MODIFICATION
B -- Enhancing Public Response and Community Resilience (Public Needss) Project
- Notice Date
- 9/18/2007
- Notice Type
- Modification
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, Office of Procurement Operations, Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, Washington, DC, 20528, UNITED STATES
- ZIP Code
- 20528
- Solicitation Number
- HSHQDC-07-Q-00329
- Response Due
- 9/17/2007
- Archive Date
- 10/2/2007
- Point of Contact
- Elizabeth Clark, Contract Specialist, Phone 202-254-5635, Fax 202-254-6739,
- E-Mail Address
-
elizabeth.clark@dhs.gov
- Description
- The purpose of this solicitation amendment is to: 1. Change the contract type from Firm Fixed Price (FFP) to Time and Materials (T&M). Accordingly, this amendment replaces the FFP Pricing Worksheet (Attachment 3) with the revised T&M Pricing Worksheet (Attachment 4), modifies the CLIN structure of RFQ Section (v) to accommodate T&M, and inserts the appropriate T&M clauses in Section (xii). 2. Revise RFQ section (xvi) to change the e-mail address for quote submission to publicneedsrfq@dhs.gov. 3. Revise RFQ section (xiii). 4. Answer the questions submitted to DHS in writing before the question deadline of 12:00 PM EST 9/11/2007. 1. The contract type is hereby changed from FFP to T&M. Offerors shall submit pricing based on the labor categories and estimated number of hours provided in the revised Pricing Worksheet (Attachment 4). Section (v) is revised to the following: The following contract line items (CLINs) apply to this acquisition: CLIN 0001 - Base Year Labor, 1 HR; CLIN 0002 - Base Year Materials, 1 LS; CLIN 0003 - Base Year Travel and Other Direct Costs. Travel and Other Direct Costs is a not-to-exceed cost reimbursable line item. Travel is subject to the limitations of Federal Travel Regulations (FTR), 1 LS; CLIN 1001 - Option Year 1 Labor, 1 HR; CLIN 1002 - Option Year 1 Materials, 1 LS; CLIN 1003 - Option Year 1 Travel and Other Direct Costs; CLIN 2001 - Option Year 2 Labor, 1 HR; CLIN 2002 - Option Year 2 Materials, 1 LS; CLIN 2003 - Option Year 2 Travel and Other Direct Costs, 1 LS. Section (xii) is revised to remove the following clauses from the combined synopsis/solicitation: 52.232-1 Payments, 52.246-4 Inspection of Services - Fixed Price, and 52.249-2 Termination for Convenience of the Government (Fixed-Price) and add the following clauses to the combined synopsis/solicitation: 52.232-7 Payments under Time-and-Materials and Labor-Hour Contracts, 52.246-6 Inspection Time-and-Material and Labor-Hour, and 52.249-6 Termination (Cost-Reimbursement) Alt IV. 2. RFQ section (xvi) is changed from Offers shall be submitted electronically by e-mail to Elizabeth Clark at elizabeth.clark@dhs.gov no later than 12:00 pm EST 9/25/2007 to offers shall be submitted electronically by e-mail to Elizabeth Clark at publicneedsrfq@dhs.gov no later than 12:00 pm EST 9/25/2007. 3. RFQ Section (xiii) is changed to the following: (a) This Contract has been awarded in expectation that the Government will receive the Data, i.e., Records of Calls to Texas 2-1-1 Information and Referral System Call Centers, from August 1, 2005 through December 31, 2005, upon which the Contractor will base its work under this Contract. The Contracting Officer will provide the instructions for obtaining the Data from the State of Texas to the Contractor upon its becoming available to the Government. (b) The Contractor shall not proceed with performance under this contract until the Contracting Officer provides the Contractor with a written Notice to Proceed and provides the instructions for obtaining the Data from the State of Texas. (c) Should the Contracting Officer not provide the Contractor with the written Notice to Proceed within three (3) months from the date of contract award, the Contracting Officer shall terminate this Contract for the convenience of the Government. (d) The Contractor and the Government hereby make an Advance Agreement that, notwithstanding the terms of this Contract, including the clause of this Contract entitled 52.249-6 Termination (Cost-Reimbursement) Alt IV, should the Contracting Officer terminate this contract for convenience of the Government in accordance with paragraph (c) of this clause, such termination will be at no cost to the Government. (e) An award based upon this solicitation is not expected by the end of the current fiscal year, September 30, 2007, but is anticipated early in fiscal year 2008. However, any award of a contract based upon this solicitation is contingent on the availability of funds for the purposes of this solicitation. The Department of Homeland Security assumes no liability for costs associated with the preparation or submission of quotes in response to this solicitation whether or not an award results. (f) The successful contractor will be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement with the State of Texas regarding the use and disclosure of the 2-1-1 call center data. 4. Questions and Answers: (1) Q: What time [are quotes] due (EST) 9/17? A: The date and time for quotes is changed from 12:00 PM EST September 17, 2007 to 12:00 PM EST September 25, 2007. (2) Q: How to send: e-mail w/ attachment (?doc or pdf?); Fax? FedEx? A: Offers are to be sent by e-mail attachment to publicneedsrfq@dhs.gov. Doc. or PDF formats are acceptable. (3) Q: Whom to send? If fax -- #? If Fed Ex -- address? A: See Question 2. (4) Q: Length: # pages total? # pages per topic section? A: Please reference RFQ Section (viii)(1) for format instructions. It is up to the Offeror to decide on the number of pages per topic section. (5) Q: A specific font & font size? Margins? Single/double spaced? A: The RFQ is amended to specify that quotes shall be prepared using twelve (12) point font size with one (1) inch margins on ten (10) single sided pages. There is no requirement for font face or spacing. (6) Q: Do you want vitae/resume from each person involved (except re: To be determined? If so, how many pages & what format? A: It is for the Offeror to decide what to include in the 10 page technical volume to clearly demonstrate the Offeror's understanding of the requirements of the SOW, and convey the Offeror's capabilities to fulfill the requirements of the SOW. (7) Q: Do you want me to repeat your deliverables time line within my schedule of the project? A: It is for the Offeror to decide what to include in the 10 page technical volume to clearly demonstrate the Offeror's understanding of the requirements of the SOW, and convey the Offeror's capabilities to fulfill the requirements of the SOW. (8) Q: Will there be a possibility for 3rd year funding? Or will this be no-cost extension? A: The project is for 1 base year and 2 option years. The clause referencing 42 months includes the 6 months that can be exercised at the Government?s discretion under the authority of FAR 52.217-8 should the need arise. (9) Q: Do you pay in lump sum or bill monthly? A: The contractor shall invoice monthly in accordance with FAR clause 52.232-7 Payments under Time-and-Materials and Labor-Hour Contracts. (10) Q: Do you pay indirect funding above the proposed cost of the grant (like NSF & NIH & other foundations do)? Or do I have to budget the indirect into my proposed total request? A: This acquisition is for a contract, not a grant. It is up to the Offeror to provide the most competitive pricing possible. (11) Q: Is there a maximum cap per year allocated? Is there an additional amount allocated for the optional year 1 & year 2 projects? What amounts are these? A: The Government will not disclose the estimated funding for this effort. The ceiling price for each year will be based on the Offeror?s price quote. (12) Q: Do you want me to include section on Background & Scope as well as what you?ve already written? A: It is for the offeror to decide what to include in the 10 page technical volume to clearly demonstrate the Offeror's understanding of the requirements of the SOW, and convey the Offeror's capabilities to fulfill the requirements of the SOW. (13) Q: Do you want a budget justification? A: Please reference RFQ Section (viii)(2)(B) for price quote content. The proposed prices should include all costs associated with the offeror?s quoted technical approach to be completed in the revised Pricing Worksheet (Attachment 4). (14) Q: Do you want info on institutional support -- space? Equipment? Matching or in-kind support? A: Please reference RFQ Section (viii)(2)(B) for price quote content. All costs should be included in the revised pricing worksheet (Attachment 4). (15) Q: Where do you want justification for additional travel (not including DC & within Texas)? A: The price quote should correlate to the Offeror?s proposed technical approach as described in Volume I. (16) Q: How many calls does the data represent? A: The data represents 926,124 calls that were accepted from August 1, 2005 through December 31, 2005. However, the number of actual calls records is slightly lower than this total number due to some information being lost in a server crash. (17) Q: What percentage of the call note data is non-electronic (hand written)? How many boxes or other storage containers does that represent? A: Approximately 1/3 of the call note data is non-electronic. All of the available call information (paper and discs) fits into one lateral file drawer. (18) Q: Where is the data physically located? If the data is not local, will the contractor be responsible for acquiring the data or will the contractor need to be onsite to access the data? A: The data is physically located at the State of Texas. The details for accessing it will be finalized upon execution of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between DHS and the State of Texas, and will be provided to the contractor at that time. (19) Q: What percentage of the call note data is electronic? Will the contractor need to be onsite to access this electronic data? A: Approximately 2/3 of the data is electronic and is stored on CDs. The details for access to the CDs will be provided upon execution of the MOU. (20) Q: What percentage of the call data is derived from a CAD-style system (i.e. one that has call address, time, and other relevant attributes)? Will the contractor need to be onsite to access this data? A: We do not have this information at this time. (21) Q: Is the note data (hand written or electronic) associated with a specific call with the call number identified? A: No, the note data is not associated with a specific call with the call number identified. (22) Q: Will the contractor have access to the call detail from each of the 26 Area Information Centers (AICs)? A: Yes, for the available call records. However, some call data from certain centers do not exist any more. For example, the server at one of the centers crashed and they were unable to recover call data for this period. Accordingly, call detail is unavailable since the record was destroyed. (23) Q: Does scope include other associated 211 operations (Child Healthcare, Integrated Eligibility and Enrollment)? A: No, the scope does not include other associated 2-1-1 Call Center operations. (24) Q: Do you anticipate this project to have linkage to various emergency operations (e.g., emergency operation centers, 911, etc.)? A: No, this project will not have linkage to other emergency operations centers. (25) Q: Will this process encompass planning for advanced citizen registrations for services (e.g., special services and needs)? A: No, the process will not encompass planning for advanced citizen registrations for services. (26) Q: Is change management for call processing anticipated as part of the project? A: No, the scope of this project will not include change management for call processing. (27) Q: Are there any current geospatial indicators captured in the 211 data available (e.g., telephone number, ZIP code, etc.)? A: Yes, the geographic information associated with the data is predominantly zip codes. (28) Q: Are there any current geospatial tools in place for the 211 operations (e.g., ESRI)? A: We do not have that information at this time. (29) Q: What current databases are in use for the AICs? A: Data gathering tools included Info &Referral (I&R) applications such as Alliance, Iris, Beacon, Tapestry, and ServicePoint. Hand-written data gathering occurred during this time period as well. (30) Q: What data gathering tools (I&R or CRM applications) are currently in use today and were in use during the August 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 period? A: The data gathering tools in use during August 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 include I&R Software: Alliance, Iris, Beacon, Tapestry, and ServicePoint. Hand-written data gathering occurred during this time period as well. However, knowledge of the current data gathering tools is not a requirement of the Government for performance under this RFQ. (31) Q: Is there a preferred database for the end state plan? A: The preferred database for the end state plan (assuming this refers to the database that will contain the content from the calls and be delivered to DHS) is one that supports statistical analyses of the data stored in the database (e.g. SPSS). (32) Q: What is the estimated volume of ?hand written notes stored in boxes? that will need to be read and have data entry performed? A: All of the information (paper and discs) fits into one lateral file drawer. (33) Q: What assistance and resources will be provided by the Texas 211 AICs in gathering the data? A: There is someone who can answer questions about the data, which is already all in one place. The amount of assistance available will depend on the MOU between DHS and 2-1-1, which has not been finalized yet. (34) Q: Will the existing databases and boxes of notes be centrally accessible (specifically in Washington DC) or will the vendors? project team be required to visit each of the 26 AICs to gather the necessary data? A: The data is currently centrally accessible in Austin, TX. Other arrangements that might be made according to the MOU have not been finalized yet. (35) Q: Would DHS accept a response that has a ?spotlight? clause to analyze the data and adjust the project accordingly (e.g., 4-6 weeks after initial analysis)? A: This solicitation amendment changes the contract type from fixed price to time and materials which will account for the uncertainty in the requirement. (36) Q: Can the government provide a list of the types of electronic formats? Can samples be provided? Do you have data dictionaries for the electronic formats and can they be provided? A: The government cannot provide a list of the types of electronic formats, and samples cannot be provided. There are no data dictionaries for the electronic formats in existence. (37) Q: Can the government provide an estimate of the total number of electronic records created during the calendar period specified in the Statement of Work (SOW)? A: 926,124 calls were accepted from August 1, 2005 through December 31, 2005. However, the number of actual calls records is lower than that due to some information being lost in a server crash. Approximately 2/3 of the data is electronic and is stored on CDs at this time. (38) Q: Can the government provide an estimate of the total number of paper records created during the calendar period specified in the Statement of Work (SOW)? A: Approximately 1/3 of the records are paper records since approximately 2/3 of the data is electronic. (39) Q: Are the paper and/or electronic call records captured in more than one language? If so, which? A: The paper and/or electronic call records are captured in one language, which is English. (40) Q: Is the selected vendor responsible for conversion of any paper records into electronic data? A: The relevant information from the paper records must be entered into the electronic database in which the information from the project will be stored and transferred to DHS. However, the paper records do not need to be transcribed into electronic format beyond the entry of relevant information into the database. (41) Q: For paper and electronic call records what address and/or geospatial information is already available? A: The full extent of the existing address and/or geospatial information is unknown, as this information varies by individual call records. However, the predominant geographic information available is zip codes. (42) Q: Does the government have a ?minimum geographic unit? in mind in overlaying demographic data on the geospatial data? For example, is it a block, a census tract, or a county, etc.? A: The government does not have a ?minimum geographic unit? in mind in overlaying demographic data on the geospatial data. This will be an aspect of the Offeror?s response that will be considered in the technical evaluation. (43) Q: Would the government be amenable to geospatial coordinate gathering occurring in the base year but the analysis and related cartography would occur in the option year? A: Offerors shall provide quotes in accordance with the requirements as defined in the solicitation. (44) Q: Does the government have any preference for type of electronic format used to deliver the published project data? A: The preferred database for the end state plan (assuming this refers to the database that will contain the content from the calls and be delivered to DHS) is one that supports statistical analyses of the data stored in the database (e.g. SPSS). (45) Q: Does government expect or need to have access to interim data sets? A: No, the government does not expect or need to have access to interim data sets. (46) Q: If the raw call center data is in more than one language, does the final delivered project data set need to support multiple languages? A: The raw call data center is only in English, and the final delivered data set will not need to support multiple languages. (47) Q: Does DHS S&T have dedicated funding for the Texas 2-1-1 temporal and geospatial analysis project? Does DHS S&T have dedicated funding for the subsequent analyses throughout the U.S. and related software build out of the data collection template? A: See Question 11. (48) Q: Is there an incumbent providing these services and if there is what is their name and contract number under which they are performing the work? If this is not a direct re-compete with an incumbent is there a company performing any of the required tasks in whole or in part? If so what is their name and contract numbers? A: This project constitutes a new requirement. There is no incumbent contractor involved in the effort. (49) Q: Does DHS S&T have a desired or target start date? A: The target start date is as soon as contract award can be made. (50) Q: Is there an incumbent currently providing similar analytical services as described in the Statement of Work or is this a new requirement? If there is an incumbent, can DHS please provide the name of the incumbent firm? A: See Question 48. (51) Q: Does DHS anticipate any work being performed Government-site? Does DHS anticipate the database, and any associated hardware, being maintained Government-site? A: DHS does not anticipate any work being performed Government-site aside from meetings with the Human Factors Program Office. DHS will own the database, but it will not need to be updated maintained for new call data. (52) Q: Will the database that the selected contractor develops need to interface with other DHS databases or systems or will it be a standalone database? A: The database will be an independent, stand-alone database and will not be required to interface with other DHS databases or systems. The primary purpose of the database is to serve as a standardized data collection repository for the relevant call data to support analyses of what needs were identified by callers, over what time period and at which geospatial coordinates, and will not be updated for new calls (53) Q: Does DHS have a rough order of magnitude for the number of 211 calls received by the 26 regional Texas 211 Information and Referral System call centers from 1 August 2005 through 31 December 2005 (e.g., tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions)? A: See question 16. (54) Q: Does DHS have an estimate (whether an absolute number or a percentage) of the number of calls that have handwritten versus electronic notes? A: See Question 13. (55) Q: Did any of the Texas 211 centers use a database and data entry tool to collect data? Were the paper and electronic call notes made on forms or were they freehand? A: See Question 30. (56) Q: Are there audio recordings of the calls that the contractor will be expected to analyze? A: No, there are no audio recordings of the calls that the contractor will be expected to analyze and this is not a requirement by the government. (57) Q: How exact is the information about the geographic origin of each call (e.g., general city, specific zip code, or exact street address)? A: Where available, most of the geographic information on the origin of each call is by zip code. (58) Q: Where does the Texas 211 call center data currently reside (i.e., in one central call center, distributed among the 26 regional call centers, or at DHS facilities)? A: The data is currently centrally accessible in Austin, TX. Other arrangements that might be made according to the MOU have not been finalized yet. (59) Q: Is the call center data ready for delivery (i.e., not mixed in with unrelated paper or electronic information)? If not, will the selected contractor have the responsibility of helping to prepare and separate the call center data for use in the database and subsequent analyses? A: It is all together in one lateral file drawer with no other data mixed in. (60) Q: Under what authority will the selected contractor collect information from the regional 211 centers? In other words, will the selected contractor have to negotiate access to call center information with DHS, the State of Texas, or whoever holds the call center data? A: See Question 18. (61) Q: The Price Worksheet (Attachment 3) references a 42-month period of performance but the Statement of Work references three one-year periods of performance (36 months total). Can DHS please clarify the expected periods of performance? A: See Question 8. (62) Q: In the Synopsis, the Quote Format section notes that the page limit shall be 10 one-sided pages inclusive of the cover page. The Quote Format section also requires that the technical quote include a table of contents. Can DHS confirm that both the cover page and table of contents count against the 10-page quote limit? A: The cover page and table of contents count against the 10 page quote limit. (63) Q: Does DHS wish to see resumes of proposed personnel for this effort? If so, will the inclusion of resumes count against the 10-page limit? A: See Question 6. (64) Q: Given the short turnaround time between submittal of questions and the proposal due date, will DHS consider extending the due date beyond 17 September 2007? A: The due date has been extended to September 25, 2007 at 12:00 PM EST. All other terms and conditions of the subject Request for Quotations remain unchanged. NOTE: THIS NOTICE WAS NOT POSTED TO FEDBIZOPPS ON THE DATE INDICATED IN THE NOTICE ITSELF (18-SEP-2007); HOWEVER, IT DID APPEAR IN THE FEDBIZOPPS FTP FEED ON THIS DATE. PLEASE CONTACT fbo.support@gsa.gov REGARDING THIS ISSUE.
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