FBO_BBG50-R-17-0044_-_Research_BPA_-_FINAL_SB_F.pdf

Office of Research and Assessment (ORA) RFP No. BBG50-R-17-0044

COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION

FOR

BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS

Research Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA)

B. GENERAL

THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR A COMMERCIAL ITEM PREPARED IN

ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) SUBPART 12.6

AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE, AND

THE AWARD(S) WILL BE MADE USING FAR SUBPART 13.5. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT

CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION; PROPOSALS ARE BEING REQUESTED AND A

WRITTEN SOLICITATION WILL NOT BE ISSUED.

Solicitation No. BBG50-R-17-0044 is issued as a Request For Proposal (RFP) for a Firm-Fixed -

Price (FFP) Commercial Item Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) that will be awarded using the contracting procedures in FAR Subpart 13.5.

This solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect from the

Federal Acquisition Regulation FAC 2005-94, 2005-95, dated January 19, 2017.

This acquisition is unrestricted (full and open competition), and will be awarded using a phased evaluation process.

The North American Industry Classification Systems (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 541910

(Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling) with a small business size standard of $15 million.

B. BACKGROUND, HISTORY AND SCOPE OF EFFORT

B.1 INTRODUCTION

In the spirit of the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act, the Broadcasting Board of Governors

(BBG) intends to enter into multiple Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) pursuant to Federal

Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.5 to further reduce the administrative costs of acquiring comprehensive audience research services from multiple sources.

Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA’s) reduce contracting costs such as searching for sources, the development of technical documents, drafting complex solicitations, and the evaluation of multiple bids and offers. This BPA will further decrease costs, reduce paperwork, and save time by eliminating the need to conduct repetitive, individual procurements. The end result is to create a purchasing mechanism for the Government that works better and costs less.

B.2 AGENCY BACKGROUND

The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is an independent Federal entity that is responsible for U.S.-funded non-military international broadcasting of news and information to audiences around the world. It derives its authority from The International Broadcasting Act of 1994, 22

U.S.C 6201 et seq., The Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, Pub. 105-277 §§

1301 et seq., The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948, Pub. L. 80-402, as well as other statutes and executive orders. Based in Washington, DC, the BBG oversees a combination of federal and private broadcast entities. On the federal side, BBG oversees, through an umbrella organization called the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB), the Voice of America (VOA), and Radio and

TV Marti (referred to collectively as the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB). VOA is headquartered in Washington, DC. OCB is located in Miami, FL. The BBG also issues and supervises grants to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL, Inc.) located in Prague, Czech

Republic; Radio Free Asia (RFA, Inc.) located in Washington, D.C.; Alhurra and Radio Sawa, which are part of the Middle East Broadcasting Network (MBN), headquartered in Springfield, Virginia.

While consistent with the BBG‘s overall mission to promote freedom and democracy through accurate, objective and balanced news and information‖, each of these entities has its own unique mission under the law, and collectively they account for over 278 million regular listeners, viewers, and online content users around the world. Broadcasts take place in over 60 languages, and programs are delivered via an increasingly complex array of multi-media platforms, including

Amplitude Modulation (AM) and Frequency Modulation (FM) radio, shortwave, satellite and terrestrial Television (TV), Internet (including social media), Short Message Service (SMS), and even face-to-face events.

In coming years, the BBG expects to accelerate its market driven shift to digital platforms, which will have important implications for the BBG’s research program and will require new approaches to traditional research methods. Offerors are strongly encouraged to study the “Performance

Information” section of the BBG’s most recent Performance and Accountability Reports (available on www.bbg.gov ) to gain a better understanding of some of the data points required from the

International Audience Research Project (IARP). Since 2001, (IARP) contracts has supplied BBG with the business information it requires for measuring performance and planning through intensive study of broadcaster markets and audiences.

B.3 PROGRAM BACKGROUND

The BBG, like all federal agencies, is required to show evidence of performance and effectiveness, including its impact. Common measures such as audience reach and reliability of programming have long served the BBG in assessing the impact of our media on populations.

Future qualitative audience research studies under the IARP multiple award BPA. RFP will have an increased focus on impact assessment on BBG’s mission. Audience research will also be used to drive strategic and program planning within the agency. Information about media markets, trends in technology adoption and audience demographics/preferences will assist BBG with these efforts. Additionally, the IARP assists BBG in evaluating individual programs, audiences’ content and format preferences to bring actionable intelligence to BBG content producer to plan new or to fine-tune current programming.

In order to meet the continuing needs of the agency, the Government intends to award multiple

BPAs during Fiscal Year 2017. The choice of a BPA, in which a group of Contractors will respond to Request for Proposals (RFP) for call orders issued by the BBG for individual studies, the number and value of which have yet to be determined, is intended to offer the agency the flexibility http://www.bbg.gov/ it requires in a global research program that must be responsive to fast-changing environments.

The Contractors selected will provide the BBG with regular, current and accurate audience and market research from approximately 30-70 countries per year through a combination omnibus surveys, qualitative research and other analysis studies. The BBG will engage third-parties

(who cannot perform any IARP-related tasks for BPA holders) to perform additional data quality control (including recodes), and to maintain a master survey questionnaire.

While current measures will continue to be vital to the research program, BBG’s desire is for the successful Contactors to help BBG to evolve beyond these measures in ways that will help the agency and its broadcasters understand more about how sub-national markets are functioning, motivations behind the media behavior of target (in addition to existing) audiences, the impact of media beyond the individual consumer, creating compelling content that is market-appropriate, extending reach across target markets, and responding to the increasing and changing requirements for performance measures by Federal oversight authorities.

In light of the above, BBG anticipates the following changes to the IARP. They include the need for: 1) a closer correlation between research questions and broadcaster mission, 2) a deeper understanding of target audiences beyond standard demographics, 3) more frequent reviews of appropriate performance measures, and 4) increased media and program consulting services to ensure research directly supports program improvement. The factors that will drive these changes include the digital revolution, enhanced Congressional and Executive Oversight of performance and impact, greater data access and integration across government, and the need for transparency in performance measurement.

Statutory Requirements for Audience Research

Applicable law requires that the BBG conduct audience research. These laws include:

The International Broadcasting Act of 1994, 22 U.S.C 6201 et seq., which requires the BBG to:

Review language services and make decisions to add or delete language services at least annually;

Ensure that the quality of broadcasts conforms to applicable statutory standards;

Ensure that the broadcasts reach significant audiences; and

Use audience research as the basis for its decision-making.

The Government and Performance Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), Pub. L. 103-62 mandates that all federal entities set goals and establish performance measures to indicate progress or lack of progress in meeting these goals. These results must be reported to Congress annually. At this time, the majority of GPRA performance measures for BBG depend at least in part on in-country surveys; for all measures currently used in the Performance Accountability Report (PAR) see https://www.bbg.gov/strategy-and-performance/performance-accountability/ The PAR is required to satisfy the reporting requirements of six pieces of legislation enacted from 1986-2002, including GPRA and the Reports Consolidation Act. It combines performance and audited financial information intended to assist Congress, the President and the public in https://www.bbg.gov/strategy-and-performance/performance-accountability/ assessing the BBG‘s performance relative to its mission and stewardship of the resources entrusted to it.

The PAR features BBG performance indicators required by GPRA. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), who frequently audits implementation of GPRA, requires that these measures be generated by means of a bona fide sample with all appropriate documentation as to sampling error and design effects, if clustering is used, where feasible.

With the nature of broadcasting and media consumption changing so rapidly, the fragmentation of media audiences is now a reality in nearly all but the most undeveloped markets, and the increasing interest in demonstrating effectiveness in support of BBG and broadcaster missions, the agency foresees the possibility of amending GPRA performance measures during the term of a new research contract. BBG plans to award contract(s) that will be flexible enough to allow for the design of new methods of measuring and reporting performance.

The combined impact of these legislative and other forces affecting U.S. International Broadcasting has greatly enhanced the importance of audience research. While such research should always be flexible enough to respond to a changing marketplace, performance reporting requires that the Contractor’s research findings be made available in a timely fashion and in accordance with BBG specified formats, since the results must meet certain predetermined milestones every year. These milestones include:

Mandated annual deadlines for delivery of GPRA ` and PAR documents to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Congress;

At least annual Language Service Review and annual Strategic Process; and

At least one program review for each language service each year by some of the BBG broadcasters;

Alternatively, in other countries that are increasingly closed to outside researchers, methods for estimating critical broadcast research variables require continuous development and ingenuity.

More information on the structure of U.S. International Broadcasting can be found at the following websites:

BBG – www.bbg.gov

VOA – www.voanews.com

Radio/TV Marti – www.martinoticias.com

RFE/RL – www.rferl.org

RFA –www.rfa.org

Radio Sawa – www.radiosawa.com

Alhurra TV – www.alhurra.com

B.4 SCOPE OF WORK

The scope of the BPA includes conducting all required qualitative audience and market research for the BBG and its entities – both federal and grantee - including all broadcasting organizations that the BBG supervises, to include a total of over 60 language services broadcasting worldwide. The BBG and its entities will require varying combinations of qualitative and other research.

http://www.bbg.gov/ http://www.voanews.com/ http://www.martinoticias.com/ http://www.rferl.org/ http://www.rfa.org/ http://www.radiosawa.com/ http://www.alhurra.com/

B.5 OBJECTIVES

The objective of this procurement is to award BPAs to multiple vendors under multiple Task Areas in support of developing a program of regular, current, accurate qualitative audience research to be conducted by Contractors. The objectives of the desired research program are:

To satisfy the requirements of the agency‘s statutory framework, which stipulates that BBG use audience research as a basis for decision-making. (This decision-making includes general oversight, as well as annual reports on performance to OMB and Congress and an annual review of broadcast languages to consider additions and deletions of programming and language services, as described above);

To meet the needs of professional broadcasting management. (The BBG recognizes that current, accurate, comprehensive audience research is essential to professional broadcasting, and that the language services of all the broadcasting entities must have access to a wide range of audience and market research to, among other things: discern media habits and how they are changing, identify and/or describe target audiences, understand content preferences, provide input to format changes, transmission requirements, and distribution opportunities, including local FM/AM, television, and digital affiliations);

To enable BBG to have consistent, accurate, reliable measurements of broadcast effectiveness, impact, and quality so that the components of a GPRA mandated Strategic Plan and Performance Plan can be enacted and applied at all levels of management in all the entities;

To support the BBG in its collaborative relationships with other international broadcasters and U.S. Government agencies in the field of shared research; and

To provide objective research on issues such as program quality and relevance in a timely manner in the direct support of approximately 75 individual program reviews conducted by several of the BBG’s entities annually.

B.6 TASK AREAS

Successful Contractors will be required to perform a host of research, analysis and reporting tasks that fall into five (5) Task Areas. Call Orders may consist of activities from one or multiple

Task Areas. The following provides a short description of each Task Area. Detailed Task Area information and descriptions will be provided during Phase Two of the solicitation process, as described in Section F.1 titled Phased Solicitation-Evaluation Procedure of this document.

The Task Areas under which prospective Offerors may compete and receive one or more awards are:

Task Area 1: Omnibus Surveys: Vetting of potential omnibus vendors and their procedures, Basic Instrument Customization, Acquisition of Data, basic data Quality Control

Task Area 2: Qualitative Studies: Instrument Review, Insights Collection/Fieldwork, Insights Processing, Quality Control, Insights Analysis, Reporting, Editing

Task Area 3: Other Analytic Research Studies: Analysis, Reporting, Editing

Task Area 4: Non-Representative Surveys: Sampling/Recruitment Plan, Survey Instrument Customization, Data Collection/Fieldwork, Data Processing, Quality Control, Data Analysis, Reporting, Editing. This Task Area covers non-representative surveys for markets where representative BBG surveys are not possible to conduct or where detailed information cannot be obtained in a nationally-representative survey

Task Area 5: Online Audio-Visual Panels: Panel Instrument Review, Formatting and Translation; Formatting Audio-Visual Content; Participant Recruitment/Fieldwork; Data Collection/Fieldwork, Data Entry and Processing, Quality Control. This Task Area covers large sample online panels to assess audience preferences for audio visual content including TV, radio, or digital news and information or music broadcasts.

B.7 BPA CALL ORDER WORK

a. The Contractor shall provide all necessary direct and indirect labor, materials, equipment, supervision, management, travel, subcontracts, and any other items, personnel or material resources or miscellaneous items that are necessary for the Contractor to perform all work under BPA Call Orders that are issued to the Contractor by an authorized Ordering Official (i.e., Contracting Officer (CO), Contracting Officer Representative (COR)).

b. The BPA individual Call Orders performed by the Contractor will be in the five (5) Task Areas described in Section B.6 above. The ordering procedure and required documentation for individual Call Orders are stated in Section C.7 herein titled ORDER

PLACEMENT AND FUNDING.

c. Individual Call Orders shall be competed among the multiple BPA awardees to determine fair and reasonable pricing.

d. In addition, fair and reasonable pricing may be determined by use of historical pricing data on same and/or similar requirements. Also, to provide competition to the maximum practical extent possible the BBG encourages all interested Contractors to minimize and avoid any exclusive subcontract agreements.

e. BBG reserves the right to include option periods in the Call Orders, when deemed necessary. Also, BBG may request cost or pricing data for any period to determine fair and reasonable pricing.

f. Whenever Call Order work necessitates the use of a subcontractor(s) for any required fieldwork or other work, the Contractor’s proposed price for the Call Order should include the price of such subcontracting work.

g. In most cases, Offerors will be asked to provide Firm-Fixed-Price proposals for each Call Order on which they bid. The quoted price must include all costs, including direct labor, fringe benefits, overheads and profit. If specified in the Call Order, Offerors may include multiple pricing options (for example with travel and/or without travel, etc.)

B.8 TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall implement audience and market research for the BBG and its entities and all the broadcasting organizations that it supervises, to include a total of over 60 language services broadcasting worldwide. The BBG and its entities will require varying combinations of qualitative and other research. These combinations will be specified in Task and Call Orders issued under the BPA.. The Contractors will in every case be responsible for quality control and for delivery of the resulting research findings in specified formats and by the dates specified in the Task and Call Order.

Precise project milestones, deliverable formats and deliverable deadlines will be outlined in each Call Order. Specifically, the Contractors are required to:

Conduct, directly or through subcontract arrangements, fieldwork related to data collection, quality control, data processing and analysis of research findings in accordance with schedules outlined in the Call Orders;

Ensure all rights, nondisclosure and FAR clauses flow-down to subcontractors.

Provide expert consultation on turning research findings into actionable program improvements to broadcasters of a selection of specified language services;

Comply with BBG document naming conventions, which are:

• All study related documents will be have AAA-BB-CCC DDD at the beginning of the file name, with AAA standing for the first three letters of the country name (with some exceptions such as IRN for Iran and IRQ for Iraq), BB for the project type (e.g. OM for omnibus survey, FG for focus groups etc.), CC standing for the FY in which the study was commissioned, and DDD standing for the BBG entity serving as the project technical lead (e.g. VOA, RFE/RL, RFA, OCB, MBN, IBB)

• After the AAA-BB-CC-DDD introduction, the document type will be listed, e.g. Discussion Guide, Screener, Questionnaire, Dataset, Technical Report, Analytical Report etc.

• If the document has been accepted as final by the BBG’s technical representative, the word FINAL will be added

• The last point of information in the document name will show the date the document was prepared, e.g. 23 Jan 17.

• Examples:

• LAO-MP-17-RFA Analytical Report 3Jun17

• IRQ-FG-18-MBN Home Exercise 15Dec18

• RUS-FG-18-VOA Transcripts FINAL 8Aug18

Report research findings according to report templates provided by the BBG and upload all deliverables to a password protected SharePoint site administered by the BBG

Additional details relating to the above technical requirements is provided in Section B.6 of the SOW. (Please note that additional information will be provided during Phase Two of the solicitation process.

B.9 RESEARCH MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS

Management Capacity

In order to effectively support this Contract and the key and program staff assigned to it, the Contractor(s) is required to provide experienced back-room management, using robust and tested financial and accounting software, contract tracking and IT systems. Experienced Contract specialists must be able to create and enforce subcontracts across the globe with proper flow-down of Contract terms. Support staff must have back-up personnel when unable to perform tasks related to Contract and subcontract management.

Aside from finance, accounting, contracts and administrative functions, the Contractor(s) shall also have available the following expertise available to its project staff working on this Contract, whether as employees or contractors:

Demographers/statisticians

Survey methodologists

Qualitative research specialists

Writers/editors

Subject Matter Experts

Expert Analysts

Although not a requirement, the Government expects and encourages the Offerors to enter into business arrangements that will adequately support the requirements of this Contract. If two or more firms form a business arrangement and receive Task Orders under this Contract, the BBG staff working on the Contract expects to have access to Contractor personnel with specialized expertise, whether they are associated with the prime or subordinate firm.

The Government's intent is to issue Call Orders that reflect a Performance oriented Contracting approach. In a Performance-Based Contract, the Government will specify requirements in the Performance Work Statement in terms of performance objectives and the Contractor(s) shall propose 'how to' best satisfy those objectives. Call Orders will be primarily negotiated and issued at the level of specific project in a specific market in one of the Task Areas outlined above. In totality, the BBG expects all Call Orders under this BPA to produce about 20 BBG surveys, 30 omnibus surveys, 25 qualitative and 2 other analytic research projects annually.

C. BPA TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The Contractor agrees to the following terms of a BPA with the BBG. The Contractor shall furnish all the necessary personnel and materials required to perform the Call Orders placed under this

BPA within the terms specified, and at the price(s) stated in each order.

C.1 BPA Term

The ordering period of this BPA is five years. There are no optional periods of performance. The initial term begins on the Date of Award.

Call Orders issued during the effective period of his BPA may extend beyond the effective term of this BPA. However, no new Call Orders may be issued once the period of performance of the BPA has expired.

Call Orders issued under this BPA may contain optional periods of performance that the Government can exercise, subject to the terms of FAR 52.217-9. The Government may extend this BPA or orders placed under it subject to the terms of FAR 52.217-8.

C.2 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

The place of performance for services ordered under this BPA is at the Contractor’s facilities.

Place of delivery is Office of Research and Assessment (ORA), 330 Independence Ave., S.W., Room 3600, Washington, D.C. 20237

Place of acceptance and FOB point is also ORA located in Washington, D.C.

C.3 ESTIMATED VALUE OF ORDERS AND EXTENT OF OBLIGATION

Although the Government does not guarantee, nor does it commit itself to placing a minimum amount of orders, the Government estimates that over the ordering period of this BPA, it will place orders with a cumulative value that does not exceed $7,000,000. The United States Government is obligated under this BPA only to the extent of authorized Call Orders placed by authorized acquisition personnel who are dully warranted contracting officers.

C.4 PRICING ARRANGEMENTS

Call Orders for services requiring a Statement of Work (SOW) or Performance Work Statement

(PWS) will be placed using one or a combination of the following pricing arrangements:

Firm Fixed Price (FFP) Labor Hour (LH) Time and Materials (T&M)

C.5 PAYMENTS FOR ORDERS

For Call Orders issued on a labor hour (LH) or time-and-materials (T&M) basis:

All T&M and LH Call Order issued under this BPA will include a ceiling price that the Contractor shall not exceed, except at its own risk.

FAR 16.601 requires that T&M and LH labor rates be quoted at a fixed rate amount, using fully burdened hourly rates. In addition, the applicable clauses of T&M and LH will be included in Call Orders.

FAR 16.601 requires that T&M material quotes must include the at-cost rate and any related shipping and handling costs. In other words, Contractors shall not add profit or fee to charges for materials.

For Call Orders issued on a Firm-Fixed-Price basis, the following payment schedule will apply for each respective Task Area:

The Contractor shall only invoice in accordance with the following payment schedules:

Task Area 1: Omnibus Surveys

Milestone Payment:

Translation(s) of questionnaire module 20%

Final deliverables submitted and approved

80%

Task Area 2: Qualitative Studies

Milestones for FGs/Interactive Data Intelligences (IDIs/Ethnographies

Payment:

Translation(s) of instrument and recruitment list submitted and approved

30%

Initial summary report and recordings submitted and approved

30%

Final deliverables submitted and

40%

Milestones for Monitoring Panels Payment:

Translation(s) of instrument and recruitment list submitted and approved

30%

Receipt of draft report (and translated completed questionnaires if required)

30%

Final deliverables submitted and

40%

Task Area 3: Other Analytic Research Studies

Payment schedule will vary according to the nature of the project, it will be detailed in each Call Order’s SOW or PWS.

Task Area 4: Non-Representative Surveys

The BBG recognizes that preparation for and conducting surveys in Non-Representative is a lengthy process, which is reflected in the payment schedule below:

Milestone Payment:

Translation(s) of questionnaire and recruitment plan submitted and approved

25%

Proof of 50% of interviews completed (either partial dataset or other means) and approved

25%

Dataset and technical report submitted and approved

25%

Final deliverables submitted and

25%

Task Area 5: Online Audio-Visual Panels

Milestone Payment:

Questionnaire finalized and formatted 20%

Completed mock-up of online panel with audio-visual materials incorporated

30%

Completed pre-test report 20%

Receipt of final data 30%

C.6 PREFERRED CUSTOMER PRICING

The Contractor shall extend to the Government prices and rates that are as low as or lower than those prices and rates charged the Contractor’s most favored customers. The Contractor shall extend to the Government any quantity and prompt payment discount it normally gives its most favored customers. The Contractor shall show on invoices any discounts that it extended during the invoice period.

C.7 ORDER PLACEMENT AND FUNDING

In order to meet the research needs of the BBG, the Government intends to issue multiple award

Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA), implemented primarily through Firm-Fixed-Priced (FFP)

Call Orders. The Government will issue a Call Order RFP for each individual Call Order, which will clearly specify the research parameters. Call Orders involving field research, other significant activities, or subcontracts will be issued on a FFP basis in order to control costs.

BPA awards will be based on the Government’s evaluation of all Offerors’ written proposals. For each Call Order, the Government will select the offer(s) that represent best value to the

Government.

Orders exceeding the micro-purchase threshold will be placed in writing through the use of standard form (SF1449, Optional Form (OF) 347 or other suitable form. This BPA does not obligate any funds. The Government will obligate funds at the time it places Call Orders.

C.8 CANCELLATION AND RENEWAL

a. Either party may modify or cancel this BPA, in its entirety upon sixty (60) days written notice to the other party. The Government may cancel this BPA at any time if the parties fail to agree upon any deletion, amendment or addition to this BPA when statute, Executive order, the Federal

Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and/or this Supplement requires. No deletion, modification, addition to, or cancellation of this BPA shall affect any Call Orders entered into between the parties in which this BPA or portion thereof has been incorporated by reference

b. This BPA will be reviewed annually before the anniversary of its effective date and prior to exercising an optional period of performance, should there be any options.

C.9 NOT USED

C.10 CONTRACTING OFFICER'S AUTHORITY

The Contracting Officer (CO) will perform all contract administration. The CO is the only person with the authority to act as an agent of the U.S. Government under this BPA and its Call Orders and is the only person authorized to make or approve any changes in any of the requirements of this BPA and its Call Orders. Notwithstanding any provisions contained elsewhere in this BPA, this authority remains solely with the CO.

In the event the Contractor makes any changes at the direction of any person other than the CO, the change will be considered to have been made without authority and no adjustment will be made to the Call Order price to cover any increase in costs incurred as a result thereof. Only the

CO has the authority to: (1) direct or negotiate any changes in the SOW or PWS; (2) modify or extend the period of performance; (3) change the delivery schedule, (4) authorize reimbursement to the Contractor for any costs incurred during the performance of orders issued under this BPA or (5) otherwise change any terms and conditions of this BPA and/or its Call Orders.

Communications pertaining to contract administration matters shall be addressed to the CO. No changes in or deviation from the SOW or PWS shall be effective without a Supplemental

Agreement (contract modification) executed by the CO authorizing such changes.

C.11 CONTRACTING OFFICER'S REPRESENTATIVE (COR)

Sonja Gloeckle is hereby designated as the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR). The

Government may change the COR at any time without prior notice to the Contractor by a unilateral modification to the Contract.

The COR’s contact information is:

Sonja Gloeckle

Broadcasting Board of Governors 330 Independence Ave, SW Room 3258 Washington, D.C. 20237 Phone: (202) 382-7246 E-mail: sgloeckle@bbg.gov

The responsibilities and limitations of the COR are as follows:

(1) The COR is responsible for the technical aspects of the project and serves as technical liaison with the Contractor. The COR is also responsible for the final inspection and acceptance of all reports, and such other responsibilities as may be specified in the Call Order.

(2) The COR is not authorized to make any commitments or otherwise obligate the

Government or authorize any changes, which affect the Contract price, terms or conditions. Any Contractor request for changes shall be referred to the Contracting Officer (CO) directly or through the COR. No such changes shall be made without the expressed prior authorization of the CO. The COR may designate assistant COR(s) to act for the COR by naming such assistant(s) in writing and transmitting a copy of such designation through the CO to the Contractor.

D. SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

To the extent there is any conflict between the Special Contract Requirements and the FAR clauses included and/or incorporated by reference, these Special Contract Requirements shall control.

D.1 KEY PERSONNEL

Contractor personnel assigned to the following key positions are considered Key Personnel and are subject to paragraphs b and c of this section:

a. The following positions are considered Key Personnel positions:

Project Manager (and others to be determined at call order level)

b. The Contractor shall obtain the consent of the Contracting Officer (CO) prior to making Key

Personnel Substitutions. Replacement for Key Personnel must possess qualifications equal to or exceeding the qualifications of the Key Personnel being replaced specified. The Contractor shall make no substitutions of Key Personnel unless the substitution is necessitated by illness, death, or termination of employment.

c. Requests for changes shall be submitted to the CO at least 15 working days prior to making any permanent substitutions. The request should contain a detailed explanation of the circumstances necessitating the proposed substitutions, complete resumes for the proposed substitutes, and any additional information requested by the CO. The CO will notify the Contractor within 10 working days after receipt of all required information of the decision on substitutions.

The BPA/Call Order will be modified to reflect any approved changes.

D.2 NOTIFICATION OF INTENT TO SUBCONTRACT

The contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer of its intent to subcontract any portion of the

Call Order requirements. The Government reserves the right to recommend potential sources for subcontracts to whom solicitations must be mailed during the performance of any Call Order.

D.3 RESTRICTIONS AGAINST DISCLOSURE

1. The Contractor agrees, in the performance of this contract, to keep in strict confidence the information furnished by the Government and designated by the Contracting Officer or

Contracting Officer's Representative as non-public BBG materials and information. The

Contractor also agrees not to publish or otherwise divulge such information in whole or in part, in any manner or form, nor to authorize or permit others to do so, taking such reasonable measures as are necessary to restrict access to such information while in the Contractor's possession, to those officers, directors, employees, contractors and agents needing such information to perform the work provided herein, i.e., on a need to know basis. The Contractor agrees to immediately notify the Contracting Officer in writing in the event that the Contractor determines or has reason to suspect a breach of this requirement.

2. The Contractor agrees that it will not disclose any information described in paragraph 1 of this section to any persons or individual outside its organization or not representing BBG on the

IARP unless prior written approval is obtained from the Contracting Officer. The Contractor agrees to insert the substance of this clause in any employment or consultant agreement and all subcontracts hereunder and to diligently enforce the clause. The Government reserves the right to review Contractors nondisclosure policies and inspect signed copies of all nondisclosure agreements executed in performance of this contract. The Contracting

Officer may terminate this contract for convenience, in whole or in part, if it deems

Contractor or its officers, directors, employees, independent contractors, or subcontractors disclosed non-public BBG materials or information.

Nothing in this BPA or any Call Order shall be construed as limiting any person’s ability to lawfully report waste, fraud, or abuse related to the performance of a Federal Government contract to a designated investigative or law enforcement representative of a Federal

Government department or agency authorized to receive such information (e.g., the agency’s Office of the Inspector General).

D.4 DATA RIGHTS

1. All data and deliverables that result from research performed under any

Task/Delivery Order remain the property of the U.S. Government and shall not be provided to any other parties without the express prior written approval of the BBG, nor used for any other purposes outside those specified in the Call Order by the

Contractor. In this BPA or any Call Order, "data" means recorded information, regardless of form or the media on which it may be recorded. The term includes technical data and computer software. The term does not include information incidental to contract administration, such as financial, administrative, cost or pricing, or management information.

2. The Contractor shall indemnify the Government and its employees and contractors acting for the Government against any liability, including costs and expenses, incurred as the result of the violation of trade secrets, copyrights, or right of privacy or publicity, arising out of the creation, delivery, publication, or use of any data furnished under this BPA or any Call Order; or any libelous or other unlawful matter contained in such data.

D.5 ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST

(a) The Contractor warrants that, to the best of the Contractor's knowledge belief, there are no relevant facts or circumstances which would give rise to an organizational conflict of interest, as defined in FAR Subpart 9.5, or that the Contractor has disclosed all such relevant information.

(b) The Contractor agrees that if an actual or potential organizational conflict of interest is discovered after award, the Contractor make will a full disclosure in writing to the Contracting

Officer. This disclosure shall include a description of actions, which the Contractor has taken or proposes to take, after consultation with the Contracting Officer, to avoid, mitigate, or neutralize the actual or potential conflict.

(c) Remedies - The Contracting Officer may terminate this BPA for convenience, in whole or in part, if it deems such termination necessary to avoid an organizational conflict of interest.

(d) If the Contractor was aware of a potential organizational conflict of interest prior to award or discovered an actual or potential conflict after award and did not disclose or misrepresented relevant information to the Contracting Officer, the Government may terminate the BPA for default, suspend or debar the Contractor from Government contracting, or pursue such other remedies permitted by law.

(e) The Contractor further agrees to insert provisions, which shall conform substantially to the language of this clause, including the paragraph (d), in any subcontract of consultant agreement hereunder.

D.6 COMPLIANCE WITH THE LAWS

The Contractor shall comply with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations both domestic and foreign.

D.7 PRINTING

Unless otherwise specified in this BPA, the Contractor shall not engage in, or subcontract for, any printing (as that term is defined in Title I of the Government Printing and Binding Regulations in effect on the effective date of this contract) in connection with performing under this contract.

Provided, however, that performing a requirement under this contract involving the duplicating of less than 5,000 units of only one page, or less than 25,000 units in the aggregate of multiple pages, such pages are not exceeding a maximum image size of 10 and 3/4 inches by 14 and 1/4 inches, will not be deemed printing.

D.8 HARMLESS FROM LIABILITY

The Contractor shall hold and save the Government, its officers, agents, and employees harmless from liability of any nature or kind, including costs and expenses to which they may be subject, for or on account of any or all suits or damages of any character whatsoever resulting from injuries or damages sustained by any person or persons or property by virtue of performance of this contract, arising or resulting in whole or in part from the fault, negligence, wrongful act or wrongful omission of the Contractor, or any subcontractor, their employees, and agents.

D.9 SECURITY

The Contractor shall comply with all contractual and Federal information security, privacy and confidentiality requirements applicable to the operation, maintenance or support of BBG’s information system. The Contractor shall be required to prevent and remedy data breaches and to provide the BBG with all necessary information and cooperation, and to take all other reasonable and necessary steps and precautions, to enable the BBG to satisfy its data breach reporting duties under applicable law, regulation, or policy in the event, if any, that a breach occurs.

D.10 DUPLICATION OF EFFORT

The Contractor hereby certifies that costs for work to be performed under any Call Order issued under this BPA and any subcontract hereunder are not duplicative of any cost charged against any other Government contract, subcontract, or other Government source. The Contractor agrees to advise the Contracting Officer, in writing, of any other Government contract or subcontract it has performed or is performing which involves work directly related to the purpose of this BPA or any Call Order issue under this BPA. The Contractor also certifies and agrees that any and all work performed under this BPA or any Call Order issued under this BPA shall be directly and exclusively for the use and benefit of the Government, and not incidental to any other work, pursuit, research, or purpose of the Contractor, whose responsibility it will be to account for it accordingly.

D.11 CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION

The Contractor shall designate below a company official whom the BBG may contact during the period of performance of this contract for prompt contract administration:

NAME:

TITLE:

ADDRESS:

E-MAIL:

PHONE:

FACSIMILE:

The Contractor shall also designate below a company official responsible for reviewing performance evaluation entered into the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System

(CPARS).

NAME:

TITLE:

ADDRESS:

E-MAIL:

PHONE:

FACSIMILE:

D.12 INVOICE SUBMISSION

(a) The Contractor shall submit an invoice to the COR via Invoicing Payment Platform (IPP) below. The COR is listed in Section C.11 above.

(b) The Contractor’s invoice shall list: (1) name and address of Contractor, (2) invoice date and invoice number, (3) BBG contract number (e.g., BBG50-C-17-0000) and (4) services provided.

(c) Pursuant to the Prompt Payment Act, the BBG will pay the invoice within 30 days of either:

(1) receipt of the invoice or (2) acceptance of deliverables; whichever is later.

Note No. 1: The BBG invoicing procedures are listed below under 1952.232-91. Any costs associated with complying with these procedures will be at the Contractor’s expense.

Note No. 2: The invoice date must be after the beginning of the period being billed. For example if the contract period of performance is 1/1/17 – 12/31/17, then the first invoice for the first quarter cannot be dated earlier than 1/1/17.

1952.232-91 Electronic Invoicing and Payment Requirements – Invoicing Payment Platform (IPP) (April 2016).

Payment requests for all new awards must be submitted electronically through the U.S.

Department of the Treasury’s Invoice Payment Platform System (IPP).

“Payment request” means any request for contract financing payment or invoice payment by the Contractor. To constitute a proper invoice, the payment request must comply with the requirements identified in FAR 32.905(b). “Payment documentation and process” and the applicable Prompt Payment clause included in this contract. The IPP website address is:

https://www.ipp.gov.

Under this contract, the following documents are required to be submitted as an attachment to the IPP invoice (CO to edit and include the documentation required under this contract):

https://www.ipp.gov/

The Contractor must follow the instruction on the attached Electronic Invoicing Advisory to enroll, access and use IPP for submitting requests for payment.

If the Contractor is unable to comply with the requirement to use IPP for submitting invoices for payment, the Contractor must submit a waiver request in writing to the contracting officer.

(End of clause)

D.13 NOTICE OF DELAY

Notice of Delay – In the event the Contractor becomes aware of a potential delay, the Contractor shall immediately notify the Contracting Officer and COR by via email. Such email shall include the nature of the delay and whether it will have any impact (positive or negative) on the Contract.

(End of clause)

D.14 RELEASE OF INFORMATION

No data relating to the BPA, any Call Order or performance of work shall be made publically available without obtaining the Contracting Officer’s prior written consent.

A public includes news stories, articles, publications, sales literature, advertisements, radio-tv spots, etc. Any request for public release of information should be addressed to the Contracting Officer and a copy provided to:

Broadcasting Board of Governors Office of Public Affairs (OPA)

330 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20237

(202) 203-4400

(End of clauses)

E. CLAUSES AND SPECIAL PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO THIS ORDER

Full text of all FAR clauses and provisions are available electronically at the following Internet address: (http://www.acquisition.gov/far).

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision FAR 52.212-1 Instruction to Offerors-

Commercial Items, applies to this solicitation.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation-Commercial Items, applies to this solicitation.

Offerors shall include a completed copy of the provision FAR 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items with its offer which is completed by registering in the System for Award Management (SAM) website at: HTTPS://WWW.SAM.GOV/PORTAL.

https://www.sam.gov/PORTAL

Proposals must also include contractor name and address, contractor’s DUNS Number, prompt payment terms, and correct remittance address, if different from mailing address. THE

SUCCESSFUL CONTRACTOR MUST BE REGISTERED ONLINE IN THE SAM WEB SITE

PRIOR TO CONTRACT AWARD.

The FAR clause 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items, is incorporated by reference and applies to this acquisition.

FAR Clause 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or

Executive Orders-Commercial Items (Jan 2017), applies to this solicitation by reference and proposed subsequent contract, as well as the following clauses contained within FAR clause

52.212-5:

52.202-1 Definitions (Nov 2013; 52.203-3 Gratuities (Apr 1984);

52.203-6 Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government (Sept 2006) with Alternate (Oct. 1995);

52.203-17 Contractor Employee Whistleblower Rights and Requirement To Inform Employees of Whistleblower Rights (Apr 2014);

52.203-19 Prohibition on Requiring Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements (Jan 2017)

52.204-10 Reporting Executive compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards (Oct 2016);

52.204-19 Incorporated by Reference of Representations and Certifications (Dec 2014);

52.209-6 Protecting the Government’s Interest When Subcontracting with Contractors Debarred, Suspended, or Proposed for Debarment (Oct 2015);

52.209-9 Updates of Publicly Available Information Regarding Responsibility Matters (Jul

2013);

52.219-8 Utilization of Small Business Concerns (Nov 2016);

52.219-28 Post Award Small Business Program Representation (Jul 2013);

52.222-3 Convict Labor (June 2003);

52.222-19 Child Labor—Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies (Oct 2016);

52.222-21 Prohibition of Segregated Facilities (Apr 2015);

52.222-26 Equal Opportunity (Sep 2016) (E.O. 11246);

52.222-35 Equal Opportunity for Veterans (Oct 2015);

52.222-36 Equal Opportunity for Workers with Disabilities (Jul 2014);

52.222-37 Employment Reports on Veterans (Feb 2016);

52.222-40 Notification of Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act (Dec 2010);

52.222-50 Combating Trafficking in Persons (Mar 2015);

52.223-18 Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging while Driving (Aug 2011);

52.225-13 Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases (June 2008);

52.227-17 Rights in Data—Special Works ( Dec 2007)

52.227-18 Existing Works (Dec 2007)

52-227-23 Rights to Proposal Data (Technical) (Jun 1987)

52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-System for Award Management (Jul 2013).

Additional FAR provisions and clauses incorporated by reference and applicable to this solicitation and the proposed subsequent contract are:

52.232-1 Payments (Apr 1984)

52.232-7 Payments under Time-and-Materials and Labor-Hour Contracts (Aug 2012)

52.232-18 Availability of Funds (Apr 1984).

52.204-7 System for Award Management (Oct 2016);

52.209-2 Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations-Representation (Nov 2015);

52.209-7 Information Regarding Responsibility Matters (Jul 2013);

(End of clauses)

EXERCISING OF OPTIONS UNDER THIS CONTRACT

The Government has the right to exercise at its sole discretion any option included in Call Orders issued under this BPA. The Government has no obligation to exercise this right. The parties agree that the Government may partially exercise any option in the BPA and may do so multiple times up to the point that the option has been fully exercised. The Contractor, however, will not be entitled to any additional compensation beyond that associated with the amount of the option exercise.

In the event that BBG does not give written notice to exercise an option, the contract will expire at the end of the existing period of performance (the Base Period or Option Period) as applicable.

Additionally, the parties agree that, in the event the BBG decides not to exercise any options, BBG will have no further obligation to the Contractor under this contract other than to pay for services BBG ordered and the Contractor actually rendered to BBG hereunder.

52.217-8 OPTION TO EXTEND SERVICES (NOV 1999)

The Government may require continued performance of any services within the limits and at the rates specified in the contract. These rates may be adjusted only as a result of revisions to prevailing labor rates provided by the Secretary of Labor. The option provision may be exercised more than once, but the total extension of performance hereunder shall not exceed 6 months.

The Contracting Officer may exercise the option by written notice to the Contractor within 30 days of the end of the ordering period.

F. EVALUTION PROCEDURE and BASIS FOR AWARD

F.1. Phased…