI to provide quality translated works that will be considered to be a master reference on the topic in the Arabic World. Most of our translation projects are not affected by varying accounting standards in different countries unless we add projects for financial accounting and reporting which may depend upon region based standards. 2. Translate key reference textbooks from English to Arabic. The publications to be translated are U.S. based technical books in the field of internal auditing, information systems auditing, fraud detection and prevention, time management and similar technical subjects. We intend to obtain legal rights to create translated versions and arrange legal agreements where we retain rights to publish in Iraq but the publisher has rights to use the new Arabic version in any other Arabic speaking country. The same version of Arabic is used for all written works, unlike spoken Arabic which varies by country or region. Preference would be for firms that have experienced Arabic speaking accountants or internal auditors who understand the technology and terms in the field. We have found that translation quality is unacceptable without participation of accountants who speak both English and Arabic. After the initial translation, we expect the publications to go through an edit process described in section 1 above. 3. Legal Services We are seeking a firm that can provide legal services regarding publishing rights, intellectual property rights or licensing in order to facilitate a legal method to make translated versions of selected publications and market and distribute them in Iraq. It is our understanding that there are no current copyright regulations in IRAQ that are recognized by other countries, which is one of the issues. Experience in US and Middle East copyright issues is desired. In the long run, we may be able to act as a catalyst to encourage copyright regulations in late 2005 after the new Iraqi government is elected. In the short run, we wish to get approved translated works out to the Iraqi education system and professionals in the first quarter of 2005. 4. Printing of Completed Books. We seek information on printers with the ability to print the above books, preferably using an experienced printer in Iraq, for a first run to get the information out. 5. Marketing, Stocking, Sales and Distribution of Books in Iraq We seek to know about firms with the ability to market, stock, distribute and sell the books through normal college and professional education outlets such as Arabic professional associations, suppliers to universities, professional bookshops, etc. We prefer to learn about firms with existing marketing and distribution channels for similar professional publications. Alternative marketing sources such as websites should already exist for other publications and have capability to take purchases in Iraqi Dinar (via credit card or mailed check or money order) and possibly other currencies. It is expected that many initial copies will be given away so a distribution fulfillment center would be needed to do that on a unit charge basis. 6. Publication Collaboration Service Provider We seek a firm or online service provider or software product to allow publishing workflow and collaboration between authors, editors and reviewers. The service or product must provide Arabic language capability to share, view and edit the text and illustrations, and then be used by the Arabic printer for publication in standard Arabic book formats (i.e. reading from right to left). (The consultant has experience with Lotus Notes workflow software, but more dedicated publishing products or online collaboration services might be available.) We would rather work with an online hosting provider than establish our own server setup for a product. 7. Consolidated Services Project Managers We seek to learn about project management firms who have the capability to manage individual translation projects for all the above tasks on a consolidated basis. Initially, this would be on a project by project basis, then possibly expanded based upon our experience with the vendor. The ability to quickly provide a quality translated project that is well regarded in the Arabic community at a reasonable price is paramount. We envision time from assignment of a publication to time of publishing would be 2-4 months. Fast track methods, such as parallel processing of chapter translations would be encouraged. Requested Information: 1. For one or more of the above capabilities, provide details about your experience in doing similar projects and the background of the people doing the work. 2. Provide website links or other information providing details on your methodology or prior related projects & customers. Experience and references (with contact information) from the US Government would be preferable. 3. Provide details about how you will be able to learn and use any internet based collaboration software we select for our projects. This means you either should be a power user capable of learning and using sophisticated workflow software or have a specialist who can help you learn it. We prefer only firms that already have verifiable experience completing the above types of projects. Once we find several qualified firms, we will issue a statement of work with the specific projects for proposals for competitive bidding, or we may directly hire firms for smaller projects. When providing background information, we don't care about how big your firm is in another service area?focus on the skills and background of the staff assigned to the specific tasks above. Please do not provide reams of "qualifications" that have nothing to do with this request.
- Place of Performance
- Address: Baghdad
- Country: USA
- Country: USA
- Record
- SN00701499-W 20041101/041030211524 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
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