Enterprise Data Requirements RFI Sources Sought FINAL.pdf

U.S. Census Bureau

Commercial Data / Commercial Datasets

Notice Type: Request for Information / Sources Sought Notice

Synopsis:

This Sources Sought Notice (SSN) supports Market Research being conducted by the United States Census Bureau (USCB or Census Bureau) to obtain information and identify potential sources of providing Commercial Data. The information gathered via this notice will be used to inform broader efforts within the USCB related to the future acquisition of all types of commercial data (Part A), and in support of a near-term requirement to acquire commercial voter registration data (Part B). This is not a Request for Proposal (or solicitation) or an indication that a contractual commitment will exist for these requirements. The Government does not intend to award a contract solely based on this market research.

Background:

Under U.S. Code Title 13 § 6, the USCB is directed to acquire and use administrative records and third-party data to the maximum extent possible to enable the efficient and economical conduct of its censuses and surveys. The USCB currently acquires data from federal, state, and private entities to conduct research and production work and seeks to increase its use of these data to further improve the efficiency and quality of numerous programs and statistical products, including the Decennial Census, current surveys such as the American Community Survey (ACS) and the American Housing Survey (AHS), the development of survey frames, the maintenance of USCB geographic data, and other USCB demographic, geographic, and economic research and production work. To deliver on these mission objectives, the data the USCB acquires must be statistically valid, reliable, and as broadly usable as possible while maintaining privacy and confidentiality.

The USCB intends to utilize Market Research to strategically establish enterprise-wide vehicle(s) for commercial data and identify opportunities for standardizing and streamlining the processes related to the acquisition of commercial data. The objectives of centralization include:

Objective 1 – Acquire Data as an Enterprise: Reduce the duplication of costly data purchases by providing a method for the USCB to acquire data as a coordinated enterprise that maximizes value to the taxpayer and the utility to data users across the agency.

Objective 2 – Provide Shared Access to Data Acquired within the USCB to the maximum extent possible.

Objective 3 – Promote Standardized Data Delivery: Promote adherence to data and metadata standards to support data interoperability, interpretability, and machine readability.

The scope of the USCB’s data needs encompasses commercially available data within the general subject areas identified within Attachment 1 - Data Matrix including but not limited to the specific data sets referenced herein. Additional Commercial Data requirements may be identified at a later time. Responses to this RFI/Sources Source may be considered in the performance of additional Market Research outside of the scope of Data Elements provided in Attachment 01 – Data Matrix. All companies that produce/maintain commercial data products are encouraged to respond to this announcement and shall note their offerings in completing Part A of their Response.

Special Note — The USCB seeks companies with direct, category-specific expertise that currently produce and maintain commercial datasets for use by government and private-sector clients. At this time, the USCB is not seeking firms that provide data analysis, data science, or staffing services to collect or aggregate data on its behalf.

Requested Information:

All interested and capable companies that sell commercial data are encouraged to submit responses in the following format:

Part A – Commercial Data Requirements

Section I: Company Overview

1. Company Information

a. Company Name

b. Company Address

c. Cage Code and Unique Entity Identification (UEI) Code

d. Point of contact for questions and/or clarifications including their title/position

e. Point of contact telephone number and email address

f. Company webpage URL

g. GSA Federal Supply Schedule or Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts

(GWACs), Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQs) contracts, if applicable and available for use to acquire data.

h. Brief narrative of Company and any other relevant information.

Section II: Data Delivery Capabilities and Experience

Section II shall describe your company’s offerings and the types of commercial data/datasets available. As part of the response for Section II, the Vendor shall complete “Attachment 01 - Data Matrix” and return it as an attachment to the response. In addition to completing Attachment 01, please provide answers to the following:

1. For each data category within Attachment 01, are you (1) the original data creater/provider, (2) a licensed or authorized reseller, (3) a databroker/aggregator,

(4) a combination of the aforementioned, or (5) other?

a. If you are a broker/aggregator or reseller, (1) do you hold exclusive rights to the datasets, (2) can the Government obtain the same data from the original source directly, and (3) what is the process and timeline for obtaining data following an initial request?

b. If you are a direct provider, (1) are your datasets commonly resold through brokers and (2) are there pricing differences between direct and broker channels?

2. How are the data collected?

3. For each of the categories of data included within your Company’s offerings, furnish a list of the corresponding metadata. This shall be provided as an attachment to submission and is not counted against the total page count.

4. Does your company maintain multiple datasets within a particular category of data?

Are you able to provide the linkage keys to allow for the combination of data files?

5. Experience: Detail your Company’s current (within the last three (3) years) experience with Commercial or Government customers delivering data within the category offerings provided. Include the Contract Number, Customer - Government Entity/Commercial Company, Data Category (Re: Attachment 01) and Description of Data Furnished; Period of Performance; Contract Value; and any other relevant information.

6. Any additional information regarding the procurement of data? (i.e. Review restrictions on redistribution, modification, derivative works, or public release; Data Use or Purpose Limitations; Intellectual Property Rights).

7. Does your company have additional data offerings outside of the requested categories? If so, please add the category and description to Attachment 01 and provide responses to the requested information within this section.

Section III: Enterprise Acquisition Recommendations

The USCB is interested in industry input on the following acquisition areas of interest:

1. The Government is conducting market research to determine whether commercial data should be acquired directly from original data providers or through a data broker/aggregator. Respondents are requested to provide:

a. Advantages and disadvantages of each model

b. Pricing implications

c. Differences in licensing terms and data rights

d. Impacts on privacy compliance and data provenance

e. Impacts on data quality, including transparency of metadata and modeling assumptions

f. Transition/exit considerations

g. Any risks unique to either approach

h. Please include specific examples where possible.

2. Are there any unique pricing considerations applicable to the commercial purchase of the data sets offered? Is the data sold via a subscription, per-seat license, enterprise license, API-based usage model, or other arrangement?

3. Are there any unique commercial terms and conditions applicable to the data sets offered that should be considered in the Government’s procurement of the data?

4. What rights does the Government retain upon contract expiration?

5. Sub-Contracting Opportunities – If you are a large business, are there opportunities for small business sub-contracting? Provide an explanation in your response.

Part B - Upcoming Opportunities - Voter Registration Data Acquisition

In support of a potential near-term acquisition for voter registration data, the USCB is interested in identifying companies that are capable of meeting the requirements of “Attachment 02 - DRAFT VOTER REGISTRATION DATA TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS”.

In responding to this request, Vendors are hereby put on notice that the USCB cannot ingest voter activity data that may uncover a voter’s party affiliation, political preference, political ideology, or specific candidate or party selections made during voting. As a result, the USCB cannot ingest voter activity data that reports on voting in individual primaries, individual special elections, exit-polls, or other individual elections that occur in years other than the general election. If these data elements exist in the commercial dataset, they MUST be removed prior to delivery to the USCB. Interested Vendors shall consider this prior to submitting a response to this RFI/Sources Sought.

In addition to the information furnished in Part A of this RFI/Sources Sought, the Vendor shall provide the following information their response:

a. Do you possess ALL of the voter registration data necessary to meet the USCB’s requirements, as provided in Attachment 02, “in-house”? If not, provide a brief explanation to describe what data is not currently “in-house” and how it would be acquired to meet the USCB’s requirements.

b. Describe any other information not previously included in your organization’s response to this RFI that would be important for the USCB to consider in determining a strategy, requirements, risks for the acquisition of Voter Registration Data. Provide any feedback

c. Provide input on the draft Requirements provided within Attachment 02 to include any risks or concerns in industry’s ability to deliver such data.

Response Submission:

Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI/SSN. Responses shall be in Microsoft Word or Office-compatible format and are due no later than Tuesday, March 24, 2026, by 03:00 PM, EST. Responses shall be limited to 12 pages submitted via e-mail to Kristina Hartman - Contracting Officer at Kristina.D.Hartman@census.gov and Harjot Kaur

- Contract Specialist at Harjot.Kaur@census.gov. Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

Request for Information Attachments:

Attachment 01 – DATA MATRIX

Attachment 02 - DRAFT VOTER REGISTRATION DATA TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS