2017-01_NSSD_Interpretation_Services_PWS.pdf

Africa Center for Strategic Studies

Performance Work Statement for

Simultaneous Interpretation Services 2017-01 Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS) National Security Strategy Development

23 – 27 January 2017

1. Purpose: This PWS details the tasks required for interpretation support services to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies to enhance stability in Africa by providing an academic environment where strategic issues can be addressed, understanding deepened, partnerships fostered, defense-related decision-making improved, and cooperation strengthened among military and civilian leaders from the region and the United States.

Background: The Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS), an element of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, is responsible for developing civilian and military specialists Africa by providing professional seminars designed to meet the needs of mid-to-upper level military and civilian officials in the national security policy and strategy planning divisions of regional governments, to include but not limited to the Ministry of Interior; General Headquarters; Ministry of Defense; Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Police Force.

National Security Strategy Development (NSSD): To assist ACSS in fulfilling its responsibilities, contractors will provide interpretation services & equipment to support a 4 day professional seminar to be hosted at the National Defense University on Fort McNair in Lincoln Hall.

2. Scope: The contract requires interpretation equipment, on-site support, and expert language interpretation into and from the following languages: French, Portuguese, and English. The contractor will also provide an experienced project manager based on paragraph 4 task 3.

3. Approach:

Contractor shall provide interpretation and on-site support in accordance with PWS at the National Defense University. The contractor shall provide support according to the below setup configurations.

Equipment set-up will occur on 23 January 2017. Two on-site technicians will be required from 24– 27 January 2017 to operate, trouble-shoot, set-up, and repair any problems with the equipment.

Equipment:

23 January: Equipment Setup.

24-27 January: Equipment needed during the program is for 80 attendees.

Plenary will require two (2)* full size interpreter booths (*one booth is already permanently installed). Four (4) Discussion Group rooms will require one (1) full size interpreter booth in each room. This is a total of five (5) booths for discussion groups and plenary.

Discussion Rooms:

Four (4) discussion group rooms will require one (1) full size interpretation booths for a total of four (4) setup on Monday, 23 January 2017 to be completed no later than 1700. Discussion group rooms will consist of 20 chairs around a square-shaped table. Minimum 10 microphones and 20 receivers per discussion group will be needed to complete this task order for a total of 40 microphones and 80 receivers. Interpretation in the discussion groups will be three groups of English/French and one group of French/Portuguese.

A complete system will be setup in each discussion group room. Installation will include one microphone per two chairs, plus all receivers and transmitters that are necessary.

Plenary Room:

One (1) full-sized Booth required (one is already permanently installed) in the Plenary Room will require set-up on Monday, 23 January 2017 to be completed no later than 1700. Plenary will consist of 90 classroom style seating. Minimum of 45 tabletop microphones and 90 receivers will be necessary to complete this task order (these are already permanently installed). This full size interpretation booth (with the additional permanently installed booth) will be required to conduct English, French, and Portuguese language interpretation.

An independent, complete system will be setup in the plenary room. Installation will include one microphone per two chairs plus all receivers, transmitters, speakers, and microphones (to include 2 lapels and 2 roaming) are necessary. Any and all necessary sound system.

The contractor shall provide interpreters, equipment and a project manager for the following assignments: faculty lectures; speaker and panelist presentations; computer training; seminar group sessions; and briefings. Interpretation services may be required for one evening reception.

Participants will actively participate in plenary and working group discussion designed to analyze current and future requirements and develop practical proposals for near-term actions by governments to meet shared security challenges. A strict policy of non-attribution will be observed.

This seminar will be conducted in English, French, and Portuguese.

This is a firm fixed price service contract for interpretation services. Contractor shall provide all costs inclusive of labor, direct and indirect costs (including salaries; fringe benefits; overhead; and general and administrative expenses); equipment, non-personal services and profit necessary to perform interpretation services.

CLIN: SERVICE QUANTITY UNIT UNIT PRICE TOTAL

0001 Full Booth 5* 4 DAYS 0002 Sound System 5* 4 DAYS 0003 Sound

Transmitter

10* 4 DAYS

0004 Sound Receivers

80* 4 DAYS

0005 Push to Talk microphones

40* 4 DAYS

0006 Technician Labor

2 4 DAYS

0007 Roaming mics Wireless and lapel

2 4 DAYS

* Equipment in Plenary is permanently installed.

4. Task:

Task 1: Simultaneous Interpreters

Seminars and sessions require continuous effort. Sessions requiring interpreters usually begin at 0800 or 0900 and end at 1230 depending on daily schedule, including a morning coffee break. A 1-hour break is generally given for lunch. Afternoon sessions usually begin at 1330 and end before 1700, including an afternoon coffee break. The COR reserves the right to make changes or adjustments to the actual start time of the workday. Contractor is to ensure that interpreters are to dress in “business attire,” Business attire includes a collared shirt with tie along with dress pants/trousers. Jeans, athletic gear, and or tennis shoes are not permitted to be worn during hours of work.

Please review the Schedule of Service. Holidays most likely will not be during seminar session days, but Government reserves the right to use the interpreters on a holiday as an emergency seminar day such as make up for inclement weather. Interpreters must be available to go to any training location in the Metro area if ACSS must relocate training.

Interpreters will switch out of the simultaneous booths every 20-30 minutes in plenary sessions in accordance with established industry standards. Interpreters shall be provided to conduct face to face interpretation when they are in discussion rooms.

The contractor may be required to provide interpretation services for up to one (1) official evening event for this seminar. The assignments may be either two (2) hours or four (4) hours.

COR will notify the contractor at least three (3) days in advance for interpretation services for non-scheduled seminars and other important events. In each case, the number of interpreters will be determined by the specific requirements for each event, and the contractor will assign interpreters based on the specific requirements. In the event that additional services are required for events/excursions not covered in the current line item structure, the contractor will be asked to submit a new proposal for the additional services.

The contractor will ensure that all interpreters possess a Bachelor Degree and have copies of proficiency certification. Certification shall be as a court interpreter, through the Department of State Interpreters Examination or accreditation as an interpreter from a school of languages and linguistics. Advanced Certification is preferred. Simultaneous Interpreters must have a minimum of 3 years of professional/formal simultaneous interpreting experience in international conferences and seminars. Interpreters must have experience with defense-related terms/ DOD Terminology and must be able to interpret “all dialogue.” When attending these seminars, participants will be introduced and will need to know exactly who they are sharing dialogue with throughout the course of the seminar, their titles, backgrounds and government affiliations.

NOTE:

At the discretion of the Program Office, simultaneous interpretation testing may be required on all interpreters prior to any interpreter performing interpretation services before or after award either on the phone or at the ACSS location. ACSS staff interpreters can determine if an interpreter cannot perform their duties due to lack of proficiency, experience or incompetent.

Substitutions: In the event an interpreter must be replaced after award of the contract, the contractor must abide by the same requirements as those listed under the Technical Capability of the solicitation and Performance Work Statement. Credentials and resume must accompany the interpreter on the first work day when last minute substitutions are made and must be approved by the Program Office.

To maintain the integrity of ACSS’s branding efforts, all interpreters must present themselves in a professional manner at all times, display the highest standards of personal deportment and judgment; demonstrate organizational abilities and excellent communication skills; possess the ability to interact with senior foreign representatives and preclude from providing any personal opinions. Additionally, interpreters are only allowed to ask questions of speakers within confines of clarification interpretation clarification purposes as professionally necessary.

The Contracting Officer reserves the right to require that the contractor remove and replace, within one working day, an interpreter who, in his judgment, is not qualified or who does not maintain the highest standards of professional conduct.

Should the performance of work include entry to The Pentagon, Capitol Hill or Department of State, interpreters who are not US citizens must be able to provide their passport along with a state ID or driver’s license for identification purposes at time of location visit.

Task 2: Manpower Reporting Requirement:

The contractor shall report ALL contractor labor hours (including subcontractor labor hours) required for performance of services provided under this contract for DSCA via secure data collection site. The Contractor is required to completely fill in all required data fields using the following web address: http://www.ecmra.mil/. Reporting inputs will be for the labor executed during the period of performance during each Government fiscal year (FY), which runs October 1 through September 30. While inputs may be reported anytime during FY, all data shall be reported no later than October 31 of each calendar year. Contractor may direct question to the help desk at http://www.ecmra.mil/

Task 3 - Project Manager: The contractor shall assign a project manager on site who has had substantive experience in personnel management, logistics planning and administration in a seminar environment. A lead interpreter can be assigned the role as the on-site project manager.

The project manager shall display the highest standards of personal deportment and judgment;

possess demonstrated organizational abilities and excellent communication skills. It is essential that the project manager have a working knowledge of the Washington, D.C. diplomatic and military organizations and the ability to interact with senior foreign representatives. The project manager acts as the single point of contact for all activities pertaining to interpreters, and interpretation equipment for the ACSS COR.

The COR will provide the contractor with the materials and information necessary for the proper performance of work, to include schedules, agendas, and guidelines.

The project manager and COR may be required to meet at least 2 days prior to finalize the service schedule.

The project manager will immediately inform the COR of any issues, problems, or concerns that pertain to participants, guests, or scheduled activities.

6. Location of Performance: Work performed under this task order will be performed at the National Defense University Lincoln Hall. Contracted interpreters must be immediately accessible, in person; in the greater Washington metropolitan area for the duration of the seminar. The contractor will perform services at the National Defense University Lincoln Hall as designated on the agenda schedule.

7. Period of Performance: The period of performance is from 23 - 27 January 2017

8. Local Travel: Parking is free of charge at the National Defense University. Travel may be required in the performance of designated tasks and duties, to include supporting seminar sessions, conducting training sessions, and supporting off-site events.

9. Security: Interpreters must bring a Government photo ID or Driver’s License to process visitor badges.

10. US Government Furnished Facilities, Equipment, Materials, and Support Functions: ACSS will provide office supplies and materials, to include access to telephones, copying machine, fax machine, and personal computers to support these contracted periods and ACSS official business only. Other support will be provided to contract employees as required performing the contract tasks. ACSS will provide access to those documents and files that are relevant to the project and that are required to perform the tasks specified in the contract. ACSS personnel will provide such assistance and information as is appropriate and necessary for liaison functions and for the contractor employees’ performance of the task order.

11. Invoicing Procedures:

Invoices are to be submitted electronically via the Internet through Wide Area Work Flow- Receipt and Acceptance (WAWF-RA) system at https://wawf.eb.mil. Contractors must create two documents (Invoice and Receiving Report; i.e. Combo Documents) with a single data entry session.

All communication will occur between the contractor and the contracting officer. Any requirements from ACSS must be addressed to the Contract Specialist La Vivian Peasant;

lavivian.r.peasant.civ@mail.mil mailto:lavivian.r.peasant.civ@mail.mil

Service Schedule:

Estimated hours per day 8:00am-5:00pm – Times subject to change Weekend and evening events currently scheduled are subject to change.

CLIN: SERVICE QUANTITY UNIT UNIT

PRICE

TOTAL

008 6 – FRENCH

Interpretation

24-27 January

6 x 4 days at NDU

24 DAYS

009 2–PORTUGUESE

Interpretation

24-27 January

2 x 4 days at NDU

8 DAYS