ASRS Ext 3 JOFOC redacted.pdf

Rev.:1/2023

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

NASA Ames Research Center (ARC)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

(JOFOC)

For Aviation Safety and Reporting (ASRS) and Related Systems Contract No. NNA16BD58C

1. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.303-2(b)(1) – Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Justification for other than full and open competition.”

This document is a justification for other than full and open competition prepared by

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center (ARC).

The procuring agency is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the contracting activity is the Procurement Office located at ARC. This JOFOC is recorded in the ARC JOFOC Log as JA-FY23-J04.

2. FAR 6.303-2(b)(2) – The nature and/or description of the action being approved:

This justification provides the rationale for contracting by other than full and open competition to award an extension to contract number NNA16BD58C with Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. for up to twelve additional months, consisting of a ten (10) month base period (from May 9, 2023 through March 8, 2024) and two (2) one-month option periods (from March 9, 2024 through May 8, 2024), if all options are exercised. The purpose of this extension is to provide on-going screening and safety operational support for mission-critical requirements and ensure continuity of operations of the national voluntary safety reporting systems, pending placement of the follow-on ASRS and Related Systems contract, which will be awarded using competitive procedures.

3. FAR 6.303-2(b)(3) – A description of the supplies or services required, to meet the

Agency’s needs (including the estimated value):

Since 1976, the mission of the ASRS has been to provide information concerning current and potential deficiencies and discrepancies in the operational performance of the National Airspace System and to maximize the effective use of that information to further aviation safety and system planning. The current ASRS contract awarded on May 9, 2016, has two primary aspects: the maintenance and operation of a voluntary, independent, confidential incident reporting program, and research and development using incident reports to support improvements in the performance and safety of the current and future aviation system. The ASRS functions through an Interagency Agreement with the Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The ASRS program is nationally and internationally recognized as an effective and trusted model for confidential safety reporting. As a result of this reputation, other Government agencies, and private and public organizations have requested NASA’s assistance in establishing new systems of confidential reporting for the purpose of improving safety. The Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS) was established in 2010 through an Interagency Agreement between NASA and the Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). C3RS is designed to improve railroad safety by collecting and studying reports detailing unsafe conditions or near miss events in the railroad industry. Railroad personnel can submit reports to C3RS when they are involved in or observe an incident or condition where railroad safety may have been compromised. All reports sent to C3RS are voluntary and are held in the strictest confidence.

In addition to confidentiality, the FRA and participating railroad carriers offer further incentives to those who submit reports to C3RS. Through agreements with the labor organizations, those who report are provided protection from discipline for qualifying events.

The FRA and railroad carriers’ willingness to provide immunity is an important indication of the value they place on the constructive safety information gathered through incident reporting to C3RS.

This JOFOC documents the justification for executing a sole-source extension of the current ASRS contract for a period of twelve (12) months, pending completion of the competitive follow-on procurement for the ASRS and Related Systems contract, in order to continue critical requirements performed under the ASRS contract. The ASRS contract provides screening, de-identification, and processing of ASRS and C3RS safety reports; safety products such as alert bulletins, safety telecommunications, and newsletters; research initiatives such as database searches and analysis of safety issues; data and Information Technology (IT) system security assurance. NASA ARC operates and manages the ASRS and other safety reporting systems that are modeled to function as voluntary, independent, confidential systems in aviation and railroad transportation. Therefore, all these requirements will be performed under this extension.

The current ASRS and Related Systems contract is Cost-Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF). The total potential contract value is $41.3 million. The estimated value of the services for the potential twelve-month extension is approximately $ based on the Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE). The IGCE was based on a review of the current requirements, historical direct labor costs, subcontracts, and other direct costs required to continue performance of the ASRS contract for up to twelve months. Therefore, the current contract value will need to be increased as a result of the proposed contract extension.

(b) (5)

The total cost estimate for the proposed extension periods is as follows:

Extension Base Period May 9, 2023 – March 8, 2024 $ Extension Option Period 1 March 9, 2023 – April 8, 2024 $ Extension Option Period 2 April 9, 2024 – May 8, 2024 $

Estimated Total Extension Value $

4. FAR 6.303-2(b)(4) – An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition:

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 10 U.S.C. 2304(c) (1), as implemented by FAR 6.302- 1 Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

5. FAR 6.303-2(b)(5) – A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited:

The rationale supporting the use of 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1 Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements is described below.

In accordance with FAR 6.302-1 (a)(2)(iii), for DOD, NASA, and the Coast Guard, services may be deemed to be available only from the original source in the case of follow-on contracts for the continued provision of highly specialized services when it is likely that award to any other source would result in substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition, or unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency's requirements.

For the reasons set forth below, Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. is the only responsible source that can reasonably satisfy the subject requirements pending completion of the competitive ASRS procurement.

ASRS and C3RS are the nation’s confidential safety reporting system for aviation and rail, receiving up to 450 safety reports every day. Per NASA’s Interagency Agreement with federal reimbursable partners FAA and FRA, these reports must be screened by highly skilled expert analysts within 3 to 5 days of receipt, and highly critical safety issues must be disseminated as alert bulletins to the FAA and industry within 30 days. Processing of these ASRS and C3RS safety reports is accomplished through the consistent application of report screening, coding, de-identification and alerting criteria, which have been established to maintain data integrity. This is performed by highly skilled and highly trained safety analysts in both the aviation and rail domains with specialized knowledge of ASRS/C3RS report processing procedures. Expert analysts are required to have over 10 years of expertise in their domain (e.g., pilots, air traffic control, Unmanned Aviation Vehicles (UAVs), dispatch, and maintenance, engineers, conductors etc.). Even with the required domain expertise, it is estimated that training a new expert analyst on the ASRS/C3RS specific report processing procedures requires a minimum of 6 months to attain full competency. The implications associated with transitioning to a new interim contractor while the contract is recompeted will result in unnecessary duplication of cost due to analyst training and phase-in/phase-out costs, and unacceptable delays in fulfilling important report

(b) (5)

(b) (5) processing requirements per the Interagency Agreement due to start-up tasks and learning curve associated with a new contractor assuming day to day operations.

The current contractor recently completed a $1M IT modernization of the ASRS database architecture and database online (DBOL) search engine. This upgrade was made at the request of, and funded by, the FAA. The DBOL is a public-facing repository of the de-identified reports that allows transparent communication of aviation safety issues for use by government entities (FAA, NTSB, and NASA), industry groups, research entities, and academia. The DBOL is a well-used system with over 1600 hundred unique data queries each month.

This effort entailed the design, development, and implementation of backend database structures, a front-end search engine, and business logic and search function midware to connect the two.

Transition from the current database to the newly developed database search engine for this operational and well-used system was a complicated endeavor requiring knowledge of the existing and new database structures, search engine functionality, and end-user needs. While the workbench development effort has been accomplished, there continues to be a need for on-going de-bugging and system optimization during the current rollout and operations-testing phase to meet report processing requirements. In order to ensure a seamless transition from the old DBOL to the new DBOL, it is highly desirable to have the current contractor continue to carry out the modernization process through the implementation stages rather than leave the custom software build in an incomplete state or require an interim contractor to develop the necessary understanding and expertise to assume ownership of this large IT undertaking. The risks associated with a disruption in personnel on this task include not only a delay in the DBOL modernization project, but a potential for unacceptable downtime for the public facing ASRS database, and potential for an unacceptable data loss or data breach. Booz Allen Hamilton uniquely possesses the knowledge of the ASRS working processes, data structures, and IT configuration needed to complete this highly specialized modernization requirement and transition to an interim contractor would be excessively disruptive and impose unnecessary cost and risk to project completion.

Booz Allen Hamilton is currently in the process of a large-scale IT system network and architecture change that was mandated by NASA in December 2022 to meet new IT security requirements. The timeframe of this project is approximately one-year and the ASRS and Related Systems program is currently seeking a time-bound Authority to Operate from NASA to allow this work to be carried out to completion. This large-scale, technically challenging, task requires in-depth knowledge of the current ASRS network configuration, architecture, firewalls, switches, and their interdependence and carries tremendous technical risk of unacceptable downtime or worse an inadvertent data breach due to misunderstanding or misapplication of the network and firewall configuration. It is highly preferred that the current contractor carry out this system re-architecture project to satisfaction of NASA IT security rather than leave the system in flux and require an interim contractor to develop the necessary understanding and expertise to assume ownership of this large IT undertaking.

Booz Allen Hamilton uniquely possesses the knowledge of the ASRS IT configuration needed to see this re-architecture effort to completion. Transition to an interim contractor while the systems are in flux would be excessively disruptive and impose unnecessary cost and IT cybersecurity risks.

Interruption in these specialized technical activities would result in additional costs and unacceptable delays given the time it would take to gain the specific knowledge that Booz Allen Hamilton has developed in the ongoing development effort. Without the proposed contract extension, it is highly unlikely that NASA will be able to fulfill our obligations to the FAA to stand up the revised Database Online in a timely manner. Booz Allen Hamilton is uniquely qualified to execute this highly specialized integration effort given their comprehensive knowledge of the ASRS database structures and IT network and system architecture.

The ASRS and C3RS are confidential reporting systems and have never experienced a breach of reporter identity in the 47 years of operations. The ASRS contract requires the contractor to implement several measures to maintain data confidentiality. IT system security assurance requires the specialized knowledge of the IT assets and network configuration possessed exclusively by Booz Allen Hamilton. The contractor is required to maintain an offsite location within 5 miles of NASA ARC

An interim change of contractor while the follow-on contract is being competed would unnecessarily incur excessive costs associated with a change of facility including moving furniture and facility configuration; facility security augmentations, as well as operating costs such as specialized secure high-speed internet access and telephone connectivity. Award to any other source for this interim period would result in substantial duplication and unnecessary costs to the Government that would not be recovered through competition.

Therefore, a twelve-month extension, rather than a new procurement for the same period, is the only reasonable approach for NASA to take such that it may continue to obtain the important services by ASRS. This makes the incumbent the only reasonable source that can reasonably satisfy these highly specialized requirements pending completion of the competitive follow-on ASRS procurement without incurring a substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition and unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements.

6. FAR 6.303-2(b)(6) – A description of the efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies:

A notice to the Government Point of Entry (GPE) website (Sam.gov) was published on February 24, 2023, in accordance with FAR Subpart 5.2. This posting informed potential sources of NASA’s intent to award this sole-source extension to Booz Allen Hamilton. The results of this synopsis are summarized in Section 10 below.

7. FAR 6.303-2(b)(7) – A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable:

The Contracting Officer’s signature on this document indicates that the Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated cost to the government will be fair and reasonable. The Contractor shall be required to submit a proposal to be evaluated and negotiated by the Government. Prior to execution of the contractual instrument, a proposal analysis will be performed. The proposal analysis will ensure that the final agreed-to price for the contract

(b) (2) action is fair and reasonable. Prior to execution of the modification, a proposal analysis will be performed in accordance with FAR 15.404. The proposal analysis will include cost element analysis, comparison to the IGCE and will utilize appropriate cost and price evaluation techniques ensuring the final agreed-to cost and fee is fair and reasonable. Pre-negotiation objectives will be prepared prior to the initiation of negotiations and will be approved in accordance with FAR 15.406 prior to conducting negotiations. The CO will document the Pre-negotiation Position Memorandum and the results of the negotiation in a Price Negotiation Memorandum as required by the FAR.

8. FAR 6.303-2(b)(8) – Description of the market research conducted, and the results, or a statement of the reasons a market research was not conducted:

ARC conducted Market Research in support of the decision to award this extension on a sole-source basis to Booz Allen Hamilton. Based on the Contracting Officer’s Representative’s (COR)technical knowledge of the current ASRS requirements and for all the other reasons states herein, market research supports that Booz Allen Hamilton is the sole responsible source able to fulfill the short-term ASRS requirements.

Market research was performed in February – March 2023, which included a synopsis posted on February 24, 2023, on the Contract Opportunities site located on www.SAM.gov. The purpose of the synopsis was to 1) notify industry of NASA’s intent to extend the contract on a sole source basis and 2) solicit information about interested sources that can provide the required support during the extended period of performance. Interested organizations were requested to submit their capabilities and qualification in writing. The Contracting Officer received two responses to the synopsis. See ection 10 below.

Additional research was completed which included reviews of the following Government databases: the Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS), the NASA Vendor Database (NVD) and the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS). These market research tools revealed firms that can provide various types of aviation safety support; however, while there are limited additional firms in the industry, the scope of work required during the twelve -month period of the proposed contract extension can only be accomplished by the current contractor without incurring a substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition and unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements. Only Booz Allen Hamilton would be able to perform the work without adversely impacting important schedules of work currently being performed on the contract.

Market research indicates that in accordance with FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii)(A) and (B), Booz Allen Hamilton is the only responsible source that can provide the highly specialized services without substantial duplication of cost to the Government that will not be recovered through competition and unacceptable delays in meeting agency requirements.

9. FAR 6.303-2(b)(9) – Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition:

None.

10. FAR 6.303-2(b)(10) – A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed an interest in writing in the acquisition:

A notice of NASA’s intent to award this sole-source action was synopsized on the GPE website (Sam.gov) per FAR Subpart 5.2 (See Section 6 above). The notice was posted on February 24, 2023, with a closing date of March 13, 2023. The Government received two written capability statement submissions in response to the synopsis from GovCIO, LLC (GovCIO) and CSSI, Inc. (CSSI). The two responses were evaluated, and it was determined that only the incumbent has the capability to meet the Government’s requirements under this contract extension. Neither GovCIO nor CSSI demonstrated capability to accomplish the SOW requirements of Sections 2.2, Operation and Maintenance of ASRS and 2.3, ASRS Research and Products.

11. FAR 6.303-2(b)(11) – A statement of actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required:

ARC has already started the actions for the competitive ASRS and Related Systems follow-on contract. Therefore, there are no actions the agency needs to take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for similar services. This sole source award of a potential twelve-month extension to the ASRS contract is necessary to provide the appropriate time to complete the competitive follow-on procurement and to provide the uninterrupted highly specialized support services needed under the existing ASRS contract during that time.