Account Management, Planning, and Maintenance for Online Crowd-Sourced Surveys and Cognitive Tasks for Individuals With and Without Depression and Anxiety
Description. This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition; and (4) availability of domestic sources manufactured in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available commercial quantities and of a satisfactory quality. For equipment/supply requirements, responses must include the place of manufacturing (i.e. address if supply/equipment is a domestic end product and include country of manufacture). For equipment/supply requirements, small businesses must also address the size status of the manufacturer under the applicable NAICS code (i.e. address Non-Manufacturer Rule). Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice. This notice is issued to help determine the availability of qualified companies technically capable of meeting the Government requirement and to determine the method of acquisition. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotes. No award will be made as a result of this notice. The Government will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice. This notice is strictly for research and information purposes only. Background. The Machine Learning Team (MLT) at the National Institute on Mental Health (NIMH) is requesting to run online surveys of individuals with and without depression and anxiety with an online survey provider’s platform. To conduct these studies, NIMH will require a contract for a provider to collect these surveys and provide the responses along with additional demographic information. Purpose and Objectives. The contractor shall provide all resources necessary to accomplish the tasks and deliverables described in this Statement of Work (SOW). The contractor shall provide services for managing accounts for online crowd-sourced research. Salient characteristics include the following: Task: Collecting Survey and Task Responses from Individuals With and Without Depression The Contractor shall provide the participants for the cognitive tasks and surveys. MLT and their collaborators at NIMH will build the cognitive tasks surveys and ensure that they comply with the Contractor’s requirements. The Contractor shall make the tasks and survey(s) available to their panel of respondents until the required number of responses are collected and will manage participant reimbursement. The survey questions will assess the severity of depression and anxiety symptoms and the impact of those symptoms on respondents functioning in day-to-day life. Additionally, we may collect open-ended responses about participants experiences with depression and depression symptoms in order to discover additional symptoms of depression and assess the extent to which these additional symptoms contribute to the impairment of these individuals experience. The responses to survey questions may be collected tough the Contractor’s service or tough a third-party service to be arranged by the MLT. Participants will also complete a battery of cognitive tasks downloaded from servers managed by the MLT. Respondents may be required to have a personal computer with Windows 10 or MacOS in order to complete the cognitive tasks. The collection shall be a combination of surveys and tasks taking up to 45 minutes from at least 2,720 respondents; 680 from each of the following 4 categories: 1) Adults with Anxiety but not depression; 2) Adults with depression but not anxiety; 3) adults with depression and anxiety; 3) and controls with neither anxiety nor depression. Assuming participants are of similar quality in terms of attention, comprehension, and accuracy of screening responses, collection of a greater number of respondents would be preferable. The contractor is required to complete participants’ compensation services within one (1) calendar day after the subject completes the task. The contractor shall have extensive experience in providing services for managing online accounts and handling of participant compensation. Government Responsibilities. The government’s responsibilities involve providing feedback to the contractor on the operation of the ongoing online studies if a problem arises. Data Rights. The Government shall have unlimited rights to, and ownership of all deliverables provided under this contract, including reports, recommendations, briefings, work plans and other deliverables. (FAR Clause 52.227-17 Rights in Data- Special Works). Delivery or Deliverables. The contractor shall deliver within 30 days after receipt of the order. Site delivery address shall be, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Building 10, Bethesda, MD 20814. Capability statement /information sought. Companies that believe they possess the capabilities to provide the required products or services should submit documentation of their ability to meet each of the project requirements to the Contracting Officer. The capability statement must specifically address each of the project requirements separately. Additionally, the capability statement should include 1) the total number of employees, 2) the professional qualifications of personnel as it relates to the requirements outlined, 3) any contractor GSA Schedule contracts and/or other government-wide acquisition contracts (GWACs) by which all of the requirements may be met, if applicable, and 4) any other information considered relevant to this program. Capability statements must also include the Company Name, Unique Entity ID from SAM.gov, Physical Address, and Point of Contact Information. The response must include the respondents’ technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses. Interested companies are required to identify their type of business, applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code, and size standards in accordance with the Small Business Administration. The government requests that no proprietary or confidential business data be submitted in a response to this notice. However, responses that indicate the information therein is proprietary will be properly safeguarded for Government use only. Capability statements must include the name and telephone number of a point of contact having authority and knowledge to discuss responses with Government representatives. Capability statements in response to this market survey that do not provide sufficient information for evaluation will be considered non-responsive. When submitting this information, please reference the solicitation notice number. Respondents must provide, as part of their responses, a capability statement that clearly identifies their ability to provide the requirements specified in this notice. The respondent must also provide their DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HubZone, etc., pursuant to the applicable NAICS code and any other information that may be helpful in developing or finalizing the acquisition requirements. Please note that NINDS is particularly interested in small business sources. If you are a small business, please state the type of small business (small business; HUBZone; service-disabled, veteran-owned; 8(a); veteran-owned; woman-owned; or small disadvantaged businesses) and your size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. In case domestic sources are available and capable of fulfilling the Government’s need, and a future solicitation is published, the Government will use evaluation preferences in accordance with FAR 25. One (1) copy of the response is required and must be in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format using 11-point or 12-point font, 8-1/2” x 11” paper size, with 1” top, bottom, left and right margins, and with single or double spacing. The information submitted must be in an outline format that addresses each of the elements of the project requirements and in the capability statement /information sought paragraphs stated herein. A cover page and an executive summary may be included but is not required. The response is limited to ten (10) pages. The 10-page limit does not include the cover page, executive summary, or references, if requested. The response must include the respondents’ technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses. All responses to this notice must be submitted electronically to the Contract Specialist. Facsimile responses are NOT accepted. The response must be submitted to Diedra Prophet at e-mail address Diedra.Prophet@nih.gov and cc Robin Knightly at robin.knightly@nih.gov. The response must be received on or before Thursday, August 25, 2022, at 5:00pm Eastern Time. Disclaimer and Important Notes This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a presolicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in www.sam.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).
75N95022Q00486 Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health National Institute on Drug Abuse
8/10/22, 4:52 PM Account Management, Planning, and Maintenance for Online Crowd-Sourced Surveys and Cognitive Tasks for Individuals With and Without Depression and Anxiety
This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The solicitation number is 75N95022Q00486 and the solicitation is issued as a request for quotation (RFQ). This acquisition is for a commercial item or service and is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures; FAR Subpart 13.5—Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items; and FAR Part 12—Acquisition of Commercial Items, and is not expected to exceed the simplified acquisition teshold. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect tough Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) Number 2022-07, with effective date August 10, 2022. The associated NAICS code is 541990 – All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services and the small business size standard is $16.5 Million. This requirement is full and open with no set-aside restrictions. The purpose of this requirement is to acquire Account Management, Planning, and Maintenance for Online Crowd-Sourced Surveys and Cognitive Tasks for Individuals With and Without Depression and Anxiety Salient characteristics include the following: The contractor shall provide all resources necessary to accomplish the tasks and deliverables described in this Statement of Work (SOW). The contractor shall provide services for managing accounts for online crowd-sourced research. Task: Collecting Survey and Task Responses from Individuals With and Without Depression The Contractor shall provide the participants for the cognitive tasks and surveys. MLT and their collaborators at NIMH will build the cognitive tasks surveys and ensure that they comply with the Contractor’s requirements. The Contractor shall make the tasks and survey(s) available to their panel of respondents until the required number of responses are collected and will manage participant reimbursement. The survey questions will assess the severity of depression and anxiety symptoms and the impact of those symptoms on respondents functioning in day-to-day life. Additionally, we may collect open-ended responses about participants experiences with depression and depression symptoms in order to discover additional symptoms of depression and assess the extent to which these additional symptoms contribute to the impairment of these individuals experience. The responses to survey questions may be collected tough the Contractor’s service or tough a third-party service to be arranged by the MLT. Participants will also complete a battery of cognitive tasks downloaded from servers managed by the MLT. Respondents may be required to have a personal computer with Windows 10 or MacOS in order to complete the cognitive tasks. The collection shall be a combination of surveys and tasks taking up to 45 minutes from at least 2,720 respondents; 680 from each of the following 4 categories: 1) Adults with Anxiety but not depression; 2) Adults with depression but not anxiety; 3) adults with depression and anxiety; 3) and controls with neither anxiety nor depression. Assuming participants are of similar quality in terms of attention, comprehension, and accuracy of screening responses, collection of a greater number of respondents would be preferable. The contractor is required to complete participants’ compensation services within one (1) calendar day after the subject completes the task. The contractor shall have extensive experience in providing services for managing online accounts and handling of participant compensation. The contractor will not write scientific publications based on any work conducted under this contract. Government Responsibilities: The government’s responsibilities involve providing feedback to the contractor on the operation of the ongoing online studies if a problem arises. The Government will not provide to the contractor any information or data of a personal nature about individual(s) or proprietary information or data pertaining to an institution or organization which is confidential. Whenever the contractor is uncertain with regard to the confidentiality of or a property interest in information under this contract, the contractor should consult with the Contracting Officer prior to any release, disclosure, dissemination, or publication. Data Rights: The Government shall have unlimited rights to, and ownership of all deliverables provided under this contract, including reports, recommendations, briefings, work plans and other deliverables. (FAR Clause 52.227-17 Rights in Data- Special Works). (vii). The Government anticipates award of a firm fixed-price purchase order for this acquisition, and the anticipated period of performance is 12 months from the date of award. The provision at FAR 52.252-1, Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998), applies to this acquisition. This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. The offeror is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the offeror and submitted with its quotation or offer. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation or offer. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at these addresses: https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far https://www.hhs.gov/grants/contracts/contract-policies-regulations/hhsar/index.htm (End of Provision) The following provisions apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference: FAR 52.204-7, System for Award Management (Oct 2018) FAR 52.204-16, Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting (Aug 2020) FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items (Nov 2021) FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items (Nov 2021) HHSAR 352.239-73, Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Notice (December 18, 2015) The clause at FAR 52.252-2, Clauses Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998), applies to this acquisition. This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at these addresses: https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far https://www.hhs.gov/grants/contracts/contract-policies-regulations/hhsar/index.html (End of Clause) The following clauses apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference: FAR 52.204-13, System for Award Management Maintenance (Oct 2018) FAR 52.204-18, Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance (Aug 2020) FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions--Commercial Items (Nov 2021). HHSAR 352.222-70, Contractor Cooperation in Equal Employment Opportunity Investigations (December 18, 2015) HHSAR 352.239-74, Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility (December 2015) The following provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and are attached in full text: FAR 52.204-24 Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment (Nov 2021) FAR 52.204-26 Covered Telecommunications Equipment or Services-Representation (OCT 2020) FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders--Commercial Items (Jan 2022) Invoice and Payment Provisions/Instructions for Submitting Electronic Invoices via Email (a). The Government will evaluate quotations or offers in accordance with FAR 13.106-2 and award a purchase order from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose quote conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate quotes: Technical capability of the item offered to meet the Government requirement: Price; and Past performance [see FAR 13.106-2(b)(3)]. Technical and past performance, when combined, are significantly more important than price. (b) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer’s specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award. Offerors shall include a completed copy of the provision at FAR clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items, with its offer. Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items (Nov 2021), with its offer. If the offeror has completed FAR clause 52.212-3 at www.sam.gov, then the offeror does not need to provide a completed copy with its offer. There are no additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions applicable to this acquisition. The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) are not applicable to this requirement. Responses to this solicitation must include sufficient information to establish the interested parties’ bona-fide capabilities of providing the product or service. The price quote shall include: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, delivery days after contract award, delivery terms, prompt payment discount terms, F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), product or catalog number(s), product description, and any other information or factors that may be considered in the award decision. Such factors may include: past performance, special features required for effective program performance, trade-in considerations, probable life of the item selected as compared with that of a comparable item, warranty considerations, maintenance availability, and environmental and energy efficiency considerations. Responses to this solicitation must include clear and convincing evidence of the offeror’s capability of fulfilling the requirement as it relates to the technical evaluation criteria. The price proposal must include the labor categories, an estimate of the number of hours required for each labor category, fully loaded fixed hourly rate or each labor category, breakdown and rationale for other direct costs or materials, and the total amount. The Unique Entity ID from SAM.gov, the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size must be included in the response. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov All quotations must be received by 12:00 P.M. Eastern, on September 15, 2022, and reference Solicitation Number 75N95022Q00486. Responses must be submitted electronically to Diedra Prophet, Contract Specialist, at diedra.prophet@nih.gov. Fax responses will not be accepted. The name and telephone number of the individual to contact for information regarding this solicitation: Diedra Prophet, Contract Specialist, at diedra.prophet@nih.gov .
75N95022Q00486 Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health National Institute on Drug Abuse
9/8/22, 5:09 PM