Questions and Answers 19AS2025Q0009 022625.pdf

U.S. Embassy Canberra General Services Office 21 Moonah Place, Yarralumla

ACT 2600

Solicitation Number: 19AS2025Q0009

Subject: Questions & Answers

1) Your Request for Quotation document is titled Cell Phone Services and refers consistently to telecommunications services throughout the document (section 3 and 5). Is this correct?

Our media monitoring platform is not a telecommunications service.

Answer: Section 3, points 7 through 12 will be removed and addressed in the SF-30 amendment.

Section 5 is correct; 52.204-24 REPRESENTATION REGARDING CERTAIN TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SERVICES OR EQUIPMENT (NOV 2021) needs to be completed.

2) You mention a CYBERSECURITY SUPPLY CHAIN RISK MANAGEMENT (C-SCRM) C-SCRM Questionnaire but there is none attached. Can you please provide?

Answer: The C-SCRM Questionnaire will be uploaded to the RFQ on SAM.gov.

3) How many media mentions do you currently receive per month/year across all media types?

Answer: The number of media mentions varies with the current news cycles and will be required to be updated as needed.

4) Can you provide further detail on your social media monitoring requirements? What social media platforms are required? Do you have a desired source list of handles required?

Answer: No list of required sources, It could be on an occasional basis that we request monitoring of specific social media platforms with specific themes or terms that we would identify.

5) Can you provide more detail on the Pacific Islands media monitoring requirements?

Answer: The media monitoring service will focus on Australian outlets with access to Pacific Islands media.

6) If we do not comply with the C-SCRM Cyber Security Supply Chain Risk Management or any of its individual elements, will this disqualify us from making a submission?

Answer: The C-SCRM Go/No-Go Evaluation Factor is evaluated on a go/no-go basis. The Government will evaluate whether the submitted C-SCRM Questionnaire meets the definition for the “Go” or “No-Go” ratings. If the proposal does not meet one or more of the criteria, it will be rated as “No-Go” and may be rejected as unacceptable.

7) If you will accept partial compliance with C-SCRM, which components are mandatory?

Answer: The C-SCRM Questionnaire must comply with the instructions and contain “Yes” answers for all questions in Sections 2 and 3 of the questionnaire. Alternatively, a third-party authorizing official conducted assessment such as ISO 27001, ISO 9000, SOC II, or FEDRAMP authorization may be submitted.

8) You have requested a list of clients over the past three (3) years, including dates of contracts, places of performance, value of contracts etc. If, due to commercial in confidence reasons we cannot provide this information, will we be disqualified?

Answer: A minimum of three business references is required to verify past performance. You must provide a list of clients over the past three (3) years, including dates of contracts, places of performance, value of contracts, and contact information. If you have not performed comparable services in Australia, provide your international experience. The Government will use this information to assess your capability to meet the performance requirements and may contact your references to evaluate the quality of services, compliance with contract terms, management effectiveness, cooperation, and business integrity.

9) You specify a requirement for a Daily Briefing at 6:30 AM AEST (currently AEDT), what level of human compilation/curation is required?

Answer: Yes, except on weekend days/public holidays, when the delivery time can be later, i.e., noon.

10) Regarding the U.S. Embassy of Canberra Media Monitoring Services of Request for Quote (RFQ). We would like to submit a response to the RFQ in U.S. Dollars and the corresponding Australian Dollars equivalent. Would that be possible? Additionally, do you have an example list of sources?

Answer: All foreign firms shall submit their prices and receive payment in Australian dollars (AUD) except for U.S. firms:

1. U.S. firms are eligible to submit their offers and be paid in U.S. dollars. U.S. firms desiring to be paid in U.S. dollars should submit their offers in U.S. dollars. A U.S. firm is defined as a company which operates as a corporation incorporated under the laws of a state within the United States.

2. Foreign firms. Any firm, which is not a U.S. firm, is a foreign firm. Any firm that does not meet the above definition of U.S. firm shall submit its prices and receive payment in local currency.

11) Who is the current contractor?

Answer: Isentia Pty Ltd

12) What is the total value of the incumbent's contract?

Answer: The total cost of the current 12-month service contract was $124,608.00 AUD.

13) When is the anticipated award date?

Answer: The anticipated award date is late March 2025.

14) Could you please provide me with the C-SCRM Questionnaire, as it was not attached to the solicitation?

Answer: The C-SCRM Questionnaire will be uploaded to the RFQ on SAM.gov.

15) Are there any requirements regarding team size for service agents?

Answer: There is no size requirement for service agents.

16) 19AS2025Q009 - Media Monitoring Services, will a pre-quotation conference be held?

Answer: We will not be holding a pre-quotation conference.

17) Can we clarify clearly the expectation for monitoring social media?

Answer: It could be on an occasional basis that we request monitoring of specific social media platforms with specific themes or terms that we would identify.

18) Do you want the contractor to submit media monitoring reports? If so, how often?

Answer: Yes, daily.

19) What media themes and outlets (print, TV, social...) do you want the contractor to monitor, if any?

Answer: We will provide the media themes and keywords, and we require print, TV, and radio to be monitored.

20) The SOW states that the contractor should provide media monitoring software and account access to this software for 15 Embassy officials. The contractor also provides four training sessions to the Embassy. Is the Contractor doing the media monitoring, or the Embassy? Is the Contractor just providing the software, oversight, training and other support, while the Embassy conducts the bulk of the media monitoring? In short, can you explain more what role you would like the contractor to play?

Answer: There are two parts to this role: First, the contractor provides a daily press briefing via email to the Embassy’s media team, which then distributes it more widely to Mission and other U.S.

Government contacts. This is done each morning; the report contains summaries of articles from Australian and regional outlets based on the keywords we provide. Second, the contractor also provides an online platform/database that Embassy team members can access to search for stories. This platform should contain/include access to full stories from Australian and regional outlets and have the ability to create reports to provide media summaries and analytics reports to Embassy officials when required.

21) Is this a new contract and service, or a rebid on a previous contract with an existing contractor?

Answer: It is not new. We have an existing service.