RFP_-_73351018R0018_-_Final.docx

73351018R0018

Entrepreneur Learning Initiative

SECTION 1 – DEFINITIONS

AGILE DEVELOPMENT/AGILE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT: A proven commercial methodology for software development that is characterized by incremental and iterative processes where releases are produced in close collaboration with the customer. This process improves investment manageability, lowers risk of project failure, shortens the time to realize value, and allows agencies to better adapt to changing needs.

CONTRACTING OFFICER (CO): The Government official responsible for the execution and administration of contracts on behalf of the Government.

CONTRACTING OFFICER'S REPRESENTATIVE (COR): An individual designated by the Contracting Officer to act as his/her representative to assist in managing the contract. The authorities and limitations of a COR appointment are contained in the written letter of appointment.

DAY: A calendar day unless stated otherwise. If a deliverable is due on a weekend or holiday, the deliverable shall be considered due the next business day.

QUARTER: A quarter will be defined as the first of January through the end of March first of April through the end of June, first of July through the end of September, and first of October through the end of December.

BUSINESS DAY: Any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday, a Federal holiday or other day on which the Federal Government by law or executive order is closed. Note: This includes any weather-related office closures if the place of performance is in a Federal Building.

MINIMUM FUNCTIONALITY: The minimum capabilities a product should have to meet the Government's objectives.

AGILE ENVIRONMENT: A team-based setting for IT product development where the Agile development methodology is used.

ITERATION/SPRINT/RELEASE CYCLE: Divisions of time within the Agile development framework. Each iteration is small in scale (i.e., encompasses a single or a few function(s) within a multistep process). Multiple iterations form releases. For more information, see the TechFAR.

MILESTONES/EPICS: A necessary step in a process. In this document, used to refer to components of a given project.

RELEASE PLAN/RELEASE PLANNING: A common practice in Agile development environments that describes a quarterly (3 month) set of objectives, projected release schedule, and identifies milestones, risks, and issues that may affect the projected schedule.

STORY POINT: A measurement of work and effort. Story points are used in an Agile development environment to demonstrate how much work was achieved in a given sprint or iteration. For more information, see the TechFAR.

THROUGHPUT: The amount of material or items passing through a system or process; in this document, refers to the work activity of a product development team.

USER STORY: A very high-level definition of a requirement, containing just enough information so that the developers can produce a reasonable estimate of the effort to implement.

SECTION 2 – INTRODUCTION

Strong, sustainable business is a cornerstone of America’s economic success. In May 2018, the National Federation of Independent Business recorded the highest readings in the Small Business Optimism Index. Entrepreneurship is woven into the American identity, yet, many small business owners lack the resources to start and scale their businesses. The Small Business Administration is issuing this Request for Proposal (RFP) to solicit a contractor to address this problem through a proposed e-learning solution for entrepreneurs ready to start and scale their businesses. This initiative will create a modern, e-learning approach, initially targeting women who want to scale their business, then expanding to other entrepreneurs who want to start and grow their business.

General online learning resources that are available may lack an experiential learning approach, which is both engaging and encouraging to entrepreneurs, especially women. This initiative will be a first-in-class project, delivering a modern, complete learning experience that includes synchronous and asynchronous learning, networking and peer-to-peer learning components--two of the seven critical domains for supporting women entrepreneurs outlined by the National Women’s Business Council (available here).

SBA will conduct this acquisition under Part 12 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). The National American Industry Classification System Codes (NAICS) Code is 611430 Professional and Management Development Training. The Small Business size standard for this code is $11M.

2.1 ANTICIPATED CONTRACT TYPE

The anticipated award type is a firm-fixed price (FFP), by CLIN, with optional services. These services do not have estimated quantities differentiated between them, but the Government anticipates award of at least five optional services divided between CLINs 0003, 0004, and 0005.

The Government anticipates the following:

Offerors may propose alternative contract types.

2.2 ANTICIPATED CONTRACT LINE ITEM NUMBER (CLIN) FORMAT

Offerors may propose alternative CLIN formats.

For each CLIN including other direct costs (ODC) and Travel costs, the contractor shall submit a proposed list with prices for all estimated ODCs and travel with the original proposal and update 60 days prior to the next option. Labor rates and estimated hours shall also be provided to help in determining fair and reasonableness of pricing prior to award. After award contractor shall provide a copy of the ODC quote for approval by the COR prior to purchasing items. All ODCs and Travel shall not have any fees or handling charges assessed to them and shall become the property of SBA at the end of the period of performance. SBA’s COR shall be listed as the owner on all licenses purchased in connection with this procurement.

The Government expects the Base Period to be substantially higher priced than subsequent performance periods / options.

Base Period and Operations Maintenance CLINs Base Period: 6 months (Agile)

CLIN 0001, FFP- Completion - The Contractor shall provide services for the Government in accordance with the Performance Work Statement (PWS) This will include: completion of Functional Area 1: Discovery, the delivery and implementation of the final iteration of the Platform in accordance with Functional Area 2: Platform Configuration, and the seven (7) initially required learning paths in accordance with Functional Area 3: Content Development.

Licensing CLIN (if necessary for commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) product) Offerors shall provide multiple license pricing (firm-fixed price) options for their proposed COTS/Open Source learning platform. These should include, but aren’t limited to:

FFP – Licensing Costs for the Learning (Software) Platform.

Additional/Optional Learning Path CLINs The proposed Learning Path CLIN pricing will be applicable throughout the duration of the contract.

Optional Service – Low Complexity Learning Path

CLIN 0003, FFP- Completion - The Contractor shall provide services for the Government in accordance with the Performance Work Statement (PWS) (Functional Area 3)

Optional Service – Medium Complexity Learning Path

CLIN 0004, FFP- Completion - The Contractor shall provide services for the Government in accordance with the Performance Work Statement (PWS) (Functional Area 3)

Optional Service – High Complexity Learning Path

CLIN 0005, FFP- Completion - The Contractor shall provide services for the Government in accordance with the Performance Work Statement (PWS) (Functional Area 3)

Content Moderation CLINs

2.3 PAYMENT SCHEDULE

Agile CLIN 0001: The contractor shall be paid upon the completion of each iteration upon its acceptance and verification by the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) in coordination with the Product Owner(s). The payment of any approved ODC receipt will be made upon verification by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). Invoices shall be submitted at the end of each iteration in accordance with the delivery schedule as established in the Performance Work Statement.

Licensing CLINs: TBD based on type of platform, awarded structure, monthly or yearly.

Option CLINs: Option Periods will be fully funded at the time they are exercised.

SECTION 3 – COMMERCIAL-OFF-THE-SHELF or OPEN SOURCE LEARNING SOLUTION

3.1 REQUIRED SOLUTION CHARACTERISTICS

The proposed Commercial-Off-The-Shelf or open source solution shall include the following characteristics at the time of award:

1. Configurable cloud-based

2. Hosted in a public, FedRAMP certified cloud or deployable into the SBA’s Microsoft Azure or AWS environment.

3. Capture user metrics (such as user logins, time on content, etc.)

4. Capture learning analytics for insight on user behavior

5. Choose serial and/or asynchronous learning

6. Connect or integrate with one-to-one live video chat for business counseling

7. Connect or integrate with a virtual mentoring platform

8. Instructor interaction through video conferencing, virtual classrooms and virtual meeting spaces

9. Connect or integrate a survey system to survey registered users in a systematic way to easily collect feedback

10. A wiki/resource library

11. Search function to support searchable content and discussions, able to distinguish type in results

12. Ability to connect or integrate live content delivery (video on demand, hosted live online events, webinars) and recorded for future viewing

13. Gamification capability

14. Downloadable and printable transcripts of audio or narrated content

15. Ability to have an instructor conduct a live, online class

16. Monitor system performance (e.g. response time, latency, availability and error rates)

17. Facilitate customer engagement, i.e., shares, likes, comments through a social media like mechanism for learners to connect with each other

18. Availability time of 99.9%

19. Assess learner skills assessment (i.e. knowledge gained through learning path)

20. Dashboard of learner progress--achievement, in process and not started

21. Share links and posts through major social media channels

22. Accessible from all devices and platforms

23. Capability to police, moderate and facilitate discussions

24. Document sharing

25. Authentication via secure user login with data protection

26. User profiles with demographic information, business information and goals (See Appendix 2 – Demographic and Business Info Requirements)

27. Content management system

28. Section 508 Accessibility compliant

29. Learners able to virtually communicate with each other

a. Within a session to ask questions of peers also taking the learning path and discuss topics

b. Outside of sessions for general discussion of issues and ideas

c. Teams of people who are solving a specific problem (includes sharing documents)

30. Technical helpdesk and interact with Tier I support

31. Modern and engaging user interface with aesthetic and minimal design

32. Innovative built-in system training for end user (screen tips, etc.), guided tutorial

33. Ability for learners to provide feedback on the value of the content

34. Ability for a teaching assistant to provide feedback to a learner

NOTE: The contract scope does not include providing instructors, mentors, or counselors.

3.2 OTHER CHARACTERISTICS

The following characteristics are configurations/modifications to the Commercial-Off-The-Shelf or open source platform. These are configurations and options that the Government would like to see as part of the MVP, developed through Section 4.4.2 Functional Area 2: Platform Configuration. Please include the estimated hours, cost and timeline to deliver each of the following below:

1. Training for system owners

2. System integration with www.SBA.gov, certify.sba.gov and other agency systems

3. Ability to send email notifications to user

4. Ability to incorporate redesigned Government resources within learning path

5. Ability to connect via API to Microsoft Dynamics

6. Authenticate user login with Login.gov

7. Track and monitor concurrent users, capturing behavior on the platform in the aggregate to determine how well the service meets user needs

8. Recommend related learning path, content, and/or referral to external link to other Federal resources (i.e., after learner experienced A and B system now recommends experience X) Other configurations/modifications may be requested and agreed upon after contract award to be developed using an Agile approach.

SECTION 4 – STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES

This section will be removed at contract award.

4.1 OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this statement of objectives (SOO) is to develop and release a Digital Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to meet the unique needs of small business owners who want to start and scale their business. The initial focus for this project will be for women entrepreneurs looking to scale their business. The platform should be built with flexibility to expand to entrepreneurs in various stages of business and other demographics (for example, veteran small business owners, rural areas, etc.)

This MVP is a self-paced digital learning and collaboration platform, with an experiential learning approach, including peer-to-peer learning and collaboration. The environment should be engaging and enticing, making this the “go-to” digital learning and collaboration platform for entrepreneurs.

4.2 OUTPUTS

The resulting contract will be considered successful when the following outputs have been delivered:

· A refined and validated MVP vision

· A refined and configured platform, scalable to larger audiences

· A full list of requirements, developed with the Government, using the salient characteristics and sample requirements for platform and content

· An initial learning resource prototype by January 31, 2019

· Twelve defined learning paths that are interactive, experiential and learner-led and adaptable to other demographics

· A refined prototype/scalable platform with at least seven of the twelve defined learning paths delivered by March 1, 2019

· Success metrics based on usability research with end users

· Propose performance measures that will permit the Government to assess the contractor's performance and the quality and completeness of the platform and learning paths

It is expected that the selected contractor will follow the U.S. Digital Services Playbook to help SBA build an effective digital experience that servers the public’s need through an Agile implementation.

To achieve this goal, quality partnerships, especially partnerships with educational institutions, industry leaders and those with demonstrated successes are highly encouraged. The contractor must be able to establish and execute a collaborative, integrated approach for a user-centered experience that meets the objective of this SOO.

4.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Entrepreneurs with existing businesses, especially women entrepreneurs in rural and underserved markets, lack access to essential resources and consolidated knowledge base needed to grow a business.

The SBA wants to meet this need by delivering a modern complete learning experience for women that includes peer-to-peer learning and networking. The SBA’s current online learning options are a collection of aging content, with accessibility issues and no options for peer to peer learning or collaboration. Courses like “How to Write a Business Plan” are hosted using Amazon Web Services and presented or ‘wrapped’ by a thin ReactJS frontend website. This existing content cannot integrate with other services, such as virtual counseling and peer to peer collaboration. Using current resources, the agency is not able to build and deliver a modern learning experience.

4.4 SCOPE

The functional areas and tasks below describe the government’s approach to solving this problem. The proposed tasks are open to feedback and/or a different approach, depending on the contractor’s best approach and proposed solution.

4.4.1 FUNCTIONAL AREA 1: DISCOVERY

Objective: Collaborate, validate and plan how to solve the problem through digitalization, user-centered design techniques and learning management methods with the SBA.

Tasks:

· Survey an inventory of existing Government digital learning content provided by the SBA and other agencies. A list is attached to this RFP in Appendix 3 - 73351018R0018 – Training Inventory.

· Provide recommendations on which of the Training Inventory learning content (if any) should:

· be repurposed or redesigned for this solution

· be replaced by licensed content from private sector providers

· be replaced by newly created content

· Create a project vision, an initial scope for the MVP and final project roadmap

· Create and validate learning paths and learning content for delivery

· Create a learning path delivery roadmap

· Propose options for adaptable learning paths and content to support future demographics

· Refine and validate a hypothesis statement(s) that can be tested by the release of the MVP

· Conduct research and determine end user goals for this MVP

A Federal team made up of Small Business Administration, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Treasury have conducted initial research into what a new learning environment for women entrepreneurs ready to grow their businesses should entail. Government resources serve as a starting point and may serve as foundational content.

4.4.2 FUNCTIONAL AREA 2: PLATFORM CONFIGURATION

Objective: Configure the cloud-based platform to develop and release to end users using an Agile implementation method.

Tasks:

· Configure Required Platform Characteristics as per section 3.1 to support the overall objective of this SOO.

· Use an Agile development method to manage the configuration tasks.

· Based on Section 3.2 Other Characteristics, create, with the Government, a prioritized list of "user stories" that capture what is trying to be accomplish.

· Work with the agency to develop or manage continuous integration, security, 508 compliance, privacy or any other agency policies that need to be incorporated in order to release the product in a live environment

· User test configured platform with end users to ensure delivery is focused on meeting the needs of existing women business owners who want to scale their business

· Incorporate end user feedback into the platform configuration

· Create and track success metrics with the Government to determine whether the delivered solution meets end users’ needs and solves the agency problem statement.

· As a result of the feedback received, provide recommendations on what should be modified in future versions of the product

· Deliver the mutually-agreed upon user stories for the platform

· Develop Government requested system documentation, user stories, acceptance criteria and test scripts

4.4.3 FUNCTIONAL AREA 3: CONTENT DEVELOPMENT

Objective: Through the use of Agile development methods, with the platform configured from the validation and discovery tasks above, develop, test, and implement learning content for the platform.

As mentioned in the background section, the initial targeting of this resource is toward women entrepreneurs poised for growth/scaling. The content solution may be a combination of repurposed, existing Federal resources, licensed content form private sector providers, or newly created content. The SBA provided a list of Federally available online content available and pertinent to small business owners (see Appendix 3 - 73351018R0018 – Training Inventory). The contractor is responsible for coordinating with SBA to assess and repurpose existing Federal resources, licensing material, and/or the creation of new content.

The content solution should be organized into a focused set of entrepreneurship topics, shown through research to be relevant to women. Learning paths should be learner-led, interactive, and experiential with synchronous and asynchronous learning incorporated. Learning paths 1-7 listed below are to be included in the March 1, 2019 delivery. Other potential learning paths 8-15 are listed below:

1. Entrepreneurial Leadership

2. Opportunity Identification

3. Opportunity Assessment

4. Marketing

5. People - Becoming an Employer

6. Financial Literacy

7. Access to Capital

8. Innovation - Creating the Curve

9. Social Capital

10. Selling

11. Operations- Process mapping and connecting to technology

12. Technology

13. Organizational Design

14. Physical Resources

15. Federal Contracting

Tasks:

· Identify pain points in the current learning offerings available to women scaling businesses and provide recommendation of priorities according to user needs.

· Based on the characteristics of Section 5.1.1, create, with the Government, a prioritized list of "user stories" that capture the learning paths users are trying to accomplish.

· Use Agile principles to develop content that supports the end goal of the user story.

· Use a simple and flexible design style guide for the service in accordance with the agency’s standards

· User test learning content with end users to ensure delivery is focused on meeting the needs of existing women business owners who want to scale their business

· Incorporate end user feedback into the learning path delivery

· Create and track success metrics with the Government to determine whether the delivered solution meets end user needs

· As a result of the feedback received, provide recommendations on what should be modified in future versions of content

· Develop metrics that will measure how well the service is meeting user needs at each step of the service

· Provide recommended updates to the project roadmap for adapting the MVP to provide other learning experiences to other demographics

While the above requirements must be included in the solution, the contractor will indicate in its Performance Work Statement what recommended characteristics from the attachment it is technically capable of implementing and how it will use Agile methods to test viability of a selected set with the target market.

4.4.4 FUNCTIONAL AREA 4: OPERATIONS SUPPORT

Objective: Address open issues, deferred features, and product roadmap of how product can and should be improved in the future.

Tasks:

· Address open issues, deferred features, and future configuration changes to improve solution in the future

· Maintain availability of 99.9%

· Address customer feedback

· Periodically conduct discovery activities on platform configuration and content development, followed by implementation, then validation

SECTION 5 – PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

5.1 MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

The performance work statement will at a minimum include:

· The offerors proposed methods and other information necessary to convey how they will accomplish the objectives and their individual tasks of each of the four Functional Areas of the Statement of Objectives.

· Proposed learning system standards that the offeror's solution will support, including justification for why those standards support portability and interoperability.

· A Quality Assurance Plan including proposed performance standards.

· Technical resources and skill sets required to develop, implement, and maintain the proposed solution.

· Information regarding internal capacity to complete the tasks in the SOO and its subsequent PWS. Include any information regarding potential subcontractors, such as a description and percentage of the amount of work they’ll be performing.

· A description of how the contractor proposes to police, moderate, and facilitate online discussions. This includes, but isn’t limited to, removing and tracking spam, comments and any other content that is inappropriate, offensive, insulting, illegal, or attacks on other users.

5.1.1 The Performance Work Statement will also seek to answer how the offeror intends to provide the following regarding content characteristics:

· Andragogical approach emphasizing non-linear, experiential learning with a strong peer-to-peer and instructor to peer interaction

· Interactive templates, worksheets and reference materials related to each learning path, organized into a resource library

· Skills assessments of the user to identify areas that need development and growth

· Knowledge checks and progress incentives along the way with a certificate or award for completion

· Scenario-based gamification/badging, i.e., games that challenge assumptions and provide decision making guidance relevant to each participant’s own business

· Recommended learning path prerequisites when sequencing is desired, flexibility for “a la carte” learning for others who so desire it.

· Generated certification program, i.e. mini-MBA or SBA certification through completion of required courses

· Interactive instructional materials to introduce each segment, e.g. animated videos, infographics

· Real world business owner testimonials in various engaging formats

· 10-15-minute vignettes of content, easily digestible information (micro-learning format)

· Built-in surveys before and after starting learning paths

SECTION 6 – OTHER CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

6.1 SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS

After award the Government and Contractor will establish Service Level Agreements (SLA) that govern the expectations surrounding the given function. When appropriate, these SLAs are not limited to, but may be established to cover areas such as:

· Team consistency and continuity

· Quality assurance and testing

· Security and maintenance

· Uptime and continuity

· Response time Each SLA will be established with the following components:

· Service Description: A brief description of the service the parties are agreeing to provide.

· Performance Measure Description: A briefly description on how the performance of this service will be measured and quantified.

· Who: The party responsible for providing the service.

· Frequency: The frequency by which the service level will be assessed.

· Where Measured: The location that the service level will be recorded.

· How Measured: The method and procedure for measuring the service level.

6.2 KEY PERSONNEL

The following requirements related to key personnel must be met:

At least two Key Personnel must be identified:

At a minimum, a Development Manager must be identified and designated as Key Personnel. There may be only one Development Manager. The Development Manager will be a direct liaison to the Agency. The Development Manager should be a trained Scrum Master. The Development Manager must be a senior staff member and is responsible for the supervision and management of the Contractor’s personnel, technical assistance, and interface and compliance with instructions from the Agency’s COR. Desired skills/experience for the Development Manager include:

At a minimum, a Lead Instructional Designer must be identified and designated as Key Personnel. There may be only one Instructional Designer Lead per each agile delivery team. The Instructional Designer Lead is responsible for the supervision and management of creation, implementation, and delivery of the education content strategy. Desired skills/experience for the Instructional Designer Lead include:

6.3 LEARNING CONTENT

This contract shall not limit SBA from developing or acquiring learning content through other sources.

6.4 SYSTEM OF RECORD

SBA anticipates that the work described in the SOO may include the design and development of a system of records. A description of this work is found in the SOO. Appendix 2 includes the information SBA would have collected.

SECTION 7 INVOICING

7.1 INVOICING

The Contractor shall bill for the ongoing operations as per the payment schedule documented in PWS and the corresponding cost proposal as associated with specific deliverables. Note: Contractor may bill after every approved iteration or every two iterations and IAW the following payment clauses listed in the Clause section below. The Small Business Administration will reject all nonconforming invoices.

The Contractor shall bill for the ongoing operations as per the payment schedule documented in your corresponding cost proposal as associated with specific deliverables.

**Invoices for this contract will only be accepted via IPP. Vendors must enroll at https://www.ipp.gov/. **

The Contracting Officer, working with the COR, is responsible for determining minimum requirements for the information to be provided on the invoice. The minimum information includes:

•Date of Invoice •Contract # •Requisition # •Billing Company name/address •Period of performance/services •Amount Billed for specified work accomplished •Total Contract value •Cumulative Billed •Line item for each milestone achieved and list of deliverables as identified in the PWS •Narrative of performance sufficient to justify the invoice Include on the last invoice per period of performance of each option and at the end of the contract, “FINAL INVOICE”, including a signature by the contractor.

Point of Contact for invoicing issues and phone number:

Invoices shall be emailed to the address indicated in block 18a on the SF 1449 of the award documents. The invoice will contain a statement signed by a responsible official of the concern substantially similar if not identical to the following:

I certify that the items above have been delivered in accordance with the contract, and that all charges are true, correct, and have not been previously billed.

Under the Agile methodology, the traditional transition process should not be necessary. Rather, the Government should have access to all code and other relevant documents from day one in a clearly documented and organized electronically shared workspace.

1. The progress of the product will be inspected by the CO and/or COR, at the completion of each iteration.

2. All documents should be stored electronically such that the CO, PM, and any other relevant Government employees who have been granted permissions can access them at any time.

3. The transition of materials will occur on an ongoing basis. All new materials produced during an iteration will be made available to the Government at the end of that iteration.

8.2 DELIVERY AND TIMING

The contractor shall ensure proper control and coordination of all deliverables to ensure they are on time. Unless otherwise stated, the Government will review deliverables and notify the contractor of acceptance or non-acceptance within 5 business days. Representatives of the contractor shall meet with the CO and, the COR as necessary to review status of deliverables.

8.3 LATE DELIVERY

The Contractor shall notify the COR, or other authorized representative, as soon as it becomes apparent to the Contractor that a scheduled delivery will be late. The Contractor shall include in the notification the rationale for late delivery, the expected date for the delivery, and the project impact of the late delivery. Such notification in no way limits any Government contractual rights or remedies, including, but not limited to, termination.

See Appendix 1 – IT Security Acquisition Language

9.2 SECTION 508 ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS

All deliverables (including, but not limited to, electronic and information technology (EIT)) procured through this Contract must meet the applicable accessibility standards at 36 CFR § 1194, U.S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) under the authority of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendment of 1998, unless an agency exception to this requirement exists. 36 CFR § 1194, U.S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) is viewable at http://www.section508.gov. The Contractor shall indicate for each line item in the schedule whether each product or service is compliant or noncompliant with the accessibility standards at 36 CFR § 1194. Further, the proposal must indicate where full details of compliance can be found (e.g., vendor’s website or other exact location).

9.3 NON-DISCLOSURE POLICIES

The work to be performed by and the data released to the Contractor’s personnel shall be treated as sensitive and confidential in nature and is not to be discussed with or released to anyone except SBA employees assigned to work with the Contractor and other Contractor personnel working on the Contract.

The Contractor is responsible for requiring all of its employees working under this Contract, who have access to privileged information under this Contract, to execute all Certifications or non-disclosure agreements required by SBA. SBA, as it deems appropriate, may require additional certifications be completed by the contractor at any time during Contract performance.

9.4 TITLE TO MATERIALS SHALL VEST IN THE GOVERNMENT

All hardware, software, materials, products, licenses, source code, data, and information produced and/or furnished to the Government under this Contract shall become the property of and remain with the Government upon delivery and acceptance by the Government. This shall include but not be limited to the following: plans, systems analysis, design specifications, drawings, completed programs and documentation thereof, reports and listings, all tapes, disk files, and other items pertaining to the work and services to be performed pursuant to the Contract. The Government shall have unlimited rights to use, disclose, reproduce, prepare derivative works, and distribute copies to the public of such hardware, software, materials, products, licenses, source code, data, and information in any manner and for any purpose, and to have or permit others to do so, without compensation to or approval from the Contractor.

All hardware, software, materials, products, licenses, source code, data, and information produced or acquired with Contract funds, or under the Contractor’s control as Government Furnished Property or Materials, shall be turned over to the Government (or a new contractor, as applicable) working system. All data and supporting documentation shall be submitted or furnished to the Government, including the website, application, data files, analytic data files (with associated instructions and codebook listing and defining all variables), and public use data files with associated documentation. Analytic files (where source files are reduced in volume and tailored to specific analyses), data analytic programs and results produced under auspices of this project shall be property of the Government. All information and materials including data developed under this Contract are the property of the Government and shall be delivered as part of the transition and turnover as detailed in the PWS or as requested by the CO and COR.

9.5 LIMITED USE OF DATA

Performance of this Contract may require the contractor to access and use data and information proprietary to the Government, which is of such a nature that its dissemination or use, other than in performance of this Contract, would be adverse to the interests of the Government.

The Contractor and/or contractor personnel shall not disclose or release data or information developed or obtained in performance of this Contract until made public by the Government, except to authorized Government personnel or upon written approval by the Contracting Officer. The Contractor shall not use, disclose, or reproduce data identified as proprietary, other than as required in the performance of this Contract.

The Contractor shall release all required deliverables and data or other works developed under this Contract in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Contract. All personally identifiable information (PII) data collected and in the custody of the Contractor at the close of this Contract must be delivered to the COR or destroyed, as specified in any transition plan developed in connection with this procurement and approved by the Government. PII means information which can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, such as their name, address, social security number, biometric records, etc. alone, or when combined with other personal or identifying information which is linked or linkable to a specific individual, such as date and place of birth, mother’s maiden name, etc. This also includes, but is not limited to, education, financial information (e.g., account number, taxpayer identification number, access or security code, password and personal identification number), medical information, investigation report or database, criminal or employment history or information, or any other personal information which is linked or linkable to an individual. No copies or parts of data or derivative files (encrypted and/or individually identifiable) may be kept by the contractor.

To the extent any of the data rights provisions in this section 9 conflict with the FAR clauses incorporated by reference, this section 9 will control.

SBA may require the contractor, its employees, subcontractors, and subcontractor employees to sign a non-disclosure agreement prior to the start of performance and which may be incorporated into the contract.

9.6 CONTRACTOR USE OF COMMERCIAL COMPUTER SOFTWARE, INCLUDING OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE Open source software is often licensed under terms that require a user to make user’s modifications to the open source software or any software that the user combines with the open source software freely available in source code form pursuant to distribution obligations in the license. In cases where the Contractor proposes to use the open source software while performing under this contract regardless of whether the open source software is delivered, the Contractor shall not create, or purport to create, any Government distribution obligation with respect to Government computer software deliverables. Prior to using any commercial computer software, including open source software which is considered commercial computer software, the Contractor shall evaluate each license for commercial computer software, and confirm in their offer that each of the following requirements is satisfied:

1. A license for a particular commercial computer software shall be compatible with all licenses for other commercial computer software that are or will be linked to, adapted to, integrated, combined or merged with the particular commercial computer software, including when the particular commercial computer software and the other commercial computer software are used with another computer program

2. A license for commercial computer software shall not impose a future Government obligation that is foreseeable by the Contractor

3. A license for commercial computer software shall not be terminated by the Contractor’s use of the commercial computer software in performing under the contract

4. Contractor’s cost to comply with this requirement presents no additional costs to the Government If, as a result of the Contractor’s evaluation, the Contractor satisfies all of the requirements in the paragraphs above, then the Contractor shall provide as part of its offer findings of the above to the Contracting Officer stating that the Contractor has evaluated the commercial computer software use and the commercial computer software license, and made each determination required in the paragraphs above. The Contractor shall request permission from the Contracting Officer to use the proposed commercial computer software. This notification shall include all information regarding the identification and proposed use(s) of the commercial computer software.

If the Contractor is unable to satisfy all of the requirements in the paragraphs above for a particular commercial computer software license, then the Contractor may not use the commercial computer software covered by the particular license without prior written approval of the Contracting Officer. If the Contractor wants to use the commercial computer software for which the requirements in the paragraphs above within this section are not satisfied, the Contractor shall request approval to use the otherwise prohibited subject commercial computer software from the Contracting Officer by providing written notification addressing the following:

1. The name and version number of the software;

2. The name of applicable license(s);

3. A brief description of the technical use and implementing approach

4. A “yes/no” indication as to whether the Contractor has made, or will make, any modifications to the source code;

5. The software website; and,

6. An identification of the reason(s) that the Contractor was unable to make the determination in the paragraphs above.

9.7 FEDERAL HOLIDAYS

Any work with the Government staff shall not take place on Federal holidays or weekends unless directed by the Contracting Officer (CO). All federal holidays by year are listed on the OPM website (www.opm.gov).

SECTION 10 CONTRACT CLAUSES AND PROVISIONS

52.212-1-INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS - COMMERCIAL ITEMS (JAN 2017)

Questions: Must be submitted to brandon.maness@sba.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on 9 August 2018. The email subject line should read “73351018R0018 – Questions.”

Letter of Intent: To be eligible to be considered for Entrepreneur Learning Initiative award, offerors interested in this procurement must email a letter of intent to brandon.maness@sba.gov no later than 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time on 10 August 2018. The letter must be signed by an authorized representative of the applicant and should be included as an email attachment in Adobe portable document format (PDF) (preferred). Letters of intent should not exceed one double-spaced page (at least 12 point font). The email subject should read “73351018R0018 – Letter of Intent.”

Proposals are due at 12:00pm Eastern Time on 24 August 2018. Offerors shall submit one electronic copy of their proposal in PDF or Word format via email to brandon.maness@sba.gov.

· 8.5 x 11 inches maximum paper size

· Times New Roman Font

· Font size 12

· Single-Spaced

· 1 inch margins on all sides

· Include page numbers

· The number of pages in the Performance Work Statement shall not exceed 30. This page limit does not apply to key personnel resumes or past performance/experience submittals.

· Cover page must reference Solicitation Number 73351018R0018

Only e-mail submissions will be accepted. A facsimile proposal or proposal received through the mail will not be accepted. Please include the following subject line for the email: “Proposal Submission for Solicitation 73351018R0018. Please note that SBA email has a 10 MB size limit. Submissions may need to be sent in multiple emails. Email subject line should read “73351018R0018 – Proposal.”

Proposal Content:

Pricing shall be submitted in its own Pricing Volume, with the below information included in a separate Technical Volume.

Offerors may propose alternative contract types and CLIN formats, but must, at a minimum, propose based on the contract type and CLIN format in the solicitation.

1. Platform: Offerors shall include a self-certifying statement in their technical proposal that their platform offering meets all the requirements of Section 3.1, along with technical brochures or documentation that demonstrates those requirements. Offerors MAY provide a demo login, but this demo login may not be used as a substitute for providing technical brochures or documentation.

2. Performance Work Statement: Designed and proposed in accordance to the Statement of Objectives and other requirements located in this solicitation.

· does not exceed a total 3 pages and

· clearly establishes the relevancy of each project to the current requirements of this solicitation. For each project indicated, Offerors should discuss the following, if applicable:

· Relevancy to this solicitation

· Quality and timeliness of the Offeror’s Work

· Also, if relevant or desired, the narrative should also include:

· information on problems encountered on the identified contracts, grants and cooperative agreements and the Offeror’s corrective actions.

· If the offeror is proposing to subcontract (or use joint ventures/ partners, or other entities other than the prime contractor) the performance the work conducted for this contract, offerors shall submit similar prior experience information for proposed significant or critical subcontractors; such subcontractor prior experience must be relevant to that required under this RFP and to the work to be subcontracted. The proposal must describe the amount of work and criticality of the work to be subcontracted.