Combined Synopsis Solicitation 951700-24-R-0007 Cloud TV Channel Playout.pdf

UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR GLOBAL MEDIA (USAGM)

Title: CLOUD TV CHANNEL PLAYOUT AND DELIVERY PLATFORM

Issued Date: January 24, 2024

Proposal Due Date: February 9, 2024

Interested Offerors are reminded to submit via email two separate attachments – a Technical Proposal and a separate Price Proposal. Offerors shall send one email with both attachments.

ALL ATTACHMENTS MUST BE CLEARLY LABELED AND SENT IN “PDF FORMAT”

AND INCLUDE THE SOLICITATION NUMBER IN THE SUBJECT LINE. PLEASE NOTE

THAT THE TOTAL SIZE OF ALL ATTACHEMNTS MUST NOT EXCEED 23MB.

NOTICE TYPE: Combined Synopsis/Solicitation

(i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

(ii) Solicitation No. 951700-24-R-0007 is issued as a Request for Proposals (RFP).

(iii) This solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2023-06 effective December 4, 2023.

(iv) The North American Industry Classification Systems (NAICS) code for this acquisition is: 518210, Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services with a small business size standard of $40,000,000.00.

(v) The U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) is seeking a cloud-based TV channel playout and delivery platform to build several new, linear channels. Any platform or solution shall be able to rapidly scale additional channels upon USAGM request.

The period of performance for this acquisition will be for three (3) years, one base and two option years, approximately March 26, 2024 through March 25, 2027.

Period of Performance

Base Year March 26, 2024 through March 25, 2025

Option Year 1 March 26, 2024 through March 25, 2025

Option Year 2 March 26, 2024 through March 25, 2025

Background

USAGM’s broadcast networks include Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Middle East Broadcasting Networks, and Office of Cuba Broadcasting.

The United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM, or “Government”) through the Office of Business Development seeks a cloud video/television playout system to help create, maintain and deliver linear programming around the world direct to consumers and USAGM affiliates. Channels and streams shall be distributed to multiple destinations in multiple output formats.

Scope of Work

The Contractor shall demonstrate the scalability of its proposed system, citing examples of large broadcasting company clients that show experience that is relevant to the objectives presented in this document. The solution proposed by the vendor must be a Global Cloud Based Service or Platform (SaaS or PaaS) in compliance with FedRAMP/FISMA and/or similar security standards. Solutions that offer compliance with similar security standards must be willing to apply for federal security standards.

Additionally, proposed solutions must include a channel marketplace that will promote USAGM channels and facilitate channel distributions onto large, international streaming television platforms.

The proposed solution shall provide a secure cloud TV playout platform that can integrate with our agency's Active Directory Single-Sign-On (SSO) systems, to manage user access.

The platform will support content ingest and transcoding, automatically ingesting content from existing USAGM broadcast systems. The successful Contractor’s solution shall include the following:

Usability Live inputs Scheduling Ingest and Schedule Automation Live Channel Output to CDN and other customer endpoints Channel Marketplace Distribution Support Security compliance

1. Ingest

1.1. System shall automate Content ingest from USAGM Media Asset Management (MAM)

Systems.

1.1.1. Media Asset Management systems include Dalet, Frame.io and Imagen.

1.1.1.1. Contractor shall be granted API access to any of these systems if required.

1.1.1.2. Ingest must support AWS S3 and/or Azure Blob storage. At present, USAGM prefers Azure Blob storage due to the agency’s direct connection to Azure.

1.1.2. The Contractor shall provide content importers for each of the above listed USAGM systems.

1.1.2.1. System content importers shall trigger content ingest upon the arrival of new or updated content.

1.1.2.2. System content importers shall track content and metadata updates.

1.1.2.3. System content importers shall assign a language to every imported asset.

1.1.2.4. System content importers shall automatically import content categories and tags when available.

1.1.3. If an internal USAGM system API is not a viable or reasonable method for content ingest from any of the above-listed systems, The Contractor shall provide alternative means for automated import.

1.1.3.1. Contractor shall provide internal network and/or cloud based ingest “hot folders” that will ingest a mezzanine file with associated metadata companion files.

1.1.3.2. Contractor shall transform and ingest XML, JSON or other companion files into the System.

1.2. System shall feature basic content management with broadcast industry standard metadata fields.

1.3. System shall provide a method to manually upload content

1.4. System shall provide a method to manually add or update metadata.

1.5. System shall provide a method to manually upload related transcripts or subtitles.

1.6. System shall support live ingestion.

1.6.1. Each channel shall support multiple live inputs.

1.6.2. Live input formats shall include MPEG-TS, SRT, RTMP and Zixi.

1.6.3. System shall support multiple languages. (USAGM currently broadcasts in 64 languages. In some cases, a language service broadcasts in multiple languages to the same geographic region.)

1.6.3.1. System shall support multiple audio and subtitle tracks for each channel.

1.6.3.2. System shall support multiple fonts for video overlays, CG, chyrons, motion graphics, etc. for promos and lower thirds.

2. Scheduler

2.1.1. System shall provide a method to manually schedule segments in bulk outside of any integration with traffic scheduling software.

2.1.2. System shall provide a method to manually delete content from the schedule.

2.1.3. System shall provide automation to assist with adding, scheduling/rescheduling, deletion/transfer of content to keep repeating linear channel content current.

2.1.3.1. System shall make it user-friendly to schedule, update and replace repeating content (segments and/or full shows) multiple times throughout the day. (Many of our channels contain news segments that will be repeated throughout the day. As events change, we shall replace previously scheduled segments. The replacement segments may have different Total Run Times (TRT) than the originals.)

2.1.3.2. If gaps are created by changing repeating segments/sequences TRT, the system shall shift scheduled segments that do NOT have a hard start time (such as regularly scheduled evening news programs that could be identified by tag).

2.1.3.3. Gaps created by changing TRT shall be shown in the web GUI (graphical user interfaces).

2.1.3.3.1. The system shall contain automated scheduling of segments to prevent dead air and alert users of missing content.

2.1.3.3.2. Dead air prevention (automated scheduling) shall include playing a mixture of newer segments combined with evergreen segments (defined by tags).

2.1.3.3.3. System shall email channel alerts to selected user groups of a given channel. Channel or playout outages including dead air should trigger immediate notifications.

2.1.3.4. System shall support the automatic ingestion and scheduling of regularly scheduled programs that have a hard start time.

2.1.3.4.1. System shall recognize pre-recorded regularly scheduled programs (such as Monday-Friday programs that start at regular times) based upon included metadata.

2.1.3.4.2. For regularly scheduled live programming, the system shall record programs, and allow automatic scheduled re-runs.

2.1.3.5. System shall establish lifecycle rules to delete outdated segments and content.

2.1.3.6. Users shall be able to trim start and end times of programs/segments uploaded or recorded by the system.

2.2. The System shall utilize cloud transcoding services.

2.2.1. Transcoding services shall support a wide range of audio/video formats and codecs to convert media to System’s ideal specifications.

2.2.1.1. System shall offer the option to bypass encoding if uploaded media meets specifications.

2.3. Assets shall be stored either in the System’s storage or on USAGM managed Amazon Web Services (AWS) and/or Microsoft Azure accounts.

2.4. Schedule and channel time zones shall be configurable.

2.5. Schedule shall manage Daylight Savings Times.

3. Playout

3.1. System shall create at least one livestream per channel in a format compatible with the CDN(s) of choice as used by USAGM. (This is mostly likely to be HLS for either Akamai or Azure CDN, though SRT or Zixi may be utilized.)

3.1.1. System shall offer additional redundancy of streams and workflows as agreed upon by the contractor and USAGM.

3.2. System shall provide a publicly available, credentialed Application Programming Interface

(API).

3.2.1. API will minimally support http methods for GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE.

3.3. System shall create as-run logs of material.

3.4. System shall offer archiving of video feeds.

3.4.1. If needed for compliance, USAGM shall require downloads of archived video feeds on a per-channel basis. (Due to varied outputs for different audiences, USAGM might not need to archive every channel stream.)

3.4.2. Video stream archive files shall be made available on S3 and/or Azure blob storage.

(Blob storage is preferred.)

3.5. The contractor shall offer or design features to create professional-looking broadcast quality streams.

3.5.1. Some features shall include RSS-based streaming tickers and other web-based graphical overlays, lower-thirds, and promos (both full-motion and static).

3.5.2. Users shall be able to modify minor look and feel of such features without developer support.

3.6. The System shall offer features necessary to support Section 508 compliance in the United

States.

3.6.1. The contractor shall be open to assisting with compliance with other global regions as needed.

3.7. The system shall generate electronic programming guides (EPG) as needed for OTT (Over the

Top), IPTV (Internet Protocol Television), cable and OTA (Over the Air) compliance.

3.8. The System shall provide viewer analytics.

3.8.1. Analytics solution shall track viewership by channel by platform.

3.8.2. Analytics solution shall provide live concurrent viewers in real-time.

3.9. Digital Rights Management (DRM) features shall minimally include geo-blocking, content exclusives, and embargos.

4. Channel Marketplace Distribution

4.1. Marketplace shall serve as a distribution broker between content platforms and providers.

4.2. Marketplace shall be well-established globally with the presence of well-known international global platforms.

4.3. Marketplace support shall include managing USAGM channel distribution to interested Marketplace platforms.

4.4. Marketplace distribution management shall include providing interested platform outlets with the platform's preferred head-end stream format with an electronic programming guide that will meet the platform's specifications.

4.5 Marketplace shall have a proven track record of successful international channel deliveries.

5. Support

5.1. System will be a global Cloud Based Service or Platform (SaaS or PaaS).

5.2. USAGM requires 99.99% System uptime outside of any necessary planned maintenance outages.

5.3. USAGM requires well established version control management and software development best practices.

5.4. The Contractor shall notify Affiliates/Customers with active accounts about System releases, updates, and maintenance.

5.5. The Contractor shall provide Help Desk Support available to USAGM support staff.

5.6. Severity levels shall be as follows:

5.6.1. Critical: 1-hour initial response time

Critical production issue affecting all Users, including system unavailability and data integrity issues with no workaround available.

5.6.2. Urgent: 2-hour initial response time

Major functionality is impacted, or performance is significantly degraded. Issue is persistent and affects many Users and/or major functionality. No reasonable workaround is available. Also includes time-sensitive requests such as requests for feature activation or a data export.

5.6.3. High: 4 hours initial response time

System performance issue or bug affecting some but not all users. Short-term workaround is available, but not scalable.

5.6.4. Medium: 8 hours initial response time

Inquiry regarding a routine technical issue; information requested on application capabilities, navigation, installation, or configuration; bug affecting a small number of users. Reasonable workaround available. Resolution required as soon as reasonably practicable.

5.7. The Contractor shall make available an on-line help guide in English for general usage and features.

5.8. The Contractor shall use and make available to USAGM project managers a project and issue/ticket tracking system.

5.8.1. Clear prioritization and a timeline for System enhancements and bug fixes shall be sent and presented to USAGM stakeholders on a weekly basis.

5.8.2. Tickets will email status update changes to USAGM project managers.

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE ABOUT SECURITY

Security is paramount, and as with all USG agencies, security protocols continue to increase in number and sophistication. Offerors must demonstrate advanced understanding and proficiency with USG security protocols, which are listed below.

1. Security

1.1.1. FISMA/FedRAMP Federal Government Security Controls

1.1.1.1. All Cloud systems or services (i.e., IaaS, PaaS and/or SaaS) shall be FedRAMP Authorized.

For software/applications hosted in the Cloud and do not have current FedRAMP authorization shall supply to USAGM’s Office of the CIO (OCIO) the following:

1.1.1.1.1. A FISMA System Security Plan (SSP) documenting their implementation of the “Moderate Level” security controls as defined in NIST 800-53 Rev5. This System Security Plan shall include Agency required documents to obtain Authorization to Operate (ATO), such as, Configuration Management Plan (CMP), Contingency Plan (CP), Incident Response Plan (IRP), Interconnection Security Agreement (ISA), and Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA).

1.1.1.1.2. The Contractor shall commit to support USAGM’s ATO processes for the respective system.

1.1.1.1.3. The Contractor shall support the Agency required Security Control Assessment (SCA).

1.1.1.1.4. Once USAGM has placed the system into operation, the Contractor shall support Agency’s continuous monitoring activities.

1.1.1.1.5. The Contractor shall ensure all risks identified during the initial SAR or annual re-assessments of their system are remediated and/or have waivers granted by the OCIO within the remediation time frames established within respective systems Plan of Action and Milestone

(POA&M).

1.1.1.2. The Contractor must obtain an Authorization to Operate (ATO) granted by the USAGM CIO’s Office prior to hosting on any USAGM systems.

1.1.1.3. The Contractor shall coordinate with USAGM IT Security and Compliance team to ensure compliance with Agency’s IT Security Policies, including the conduction of security categorization, security control tailoring, and security waiver request submission.

1.1.2. USAGM users (contractor and employees) shall authenticate and login through USAGM Active Directory.

1.1.3. The Contractor shall implement multi-factor authentication.

1.1.4. The Contractor shall implement appropriate role-based access controls based on principal of least privilege.

1.1.5. The Contractor shall implement data-at-rest and data-in-transit encryption in accordance with USAGM encryption policies.

1.1.6. The Contractor shall implement Captcha on user registration and contact us forms;

1.1.7. Contractors shall comply with all USAGM policies and procedures.

1.1.8. Upon request, the Contractor shall provide audit reports by independent auditors, certification against information security risk management standards (for example ISO 27001, SOC 1 and SOC2),

1.1.9. The Contractor shall provide point-of-contact for security incidents and applicable general policy, procedure, and approaches to managing security risks.

1.1.10. The Contractor shall provide a list of key security tasks carried out by the provider (patching, updating, etc.) and which security tasks remain under the responsibility of the customer.

1.1.11. The Contractor shall provide information about physical security policy/measures (backup power, fire extinguishers, etc.), network redundancy, geographic spread, availability zones, access control, backups and failover mechanisms, and disaster recovery plans.

1.1.12. The Contractor shall provide service continuity in case of legal issues, administrative disputes, bankruptcy, confiscation by law enforcement, etc. and guarantee data export and access to the data.

1.1.13. The Contractor shall provide information on training/certification for key roles, recruitment policies, penetration tests/social engineering testing, compliance to information security management standards and best practices, security vetting procedures for highly sensitive posts for handling sensitive data.

1.1.14. The Contractor shall provide authentication methods at GUIs and APIs, protection measures for administrator interfaces, authentication for administration interface, IP restrictions, administrator roles and privileges, technical description of interfaces and protection methods.

1.1.15. The Contractor shall provide dashboard with access to performance monitoring, transactions logs, performance logs, alerts and triggers for notification, and relevant information on retrieval of transaction logs.

1.1.16. The Contractor shall ensure interoperability and portability by providing interface standards and data formats for GUIs, APIs, export, applications and code, virtual machines, etc., and related audit reports, certifications, self-assessment report indicating compliance on interoperability and portability.

1.1.17. The Contractor shall provide elasticity in terms of resource usage, scaling, sizing, cost calculation, cost alerts and billing limitations, as well as performance track records.

1.1.18. The Contractor shall be in compliance with relevant national legislations, including national bodies that have jurisdiction to impose provisions, relevant foreign jurisdiction and applicable foreign legislation, location of datacenters, applicable personal data protection legislation.

2. Cyber Supply Chain Risk Management

2.1.1 USAGM utilizes a Cyber Supply Chain Risk Management (C-SCRM) Program to identify, assess, and monitor supply chain risks of critical vendors. The Government may use any information, public and non-public, including all-source intelligence for its analysis.

2.1.2 The Contractor agrees that the Government may, at its own discretion, perform audits of supply chain risk processes or events consistent with USAGM Cyber Supply Chain Risk Management Policy and Plan.

2.1.3 C-SCRM Questionnaire may be required.

2.1.4 C-SCRM Risk Assessment may be required.

2.1.5 C-SCRM Notification Agreements may be required.

2.1.6 Through the information obtained from a C-SCRM program, USAGM may assess Contractors and products through multiple risk lenses such as national security, cybersecurity, compliance, and finance.

2.1.7 If cyber supply chain risks are identified and corrective action becomes necessary, mutually agreeable corrective actions will be sought based upon specific identified risks. Failure to resolve any identified risk may result in contract termination.

TRANSITION PLAN

Transition plan to prevent disruption of service. Any changes or enhancements proposed must be made without compromising current delivery.

The Contractor shall provide two transition plans, a Transition-In Plan (award to steady-state operations) and a Transition-Out Plan (transition to follow-on Contractor services at the conclusion of

EIS).

The Contractor shall manage transition activities as described in its Project Plan (PP) using a phased approach for an orderly transition for both transition in and transition out. Contractual transitions should be completed within 90 days of a new award. The USAGM intends to transition services like for like. As part of the transition out plan, the vendor shall migrate any necessary code and assets to ensure a smooth transition to the new vendor. Also, there will be an arrangement for the channels to be operational until new channels are developed by a new vendor and are put into place.

The Contractor shall commence transition planning as required upon TO award and shall participate in transition planning with the USAGM. The Contractor shall attend all planning meetings scheduled by the USAGM for the management and coordination of the transition throughout the transition period and the life of the contract as requested by the USAGM. The Contractor shall record and publish meeting notes with action items to all attendees. These meeting notes shall be distributed by the normal close of business on the business day following the meeting. The transition needs to be completed within 90 days of the start of this contract.

SUPPORT / SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS

Ticketing and Resolution (Support levels)

In coordination with USAGM’s Help Desk support, provide 24/7 assistance, specifically in the case of system failure or outage.

Tiered levels of response based on ticket escalation.

Deliverables:

Vendor to provide project roadmap, engage in an on-premises or virtual strategic meeting, on premises training at launch if deemed necessary by USAGM, weekly remote meetings, and weekly and monthly status reports.

Key Personnel:

USAGM: The main point of contact for USAGM will be the Contracting Officer Representative (COR), to be identified upon contract award.

However, the weekly status meetings and report will be delivered to and consist of a team of USAGM individuals. These individuals will be identified and introduced to the contractor upon contract award.

All communication should include this team unless alternative direction is given.

Contractor: The contractor shall appoint a supervising point of contact that is responsible for the deliverables. This person will be the main point of contact for USAGM and will give updates, answer questions, and keep USAGM informed of any issues, delays, etc.

The supervisor will give USAGM a list of its team members (name and contact information) who are working on this contract; a brief professional biography of key players is encouraged in proposal submission.

(vi) Interested Offeror(s) will be required to provide a cloud-based TV channel playout and delivery platform.

(vii) The period of performance for this acquisition will be for three (3) years, one base and two option years, approximately March 26, 2024 through March 25, 2027.

(viii) The provision at 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Products and Commercial Services, applies to this acquisition. FAR provisions and clauses may be obtained from the Internet Web address at: http://acquisition.gov/far/index.html. Interested Offeror(s) should submit a proposal identifying capabilities as instructed at paragraph (ix) below.

Each Offeror is required to submit: (a) a single Technical Proposal and (b) a Price Proposal as further described below.

(ix) The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation—Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Nov 2021), applies to this solicitation for the evaluation of Offeror’s Technical and Price proposals as set forth below.

(a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible Offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers:

(i) Technical Capability;

(ii) Past Performance; and

(iii) Price.

Technical capability and past performance, when combined, are more important than price.

Evaluation Factors

Evaluation Factor 1 – Technical Approach/Methodology

The Government will evaluate the Offeror on the quality and analytical rigor of the technical proposal and ability to analyze trade-offs between statistical rigor, implementation feasibility and cost in the context of discussing design alternatives demonstrated in the technical offer.

The proposal shall be evaluated for each technical section of the statement of work.

The broad technical evaluation factors are as follows:

Vendor capabilities and overall approach to content ingest.

Vendor capabilities and overall approach to channel scheduler.

Vendor capabilities and overall approach to playout and distribution.

Vendor capability and overall approach to security items.

Vendor capability and overall approach to channel marketplace distribution.

Vendor capability and overall approach to support.

Vendor capability and overall approach to transition plan.

The proposed solution shall provide USAGM with cloud software as a service to rapidly create, schedule, and distribute linear television channels to audiences, affiliates, and media distributors around the world.

NOTE: Mere restatement of the requirements or statements from the Offeror that its Proposal is compliant with the RFP without providing a description of the approaches, techniques, solutions, and/or processes to satisfy the RFP’s technical requirements, will be considered inadequate and may be cause for rejection of the Offeror’s Proposal.

Evaluation Factor 2 – Past Performance

The Government will evaluate reference information provided to ascertain the ability of the Offeror to successfully perform the required effort of this requirement. The Government reserves the right to consider information from any other source(s) when evaluating the Offeror's past performance, including (but not limited to) CPARS assessments and knowledge of the Offeror’s performance on other USAGM contracts not cited in the Offeror’s quotation. Offerors with no relevant performance history shall be assigned a neutral rating having no negative or positive evaluated significance.

Evaluation Factor 3 – Price

While price will not be assigned a rating during the evaluation, it is a criterion in the overall evaluation of offers. Price quotations will be analyzed for fairness, reasonableness and completeness. A price offer found to be unrealistically low or unreasonably high may be considered to reflect a lack of understanding of the requirements. Offerors are cautioned that unreasonably high or unrealistically low proposed prices may be grounds for eliminating an offer from consideration for award.

Basis for Award: The Government reserves the right to make multiple awards (firm-fixed-price contract) from this solicitation to the Offerors that best meet USAGM’s operational requirements.

(b) Options. Not used

(c) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful Offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer's specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.

(x) Offerors shall include a completed copy of the provision FAR 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Products and Commercial Services, with their Technical Proposals.

These representations and certifications will be incorporated by reference in any resultant contract.

Offerors may either submit a paper copy of FAR Clause 52.212-3 or submit this information through the System for Award Management (SAM) www.SAM.gov. Proposals must also include the Offeror’s UEI Number, prompt payment terms, and correct remittance address, if different from mailing address. THE OFFEROR MUST BE REGISTERED ONLINE IN THE SAM

DATABASE AND LISTED AS “ACTIVE” PRIOR TO CONTRACT AWARD, AND

PROSPECTIVE AWARDEES ACKNOWLEDGE THE REQUIREMENT TO MAINTAIN AN

“ACTIVE” SAM REGISTRATION STATUS DURING PERFORMANCE AND THROUGH

FINAL PAYMENT OF ANY RESULTING CONTRACT.

Accordingly, the following FAR provisions and clauses are incorporated into the solicitation and any resulting contract by reference: 52.204-7—System for Award Management (OCT 2018); 52.204-13— System for Award Management Maintenance (OCT 2018); FAR 52.204-16 Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting (AUG 2020); FAR 52.204-18 Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance (AUG 2020).

Pursuant to FAR 12.301(d), the FAR provisions 52.209-7 Information Regarding Responsibility

Matters (OCT 2018) and 52.222-56 Certification Regarding Trafficking in Persons Compliance Plan

(OCT 2020) also apply to this acquisition and are incorporated in full text to this synopsis/solicitation.

Offerors must comply with the requirements of these two provisions.

(xi) The clause 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Products and Commercial Services, applies to this acquisition.

(xii) The clause 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items applies to this acquisition.

(xiii) All additional contract requirements, terms, conditions, provisions, and clauses applicable to this acquisition are contained herein and below.

1. FAR 52.237-3 Continuity of Services (JAN 1991).

(a) The Contractor recognizes that the services under this contract are vital to the Government and must be continued without interruption and that, upon contract expiration, a successor, either the

Government or another contractor, may continue them. The Contractor agrees to (1) furnish phase-in training and (2) exercise its best efforts and cooperation to effect an orderly and efficient transition to a successor.

(b) The Contractor shall, upon the Contracting Officer's written notice, (1) furnish phase-in, phase-out services for up to 90 days after this contract expires and (2) negotiate in good faith a plan with a successor to determine the nature and extent of phase-in, phase-out services required. The plan shall specify a training program and a date for transferring responsibilities for each division of work described in the plan, and shall be subject to the Contracting Officer's approval. The

Contractor shall provide sufficient experienced personnel during the phase-in, phase-out period to ensure that the services called for by this contract are maintained at the required level of proficiency.

(c) The Contractor shall allow as many personnel as practicable to remain on the job to help the successor maintain the continuity and consistency of the services required by this contract. The

Contractor also shall disclose necessary personnel records and allow the successor to conduct on-site interviews with these employees. If selected employees are agreeable to the change, the

Contractor shall release them at a mutually agreeable date and negotiate transfer of their earned fringe benefits to the successor.

(d) The Contractor shall be reimbursed for all reasonable phase-in, phase-out costs (i.e., costs incurred within the agreed period after contract expiration that result from phase-in, phase-out operations) and a fee (profit) not to exceed a pro rata portion of the fee (profit) under this contract.

(End of clause)

2. 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services.

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___.

3. Submission of Invoices

The Contractor shall submit an original monthly invoice of detailed work completed and accepted by the Government to the COR. The Contractor’s monthly invoice shall list: (1) the days for which assignments/hours are being billed for work performed, (b) the programs produced, (c) reimbursable expenses, if any, and comply with 1952.232-91 Electronic Invoicing and Payment Requirements clause (below)

1952.232-91 Electronic Invoicing and Payment Requirements

- Invoice Payment Platform (IPP) (April 2016)

Payment request for all new awards may be required to 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

4. FAR 52.252-2 Clauses Incorporated by Reference (FEB 1998)

This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available.

Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at this/these address(es):

http://www.acquisition.gov/far/

CLAUSE NO. CLAUSE TITLE DATE

52.202-1 Definitions (JUN 2020) 52.203-3 Gratuities (APR 1984) 52.203-17 Contractor Employee Whistleblower Rights (JUN 2020) and Requirement To Inform Employees of Whistleblower Rights

52.204-4 Printed or Copied Double–Sided on Postconsumer (MAY 2011) Fiber Content Paper

52.204–7 System for Award Management (OCT 2018) 52.204–13 System for Award Management Maintenance (OCT 2018) 52.204-16 Commercial and Government Entity Code (AUG 2020) Reporting

52.204–18 Commercial and Government Entity Code (AUG 2020) Maintenance

52.204–19 Incorporation by Reference of Representations (DEC 2014) and Certifications 52.232–39 Unenforceability of Unauthorized Obligations (JUN 2013)

52.233–1 Disputes (MAY 2014)

Additional FAR solicitation provisions applicable to this acquisition

1. 52.209-7 Information Regarding Responsibility Matters (OCT 2018)

(a) Definitions. As used in this provision— “Administrative proceeding” means a non-judicial process that is adjudicatory in nature in order to make a determination of fault or liability (e.g., Securities and Exchange Commission Administrative Proceedings, Civilian Board of Contract Appeals Proceedings, and Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals Proceedings). This includes administrative proceedings at the Federal and State level but only in connection with performance of a Federal contract or grant. It does not include agency actions such as contract audits, site visits, corrective plans, or inspection of deliverables.

“Federal contracts and grants with total value greater than $10,000,000” means—

(1) The total value of all current, active contracts and grants, including all priced options; and

(2) The total value of all current, active orders including all priced options under indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity, 8(a), or requirements contracts (including task and delivery and multiple-award Schedules).

“Principal” means an officer, director, owner, partner, or a person having primary management or supervisory responsibilities within a business entity (e.g., general manager; plant manager; head of a division or business segment; and similar positions).

(b) The offeror [ ] has [ ] does not have current active Federal contracts and grants with total value greater than $10,000,000.

(c) If the offeror checked “has” in paragraph (b) of this provision, the offeror represents, by submission of this offer, that the information it has entered in the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) is current, accurate, and complete as of the date of submission of this offer with regard to the following information:

(1) Whether the offeror, and/or any of its principals, has or has not, within the last five years, in connection with the award to or performance by the offeror of a Federal contract or grant, been the subject of a proceeding, at the Federal or State level that resulted in any of the following dispositions:

(i) In a criminal proceeding, a conviction.

(ii) In a civil proceeding, a finding of fault and liability that results in the payment of a monetary fine, penalty, reimbursement, restitution, or damages of $5,000 or more.

(iii) In an administrative proceeding, a finding of fault and liability that results in—

(A) The payment of a monetary fine or penalty of $5,000 or more; or

(B) The payment of a reimbursement, restitution, or damages in excess of $100,000.

(iv) In a criminal, civil, or administrative proceeding, a disposition of the matter by consent or compromise with an acknowledgment of fault by the Contractor if the proceeding could have led to any of the outcomes specified in paragraphs (c)(1)(i), (c)(1)(ii), or (c)(1)(iii) of this provision.

(2) If the offeror has been involved in the last five years in any of the occurrences listed in (c)(1) of this provision, whether the offeror has provided the requested information with regard to each occurrence.

(d) The offeror shall post the information in paragraphs (c)(1)(i) through (c)(1)(iv) of this provision in FAPIIS as required through maintaining an active registration in the System for Award Management database via https://www.acquisition.gov (see 52.204–7).

(End of provision)

2. 52.222-56--Certification Regarding Trafficking in Persons Compliance Plan (OCT 2020)

(a) The term "commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) item," is defined in the clause of this solicitation entitled "Combating Trafficking in Persons" (FAR clause 52.222-50).

(b) The apparent successful Offeror shall submit, prior to award, a certification, as specified in paragraph (c) of this provision, for the portion (if any) of the contract that-

(1) Is for supplies, other than commercially available off-the-shelf items, to be acquired outside the United States, or services to be performed outside the United States; and

(2) Has an estimated value that exceeds $550,000.

(c) The certification shall state that-

(1) It has implemented a compliance plan to prevent any prohibited activities identified in paragraph (b) of the clause at 52.222-50, Combating Trafficking in Persons, and to monitor, detect, and terminate the contract with a subcontractor engaging in prohibited activities identified at paragraph (b) of the clause at 52.222-50, Combating Trafficking in Persons; and

(2) After having conducted due diligence, either-

(i) To the best of the Offeror’s knowledge and belief, neither it nor any of its proposed agents, subcontractors, or their agents is engaged in any such activities; or

(ii) If abuses relating to any of the prohibited activities identified in 52.222-50(b) have been found, the Offeror or proposed subcontractor has taken the appropriate remedial and referral actions.

3. 52.252-1 Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference (FEB 1998)

This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at this/these address(es):

http://www.acquisition.gov/far/

(xiv) No Defense Priorities and Allocation System (DPAS) rating assigned.

(xv) Please note that questions shall be submitted in writing to: MKerner@usagm.gov and DWallace@usagm.gov and must be received before the deadline of 12:00 P.M., Eastern Time (“ET”) on February 1, 2024. Offerors are required to put the Combined Synopsis/Solicitation Number in the subject line when submitting questions.

Failure to offer to provide the required services for the above CLIN(s) may result in the rejection of your proposal. Proposals shall be in writing and must be signed by an official authorized to bind the organization. No oral, faxed, mailed in hard copy, or hand delivered in hard copy by Government or commercial courier proposals will be accepted. All proposals must be sent via email delivery and must be received before the deadline. The Price Proposal must be clearly distinguishable and separate from the Technical Proposal. Offerors should send one email with the Solicitation Number in the subject line and the Technical and Price Proposals as separate, clearly identified, attachments.

Proposals shall be submitted via email to Mary Kerner, mkerner@usagm.gov and David Wallace, dwallace@usagm.gov and must be received before 12:00 P.M., ET on February 9, 2024. In summary, each Offeror shall send one email with its Technical Proposal and Price Proposal attached separately.

Offerors are reminded to email two separate attachments – a Technical Proposal and a separate Price Proposal. Offerors shall send one email with both attachments.

(xvi) Contact:

Mary Kerner, Contract Specialist, mkerner@usagm.gov

David Wallace, Contracting Officer, DWallace@usagm.gov