DTMA91R1600048_Q As_09232016.pdf

U.S. Department of Transportation

1200 New Jersey Ave, S.E.

Washington, D.C. 20590

MARITIME

ADMINISTRATION

Questions & Responses

Research and Database Support Services ‐ DTMA91R1600048

(09/23/2016)

Question 1:

Is it a new requirement or a follow on contract; if a follow on contract who is the incumbent and what is the annual contract value?

Response: This is a new requirement and is not a follow on contract for MARAD.

Question 2:

We understand Government needs two full time persons on 40 hours/week basis for two years. Is that correct?

Response: For the Database Support Services position, MARAD needs one (1) full‐time Contractor at the headquarter location for up to 40 hours per week for 2 years.

The Research Support Services contractor is for 18‐months and is not necessarily a 40‐hour work week.

This work will be accomplished at various off‐site locations, including:

National Archives ‐ 700 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20408

National Archives ‐ 8601 Adelphi Rd, College Park, MD 20740

There may be other places to research records, such as the:

Navy Department Library at the Washington Navy Yard ‐ 805 Kidder Breese Street # 1, Washington, DC 20374

DOT’s HQ (within MARAD) 1200 New Jersey Ave, SE, Washington, DC 20590

Federal Records Center, 4205 Suitland Rd, Suitland, MD 20746 Due to the nature of the work, the Research Support Services Contractor is not expected to work a traditional 40‐hour work week in one office. The researcher may perform at his/her own schedule which optimizes resources and results in successful completion of the required tasks within the contract period of performance. For example, if the researcher locates significant material at a particular repository, they may need to spend several weeks at that location. That could be eight hours per day, 5 days per week; it’s not so much the hours; as long the researcher is able to locate as much information as possible about the ships in the Vessel History Database that is identified in the Statement of Work.

Question 3:

Has a contractor performed similar work to this for the government in the past?

If available, please provide the incumbent contract number. If unable to provide a contract number, is it safe to assume this is a new requirement for the government?

Response: A Contractor has not provided this work for DOT’s Maritime Administration in the past. The databased was populated via migration from several legacy systems and now requires clean‐ up/normalization.

Question 4:

What tasks, in addition to historical research and database support, would the successful bidder be asked to perform?

Response:

The tasks that a successful offeror would be expected to perform are listed in the tasks section of the Statement of Work.

Question 5:

Would the contractor be expected to utilize any repositories other than the Department of Transportation Headquarter and the National Archives in Washington, DC?

Response: The research support services contractor may also perform research work at the National Archives in College Park, MD, Navy Department Library at the Washington Navy Yard and the Federal Records Center in Suitland, MD.

Question 6:

Is there a range of vessels the Contractor will be expected to document within the 2 year time frame?

Response: There are approximately 12,000 vessels in the Vessel History Database. The database can be accessed at the following URL: https://www.marad.dot.gov/sh/ Some vessels have more information than others. The period of performance for the Research position is anticipated for up to 18 months, versus 2 years.

Question 7:

Would it be possible to allow the database work, and a portion of the research, to be conducted off‐site since the research resources are located across multiple locations as well as online?

Response: It not feasible for the Contactor performing the database support services to work remotely because the administrative portion of the database can only be accessed from a computer this is connected to MARAD network. Moreover, a majority of the information that the Contractor would be adding to the database resides at MARAD headquarters. Teleworking is not offered for this requirement.

See response to question #2 regarding the researcher’s work schedule and places of performance.

Question 8:

Is the database Support position anticipated to be a fulltime requirement?

Response:

Yes

Question 9:

Is the 10 page limit for the technical proposal inclusive of resumes and related credentials documentation?

Response:

The entire technical proposal (including any attachments) shall be no more than ten (10) single spaced pages, 12pt, MS Word 2010 or compatible.

Question 10:

For the technical proposal – The title page & table of contents do not count for the 10 pages limit? Just asking because with our technical write‐up and two resumes don’t want it to be too long.

Response: This will be a firm‐fixed price contract. The offeror’s price shall include all costs, profits and expenses necessary to fulfill the requirements of the Statement of Work.