RFQ-REVISED No. 2031JW23Q00027_OCC Daily News Briefings.pdf

REQUEST FOR QUOTATION (RFQ)

Solicitation ID Number 2031JW23Q00027

OCC Daily News Brief, Clip Services, and Analytics for

OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER OF THE CURRENCY’S (OCC’s)

Office of Public Affairs and Congressional Relations

Issued:

Open-Market (Unrestricted)

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 519290 – Web Search Portals and All Other Information Service

(formerly known as 519190 All Information Services)

Conducted under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 12 and 13.5

Issued by:

OCC Acquisition Management Division, Mission Support Team

400 7th Street SW, Washington, DC 20219

Table of Contents

A. SOLICITATION

B. SUPPLIES/SERVICES AND PRICES

C. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES (STATEMENT OF WORK)

D. PACKAGING AND MARKING

E. INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

F. DELIVERIES AND PERFORMANCE

G. CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA

H. SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

I. CONTRACT PROVISIONS AND CLAUSES

J. LIST OF ATTACHMENTS

K. REPRESENTATIONS, CERTIFICATIONS, AND OTHER STATEMENTS OF OFFERORS OR

RESPONDENTS

L. INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS, AND NOTICES TO QUOTERS (52.212-1 ADDENDUM)

Addendum to FAR 52.212-1

M. EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD

A. SOLICITATION

A.1 SOLICITATION OVERVIEW

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Office of Acquisition Management on behalf of the OCC’s

Public Affairs and Congressional Relations office is seeking to acquire services for the daily preparation and delivery of an early morning news briefing that summarizes, and provides links to, top news relevant to the OCC.

In addition, OCC requires a more comprehensive morning media briefing the summarizes and provides links to news and compiles social media content that is relevant to the OCC. The solicitation, issued in accordance with

FAR 12 for Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services, using the procedures under FAR

13.5—Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Products and Commercial Services, will be performed to establish a single-award contract for News Briefing and Media Analytics support services. The Government will not be restricting this procurement; however, the awarded Contractor shall be registered in the System for Award

Management (SAM) at time of solicitation close. The resulting contract shall be for a period not to exceed 60 months (5 years), excluding any extension of services.

A.2 CONTRACT TYPE

The resulting contract will be of a combined contract type, including firm-fixed-price (FFP) and time and materials (T&M) as noted by contract line-item numbers (CLINs) below.

The Contractor shall perform and respond to the efforts required by the resulting contract on the basis of FFP –

T&M. The work shall be performed by the Contractor in accordance with all requirements contained within the request for quotation (RFQ). This RFQ contains many standardized Government clauses and provisions that refer to “proposal”, “offer” and “Offeror”; Quoters should interpret these references to mean “quotation”, “quote” and

“Quoter”, respectively. Quoters shall not interpret this as the Government requesting offers as only quotes are being requested. Any offer to create a binding contract will be proposed by the Government. The Contractor shall furnish all technical, management, labor, equipment, materials, licensing, and any other resource support necessary to adequately provide the services described in the RFQ, with particular consideration to Section C

Description of Services.

As appropriate, after award of the contract, any T&M CLINs may be converted to FFP CLINs through a formal modification that bonds mutual agreement of both parties (Government and Contractor), based on the rates (i.e., labor categories) and cost (i.e., materials, other direct costs) negotiated at the time of award in accordance with

FAR 52.212-4(c), Contract Terms and Conditions – Commercial Items, Changes (Oct 2018).

B. SUPPLIES/SERVICES AND PRICES

B.1 SUPPLIES/SERVICES PRICING TYPES

The pricing used under the resulting contract shall be applied according to the contract type established by the CLIN.

The Contractor shall provide services at FFP and T&M in performing the contract. The Contractor shall note that

CLINs 0001, 4008 and 4008a are OPTIONAL CLINs for Transition Activities. The Government will not accept

CLINs quoted at $0.00 for any operating period (i.e., Base Period, Option Period One, and so on).

These OPTIONAL CLINs shall only be billed as these CLINs are requested/required and performed. The resulting contract will consist of a 12-month base period and four 12-month option periods as identified in the tables below.

The option periods will be exercised at the discretion of the Government, consistent with FAR Clause 52.217-9

Option to Extend the Term of the Contract.

B.1.1 Base Period (Month 1 through Month 12)

CLIN Type Task Description Qty Unit/

Amount Unit Price Extended Price

0001 FFP

Transition-In Activities (Optional Task)

(Ref. RFQ Section C.3.1)

1 MO

0002 T&M Preparation of News Briefings and

Summaries (Ref. RFQ Section C.3.2)

12 MO

0003 T&M Delivery of News Briefings and

Summaries (Ref. RFQ Section C.3.3)

12 MO

0004 T&M Human Scoring (Ref. RFQ Section

C.3.4)

12 MO

0005 T&M Media Analytics (Ref. RFQ Section

C.3.5)

12 MO

0006 T&M Hosting of Archive (Ref. RFQ Section

C.3.6)

12 MO

0007 T&M Storage of Archive (Ref. RFQ C.3.7) 12 MO

0008 FFP Transition-Out Activities (Optional Task) 1 MO

TOTAL COST FOR BASE PERIOD

B.1.2 Option Period One (Month 13 through Month 24)

Unit/

Amount Unit Price Extended Price

1001 Reserved

1002 T&M Preparation of News Briefings and

Summaries (Ref. RFQ Section C.3.2)

12 MO

1003 T&M Delivery of News Briefings and

Summaries (Ref. RFQ Section C.3.3)

12 MO

1004 T&M Human Scoring (Ref. RFQ Section

C.3.4)

12 MO

1005 T&M Media Analytics (Ref. RFQ Section

C.3.5)

12 MO

1006 T&M Hosting of Archive (Ref. RFQ Section

C.3.6)

12 MO

1007 T&M Storage of Archive (Ref. RFQ C.3.7) 12 MO

1008 Reserved

Unit/

Amount Unit Price Extended Price

TOTAL COST FOR OPTION PERIOD ONE

B.1.3 Option Period Two (Month 25 through Month 36)

Unit/

Amount Unit Price Extended Price

2001 Reserved

2002 T&M Preparation of News Briefings and

Summaries (Ref. RFQ Section C.3.2)

12 MO

2003 T&M Delivery of News Briefings and

Summaries (Ref. RFQ Section C.3.3)

12 MO

2004 T&M Human Scoring (Ref. RFQ Section

C.3.4)

12 MO

2005 T&M Media Analytics (Ref. RFQ Section

C.3.5)

12 MO

2006 T&M Hosting of Archive (Ref. RFQ Section

C.3.6)

12 MO

2007 T&M Storage of Archive (Ref. RFQ C.3.7) 12 MO

2008 Reserved

TOTAL COST FOR OPTION PERIOD TWO

B.1.4 Option Period Three (Month 37 through Month 48)

Unit/

Amount Unit Price Extended Price

3001 Reserved

3002 T&M Preparation of News Briefings and

Summaries (Ref. RFQ Section C.3.2)

12 MO

3003 T&M Delivery of News Briefings and

Summaries (Ref. RFQ Section C.3.3)

12 MO

3004 T&M Human Scoring (Ref. RFQ Section

C.3.4)

12 MO

3005 T&M Media Analytics (Ref. RFQ Section

C.3.5)

12 MO

3006 T&M Hosting of Archive (Ref. RFQ Section

C.3.6)

12 MO

3007 T&M Storage of Archive (Ref. RFQ C.3.7) 12 MO

3008 Reserved

TOTAL COST FOR OPTION PERIOD THREE

B.1.5 Option Period Four (Month 49 through Month 60)

Unit/

Amount Unit Price Extended Price

4001 Reserved

4002 T&M Preparation of News Briefings and

Summaries (Ref. RFQ Section C.3.2)

12 MO

4003 T&M Delivery of News Briefings and

Summaries (Ref. RFQ Section C.3.3)

12 MO

4004 T&M Human Scoring (Ref. RFQ Section

C.3.4)

12 MO

4005 T&M Media Analytics (Ref. RFQ Section

C.3.5)

12 MO

4006 T&M Hosting of Archive (Ref. RFQ Section

C.3.6)

12 MO

4007 T&M Storage of Archive (Ref. RFQ C.3.7) 12 MO

4008 FFP Transition-Out Activities (Optional Task) 1 MO

TOTAL COST FOR OPTION PERIOD FOUR

TOTAL COST FOR BASE PLUS ALL OPTION PERIODS

B.1.6 6-Month Extension—if exercised (Month 61 through Month 66)

Unit/

Amount Unit Price Extended Price

4002a T&M Preparation of News Briefings and

Summaries (Ref. RFQ Section C.3.2)

6 MO

4003a T&M Delivery of News Briefings and

Summaries (Ref. RFQ Section C.3.3)

6 MO

4004a T&M Human Scoring (Ref. RFQ Section

C.3.4)

6 MO

4005a T&M Media Analytics (Ref. RFQ Section

C.3.5)

6 MO

4006a T&M Hosting of Archive (Ref. RFQ Section

C.3.6)

6 MO

4007a T&M Storage of Archive (Ref. RFQ C.3.7) 6 MO

4008a FFP Transition-Out Activities (Optional Task) 1 MO

TOTAL COST FOR OPTION PERIOD FOUR EXTENSION

TOTAL COST FOR ALL OPERATING PERIODS PLUS 6-MONTH EXTENSION)

C. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES (STATEMENT OF WORK)

C.1 Background

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) charters, regulates, and supervises national banks, federal savings associations, and the federal branches and agencies of foreign banks. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the OCC is responsible for promoting and assuring the safety and soundness of the country’s system of federally chartered banks and maintaining its competitiveness, efficiency, integrity, and stability in the financial marketplace.

In furtherance of the OCC’s role of supervising the nation’s federally chartered banks, officials and staff members must start each day fully informed about important print and broadcast news, and social media postings, from across the nation related to the federal banking system. The Comptroller has determined this will best be accomplished via an expert-edited briefing of news clips with access to news coverage via web links that is delivered twice each business day, in which each news article is scored for a variety of metrics.

C.2 Scope

The OCC requires a service to provide for the daily preparation of an early morning news briefing that summarizes, and provides links to, top news relevant to the OCC. In addition, OCC requires a more comprehensive morning media briefing that summarizes and provides links to news and compiles social media content that is relevant to the OCC. The contractor shall prepare and distribute the news briefings to OCC employees via e-mail and maintain an e-mail subscription service for the news briefings. In addition, the OCC requires the contractor to analyze the coverage for reach, tone, topic, prominence, value, source and type, provide analytics that are accessible online daily, and operate and maintain a searchable archive of the daily news briefings.

This Statement of Work encompasses all activities necessary to provide OCC with news briefings and analytics.

The Contractor is responsible for performing the services under this contract independently. The Contractor shall provide all personnel required for the performance the services required by this contract.

C.3 Tasks

The OCC requires a responsible contractor to provide the following:

C.3.1 Transition-In Activities (Optional Task)

C.3.1.1 The objective of the Transition-In Activities is a low-risk, low-impact transition as the

Contractor assumes responsibilities from the incumbent contractor. The services provided under this contract are vital to the OCC’s mission and must continue without interruption or degradation.

C.3.1.2 The transition-in task will be the primary body of work after contract award and shall last for 30 calendar days. The Contractor shall perform in a backup and transitioning-in role for

30 calendar days and then transition to the primary role for the remainder of the base year contract.

C.3.1.3 In this phase, news briefings, human scoring method, media analytics, and the searchable archive will be introduced, baselined and reported. These items set the foundation for continuing performance assessment. It is OCC’s expectation that the Contractor’s subject matter experts will work with the OCC Public Affairs and Congressional Relations staff to actively participate in the knowledge transfer process. The Contractor shall ensure there are no service disruptions or degradations during and after the transition-in task.

C.3.1.4 Transition-in activities shall be performed in accordance with a Contractor-developed, Government-approved transition plan. The transition plan shall describe all actions necessary to ensure the successful transition of all contract activities by the end of the transition period. The final transition-in plan is due no later than 7 business days after postaward orientation. This final plan will describe the status of each transition action as of the end of the transition period.

The transition plan shall include:

▪ Steps required to transition all contract activities and documentation from the incumbent to the awarded Contractor.

▪ Steps required to develop sample human-prepared summary, news briefings, scoring methodologies, media analytics with dashboard, website with searchable archive, subscription list transferal and/or input, and subscription form, along with the associated training for OCC Public Affairs & Congressional Relations Staff.

▪ Transition activity timelines and milestones from contract kickoff through the transition-in period.

▪ Transition resource requirements, to include an updated Contractor-developed staffing plan.

▪ Transition of e-mail subscribers and preferences, and establishment of e-mail subscription capabilities.

C.3.2 Preparation of News Briefings and Summaries

C.3.2.1 Prepare two executive-level daily briefings that highlight and summarize important elements of print and broadcast news stories, and social media coverage of the OCC and other topics of interest to the agency related to the financial services industry. The first briefing, referred to as the OCC Early Bird News Digest, culls from the key sources (see

Attachment E) and includes the top headlines that have the potential to affect the agency.

The second briefing, referred to as the OCC Daily News Digest, is intended to be more comprehensive, covering news more broadly, that is relevant to the OCC and its employees.

The Daily News Digest briefing will be formatted to have no more than twenty (20) sections. In addition to news specific to OCC and its mission, the contractor must provide a “national news” section in the Daily News Digest briefing suitable to the needs of OCC officials who must be aware of important developments affecting the Federal Government.

The Daily News Digest briefing must also include a compilation of and links to Twitter and other relevant social media coverage of the OCC and other relevant topics.

C.3.2.2 The Daily News Digest briefing is anticipated to average seven (7) to ten (10) pages per day. Contractor shall coordinate the order and outline of the Daily News Digest and Early

Bird News Digest products with the COR in advance. Relevant stories from the key sources will be grouped at the front of the Daily Digest product under Leading the News.

C.3.2.3 Contractor must review the attached suggested news sources list, at a minimum. Television coverage must be those stories broadcasted nationally and locally. It is not acceptable to provide links to stories appearing on the websites of local broadcasters if those stories never aired. If a story aired, the link from a local broadcaster’s website may be used.

C.3.2.4 For print articles referenced in the briefing, the contractor must provide a link to the original full-text versions when available on the original publishers’ websites or third-party site.

When links point to content on subscription-based sites, the OCC may at its discretion subscribe to the sites. The Contractor shall provide a link to available video or audio clips that are accessible online for broadcast stories.

C.3.2.5 For social media coverage, the contractor must provide a link to the original post. It is not acceptable to provide only a summary of the social media coverage.

C.3.2.6 The contractor must use human analysts/editors to:

▪ Find and review articles and broadcasts from daily newspapers, national and local television, newsweeklies, magazines, journals, Internet sites, and specialty press. For daily newspapers, the sources included on the suggested news sources list (see

Attachment E) must be reviewed at a minimum. Other national, regional, and local newspapers should be considered.

▪ Find and review social media coverage of the OCC. Twitter must be reviewed, at a minimum.

C.3.2.7 Apply a sophisticated understanding of OCC’s mission to determine which aspects of each story are important to the various constituencies within OCC.

C.3.2.8 Prepare summaries that include key points relevant to the OCC, source, date, page, circulation, and author where available.

C.3.2.9 The news included in the briefing must be current, meaning the OCC Daily News Digest will include stories appearing that morning in the nation’s newspapers and broadcast in the preceding 24 hours by the nation’s national and local television news outlets. Additionally, the OCC Daily News Digest must include social media postings appearing in the last 24 hours.

C.3.3 Delivery of News Briefing and Summaries

C.3.3.1 Distribute two executive-level daily briefings that highlight and summarize important elements of print and broadcast news stories, and social media coverage of the OCC and other topics of interest to the agency. The first briefing, referred as the OCC Early Bird

News Digest, must be delivered by e-mail to OCC subscribers no later than 6:00 AM (ET), each business day, except federal holidays. The second briefing, referred to as the OCC

Daily News Digest, must be delivered by e-mail to OCC subscribers each business day no later than 9:00 AM (ET), except federal holidays.

C.3.3.2 E-mail will be an HTML-enriched format with a clickable table of contents at the top to allow easy navigation to the article summaries included in the briefing. Each summary will include a link to the original article or social media posting.

C.3.3.3 The OCC Daily News Digest must be available at a contractor-provided dedicated, secure website available to all OCC employees, each business day by 12:00 PM (ET).

C.3.3.4 The website will serve as an archive of the daily news briefings and will include the following capabilities, at a minimum:

▪ Search function by keyword and date range, with the ability to sort by date and relevance

▪ Provide multiple views, including views by key sources

▪ Capability to view and download news briefings and search results in Microsoft Word and PDF

▪ Provide an audio feed of the summaries

▪ Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed

▪ Capability to save specific entries in the news briefings

C.3.3.5 Web delivery will be made available via an IP-protected website (including a searchable archive). Web delivery will include a navigable HTML version that is mobile-optimized, as well as a MS Word and PDF version for printing. The HTML version will include a clickable table of contents as well as a view that is sorted by key source identified by the

OCC. HTML version will include a link to an audio version of the OCC Daily News Digest.

C.3.3.6 Deliverables (HTML) under this contract must be suitable for storing and sharing within the OCC intranet and e-mail by meeting technical and functional standards of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. The contractor must also be flexible to accommodate changes to the briefings based on changing needs at OCC.

C.3.4 Human Scoring

C.3.4.1 The Contractor shall use human analysts/editors to analyze all media clips and social media content about the OCC delivered through the OCC Daily News Digest product according to key topics (no more than 15) identified by the OCC. Scoring shall reflect:

▪ Person(s) reading and reviewing the article to determine topic, relevancy to the OCC, and potential impacts.

▪ Mentions of OCC in each topic by story focus (primary, secondary, or mere mention).

▪ Person(s) analysis of the potential audience and tone showing the size of audience exposed to positive, neutral, and negative messages by date.

▪ Total audience reached by positive, neutral, negative messages for the given period.

C.3.4.2 Analysis and scores will be assigned by a human analyst rather than automated (i.e., AI) scoring methods.

C.3.5 Media Analytics

C.3.5.1 The Contractor shall provide daily media analytics of relevant OCC stories to allow OCC

Public Affairs and Congressional Relations staff to assess coverage, develop actions, and improve decision-making.

C.3.5.2 Media analytics shall include:

▪ Mentions of the OCC in articles on each topic by date and total mentions of OCC in provided clips.

▪ Mentions of OCC by media type (newspaper, blog, TV, radio, trade journal, newswire, magazine, social media platform).

▪ Measure of tonality of all mentions by topic for the period and by date.

▪ Mentions of OCC in each topic by story type (standard, op-ed, editorial).

▪ Mentions of OCC in top eleven (11) sources identified by the OCC (see Attachment

E).

▪ Analysis of the size of the potential audience of clips by topic and total audience of

OCC mentions by date.

▪ Analysis will score on impressions, audiences, and stories.

▪ Analysis will be delivered no later than 12:00 PM ET each day that the OCC Daily

News Digest is delivered.

▪ Analysis will be provided online to OCC points of contact (typically no more than 5) as requested.

C.3.5.3 The online presentation (i.e., Media Analytics Dashboard) for media analytics will allow the OCC user (typically no more than 5) to choose the type of report providing the analysis outlined above and the ability to choose to filter on the various options provided below:

▪ Chart type (Stacked column, stacked bar, column bar, line, area)

▪ Topic as defined by the OCC

▪ Date ranges (last 7 days, last 30 days, last 60 days, last 90 days, last year, last week, last month, last year, last three years, and custom date range) or to determine the specific data range by entering the beginning and ending dates

C.3.5.4 The online graphs will allow the OCC user to drill down on each date point to see the stories or social media postings contributing to that metric below. The system will provide the date, headline source, and tonality of the contributing stories. The system will have the ability for users to click a headline to view the original story.

C.3.6 Hosting of Archive

C.3.6.1 Contractor shall provide all hosting and storage for the briefings and media analytics for the duration of the contract service provided to the OCC

C.3.6.2 Contractor shall maintain capability for no more than 4,000 OCC employees to subscribe to receiving e-mail versions (opt-in feature) of the OCC Early Bird News Digest and OCC

Daily News Digest. Contractor shall maintain that subscription list and provide the OCC with the number of subscribers and a list of subscribers upon request

C.3.6.3 Contractor shall be able to host at least 85 articles per day to support daily news briefings

C.3.6.4 The Contractor shall be responsible for hosting and storing all information off-site

C.3.7 Storage of Archive

C.3.7.1 Contractor shall have the capability of storing archival data over for at least a 20-year capacity

C.3.7.2 Contractor shall ensure the OCC has access to archived daily news briefings and media analytics from years past (potentially 10-15 years) through transition of content files having various file format (e.g., PDF, MS Word), hyperlinks, and if available, audio feeds

C.3.8 Transition-Out Activities (Optional Task)

C.3.8.1 The Contractor shall provide transition-out activities to transition support to the

Government or a third-party service provider during the last 30 days of the contract period of performance or in the event an option period is not awarded. The Contractor shall perform transition-out activities concurrent with all other requirements in the statement of work.

C.3.8.2 Transition-out activities shall be performed in accordance with a Contractor-developed, Government-approved transition plan. The transition plan shall describe all actions necessary to ensure the successful transition of all contract activities by the end of the transition period. The final transition-out plan is due no later than 60 days prior to the expiration of the base-year period of performance and must be updated and submitted for each option year 60 days prior to each option year period of performance. This final report will describe the status of each transition action as of the end of the transition period.

The transition-out plan shall include:

▪ Steps required to transition all contract activities and documentation from the

Contractor to the new awardee or to OCC staff (whichever party is assuming responsibility for the scope of work).

▪ Steps required to transition data to the new awardee or OCC staff all data associated with and including the media analytics for the news briefings.

▪ Steps required to transition human-prepared summary, news briefings, scoring methodologies, media analytics with dashboard, website with searchable archive, subscription list transferal and/or input, and subscription form, along with the associated training for OCC Public Affairs and Congressional Relations staff.

▪ Transition activity timelines and milestones from the start of the transition period through the end of the contract period of performance.

C.4 Personnel Management

C.4.1 Contractor Point of Contact (CPOC).

The Contractor shall identify a point of contact (POC) for this contract to interface with the OCC

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). The Contractor shall provide a POC (e.g., Program Manager, Project Manager) to serve as a central contact for the coordination of all daily news briefing activities.

The designated individual shall be experienced in performing the day-to-day activities involved with the researching, collecting, clipping, and briefing of news content and articles for writing, editing, reporting, and analyzing information for inclusion and broadcasting to subscribers.

C.4.2 OCC COR

The Government (OCC) COR will be the Contractor's primary day-to-day contact in the performance of this contract.

C.5 Government Furnished Information

The OCC staff will provide a list of news sources (see Attachment E) that should be reviewed daily to compile the news briefings. This list is provided as a minimum source listing as the Government anticipates the Contractor to review and consider additional, relevant sources based on expertise.

The Contractor shall be responsible for providing all equipment and materials for servicing capabilities based on details identified throughout Section C.

C.6 Information and Communication Technology Accessibility Requirements

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-220) requires that when Federal agencies develop, procure, maintain, or use information and communication technology (ICT), it shall be accessible to people with disabilities. Federal employees and members of the public who have disabilities must have access to, and use of, information and data that is comparable to people without disabilities. As such, the following requirements apply to this solicitation:

C.6.1 Products, platforms and services delivered as part of this work statement that are ICT, or contain

ICT, must conform to the Revised 508 Standards, which are located at 36 C.F.R. § 1194.1 &

Apps. A, C & D, and available at https://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/communications-and-it/about-the-ict-refresh/final-rule/text-of-the-standards-and-guidelines

C.6.2 E102 / 702.10 – Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) success criteria level A & AA are incorporated as a requirement. The referenced WCAG criteria is available at http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/

C.6.3 A completed Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) found at https://www.itic.org/policy/accessibility/vpat, using Voluntary Product Accessibility Template

(VPAT) Revised Section 508 Edition, Version 2.4, is required to assist the Government in determining that the ICT products or services support Section 508 accessibility standards.

C.6.4 E202 – No General Exceptions Authorized by OCC.

C.6.5 Applicable Functional Performance Criteria:

All functional performance criteria apply when using an alternative design or technology that achieves substantially equivalent or greater accessibility and usability by individuals with disabilities than would be provided by conformance to one or more of the requirements in https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.access-board.gov%2Fguidelines-and-standards%2Fcommunications-and-it%2Fabout-the-ict-refresh%2Ffinal-rule%2Ftext-of-the-standards-and-guidelines&data=02%7C01%7CSusan.OBrien%40occ.treas.gov%7C57ec31d2d17c479fdbf808d76d258caa%7Cfd30c7091bb849f19c7edd8840c989d0%7C0%7C0%7C637097880354836254&sdata=7JnwLP%2B6fbjpueFFj8jBQftTv5w3dE9NXJ2AwTTNC8Q%3D&reserved=0 https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.access-board.gov%2Fguidelines-and-standards%2Fcommunications-and-it%2Fabout-the-ict-refresh%2Ffinal-rule%2Ftext-of-the-standards-and-guidelines&data=02%7C01%7CSusan.OBrien%40occ.treas.gov%7C57ec31d2d17c479fdbf808d76d258caa%7Cfd30c7091bb849f19c7edd8840c989d0%7C0%7C0%7C637097880354836254&sdata=7JnwLP%2B6fbjpueFFj8jBQftTv5w3dE9NXJ2AwTTNC8Q%3D&reserved=0 https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.access-board.gov%2Fguidelines-and-standards%2Fcommunications-and-it%2Fabout-the-ict-refresh%2Ffinal-rule%2Ftext-of-the-standards-and-guidelines&data=02%7C01%7CSusan.OBrien%40occ.treas.gov%7C57ec31d2d17c479fdbf808d76d258caa%7Cfd30c7091bb849f19c7edd8840c989d0%7C0%7C0%7C637097880354836254&sdata=7JnwLP%2B6fbjpueFFj8jBQftTv5w3dE9NXJ2AwTTNC8Q%3D&reserved=0 http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/ https://www.itic.org/policy/accessibility/vpat

Chapters 4-6 of the Revised 508 Standards, or when Chapters 4-6 do not address one or more functions of ICT.

Applicable Requirements for Software and Web products:

• E207 – WCAG Level A & AA Success Criteria

• E302 – Functional Performance Criteria

• E502 – Interoperability

D. PACKAGING AND MARKING

The Contractor shall meet required delivery schedules, noting that all deliverables shall be submitted electronically to the designated COR by the due date and within the format identified per the table in Section F.3.1

Deliverables Schedule Table. All deliverables shall be clearly marked or identifiable by the title noted in Section

F.3.1 column ‘Description of Deliverable’. Changes to these instructions shall be coordinated with the COR and may require incorporation by formal modification as deemed by the Contracting Officer.

E. INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

The Contractor’s deliverables will be reviewed and inspected for acceptance on a recurring basis (at least quarterly, per calendar year) by and as established by the COR, as agreed to with the Contractor at time of contract award.

F. DELIVERIES AND PERFORMANCE

F.1 Place of Performance

The place of performance will be at the Contractor’s facility. The Contractor shall attend a postaward orientation virtually or in person at OCC Headquarters located at 400 7th Street SW, Washington, DC 20219.

OCC’s Observed Federal Holidays

Federal Holidays Designated Dates

New Year’s Day January 1

Martin Luther King’s Birthday Third Monday in January

President’s Day Third Monday in February

Memorial Day Last Monday in May

Juneteenth Independence Day June 19

Independence Day July 4

Labor Day First Monday in September

Columbus Day Second Monday in October

Veterans’ Day November 11

Thanksgiving Day Fourth Thursday in November

Christmas Day December 25

F.2 Period of Performance

The Government anticipates a single award contract that includes a 12-month base period, and four 12-month option periods. If options are exercised via a formal modification executed by the Government, the total contract period shall not exceed 60 months (5 years). However, the Government may seek to extend services through a 6-month period, under FAR 52.217-8, Option to Extend Services (NOV 1999) (see below for details). The following identifies the anticipated operating periods under any resulting contract:

Base Period March 1, 2023 – February 29, 2024 (Leap Year)

Option Period One March 1, 2024 – February 28, 2025

Option Period Two March 1, 2025 – February 28, 2026

Option Period Three March 1, 2026 – February 28, 2027

Option Period Four March 1, 2027 – February 29, 2028 (Leap Year)

Extension Period March 1, 2028 – August 31, 2028 (Up to 6 Months of Services)

F.3 High-Level Delivery Schedule and Milestone Delivery Dates

The following schedule of milestones and delivery dates shall be used by the Contractor for approximation and note the dates are subject to change based on need and changes in activity deliverables and priorities; significant changes will be further accommodated at the COR’s discretion. The Government’s COR will utilize the schedule to monitor timely progress under the resulting contract. Deliverables are due the next business day if the due date falls on a weekend, Government holiday or closure. The Contractor shall deliver the deliverables listed in the formats and by the dates specified in the table (F.3.1 below). The specific contents and template for each deliverable will be agreed upon with the COR after contract award.

F.3.1 Deliverables Schedule Table

Task Ref Description of Deliverable

Delivery

Method

Delivered

To Due Date

C.3.1.4 Postaward Final Transition-In Plan Email COR

Within 7 Business Days of Postaward

Orientation

C.3.3.1 OCC Daily Early Bird Digest Email

OCC

Subscribers

6:00 AM Eastern Time

(ET) Each Business Day

(Excludes Federal

Holidays)

C.3.3.1 OCC Daily News Digest Email

OCC

Subscribers

9:00 AM ET Each

Business Day (Excludes

Federal Holidays)

C.3.3.3 Upload OCC Daily News Digest Online

Contractor

Secure

Website

12:00 PM ET Each

Business Day

C.3.5.2 Media Analytics of OCC related stories Online

OCC

Points of

Contact

12:00 PM ET Each

Business Day (Excludes

Federal Holidays)

C.3.6.2 List of OCC Subscribers Email COR

Upon Request (No

More Than 12

Annually)

C.3.8.2 Final Transition Out Plan Email COR

60 Days Prior to

Contract Expiration

C.3.8.2 Updates to Transition Plan Email COR

30 Days Prior to

Expiration Date of Each

Option Period

G. CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA

The individuals listed below are identified as authorized officials by the agreeing parties for the duration of which a resulting contract is awarded. Authorization of any changes to the resulting contract can only be performed by the Contracting Officer (CO) through formal modification See Section I., 1052.243-8001 Authorized Changes

Only by the Contracting Officer. The Contracting Officer will appoint a Contracting Officer’s Representative

(COR) to the contract for contractual and operational matters. See Section I., 1052.201-8000 Contracting

Officer’s Representative (COR) Delegation and Authority, for further details.

G.1 Contract Administration Team (Government and Industry)

Contracting Officer (CO):

Anethra Facione, OCC Office of Acquisition Management (AQM)

400 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20219

Email: Anethra.Facione@occ.trea.gov

Phone: 202.880.0634

Contract Specialist (CS):

Danielle Peña, OCC Office of Acquisition Management (AQM)

400 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20219

Email: Danielle.Pena@occ.trea.gov

Phone: 202.649.6513

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR):

TBD, OCC Public Affairs and Congressional Relations

400 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20219

Email: TBD@occ.trea.gov

Phone: XXX.XXX.XXXX

Contractor’s Point of Contact (CPOC):

TBD, Contractor Company

Street Address, City, State Zip Code

Email: TBD@company.com

Phone: XXX.XXX.XXXX

G.2 Invoice Submission

The Contractor shall submit requests for payments (i.e., invoices) in accordance with the format contained in FAR

52.212-4, to be considered proper for payment. In addition, the following data elements shall be included on each invoice:

● Contract Number: (from SF 1449, Block 4)

● Paying Number: (From SF 1449, Block 1)

● Project Title: OCC Daily News Brief, Clip Services and Analytics

The Contractor shall certify with a signed and dated invoice for requesting payment.

Refer to DTAR 1052.232-7003 ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF PAYMENT REQUESTS (APR 2015) for information on the submission of invoices.

The final invoice is desired to be submitted within 6 months of project completion. The Contractor shall provide the Government with a monthly status on when the final invoice will be submitted to the Government at contract end.

G.2.1 FFP CLINs

The Contractor may invoice as stated in Section B –Price/Cost Schedule tables for the FFP CLINs mailto:Anethra.Facione@occ.trea.gov mailto:Danielle.Pena@occ.trea.gov mailto:TBD@company.com monthly for payment. The invoice shall include the PoP covered by the invoice (all current charges shall be within the active billing cycle (i.e., PoP) and the CLIN number(s) and title(s). All prices shall be reported by CLIN element (as shown in Section B – Price/Cost Schedule table), and shall be provided for the current invoice. The Contractor shall provide the invoice data in an acceptable format (MS Excel or

PDF) as identified by the Government’s (OCC’s) COR. In accordance with FAR 52.212-4 Contract

Terms and Conditions—Commercial Products and Commercial Services, all invoices shall be proper in form in order to be processed for payment, and must include:

● Name and address of the Contractor;

● Invoice date and number;

● Contract number, line item number and, if applicable, the order number;

● Description, quantity, unit of measure, unit price and extended price of the items delivered;

● Shipping number and date of shipment, including the bill of lading number and weight of shipment if shipped on Government bill of lading;

● Terms of any discount for prompt payment offered;

● Name and address of official to whom payment is to be sent;

● Name, title, and phone number of person to notify in event of defective invoice;

● Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). The Contractor shall include its TIN on the invoice only if required elsewhere in this contract; and

● Electronic funds transfer (EFT) banking information

G.2.2 T&M CLINs

The Contractor may invoice monthly on the basis of hours and costs incurred for the T&M CLINs at time of submission of FFP CLINs, as long as the hours, materials, and/or costs for the T&M CLINs received prior approval/authorization and support documentation is received for actual cost incurred, excluding profit. The invoice shall include the PoP covered by the invoice (all invoice charges shall be within the active PoP) and the CLIN number and title. All hours and costs shall be reported by CLIN element (as shown in Section B –Price/Cost Schedule tables), project, Contractor employee (as applicable), shall be provided for the current billing month, and reported in total from project inception to date. Sample content to include in the detailed billing report (i.e., invoice) may include, as applicable:

● Material/Item description

● Quantity used/incurred billed by CLIN

● Employee name and title

● Employee labor category and rate

● Monthly and total cumulative hours worked

● Hours incurred billed by CLIN

● Total amount paid for materials, supplies, assistance, accommodations

● Description of services performed under CLIN

● Total amount to be paid (lump sum) by CLIN

G.3 Contractor Performance Assessment

The OCC will evaluate the Contractor’s performance at the conclusion of the contract, noting the Contracting Officer may conduct evaluations more frequently, as appropriate. Contractor evaluations will be conducted using Contractor

Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS). See Section I.2, 1052.242-8000, Evaluation of Contractor

Performance for further details.

H. SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

H.1 Accessibility Requirements

In accordance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d), as amended by the Workforce

Investment Act of 1998, all electronic and information technology (EIT) products developed, acquired, maintained, or used any resulting any resulting contract must comply with the “Electronic and Information Technology

Accessibility Provisions. See Section I.2, Clause 1052.239-8000, Electronic and Information Technology

Accessibility for further details.

H.2 Press/News Release

Contractors (and sub-Contractors) shall not make any press or news releases pertaining to the award without prior

Government approval from and only in coordination with the OCC’s awarding CO. Non-disclosure agreements may be required of the awardee. See Section I.2, Clause 1052.210-70 Contractor publicity, for further details.

H.3 Contractor Identification

All Contractor personnel, whether entering or delivering supplies at the OCC, shall furnish proper identification. See

Section I.2, Clause 1052.204-8000, Proper Identification of Contractor Personnel for further details.

H.4 Equal Opportunity in Employment and Contracting

The awarded Contractor shall ensure, to the maximum extent possible consistent with applicable law, that efforts in good-faith have been taken for the fair inclusion of minorities and women in its workforce. See Section I.2, Clause

1052.342-8000, Contractor’s Commitment to Equal Opportunity in Employment and Contracting, for further details.

H.5 Data Rights

Under the resulting contract, the Government (OCC) will use, to the maximum extent practical, commercial use of inventions made prior, under the Government existing contract(s). The OCC shall own the news briefings exclusively prepared for the OCC, the subscription list, and all associated media analysis prepared for the news briefings. Contractors providing commercial items may indemnify the Government against any liability for the infringement of U.S. patents. Intellectual Property Rights, Data Rights, as well as Technical Data, including data and software rights that will be considered negotiable based on individual Contractor solutions. However, Contractors shall note that it is the Government’s intent to obtain a level of unlimited rights (without restrictions) for the purpose of Government use (i.e., Government Purpose Rights), not limited to the ability to modify, reproduce, perform, release, display, or disclose of, all deliverables and information submitted and received, including the designs, developments, enhancements, and drafts of the work products under the resulting contract for a period commencing upon execution of contract award through the duration of the contract.

The CO may release the Contractor from the terms of the unlimited rights period at any time per a written request to do so and as agreed to by both parties (Government and Contractor). The Contractor shall agree that the required development of the work products, items, deliverables, components, and/or processes, or creation of any data resulting from the contract, shall be maintain by the government, if requested, with unlimited rights in technical data and property, including any software developed for the Government’s purposes.

The Government understands that commercial software tools that may be purchased in furtherance of the contract may be subject to commercial agreements, which may take a variety of forms, including without limitation licensing agreements, terms of service, maintenance agreements, and the like, whether existing in hard copy or in an electronic or online format such as “clickwrap” or “browsewrap” (collectively, “Supplier Agreements”). For purposes of the resulting contract, the Supplier Agreements are “collateral agreements” within the meaning of the

FAR clause at 52.227-14 Rights in Data – General (May 2014). The Government shall have unlimited rights in all data first produced in the performance of the resulting contract, including without limitation all deliverables, in accordance with the FAR 52.227-14, as incorporated in the resulting contract.

I. CONTRACT PROVISIONS AND CLAUSES

In accordance with (IAW) FAR 12, the following provisions and clauses, to the maximum extent practicable, are hereby included applicable to the acquisition of commercial products or commercial services. The Government reserves the right to determine the Quoter’s consistency with customary commercial practices via the Quoter’s

SAM.gov registration. Therefore, only provisions and/or clauses identified by an additional attachment shall be submitted in response (see Section K for details on provision(s) response submission).

I.1 Solicitation Provisions

FAR 52.252-1 Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference (FEB 1998)

This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. After request, the CO will make the 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 proposal 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 proposal of offer. The solicitation provisions and/or contract clauses are available in either HTML or PDF format at:

http://www.acquisition.gov/far/

Provision No Provision Title Provision Date

FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors—Commercial Products and Commercial Services NOV 2021

FAR 52.204-7 System for Award Management OCT 2018

FAR 52.204-16 Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting AUG 2020

FAR 52.209-7 Information Regarding Responsibility Matters OCT 2018

FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors—Commercial Products and Commercial Services NOV 2021

FAR 52.217-5 Evaluation of Options JUL 1990

FAR 52.212-3

Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial Products and

Commercial Services

OCT 2022

FAR 52.233-2 Service of Protest SEP 2006

Solicitation Provisions in Full-Text (Fill-Ins)

NOTE: Contractor’s representation information will be reviewed by the Government via its SAM registration. Therefore, there is no need for Offerors to provide completed (filled-in) information with its quotation package submission, with the exception of FAR 52.204-24 and 52.229-11 below.

FAR 52.233-2 Service of Protest (SEP 2006)

(a) Protests, as defined in section 33.101 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, that are filed directly with an agency, and copies of any protests that are filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO), shall be served on the Contracting Officer (addressed as follows) by obtaining written and dated acknowledgment of receipt from

Anethra Facione (electronically at Anethra.Facione@occ.treas.gov).

(b) The copy of any protest shall be received in the office designated above within 1 day of filing a protest with the GAO.

(End of Provision) mailto:Anethra.Facione@occ.treas.gov

FAR 52.204-24 Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or

Equipment (NOV 2021)

The Offeror shall not complete the representation at paragraph (d)(1) of this provision if the Offeror has represented that it "does not provide covered telecommunications equipment or services as a part of its offered products or services to the Government in the performance of any contract, subcontract, or other contractual instrument" in paragraph (c)(1) in the provision at 52.204-26, Covered Telecommunications Equipment or

Services—Representation, or in paragraph (v)(2)(i) of the provision at 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and

Certifications-Commercial Products or Commercial Services. The Offeror shall not complete the representation in paragraph (d)(2) of this provision if the Offeror has represented that it "does not use covered telecommunications equipment or services, or any equipment, system, or service that uses covered telecommunications equipment or services" in paragraph (c)(2) of the provision at 52.204-26, or in paragraph (v)(2)(ii) of the provision at 52.212-3.

(a) Definitions. As used in this provision—

Backhaul, covered telecommunications equipment or services, critical technology, interconnection arrangements, reasonable inquiry, roaming, and substantial or essential component have the meanings provided in the clause 52.204-25, Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment.

(b) Prohibition.

(1) Section 889(a)(1)(A) of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Pub.

L. 115-232) prohibits the head of an executive agency on or after August 13, 2019, from procuring or obtaining, or extending or renewing a contract to procure or obtain, any equipment, system, or service that uses covered telecommunications equipment or services as a substantial or essential component of any system, or as critical technology as part of any system. Nothing in the prohibition shall be construed to—

(i) Prohibit the head of an executive agency from procuring with an entity to provide a service that connects to the facilities of a third-party, such as backhaul, roaming, or interconnection arrangements; or

(ii) Cover telecommunications equipment that cannot route or redirect user data traffic or cannot permit visibility into any user data or packets that such equipment transmits or otherwise handles.

(2) Section 889(a)(1)(B) of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019

(Pub. L. 115-232) prohibits the head of an executive agency on or after August 13, 2020, from entering into a contract or extending or renewing a contract with an entity that uses any equipment, system, or service that uses covered telecommunications equipment or services as a substantial or essential component of any system, or as critical technology as part of any system. This prohibition applies to the use of covered telecommunications equipment or services, regardless of whether that use is in performance of work under a Federal contract. Nothing in the prohibition shall be construed to—

(i) Prohibit the head of an executive agency from procuring with an entity to provide a service that connects to the facilities of a third-party, such as backhaul, roaming, or interconnection arrangements; or

(ii) Cover telecommunications equipment that cannot route or redirect user data traffic or cannot permit visibility into any user data or packets that such equipment transmits or otherwise handles.

(c) Procedures. The Offeror shall review the list of excluded parties in the System for Award Management

(SAM) ( https://www.sam.gov) for entities excluded from receiving federal awards for "covered telecommunications equipment or services".

https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-52#FAR_52_204_26 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-52#FAR_52_212_3 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-52#FAR_52_204_26 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-52#FAR_52_212_3…