Final_JandA_Redacted.pdf

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

Security Marking (select from the drop-down list)

25 May 2018 Security Marking (select from the drop-down list) Page 1 of 5

NOTE: If a Justification was approved for the preceding acquisition, a copy of the approved Justification for the predecessor action must be included in the staff package for approval of the instant Justification. This applies to Justification staff packages that are submitted for review and approval at a level above the contracting officer. The predecessor Justification will be used as a reference document by the approving official.

Is this a new or amended J&A Document? New Amended ( Prior to Award Only! )

Is this a Bridge Action as defined in the AF Bridge Action Reduction Plan? Yes No

Funding level for this acquisition: >SAT and < $700K > $700K and < $13.5M

Contracting Activity: AFLCMC/PZIEC

Purchase Request / Local ID Number:

Program / Project (and PE, if applicable): AIP (American Institute of Physics) - AIP Publishing / Scitation

Program Type (PEO or Other Contracting): Other Contracting

Authority: AFFARS 5313.501 - 10 U.S.C. 2302b, Implementation of Simplified Acquisition Procedures (41 U.S.C. 1901)

AFFARS 5313.501 - 10 U.S.C. 2304a, Special Emergency Procurement Authority (41 U.S.C. 1903)

Estimated Contract Cost (including options): Justification Type: Class Individual

COORDINATION (AFFARS 5306.304(a) )

Date

07 Nov 2018

Project Lead / Program Mgr / Requiring Activity

Signature

APPROVAL (AFFARS 5306.304(a) )

Date

07 Nov 2018

Contracting Officer

Signature

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

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I. Contracting Activity.

This justification and approval to request authority for Other Than Full and Open Competition supports requirements generated for the The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Library Council. The contracting activity for this requirement is the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), Specialized Contracting Section (AFLCMC/

PZIEC).

II. Nature and/or description of the action being processed.

Due to circumstances described herein, the activity requests authority to procure electronic access to the American Institute of Physics (AIP) physics literature database, Scitation, hosting AIP Publishing content, using Other Than Full and Open Competition in accordance with AFFARS 5313.501 - U.S.C. 230b, Implementation of Simplified Acquisition Procedures (41 U.S.C. 1901). This individual action will result in the award of a new Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract.

The current subscription will expire on 31 DEC 2018. The subscription period of performance will run from 1 JAN 2019 to 31 DEC 2019. This subscription will be purchased with FY19 3600 DoD Funds. This sole source requirement will be acquired from the following organization:

American Institute of Physics (AIP), Incorporated

III. Description of supplies/services required to meet agency needs.

The proposed effort covered by this individual Justification and Approval is for a subscription to the AIP research literature database, Scitation, which hosts AIP Publishing content. The subscription period of performance will run from 1 JAN 2019 to 31 DEC 2019 with two twelve month option years. The AFRL Library Council has a requirement for an online physics literature database that meets the laboratory's mission to "lead the discovery, development, and integration of warfighting technologies for our air, space and cyberspace forces." The AFRL libraries support civilian, contractor, and military personnel, primarily scientists and engineers (S&Es), assigned to the eight AFRL technical directorates which include Aerospace Systems, Airman Systems, Directed Energy, Information, Materials and Manufacturing, Munitions, Sensors, and Space Vehicles and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). The AFRL libraries provide research materials, including databases, electronic books, journals and other services, to all AFRL S&Es, and this specific subscription is vital to the AFRL mission. The AFRL Library Council is a consortium that exists to create partnerships among the libraries at the various sites hosting AFRL elements. The different locations are Arlington, VA, Edwards AFB, Eglin AFB, Fort Sam Houston, Kirtland AFB, Rome Research Site, and Wright-Patterson AFB.

They cooperatively acquire materials that are made available to civilian, contractor, and military employees across the laboratory. The required database will help the AFRL Library Council meet the above mission by providing the library users with research materials to meet the requirements of the Air Force Reasearch Laboratory's research and development goals.

This resource needs a highly-focused scope on the field of physics and allied areas and to offer a tailored collection of electronic reference resources for scientists and engineers (S&Es) that provides access to full-text titles, primarily peer-reviewed journals. Due to the differing research missions of the individual AFRL technical directorates that the libraries support, the required database needs to be all-inclusive of the different materials and allow S&Es the ability to effectively and efficiently research the required physics topics. The resource needs to provide full-text titles from the following professional scientific societies: American Institute of Physics (AIP); Acoustical Society of America (ASA);

American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT); American Crystallographic Association; AVS: Science & Technology of Materials, Interfaces, and Processing; and The Society of Rheology. These resources need to be made available through the individual AFRL libraries' websites or intranet sites via the EZproxy authentication service, as well as, provide their own interface that can be accessed through an independent website. This resource needs to allow material to be be downloaded to provide offline access in situations with low or no internet access. The resource needs to provide online research tools from professionally curated and/or peer-reviewed sources that offer trusted information in abstracts, articles, and electronic journals with a focus on the subject areas listed above.

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

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IV. Statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

AFFARS 5313.501 - 10 U.S.C. 2302b Implementation of Simplified Acquisition Procedures (41 U.S.C. 1901)

V. Demonstration that the contractor's unique qualifications or nature of the acquisition requires the use of the authority cited above (applicability of authority).

AFRL library users require up-to-date, real-time access to an electronic reference resource focused on the many sub-fields of physics, specifically, relating to aerospace engineering and materials science. AIP offers exclusive content not available from any other vendor in the market which includes the AIP Publishing electronic journals and the Scitation database, home of the AIP journals and publications of AIP's ten Member Societies. The Scitation database is available for unlimited simultaneous user access, and features full-text content that can be downloaded for offline use. The Scitation database is only available from AIP. Topics covered in this subscription include all aspects of the field of physics. Scitation includes content from all but two of the affiliated AIP Member Societies, made up of publications from: American Institute of Physics (AIP); Acoustical Society of America (ASA); American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM); American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT); American Astronomical Society; American Crystallographic Association; American Meteorological Society (AMS); AVS: Science & Technology of Materials, Interfaces, and Processing; and The Society of Rheology. This AIP database provides access to in-depth, peer-reviewed research in the area of physics and allied fields. No other vendor is able to provide the expansive collection of academic literature required by the libraries.

The AIP Scitation database is vital to the ongoing mission, outlined in detail in section III, of AFRL. There is no other collection of peer-reviewed academic literature in the field of physics comparable to the copyrighted content of the Scitation database provided by AIP. The depth and breadth of their database is an essential quality to the AFRL libraries' requirements. This subscription will need to meet the information needs of a wide variety of AFRL scientists and engineers (S&Es). This resource will provide information and data to technical libraries serving all eight AFRL technical directorates and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). AFRL's requirement is for a subscription database that meets the demands of high level technical services. The subscription must offer the collection and services to meet the needs of a broad user base, provide high quality resources, and be accessible in all locations. The depth and breadth of the AIP Scitation database make it the only feasible supplier that can meet the AFRL libraries' needs and provide customers with an all-inclusive physics database. There are not comparable databases in the market that would cover all of these aspects of the field of physics in one place with the same functionality and access.

AIP has exclusive legal copyright to its interfaces and publications, requiring the transfer of copyright from the authors of each article it publishes. These sources are vital to the users of the AFRL Library consortium, and to the effectiveness of the technical database. The market research did not provide for any known replacement of the curated content provided by AIP. The proposed sole source is the only known source capable of providing the supplies for this requirement. Without this sole source acquisition the AFRL library users and staff will not have access to critical, one of a kind content.

VI. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable.

A sources sought notice was posted on Federal Business Opportunity (FBO) from 26 SEPT 2018 - 26 OCT 2018 requesting any interested firms to submit a capabilities package indicating their capability to provide the requirement.

The synopsis outlined minimum characteristics a similar product would have to meet to fulfill the requirement as described in sections III. and V. above. No qualified responses that could meet the requirement were received.

An intent to award sole source was posted on FBO from 30 OCT 2018 - 5 NOV 2018 advising industry of the intent of the government to award sole source and requesting any interested firms to submit a capabilities package indicating their capability to provide the requirement. The synopsis outlined minimum characteristics a similar product would have to meet to fulfill the requirement as described in sections III. and V. above. No viable responses were received.

AFRL surveyed the market for vendors to determine if competition was available for the requirement. The library used

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

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VII. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

In accordance with FAR 13.106-3(a), the Contracting Officer shall determine that the proposed price is fair and reasonable. The basis of this determination is anticipated to be based on FAR 13.106-3(a)(2)(ii) and FAR 13.106-3(a)(2) (iii). The price shall be verified against the AIP (American Institute of Physics) price lists, catalogs, or advertisements and by comparison to prices previously paid.

VIII. Description of the market research conducted and the results, or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted.

As described in Section VI above, market research, in accordance with FAR Part 10, was conducted by synopsis of the proposed acquisition, advising industry of the pending acquisition and soliciting inquiries from interested parties.

Moreover, AFRL surveyed the market in order to determine if competition was obtainable. The library reviewed advertisements, new publications, and available conferences to ensure the course of action for a sole source acquisition was the most appropriate moving forward.

IX. Any other facts supporting the use of Other Than Full and Open Competition.

None.

X. List of any sources that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

American Institute of Physics (AIP), Incorporated

The proposed sole source is the only known source that can satisfy the government's requirements. No other sources expressed interest.

XI. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before making subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required.

The contracting activity will post a Sources Sought and Intent to Award Sole Source on FedBizOpps, as described in Section VI above, in order to obtain competition. If acceptable responses are received, the contracting activity will modify its strategy accordingly.

AFRL will keep an open dialog with the users/patrons and evaluate statistics to determine the necessity to use this resource to supplement its collection of research databases. AFRL will continue to survey the market for vendors to obtain competition in databases. The library will use publishers' advertisements, professional conferences, vendor demonstrations, customer suggestions and new publication reviews in conducting its surveys.

XII. Certification by the Contracting Officer.

As evidenced by my signature above, I have determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

XIII. Certification by the technical/requirements personnel.

As evidenced by my (our) signature(s) above, I (we) certify that any supporting data contained herein, which is my (our)

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

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