08 - Zen Innovation SSJ FAR 13.5 SAM.gov posting_Redacted.pdf

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION UNDER SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN

COMMERCIAL ITEMS IN ACCORDANCE WITH FEDERAL ACQUISITION

REGULATION (FAR) 13.501(a), 41 U.S.C. 1901

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Headquarters Procurement Services (MA-64), located in Washington, D.C., proposes to enter a contract on the basis of other than full and open competition with Zen Innovations AG. This action is in support of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Office of Energy Statistics (OES) and Office of Energy Analysis (OEA). This document sets forth the justification for the sole-source acquisition found at Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.5, and in accordance with 41 U.S. Code § 1901 and FAR subpart 13.5 procedures.

2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved.

EIA intends to award a Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) order to Zen Innovations AG for one Base Year and four one-year Options from September 14, 2024 through September 13, 2029.

EIA requires an order with Zen Innovations AG to procure a Global Trade Tracker (GTT) subscription.

Contract Awardee Information:

• Company Name: Zen Innovations AG

• Company Address: Bernstrasse 99 Kehrsatz 3122, Switzerland

• Unique Entity ID (UEI): CUTRQG5MEL88

• CAGE Code: SBPV9

3. Description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs including the estimated value.

This requirement consists of a subscription to GTT from Zen Innovations AG. GTT offers powerful web-based access to original trade statistics from the world’s principal trading countries giving analysts a clear objective picture of global trade flows. Advanced search tools provide merchandise trade data for more than eighty-five of the world’s major economies at the most detailed level of harmonized code for every commodity. The GTT trade database is maintained in real-time for 200+ countries. A subscription to GTT includes access to graphical user interfaces. In addition, GTT provides import/export trade statistics for almost every country in the world.

The services above provide access, support, analysis, and collaboration under a proprietary licensing agreement.

Anticipated Dollar Value of the Proposed Acquisition.

The estimated value of the resultant Order (inclusive of the one-year base period and four (4) one-year option periods) is as follows:

REGULATION (FAR) 13.501(a), 41 U.S.C. 1901

YEAR

Base Year

Option Year 1

Option Year 2

Option Year 3

Option Year 4

PERIOD OF

PERFORMANCE

September 14, 2024 to Se tember 13 2025

September 14, 2025 to Se tember 13 2026

September 14, 2026 to Se tember 13 2027

September 14, 2027 to Se tember 13 2028

September 14, 2028 to Se tember 13 2029

GRAND TOTAL:

ESTIMATED VALUE

4. The statutory authority permitting the sole source acquisition.

The statut01y authority pennitting the sole source acquisition is 41 U.S. Code§ 1901 as implemented by FAR 13.50l(a).

5. Determination that proposed Contractor's unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited:

EIA has a continuing need for Zen Innovations AG's GTT specialized services to fulfill its mission requirements for the timely collection and analysis of energy data. Zen Innovations

AG's GTT is unique in its ability to provide the following:

a) Three countiy coverage viewing options offering in-depth content details for all colmti·ies from government data sources to incotenns.

b) Filtering to easily find colmti·ies using the search field (single counti·ies and/or colmtiy groups, both blocs and customized groupings), allowing users to zero in on monthly, yearly, or combined update options; supplementaiy data fields (e.g. po1i, mode ofti·anspo1i, subnational jurisdictions, etc.); and, national, Eurostat or UN Comu-ade sources.

c) New data ale1is which allows users to create new, revised, or archived data ale1is for one or several counu-ies.

d) Infonnation panels that include the following countiy ID columns: Countiy code designations (numeric-3, alpha-3, code), the colmtiy naine, data sources and any ale1is associated with a given countiy. Content columns include supplementaiy ti·ade details , first available (data) period, last available (data) period, new data added dates, revised data added dates, latest ti·ade news, next

REGULATION (FAR) 13.501(a), 41 U.S.C. 1901 reception expected, reported currency, reported HS digits, trade systems, imports/export notes, imports/export incoterms, re-exports/re-imports notes, trade suppression details, and tariff information links (updated regularly).

e) Supplementary data for certain countries such as subdivision information, states/provinces, ports, mode of transport, and customs regimes. Not all countries provide such details, but when available, they are loaded into GTT.

f) Reports with country coverage details that can be exported to Excel or PDF.

EIA would not be able to carry out its mission of providing timely and relevant information to policymakers without the data that Zen Innovations AG’s GTT provides in the manner that Zen Innovations AG provides it. Zen Innovations AG stands as the only responsible source for the required energy data and has attested to the fact that it is the only provider of its data in a sole proprietor letter dated June 12, 2024.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practical, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and if not, which exception under 5.202 applies:

The Contracting Officer posted a Notice of Intent to Sole Source to SAM.gov on July 3, 2024 as required by FAR 5.2, to ensure offers were solicited from as many potential sources as practicable for this sole-source Firm-Fixed-Price order. The posting closed July 18, 2024 with no vendors responding to the notice of intent.

7. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable:

No award shall be made until the Contracting Officer determines the cost to the Government to be fair and reasonable. This determination will be based on a comparison of the proposed price with prices found reasonable on previous purchases and market research.

8. A description of the market research conducted:

EIA attends conferences and meetings to stay abreast of the international crude oil and petroleum product markets and conducts inquiries to collect information on publications and other periodicals. The market research conducted included surveying whether other vendors provide this data and was accomplished through searches of previous DOE contracts and Internet searches. EIA has concluded that there is no other publicly available source for the integrated set of data provided by Zen Innovations AG. Zen Innovations AG is the exclusive creator, publisher, and distributor for all the content contained in GTT products and services.

The material is written entirely by Zen Innovations AG’s GTT team, and it retains the exclusive copyright to this content.

Furthermore, a Notice of Intent to Sole Source was posted to SAM.gov on July 3, 2024 and closed July 18, 2024. No responses were received.

REGULATION (FAR) 13.501(a), 41 U.S.C. 1901

9. Other facts supporting the use of Sole Source Justification

N/A

10. A statement of actions, if any, that were taken to remove or overcome any barriers to competition:

No other vendors have been identified or expressed an interest in providing the unique detailed reports that are supplied by Zen Innovations AG. If in the future other sources are identified to provide these unique reports, then this requirement will be competed.

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REGULATION (FAR) 13.501(a), 41 U.S.C. 1901

CERTIFICATION

I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

, Contracting Officer’s Representative Date

REVIEWS AND APPROVALS

I have reviewed this justification and find it to be accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Approval:

Date Contracting Officer Office of Headquarters Procurement Services (MA-64.1) U.S. Department of Energy