Sol_1305M324Q0212_Amd_0001.pdf

(x)

1305M324Q0212 x x

1 copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted ; or (c) By separate letter or electronic communication which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BE

RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR

OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted , such change may be made by letter or electronic communication, provided each letter or electronic communication makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

x

WAD-NMFS-B

BOULDER CO 80305

325 BROADWAY, SOU6

WAD-NMFS-Boulder

05/28/20240001

13. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO MODIFICATION OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS. IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (If required) is not extended.is extended, Items 8 and 15, and returning

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended , by one of the following methods: (a) By completing

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

FACILITY CODE CODE

10B. DATED (SEE ITEM 13)

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NO.

9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NO.

CODE

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (No., street, county, State and ZIP Code)

7. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than Item 6)CODE 6. ISSUED BY

PAGE OF PAGES

4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NO.3. EFFECTIVE DATE2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NO. 5. PROJECT NO. (If applicable)

1. CONTRACT ID CODE

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

05/20/2024

CHECK ONE A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER (Specify type of modification and authority) appropriation data, etc.) SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor is not is required to sign this document and return __________________ copies to the issuing office.

ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

The purpose of Solicitation Amendment 0001 is:

1. Provide responses to questions.

2. Incorporate change to FAR 52.212-1 Addendum as a result of the responses.

16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print)

15C. DATE SIGNED 16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR 16C. DATE SIGNED

(Signature of person authorized to sign) (Signature of Contracting Officer)

HANNAH MONTOYA

STANDARD FORM 30 (REV. 11/2016)

Prescribed by GSA FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

Previous edition unusable

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9 A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect .

1305M324Q0212 0001

Q&A RFQ 1305M324Q0212

1. In the Solicitation document, Key personnel - can the project manager and lead teacher be the same person?

Response: Yes, they can be the same person or a combination of people. FAR 52.212-1 Addendum has been revised to reflect this.

2. In Attachment A, Pricing Schedule - are we correct to interpret that “max $1,000/month” applies to “cloud compute and storage charges” only, not the JupyterHub Platform setup and administration)?

Response: The $1,000 per month is only for cloud compute and storage to give an idea of the scope of the JupyterHub needed. If resources above $1,000 per month are needed during the course of the period of performance, then the additional cost may be billed under CLIN 0002 - Other Direct Costs.

Thus, the amount in CLIN 0001 for the JupyterHub is expected to be initial setup plus monthly admin cost and monthly cloud compute and storage costs of $1,000 max.

Section 5 - Section 5

Summary of Clause Changes:

Clause FAR 52.212-1 ADDENDUM is incorporated as follows:

FAR 52.212-1 ADDENDUM FAR 52.212-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS—COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS

AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES ADDENDUM

QUOTE SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

FAR 52.212-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS—COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND

COMMERCIAL SERVICES ADDENDUM

This provision has been tailored to this procurement.

QUOTE SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Quotes in response to this solicitation shall be submitted by May 30, 2024 at 5:00 PM Mountain Time.

Quotes shall be submitted electronically via e-mail to Monica Cowdrey at monica.cowdrey@noaa.gov with a copy to Hannah Montoya at hannah.montoya@noaa.gov. Reference the solicitation number in the subject line. The volumes shall be submitted in two (2) separate files in the same e-mail. All quotes must be submitted to the e-mail addresses referenced herein.

All questions shall be submitted via e-mail by May 23, 2024 at 5:00 PM Mountain Time to Monica Cowdrey at monica.cowdrey@noaa.gov with a copy to Hannah Montoya at hannah.montoya@noaa.gov.

Any responses to questions will be made in writing, without identification of the questioner, and will be included in an amendment to the solicitation. Even if provided in other form, only the question responses included in the amendment to the solicitation will govern performance of the purchase order.

It is the quoter's sole responsibility to ensure that any quote, to include any other e-mail correspondence, mailto:monica.cowdrey@noaa.gov mailto:hannah.montoya@noaa.gov mailto:monica.cowdrey@noaa.gov mailto:hannah.montoya@noaa.gov is transmitted to the specified Government representative(s) and received prior to the due date specified herein. Quoters are highly encouraged to contact the specified Government representative(s) prior to the due date to ensure receipt of the transmitted quote and quote eligibility. Quotes received after the date and time specified in the RFQ may render it ineligible for consideration or evaluation.

DELIVERY OF DOCUMENTS

Emailed quotes must be received in a supported searchable Adobe PDF or Microsoft Office file format.

These formats are the only acceptable methods of submitting a quote electronically. Zip Files, Cloud storage providers, google docs, web-based drop boxes, OneNote/OneDrive, URLs, web-based format, or any other virtual/web-based memory service are NOT acceptable methods of submitting a quote electronically. Only Attachment 1 - Pricing Schedule may be submitted utilizing Microsoft Office Excel.

CONTENT REQUIREMENTS

The Government will not consider pages submitted in excess of the stated page limitations, or materials not included in full text within the quote (no links to external information will be reviewed or considered).

Page limitations include all appendices, references, exhibits, etc. Tabs, index sheets, tables of contents, dividers and other such aids that are solely used to assist the evaluator in locating information and are advisory in nature, imparting no other information other than the identification of content, will not be counted against any page limits stated within this RFQ.

Electronic copies shall include all information required for evaluation, excluding any reference to price. A “page” is defined as a typed page of the quotation, i.e., one (1) 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper with typing on one

(1) side single spaced is considered a page. The following are excluded from the page count: (1) Cover Page; (2) Cover Letter (maximum one page); (3) Table of Contents; (4) List of Tables and Figures; (5) Abbreviations and Acronyms, if any; (6) Representations and Certifications; and (7) Resumes and Letters of Commitment. Pages submitted above the page count will not be read and excluded from evaluation.

Each page shall be separately numbered. There are no specific font or graphic requirements for this RFQ;

however, it is the quoter’s responsibility to conform to the stated page limitations. Costly, complex presentations are neither required nor desired. No columnar or newspaper style grid (columns) pages will be allowed.

The following volumes of material shall be submitted for each quote:

• Volume 1: Non-Price Technical Solution (Factor 1 – Technical and Management Approach, Factor 2 – Key Personnel, Factor 3 – Experience)

• Volume 2: Price (Factor 4 – Price (complete Attachment 1 - Pricing Schedule and SF1449)

VOLUME 1 – NON-PRICE TECHNICAL SOLUTION (NOT TO EXCEED 25 PAGES TOTAL)

Electronic copies of Volume I shall include all information required for evaluation, excluding any reference to price.

Factor 1: Technical and Management Approach –

The technical and management approach shall address the solicitation requirements in sufficient detail to determine the quoter’s understanding of, approach to, and experience with the tasks identified in the PWS. Technical and Management Approach shall be easily understood and clearly correlated. The quote shall include the following elements for Factor 1:

• Plan of Action: A brief plan of action that describes the performance of all tasks (Tasks 1 through 4) of the PWS.

• Expertise and Experience: Quoter shall specifically address its expertise and experience with the following:

1. Organizing and facilitating team-based, multi-week workshops for Open Science and Reproducible science focused on science research teams working in earth sciences. Experience training teams in effective teamwork, including leading training sessions on team psychological safety and effective hybrid collaboration.

2. Facilitation and project management for teams working on upskilling of scientific staff to use cloud-based data and computing workflows for large data, specifically geospatial data using open source tools.

This experience should demonstrate an understanding of the diversity of approaches being taken with regards to migrating data to the cloud, especially geospatial data, and the implications of different cloud solutions for scientific researchers. Note, the teams will be science teams not database managers. No database design work will be involved. Focus will be open source and open infrastructure solutions.

3. Using and teaching reproducible science tooling, specifically Quarto with both R and Python for online documentation and reports, and integration of Git and GitHub into scientific workflows and scientific project management.

4. Development and delivery of training for scientific users in geospatial cloud-native data. Specifically involving Pangeo and R-Geospatial ecosystems of programming tooling.

5. Direct experience publishing original scientific research and experience with scientific coding and data processing in order to be effective team facilitators, project managers and coaches for scientific teams focused on science research and publication. This experience should have involved complex projects such as required for both peer-reviewed research publication (journal articles) and large annual reports (grey literature) involving diverse data.

6. Helping scientific (not IT) teams from at least one federal agency solve difficult data management and analysis reproducibility problems for large complex projects involving earth and biological sciences.

Include any experience with cross-government agency networks involving teams working in data modernization or cloud migration within and across federal agencies with strong science research component (e.g. NASA, EPA, USGS, DOE).

7. Experience that shows an understanding of the nature of science within federal agencies and similar scientific research that is in line with the diversity of research being conducted at the NOAA Fisheries science centers. If experience is not specifically related to NOAA Fisheries science centers research, then the quoter shall demonstrate how its experience correlates to similar research conducted or that would be conducted at the NOAA Fisheries science centers.

8. Professional connections to the communities leading research and outreach in the scientific programming for open source and geospatial computing and the ability to facilitate these types of networking and professional connections for NMFS scientific staff. Include recent experience giving presentations or workshops at Open Science and Earth Data conferences.

9. Management of cloud-computing platforms used in the scientific community, specifically JupyterHubs and using these platforms in workshop and teaching settings.

10. Experience with increasing DEI and underrepresented participation in data science.

• Implementation Timeline: A brief description of the quoter’s ability to deliver a plan and agendas for the bi-weekly Open Science mentor group within 30 days after award, run the first mentor group meeting within 30 days after award, and start Year 1 of the team-based Open Science workshops (120 staff) by October 31, 2024.

• Staffing Approach: Quoter shall clearly address its overall management plan, roles and responsibilities as well as its plan for its teaming partners or subcontractors (if any). The management plan shall demonstrate a sound approach that exhibits a quoter’s ability to provide uninterrupted, high-quality services. Plan shall include at a minimum the number of staff and how the skill mix will meet the requirements of the PWS.

• AbilityOne: Consistent with the Government’s commitment to providing employment opportunities for those with disabilities, the contractor is encouraged to independently partner with the National Industries for the Blind and Source America Central Nonprofit Agencies under the AbilityOne Program (www.abilityone.gov) in identifying subcontracting opportunities for this requirement and using qualified AbilityOne contractors. Each quoter shall, to the maximum extent practicable, describe their proposed use of the AbilityOne program, describe how they will effectively utilize AbilityOne contractors, and provide their anticipated goals for this requirement. A subcontracting plan is not required. If no subcontracting opportunities exist, quoter shall include this information in the submission.

A list of AbilityOne products and services listed by North American Industry Classification System codes and descriptions, and Product Service Codes is available at https://www.abilityone.gov/abor.html.

Factor 2: Key Personnel –

Quoter shall submit a resume and letter of commitment for the following key personnel:

Project Manager. The minimum qualifications are: 2 years of experience development and delivery of team-based open science training, including topics in how research teams can foster psychological safety, how to run inclusive meetings, and team skills for hybrid work; 2 years experience in providing training in reproducible science and reproducible workflows to scientific audiences for R and Python; 1 year experience in management of cloud-computing platforms (preferably but not exclusively JupyterHubs) used in scientific communities; project management experience; academic background in scientific research with a preference for oceanography, fisheries, marine science, environmental science or ecology.

Technical Lead: 2 years experience working on software engineering in R for scientific research, 2 years in programmatic data access using R, 2 years experience with geospatial packages in R, 1 years experience programming in Python.

Teaching Lead: 2 years experience teaching R, both at the novice and advanced levels preferably including geospatial packages in R.

Key personnel can be the same person or a combination of people.

Factor 3: Experience –

To demonstrate its experience, the quoter shall identify up to three (3) of its most relevant contracts or grants within the past three (3) years from the RFQ closing date. Quoters shall provide a detailed explanation demonstrating the relevance of the contracts to the requirements of the RFQ. For purposes of this RFQ, a contract is defined as a grant, purchase order, a contract, a single task order or call order placed under an ID/IQ contract, a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA), or a Federal Supply Schedule.

However, the quoter may elect to submit a reference for multiple delivery orders, call orders, task orders, training agreements, and/or technical direction letters that are combined to be used as one (1) reference.

The following minimum information shall be provided within contractor submitted references:

• Contract Number/Order Number/Grant Number

• Date of Contract or Grant Award

• Name and Address of the Government Agency or Commercial Entity

• Contract Type

• Annual Contract Cost https://www.abilityone.gov/abor.html

• Period of Performance

• Description of Work

• Valid name, phone number and e-mail address of Contracting Officer, Contracting Officer’s Representative, Prime Contractor (if company was subcontracted), and/or Point of Contact.

• In the description of work, quotes shall provide a detailed explanation demonstrating the similarity of the contract, in terms of scope and size to the requirements of the solicitation for purposes of the relevancy review. Quoters shall provide a brief description of work performed and results achieved;

description of the methodology, tools, and processes utilized. Additionally, quoters shall provide detailed information on any products produced as a part of the work such as reports, presentations, published papers, etc.

Subcontractor/teaming partner performance (either the quoter’s own subcontractor/teaming partner experience or proposed subcontractor’s/partner’s experience) of major or critical aspects of this requirement will be considered the same as prime contractor performance. Failure to provide the required information and level of specificity may result in the contract reference not being evaluated.

1. If proposed subcontractor/partner performance information is provided as part of the three (3) of its most relevant contracts or efforts, then the type of work to be completed by the proposed subcontractor/partner on this requirement must be stated. The quoter’s submittal shall clearly detail the aspects of the work in the solicitation that the subcontractor/partner is proposed to perform. A reference which does not clearly detail the aspects of the work in the solicitation that the subcontractor is proposed to perform may not be evaluated.

2. If the prime contractor or intended subcontractor/partner submits a reference in which it served as a subcontractor, the prime/subcontractor/partner shall clearly detail the work that it performed and the size (dollar value) of the subcontracted work only. A reference that does not differentiate between the overall contract effort and the subcontractor effort may not be evaluated.

Quoters are cautioned that the Government reserves the right to obtain information for use in the evaluation of experience from any sources including sources outside of the Government. The Government may obtain whatever information it deems most relevant to the required effort by telephonic and/or written inquiry. While the Government may elect to consider data from other sources, the burden of providing detailed, current, accurate and complete experience information rests with the quoter.

VOLUME 2 – PRICE SCHEDULE (NO PAGE LIMITATION)

Factor 4: Price –

The price quote shall be submitted separately using both Attachment 1 - Pricing Schedule and the completed SF1449. Quoters may submit an alternative pricing schedule. However, the alternative pricing schedule must clearly delineate all costs and be submitted in the same format as Attachment 1. All prices shall not extend beyond two (2) decimal places to the right (i.e. $0.00).

The Pricing Schedule shall be completed in its entirety and submitted in Excel format without password protection or as read-only. All formulas, lookup tables, and links should be intact, and no links shall exist to files not included with the submission. Spreadsheets shall not contain hidden worksheets. Adobe PDF or flat files will not be considered adequate.

The quoter shall provide a completed Attachment 1 and SF1449, along with acknowledgment of any solicitation amendments, within Volume 2. All CLIN unit prices and extended prices shall be completed.

If the Attachment 1 submission and SF1449 contain conflicting and/or inconsistent information, the SF1449 pricing shall be used for evaluation. The quoter shall complete all representations and certifications included herein as well as all other fill-in clauses. This information shall be included in Volume 2.

The Government anticipates that this purchase order will be awarded based upon adequate price competition. Should this not be the case, the Contracting Officer reserves the right to require the quoter to submit other than certified cost or pricing data in order to determine pricing to be fair and reasonable.

(End of Provision)