Hillmer_-_JOFOC_FY16.doc

Justification For Other Than Full And Open Competition

U.S. Census Bureau

Acquisition Division

BCYA-1323-16-01171

1. Nature Of The Action Being Approved

Noncompetitive acquisition of services/supplies from Doug Hillmer in the amount of $97,750 for the period of 09/26/16 to 09/26/17 to provide expert data products services for the American Community Survey Office.

2. Description of Services

Contractor will perform the following tasks:

ACTIVITY 1: The contractor shall attend enterprise TO-BE requirements gathering sessions and provide a brief summary on insight, major technical issues or risks after each session to the ACSO Data Products Management Team, and the enterprise Technical Platform Team as needed.

ACTIVITY 2: The contractor shall review enterprise TO-BE technical documents including requirements, design document and software architecture and provide comments and a brief summary of the TO-BE plan to the ACSO Data Products Management Team, and enterprise Technical Platform Team as needed.

ACTIVITY 3: The contractor shall attend enterprise Microdata Analysis System (MAS) AS-IS and TO-BE requirements gathering sessions and provide a brief summary on insight, major technical issues or risks after each session to ACSO Data Products Management Team and enterprise Project Management Team as needed, ACTIVITY 4: The contractor shall review enterprise MAS TO-BE technical documents including requirements, design document and software architecture and provide comments and a brief summary of findings to ACSO Data Products Management Team and enterprise Project Management Team as needed.

ACTIVITY 5: The contractor shall attend enterprise Metadata AS-IS and TO-BE requirements gathering sessions and provide a brief summary on insight, major technical issues or risks after each session to ACSO Data Products Management Team and enterprise Metadata Management Team as needed, ACTIVITY 6: The contractor shall serve as ACS expert on metadata to assist in reviewing or formulating enterprise metadata standards and provide brief summary on insight, major technical issues or risks to ACSO Data Products Management Team and the enterprise Metadata Management Team as needed.

ACTIVITY 7: The contractor shall continue previous work on the “Data Layer” project to better align ACS metadata with requirements of the TO-BE metadata system for dissemination.

ACTIVITY 8: The contractor shall participate in ACSO Data Products Area technical meetings and provide a brief summary on insight, major technical issues or risks after each session to ACSO Data Products Management Team.

ACTIVITY 9: The contractor shall provide comments or recommendations on ACS data products, data dissemination or other operations as needed.

ACTIVITY 10: The contractor shall provide general input, guidance and support to the CEDSCI metadata development effort as it relates to impacts on the ACS or leveraging ACS metadata.

3. Statutory Authority

41 U.S.C. 253 (c) (1) – Only One Responsible Source. The supplies or services required by the agency are available from only one responsible source and no other type of supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

4. Unique Qualifications

The contractor of this service must possess the following qualifications:

· Extensive knowledge of the American Community Survey data products.

· Extensive knowledge of the design of the system that produces the American Community Survey data products, including the specification system and the Table Generator system.

· Expertise in coordinating projects between the customers, the data products area, and the data dissemination area.

· Extensive experience in working with data products customers to design products that meet their needs.

· Extensive knowledge of the American Factfinder data dissemination system and other American Community Survey data dissemination systems.

· Extensive knowledge of the American Community Survey data products, such as the summary files, and how the products are interwoven.

· Extensive knowledge in testing to ensure quality in the ACS Table Generator system.

5. No other potential sources are available.

Doug Hillmer was the founder of the American Community Survey data products area. He supervised the development of the ACS data products system that in 2012 produced more than 20 billion data estimates for data users. During that period, he oversaw the expansion of the data products as the survey went into production as the largest ongoing national survey in U.S. history.

He worked closely with data users over the years to solicit their ideas on how to improve the data products and to identify other types of data products that could be useful. .

He developed the procedures by which ACS data products are produced, including programming systems and testing procedures that have ensured that the ACS data products have been produced with very high quality. He has an extensive knowledge of the SAS programming language. No one has more knowledge of the ACS data products system, the software systems that produce the tables, development of the content of the tables with customers, than any other person.

6. Fair and Reasonable Cost

The anticipated labor rate has been compared to similar professional labor categories in the academic community and is in line with similar labor categories with similar skill sets.

7. Market Research

As noted above, the ability to fulfill the Statement of Work requires detailed knowledge of the ACS data products. Such experience is limited explicitly to the provider of this service. Mr. Hillmer has been involved with the American Community Survey since its inception in 1994. He was responsible for the design, development and initial implementation of the ACS data products, the system to produce those data products, and successfully managed the production of the ACS data products until 2009. Mr. Hillmer’s 20 years of experience with the ACS and its data products has given him deep knowledge of the constraints and possibilities that such a system possesses.

8. Other Supporting Facts

The U.S. Census Bureau has determined that Mr. Doug Hillmer is the only source at this time with the knowledge and experience needed to accomplish the requirements set forth in the Performance Work Statement (PWS) or Statement of Work (SOW). The performance of these services by or supplies through Doug Hillmer will mitigate any risks associated with the Census Bureau’s ability to complete its scheduled milestones and without impeding its overall mission.

No alternative source of comparable skills and knowledge are immediately available at any price. SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 The amount of time and funds required to train, educate and provide a comparable skill set comparable to Doug Hillmer would cause an unacceptable delay in the Census Bureau’s ability to fulfill its mission. Not acquiring the services of Doug Hillmer will jeopardize the quality and timeliness of the Census Bureau ability to complete the services

The work requires that the contractor have expertise in the design, content and operation of the Census Bureau’s ACS data products, and technical experience that demonstrates an understanding of the needs of subject matter to support ACS data products. Finally, the contractor must have good writing and presentation skills.

The Census Bureau has made a substantial investment in the American Community Survey and development of an extensive data products system. The contractor must have extensive knowledge of the ACS and specifically the data products system, as well as the American Factfinder system and other data dissemination systems. The Bureau has identified specific activities that are necessary, that are only possible with knowledgeable staff. The contractor must have unique knowledge and experience with the requirements outlined in the SOW. It would not be possible to transition to another vendor without tremendous impact on the ACS data products program. This contractor has more than 20 years of experience with the ACS data products system and was the key person in developing those systems. The learning curve to work in the ACS data products program is very steep. Selection of a new vendor would be at best counterproductive at best.

9. Statement of Work

The attached Performance Work Statement (PWS) or Statement of Work (SOW) fully documents the requirements for this requirement.

10. Supporting Program Data

I certify that the narrative justification is accurate as provided by the program management office, and verifies the Government’s minimum needs or schedule requirements and any rationale used to justify other than full and open procedures.

Signature: ____________________________ Date: _________________

Name: _______________________ Title/Position: _______________________

11. Contracting Officer Certification

As Contracting Officer, assigned to the U.S. Census Bureau, I hereby certify that the justification for other than full and open competition for this requirement is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

_____________________________________ Date: ____________

Pamela A. Miller

Contracting Officer