Questions and Answers.pdf

Solicitation No. 80AFRC22R00070002

Technology Strategy, Innovation, Outreach, and Marketing Support

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q.1: Can you please provide the expected level of effort for the two labor categories in the

Price List?

The historical level of effort is approximately 0.5 WYE per labor category.

Q.2: Are you looking for full-time employees or anticipating just a certain number of hours per year?

Per the solicitation, the contractor shall provide full-time firm-fixed price support for the Flight Opportunities (FO Task Order. With respect to Attachment 2 – Price List for Time and Materials CLIN, the submitted labor rates shall serve as the agreed upon price list in the event the government chooses to order any level of service identified in the price list.

Q.3: Whether companies from Outside USA can apply for this? (like, from India or Canada)

The Offeror must be able to comply with the clauses included in the solicitation, to include being registered in SAM.GOV with the NAICS code and socioeconomic status listed in the solicitation.

Q.4: Whether we need to come over there for meetings?

Support is intended to be primarily virtual. Travel will be occasional as required by the government (see Attachment 1 – Statement of Work, Sections 8 Travel and 11 Place of Performance).

Q.5: Can we perform the tasks (related to RFP) outside USA? (like, from India or Canada)

The transfer of information must conform to International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR) requirements, as well as subject to all applicable NASA Information Technology rules, regulations and standards.

Q.6: Does the NTE amount of $4,800,800 apply to the base period and all 4 option years?

The NTE amount of $4,800,000 applies to the overall indefinite delivery contract, which is anticipated to be a five-year period of performance.

Q.7: Is this a follow-on or new requirement? If follow-on, please provide incumbent award information.

This requirement is a follow on to Contract No. NND17AA43B.

Q.8: For better understanding the travel requirements, how many on-site meetings are anticipated for the Contractor to attend?

To fulfill the Statement of Work for the Flight Opportunities Program Task Order (Attachment 5), it is anticipated that 4-8 trips (on-site or off-site) total per year will be required away from the Contractor’s primary duty location.

Q.9: Section C.12 CFR 1852.216-78 indicates a Firm Fixed Price contract however the Attachment 2 – Price List indicates a Time and Materials CLIN. Can AFRC please confirm the contract type for this effort?

The contract type is a requirements contract. Task orders may be issued as firm-fixed-price and/or time and materials.

Q.10: The Volume III instructions indicate to provide a price estimate in support of the FO Task Order Attachment 5. Is the NASA 2 Work-Year Equivalent (WYE) estimated workload the anticipated level of effort for just the base year or is this estimated workload across all service years?

For the FO Task Order (Attachment 5), two (2) work-year equivalent effort is anticipated for the base year and each subsequent year of the contract.

Q.11: If the 2 WYE is estimated for only the base period, that assumes the two key personnel shall serve in an FTE capacity. In this case, if NASA wishes to issue additional Task

Orders, will the Contractor be expected to provide additional key personnel?

Separate from the FO Task Order (Attachment 5), where additional support is required, the government may issue additional task orders and the Contractor will be expected to provide additional personnel in accordance with Attachment 2 – Price List for Time and Materials CLIN.

Q.12: Ref. Section D.1., p.24 and Attachment 2 – Price List. Given the inclusion of WS rates for Kern and LA and the government request for Time and Materials rates for the Executive Manager and Marketing and Outreach Specialist, which are not subject to

SCA, please clarify the government’s intent for the use of WD rates for Kern and LA.

The Government has determined the Service Contract Act applies to this requirement. If the Offeror takes exception, per the solicitation, “Offerors must clearly identify any exception to the solicitation terms and conditions and provide complete accompanying rationale.”

Q.13: Ref. Section E.4(c), p.29. Please confirm that Table of Contents, List of Figures, List of

Tables, List of Acronyms, List of Appendices, and Executive Summary are excluded from page count for all proposal volumes.

Table of Contents, List of Figures, List of Tables, List of Acronyms, List of Appendices are excluded from the page count for all proposal volumes. The Executive Summary is not excluded from the page count.

Q.14: Ref. Section E.4(c), p.29. “Except for the first page, the Offeror shall ensure that the company name, logo, or other company identifying information does not appear within Volume 1, Technical.” Please confirm that Offerors can include company identifying information (e.g., logo and company name) on the first or cover page of Volume I – Technical.

The solicitation has been modified to state “Except for the cover page and/or first page, the Offeror shall ensure that the company name, logo, or other company identifying information does not appear within Volume 1, Technical.”

Q.15: Ref. Section E.4(c), Vol I, p.30. “Personnel will be evaluated according to the relevant experience and qualifications to accomplish the SOW.” To demonstrate the quality of personnel for the resulting contract, please confirm that Executive Manager and Marketing and Outreach Specialist resumes are required. If so, please confirm resumes are excluded from page count for Volume I.

Provide information, in resume format or otherwise, which demonstrates relevant experience and qualifications to accomplish the SOW. This information will be included within the page limitations as specified in the solicitation.

Q.16: Ref. Section E.4(c), Vol II, p.31. “The Offeror’s proposal shall include an itemized listing and summary of no more than five (5) current or past contracts performing the same or similar tasks to the SOW and solicitation requirements within the last three (3) years.” Please confirm that current or past performance contracts may be either prime or subcontracts of similar size, scope, and complexity.

The solicitation has been revised to state: “The Offeror may submit past performance information relating to a major subcontract and/or team member contract as one (1) of the five (5) current or past contracts performing the same or similar tasks to the SOW and solicitation requirements.

Q.17: Ref. Section E.4(c), Vol II, p.31. “The Offeror may submit past performance information relating to a major subcontract and/or team member contract as one (1) of the three current or past contracts performing the same or similar tasks to the SOW and solicitation requirements.” Please clarify the reference to “three current or past contracts” as the previous paragraph indicates “…no more than five (5) current or past contracts.”

The solicitation has been revised to state: “The Offeror may submit past performance information relating to a major subcontract and/or team member contract as one (1) of the five (5) current or past contracts performing the same or similar tasks to the SOW and solicitation requirements.

Q.18: Ref. Section E.4(c), Vol II, p.31. “No more than one of the submitted past performance submittals may be related to the major subcontract and/or team member contract.” To promote competition to ensure the government receives the best available services at the lowest practice price, would the government consider allowing the submission of both prime and subcontracts for past performance information for current or past contracts?

The submission of past performance information is as stated in the solicitation.

Q.19: Ref. Section E.6, Basis for Contract Award. “This is a competitive Price Performance Trade-Off (PPTO) best value source selection….” While the Time and Materials CLIN

(Attachment 2) will serve as the agreed upon price list, please clarify how the T&M CLIN factors into the Past Performance Trade-Off (PPTO) evaluation, if any.

Per the solicitation, “The Time and Material labor rates will be evaluated in terms of reasonableness for selection purposes and will not be included in the total price.”

Q.20: Ref. Section E.6, Price Factor, p.39. “The government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices or the fully burden Time and Materials labor rates are significantly unbalanced.” Please describe how the government will determine “balance” for the Time and Materials rates.

Unbalanced pricing exists when, despite an acceptable total evaluated price, the price of one or more line items is significantly over or understated as indicated by the application of cost or price analysis techniques.

Q.21: In the Solicitation document general instructions, starting at the bottom of page 29 and continuing to the top of page 30, under the Specialized Experience header, the solicitation requests that we provide written examples of how we have successfully met requirements of the SOW in aerospace technology (1) strategy development, (2) innovation support, and (3) outreach. Our questions are as follows:

The three bullets cover 4.2-4.4, did you want examples for 4.1, 4.5, and 4.6 from the SOW as well (we are currently assuming not since there is overlap of these items within 4.2-4.4)?

The solicitation has been revised as follows:

Specialized Experience: The Offeror shall provide written examples of how they have successfully met the requirements of Attachment 1, Statement of Work, Section 4.0 Requirements. Although written examples may include any subsection of Attachment 1, Statement of Work, Section 4.0 Requirements, the Offeror must provide a written example for each of the following subsections:

• Attachment 1, Statement of Work, Section 4.2 Strategy Development

• Attachment 1, Statement of Work, Section 4.3 Innovation Support

• Attachment 1, Statement of Work, Section 4.4 Outreach Support

Q.22: We have a substantial number of examples for each of the three bulleted categories. Is a single example for each bullet sufficient (total of 3)? Or did you want to see multiple examples for each bullet? If multiple are desired, is there a minimum or maximum number of examples?

The quantity of examples is at the discretion of the Offeror within the proposal page limitations as specified in the solicitation. Per the solicitation, the Offeror’s Technical Proposal shall be evaluated to determine if the proposed approach and existing capability meet or exceed the various requirements identified within the SOW and the solicitation.

Q.23: In addition to describing the work we performed and their outcomes to address the request for examples that illustrate our expertise, do you also want us to provide the actual deliverables (redacted to remove company identifying information) as part of the example by including them as attachments that do not fall under the 30-page limit? (Most of our deliverables in these three areas are multiple pages.)

Examples in response to Volume I - Technical Proposal, Section “Specialized Experience” shall be fully contained within the proposal page limitations as specified in the solicitation.

Q.24: Regarding the Personnel Qualifications instructions on page 30, is providing the names of our qualified personnel constitute company identifying information?

No.

Q.25: The second paragraph of page 31 requires the inclusion of “no more than five (5) current or past contracts” while the third paragraph states that major subcontracts or team member contracts can be submitted “as one (1) of the three current or past contracts.”

Does this mean that the minimum number of current/past contracts is three (3)? If not, what is the minimum number of current/past contracts?

Reference answer to Question 17.

Q.26: On page 31, in the bullet list of information to include regarding relevant similar contracts, the third and fourth bullets specify “government.” Do all current/past contracts need to be government contracts or can some (perhaps the additional 2 beyond the minimum 3) be non-government entities?

Submitted past performance information may be from government or non-government entities. See revised solicitation.

Q.27: RFP, Page 30, Personnel Qualifications, "The Executive Manager position requirement states: the position ""provides professional management over a broad range of intellectual property (IP) management and commercialization activities"" and "" experience included successful drafting and negotiation of license agreement"" This two position description requirement do not link to SOW dated Aug 5, 2022, as such will the Government delete this requirements to align with the SOW?"

The solicitation and Attachment 1 – Statement of Work provide the same language for the personnel qualifications of Executive Manager.

Q.28: General, What is the current LOE on the FUENTEK incumbent contract # NND17AA43B in FY22?

See Response to Question No. 1.

Q.29: SOW, Paragraph 4, What is the historical LOE of each task requirement in paragraphs

4.1 through 4.6?

See responses to Questions No. 1 and No. 10.

Q.30: RFP, Page 30, Specialized Experience, Will the Government delete the word "Aerospace" at the beginning of each of the three sub-bullets? Rationale: Many Offerors likely have highly relevant technology development, innovation support and outreach or marketing campaigns experience supporting other Federal customers and programs that would benefit Flight Opportunities (FO). In fact, leveraging best practices and lessons learned from sister agencies could be a distinct advantage to FO.

Q.31: Page 31, Past Performance, To ensure FO set the floor on the past performance requirement, would the government revise from "The Offeror’s proposal shall include an itemized listing and summary of no more than five (5) current or past contracts performing the same or similar tasks to the SOW and solicitation requirements within the last three (3) years."

TO

The Offeror's proposal shall submit an itemized list and summary of no less than three (3) contracts from the Prime performing the same or similar tasks to the SOW and solicitation requirements within the last three (3) years.

Q.32: Page 31, Past Performance, To ensure FO set the floor, would the government revise from "The Offeror may submit past performance information relating to a major subcontract and/or team member contract as one (1) of the three (3) current or past contracts performing the same or similar tasks to the SOW and solicitation requirements."

TO

The Offeror may submit up to two (2) additional past performance references from team members, up to a total of five (5) (three from the Offeror and two from teammates)."

Q.33: SOW, Paragraph 11, The Government states, "Travel to AFRC may be required periodically as needed". Will the Government update Attachment 2 and/or FO Task order 5 to include a travel plug number(s)?

Not at this time.

Q.34: RFP, Page 32, Volume III Pricing, "The paragraph states, ""Offerors are required to propose a schedule and pricing in relation to the firm fixed price portions ..."" Will the

Government clarify what it means by ""schedule"" that would be relevant to the pricing volume?

The reference to schedule within the solicitation is related to the table contained within the Volume III – Pricing section.

Q.35: RFP, Page 29, The RFP states, "Except for the first page, the Offeror shall ensure that the company name, logo, or other company identifying information does not appear within Volume 1, Technical" Is it the Gov't intent that each Offeror anonymizes as much of their proposal as possible to prevent the source selection officials of determining who the Offeror is? If so, this will limit Offerors' ability to present their specialized experience and personnel qualifications.

The Offeror shall provide information per solicitation instructions.

Q.36: RFP, Page 29, The RFP states, "Except for the first page, the Offeror shall ensure that the company name, logo, or other company identifying information does not appear within Volume 1, Technical" Does the government want personnel names removed from the proposal?"

Q.37: SOW, Paragraph 8, The Government states, "Travel may be required in conjunction with the performance of this requirement." Will the Government update Attachment 2 and/or FO Task order 5 to include a travel plug number(s)?

Each order will separately list the elements of other direct charges for that order.

Q.38: SOW, Paragraph 9, Other direct costs in support of this SOW. Will the Government update Attachment 2 and/or FO Task order 5 to include an other direct cost plug number(s)?

Q.39: Attachment 1 SOW, Paragraph 8 and Attachment 5, FO TO SOW The BPA SOW states that travel may be required for the contractor to participate in on-site meetings to assist in strategy development and execution, including technology marketing strategy meetings. Attachment 5, FO Task Order SOW, does not mention travel or the location of on-site meetings. If travel is anticipated, will NASA provide a plug number for offerors to include in its quote as a separate cost reimbursable line item?

Q.40: Attachment 5, FO TO SOW Will NASA provide the anticipated period of performance for the Flight Opportunities Program Task Order?

The anticipated period of performance for the FO Task Order is as specified in Volume III – Pricing of the solicitation.

Q.41: RFP, Page 3, Section B and Page 32, Volume III Pricing Section B states that the rates listed in Attachment 2 – Price List for Time and Materials CLIN will apply to all task orders awarded under this contract. Are offerors allowed to submit additional labor categories to price the initial task order?

Per the solicitation, Offerors are required to meet all solicitation requirements.

Failure to meet any of the solicitation requirements may result in an offer being ineligible for award. Should an Offeror take exception to any solicitation requirement, the exception must be clearly identified, and complete accompanying rationale must be provided.

Q.42: RFP, Page 24, Section D, The Solicitation includes two SCA Wage Determination Attachments. Will NASA provide the historical WD labor categories used by the incumbent?

The current contract does not have WD labor categories.

Q.43: RFQ, General Instructions, Section (c) Proposal Page Limitations, page 29 Page 29 of the solicitation states that "Except for the first page, the Offeror shall ensure that the company name, logo, or other company identifying information does not appear within

Volume 1, Technical." Could the government please clarify that it expects vendors to anonymize business names in all proposal materials, (excluding the first page) in order to meet the requirement stated in RFP section (c) Proposal Page Limitations (page 29)? For example: where we would typically say "team x" it should indicate a non descript company name so as to anonymize the bid for evaluation?

See response to Question No. 36.

Q.44: RFQ, General Instructions, Section (c) Proposal Page Limitations, page 29 Page 29 of the solicitation states that "Except for the first page, the Offeror shall ensure that the company name, logo, or other company identifying information does not appear within Volume 1, Technical." Is the "first page" the cover of the bid (e.g. page 0), or is it the business information on the first page of our proposal (e.g. page 1)?

See response to Question No. 14.

Q.45: RFQ, General Instructions, Section (c) Proposal Page Limitations, page 30 Do a cover page, executive summary, table of contents, and table of acronyms count against the page limit?

See response to Question 13.

Q.46: RFQ, General Instructions, Section (c) Proposal Page Limitations, page 30 Can the text within tables, pictures, charts, etc. be in a smaller font size such as size 8 point font?

Please follow the instructions as listed in the solicitation.

Q.47: RFQ, General Instructions, Section (c) Proposal Page Limitations, page 30 Do key personnel resumes count against the page limit?

See response to Question 15.

Q.48: RFQ, General Instructions, Section (c) Proposal Page Limitations, page 30 Do charts, tables, and graphics count against the page limit?

Charts, tables, and graphics are not excluded from the proposal page limitations set forth in the solicitation.

Q.49: RFQ, Section Volume II - Past Performance, page 31 Will the government consider the capabilities, past performance, and experience of each subcontractor that is part of the team as the capabilities, past performance, and experience of the small business prime contractor if the capabilities, past performance, and experience of the small business prime does not independently demonstrate capabilities and past performance necessary for award?

Past performance evaluation will be as set forth in the solicitation.

Q.50: RFQ, Section Volume II - Past Performance, page 31 How will government rate past performance in which the offeror is a prime vs a sub?

Q.51: RFQ, Section Volume II - Past Performance, page 31 Will government rate the performance of a proposed team member equally with the prime offeror?

Q.52: RFQ Is there an incumbent on this contract? If so, is the incumbent eligible to bid on this solicitation?

This requirement is a follow on to Contract No. NND17AA43B. The Government cannot provide information regarding the incumbent contractor’s eligibility to bid on this requirement.

Q.53: RFQ, section C.9, page 16, Can the place of performance be the contractor site?

Reference Attachment 1, Statement of Work.

Q.54: RFQ, SF1449, page 1 What is the anticipated start date for the project?

The start date shall be specified at contract award.

Q.55: SOW 4.1 What’s an example of report that AFRC might ask the vendor to develop?

The available information is as stated in the solicitation.

Q.56: SOW4.2 Could the government please give an example of recently completed strategic planning effort that is reflective of the type of strategic development support that might be expected under this scope of work?

Developing workshops that focus on specific technology areas identified to be emerging or of importance to AFRC.

Q.57: SOW 4.3 Is there interest on the part of NASA in developing a tool for intake of innovation projects and ideas that may be proposed either by NASA employees and/or by companies and organizations external to NASA?

Q.58: SOW 4.4.1 Would NASA be interested in supplementing its website with an innovation intake form (to collect innovation ideas from its innovation community)?

Q.59: SOW 4.4.1 Would NASA be interested in implementing a database for innovation submissions?

Q.60: SOW 4.6 What is the scope of representative “Special Projects” task order?

The scope of representative “Special Projects” task orders may vary based on the Government’s requirement.

Q.61: SOW 5 How many Task Orders are anticipated?

The anticipated number of task orders to be issued will be based on the Government’s requirement.

Q.62: Can you please confirm whether vendors must bid on all tasks outlined in your scope or if we may respond to specific tasks?

Offerors are required to meet all solicitation requirements. Failure to meet any of the solicitation requirements may result in an offer being ineligible for award.

Should an Offeror take exception to any solicitation requirement, the exception must be clearly identified, and complete accompanying rationale must be provided.

Non-conformance with these instructions may result in an unfavorable proposal evaluation.

Q.63: Can you please share the current content management system you are using? Is there a particular content management system or technology stack your selected vendor must be experienced with?

The Government currently uses content management systems such as Wordpress and/or SharePoint.

Q.64: Who are the key Armstrong stakeholders?

Reference Attachment 1, Statement of Work.

Q.65: Has any previous user or audience research been completed that can inform this project?

For example, do you have documented usability testing, stakeholder interviews, audience surveys, or other research that will be helpful?

Not applicable to this solicitation.

Q.66: What metrics do you currently track?

Q.67: Do you have GA set up?

Q.68: Do you use Tag Manager?

Q.69: What are your top communication challenges?

Q.70: What technologies and systems do you currently use to track communication efforts?

AFRC uses SharePoint and Microsoft Office products, both desktop and hosted, to track communication efforts.

Q.71: Where will the new system be hosted? If you are providing hosting, what operating system, scripting languages, and databases will be available on the hosting server? Please describe other pertinent details about the hosting environment.

Q.72: How many pages of content will need to be written or edited by your selected partner?

Specific requirements will be provided with each order. Also reference Attachment 5 – Flight Opportunities Task Order.

Q.73: Will content need to be presented in languages other than English? If so, which ones?

Q.74: Do you have a content governance plan in place?