CWSU_RFI_Announcement FINAL 080423.docx

MARKET SURVEY/ REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

(RFI)

Center Weather Service Unit (CWSU)

1. Purpose This is a Market Survey/Request for Information (RFI) for the Center Weather Service Unit (CWSU) Program. The purpose of this Market Survey/Request for Information is to:

· Survey the marketplace to assess the level of interest and identify potential vendors and capabilities among qualified providers of the required services identified in the draft Statement of Work for CWSU (Attachment A to this Market Survey/RFI).

· Request comments on the draft CWSU Statement of Work (Attachment A) and responses to the questions contained in Section 4 of the Market Survey/RFI. The FAA will consider and may utilize industry inputs in the development of a CWSU contract and any associated solicitations and;

· Utilize inputs from the Market Survey/RFI to finalize the CWSU acquisition strategy.

2. General Information This Market Survey/RFI is being issued in accordance with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Acquisition Management System Section 3.2.1.2.1. Interested parties are advised that:

· This is not a Screening Information Request (SIR) or Request for Proposals (RFP);

· The FAA is not seeking or accepting unsolicited proposals;

· The FAA will not pay for any information received or costs incurred in preparing the response to the Market Survey/RFI;

· Any costs associated with responding to this Market Survey/RFI are incurred solely at the interested party’s expense;

· FAA, at its sole discretion, may contact one, some, all, or none of the respondents to the RFI and ask for additional information;

· Vendor responses to this Market Survey/RFI and any follow-up inquiries by the Government are for informational purposes only do not constitute a promise or obligation of future business with the FAA, and:

· At this time, the nature of the competition has not been determined. The FAA is seeking interest from industry including the small business community for possible set-aside of the procurement. Responses are desired from any/all eligible vendors.

3. Background The CWSU program is administered by FAA Flight Service (AJR-B), part of the FAA’s Systems Operations Service in the Air Traffic Organization (ATO). One of the primary roles of Flight Service is to provide weather observation services to National Airspace System (NAS) users, a portion of which is provided by the CWSU program.

The CWSU program’s role is primarily a response to a 1977 National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendation to “formulate rules and procedures for the timely dissemination by air traffic controllers of all available severe weather information to inbound and outbound flight crews in the terminal area” (NTSB A-77-68).

The FAA set specific requirements in FAA JO 7210.3, 2-2-4 Facility Operation and Administration to implement the recommendations of NTSB A-77-68; the main goal of the CWSU program is to ensure the requirements of FAA JO 7210.3, 2-2-4 (most recent version) are met. Specifically, this entails providing Decision Support Services at the Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) and Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs) with in the National Airspace System (NAS), requiring all operational personnel to receive a pre-duty weather briefing prior to working first control position of their duty day. Additional related weather reporting and forecasting requirements grew out of the need for other weather consultation services at the ARTCCs and ATCSCC as outlined in the draft Statement of Work for CWSU (Attachment A).

The CWSU role is currently supported by embedded meteorologists at the ATCSCC and 21 ARTCCs. With this market survey, AJR-B is seeking industry interest and information on how CWSU services may be implemented in the future, and any format of delivery model for the services identified in Statement of Work for CWSU (Attachment A) is welcome, as long as they would fully support the requirements, ensure compliance with FAA JO 7210.3, 2-2-4, and continue to support the recommendations of NTSB A-77-68.

CWSU is intended to provide a contract that:

· Is focused on AJR-B’s mission

· Is keenly responsive to the FAA Air Traffic end users and customers of CWSU information

· Facilitates a uniform approach across the NAS The anticipated NAICS code for this action is 541690 (Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services).

4. Questions / Request for Information Respondents to this Market Survey/RFI are requested to provide responses to the following items:

a. Describe the capabilities and subject matter expertise that your firm possesses relative to the CWSU SOW. Your response should demonstrate your firm’s ability to perform the work, not merely state that your firm can provide the services.

b. Based upon your response to a), describe your experience providing this support to other clients in these functional areas and on related initiatives on at least two contracts either currently ongoing or completed within the last five years. For the associated contracts, please provide the nature of the support, information on the size of the effort (in terms of Full Time Equivalents and total contract value), contract number, and the duration of the support and whether you were the Prime or a subcontractor. Describe any innovative approaches you have used to provide integrated support across an enterprise.

c. Are the work areas in the draft CWSU SOW clearly defined? Are there any changes, additions, updates, or clarifications you would suggest for improvement or clarity? Are there work areas in the SOW that you believe are candidates to be provided on a Firm Fixed Price basis? If so, please identify those areas.

d. Please briefly describe your firm’s capability to staff and manage a project of this magnitude and complexity.

e. Please discuss your approach to obtain and retain technical expertise, and describe any certifications (e.g., ISO or CMMI) that you feel are necessary to demonstrate quality technical and management outcomes.

5. RFI Response Submission Instructions The following instructions apply to the submission of responses to this Market Survey/RFI:

· RFI responses must be submitted via electronic mail (e-mail) to the Contracting Officer, Lucinda Davis at Lucinda.davis@faa.gov and Contract Specialist, Jennifer Dinwiddie-Gamble at Jennifer.e.dinwiddie-gamble@faa.gov no later than 3:00 PM Eastern on September 26, 2023.

· Vendor responses should contain “CWSU Market Survey-RFI Response” in the subject line of the e-mail.

· Vendor responses should provide answers to each of the questions listed in Section 4 of this Market Survey/RFI.

· Files comprising the response to the Market Survey/RFI must not exceed ten (10) pages in total. Cover page and table of contents are excluded from the 10-page limit.

· Font size of the response shall be Arial, 11 point or greater.

· Subject to the stated page limit, vendor responses may provide additional feedback on the draft CWSU SOW in addition to the responses to specific questions in Section 4 of this RFI.

· Files comprising the response to the RFI must be compatible with MS Office 365 or be in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. No other form of submission will be accepted.

· If any of the information submitted is proprietary, the respondent is responsible for marking it accordingly.

· Submissions must include following information for one or more points of contact for the respondent: name, title, telephone number, and e-mail address. Additionally, provide your company’s Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov).

Please direct any inquiries regarding this matter to the FAA Contracting Officer, Lucinda Davis via email at Lucinda.davis@faa.gov and Contract Specialist, Jennifer Dinwiddie-Gamble at Jennifer.e.dinwiddie-gamble@faa.gov.

6. Government Use of Market Survey/RFI Responses The FAA may or may not provide feedback on any of the submitted materials. The Government does not intend to release or distribute any of the information contained in the Market Survey/ RFI responses.

Vendor responses to this Market Survey/RFI will not be viewed by the FAA as a commitment by the respondents to submit a proposal for any competitive solicitations initiated by the FAA in relation to the services described in this Market Survey/RFI.

7. Attachments Attachment A – CWSU Draft Statement of Work as of August 25, 2023.

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