HSCEMS17R00002_Questions_&_Answers_3-16-17.docx

HSCEMS-17-R-00002

Questions & Answers March 14, 2017

1. Regarding Paragraph 4, it states; “ICE has determined that this will be best accomplished via preparation of a daily briefing that weaves together the important elements of printed news stories and broadcasts nationwide.”

Question: Do you mean “weave together” such that the document has a logical flow in that same topic stories are grouped/stacked together so that the document transitions from topic to topic; OR, do you mean “weave together” same topic stories from multiple sources so that each article reads as one? This later interpretation is much more time consuming and will affect cost.

We mean that topic stories are grouped/stacked together (i.e. immigration policy stories appear together, as do stories related to child pornography).

2. Regarding Paragraph 5.1, it states; “At a minimum the vendor must include a “Top News” section...”

Question: We infer the “Top News” requirement to be a news category (placed at the top of the document). Is that a correct assumption?

Yes, the Top News is the front page of the briefing, separating out the most important stories of the day for immediate attention.

3. Regarding Paragraph 5.1, it states; The report should also provide a top-level view of the day’s news specific to ICE’s interests, designed to inform staff about key print and broadcast news in local, regional and national media markets.”

Question: Is this the same as the “Top News” section or is the government asking for a stand-alone written summary (prepared by an analyst) of the day’s top news?

If we consider the Top News to be the front page, then this requirement speaks to the rest of the story. We are looking for story summaries, with limited analysis, to be arranged in an inverted pyramid style, from most important to least.

4. Regarding Paragraph 5.1, it states; “ICE requires an analyst with English and Spanish language skills, who will be available to OPA on a 24/7 basis.”

Question: Through the use of translation software, we feel that we can manage this requirement without a bilingual analyst. In the interest of cost savings, is a bilingual analyst (or a Spanish speaking analyst) a firm requirement?

We can moderate the 24/7 requirement, perhaps to 40 hours a week, but we need a fluent Spanish analyst to be compiling, reviewing and summarizing Spanish news. Translation software will not capture nuance, idioms or trends.

5. Regarding Paragraph 5.1, it states; “The vendor must have the ability to have its editor’s score, using human judgment, the sentiment of various topics within stories and then process that data through formulas and algorithms that include audience size, reputation and other factors to provide a sense for the overall tone of coverage over time.”

Question: We understand the requirement to have the Editor score each article for tonality. Audience size and circulation is information that is readily available and we can include that as well. However, scoring/tracking tonality over time is more complex and time-consuming and raises many questions. Tracking tonality over time is a significant requirement which needs to be better understood. Can you elaborate or remove this requirement?

This has been removed. See revised Statement of Work (SOW).

6. Regarding Paragraph 5.2, it states; “The contractor shall provide a minimum of 25 licenses/subscriptions to access paywalls in order to see full original content and articles.”

Question: we understand this requirement; however, we would like to know the estimated number of “readers” (those who do not need access behind the paywall).

5,595

7. Can the PPQ be from a personal reference or personal experience (ie WUSA9), or does it have to be a company reference (ie Ms. Media client)?

If you want to know how to label a source then it is preferred to be the outlet’s name (WUSA9) rather than its parent company (Ms. Media).

8. Can you please elaborate on how you expect to receive round the clock coverage with multilingual capabilities, “ICE requires an analyst with English and Spanish language skills, who will be available to OPA on a 24/7 basis. OPA needs to be able to communicate with the editors of the report at any time, so that its service can be customized quickly when necessary."? Is the expectation that a resource is working thru the night to deliver the daily media report which is due at 8am EST every weekday?

The expectation is that the 8 a.m. EST briefing will include all coverage from the previous day, to include the late night local news broadcasts in Pacific Time (It’s OK if late-night Hawaii news is delayed by a day.) As long as someone is working the “midnight shift” to compile all relevant news from the previous day by 8 a.m., and as long as someone else is available during regular business hours, Monday through Friday, to address concerns or fix problems, then our expectation will be met.

9. "The contractor shall provide a minimum of 25 licenses/subscriptions to access paywalls in order to see full original content and articles." - Does this mean 25 licenses for 25 specific/targeted media outlets - or licenses for 25 people for a few targeted media outlets?

This requirement has been removed from the Statement of Work (SOW).

10. Is DHS/ICE looking for hard paywall subscriptions for full access to online content?

See above.

11. Which file-sharing application or cloud sharing service is acceptable for sharing the daily reports? "The contractor shall host a searchable compilation site which includes all daily reports and articles referenced. This site should allow ICE employees to obtain access without requiring usernames and passwords."

Any application or service that allows us to access historical reports, and to search said reports collectively, is acceptable.

12. Is the contractor expected to monitor all english language media outlets in the U.S., and 19 spanish language media outlets provided on the source list? "The vendor must find and review articles and broadcasts from all major daily newspapers, national and local television, news-weeklies, magazines, journals, and the internet."

Yes. Historically, we have identified additional publications that the contractor may have missed to include in future monitoring. Given the challenge of translation, we are OK in limiting the number of Spanish outlets.

13. Please clarify the requirement “A full text backup document shall be included with complete versions of the articles referenced in the briefing. This backup document shall include its own table of contents and story sequence that matches the briefing.” It is our position that satisfying this requirement inevitably places the contractor in a position of violating copyright and/or licensing restrictions. From our perspective – understanding not all copyright and license restrictions are applicable across our universe of content -- print, online, subscription, broadcast, etc. – sourced from multiple partners, the government’s requirement of providing full text back up to the daily news briefing of ALL articles would most certainly violate SOME copyright/license restrictions as they relate to the commercial use of a subset of the provided content. Recognizing that the government would not intentionally require a contractor to infringe on the rights of copyright and license holders in the course of fulfilling a contract, we respectfully request that the government amend the requirement as follows: “To the extent copyright and licensing restrictions allow, a full text backup document shall be included with complete versions of applicable articles referenced in the briefing. This backup document shall include its own table of contents and story sequence that matches the briefing.” Without this adjustment to the SOW, we are unable to submit a competitive bid. Given that, we also request a one week extension to the response due date.

A full text version of the summarized daily briefing, which we currently receive, is fine. The full version ask was a “nice to have,” and isn’t mandatory.

14. How many articles (daily average) does the government anticipate would be included in the daily media monitoring report? Understanding coverage volume is a key driver of pricing.

This number fluctuates wildly depending on what’s in the news. The range is from a few dozen to a few hundred. Recently we are closer to a couple of hundred a day.

15. The government offers a defined list of Spanish language outlets for the contractor to monitor (and provide a summary of coverage from those outlets in English). Is there a similar list of English language outlets? More specifically, is the contractor required to monitor the universe of publications or will the government provide contractor with a “top tier” list – New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, etc. -- of key outlets to be monitored?

All English language must be monitored – and if the contractor is missing a certain outlet from their search then we must be able to add that outlet upon request. We are willing to limit Spanish outlets due to the challenge of translation, but the entire universe of English outlets in the United States must be included.

16. Could the government please clarify this requirement: “Access to a minimum of 25 licenses/subscriptions paywalls shall be provided in order to access original sources.” For which subscription outlets is the government seeking “a minimum of 25 licenses/subscriptions to access paywalls in order to see full original content and articles”?

This requirement has been removed from the Statement of Work (SOW).

17. Proposal instructions reference a “Past Project Form (Attachment 2)” to be included with the proposal.

Question: We do not see an Attachment 2. Can the vendor utilize a Past Project Form of their choosing?

The request for Past Project Form has been removed from this solicitation.

18. Who is the incumbent? If no incumbent, what contractor has done news clips or news monitoring work for ICE? What is the contract number and order number?

The contractor is Bulletin News, LLC. The contract number is HSCEMS-11-C-00006.

19. If the Government was responsible to produce a morning briefing, how many full-time equivalents were involved in the production of the daily briefing?

At least seven.

20. Paragraph 5. 1) other than top news' what are consistent topic areas expected in the report (e.g. budget, cartels, human trafficking)?

We currently have breakdowns for Policy, Operation and Spanish news and find that acceptable.

21. Paragraph 5. 1) Is there a particular list of news themes government is interested in?

All news that mentions ICE is of interest.

22. Paragraph 5. 1) states, " provide a summary of the weekend and/or holiday’s events on the next business day" Should the weekend/holiday summary be separate summary from the previous workday coverage, for example,. Friday workday coverage separate from Saturday/Sunday summary on Monday morning? If so should these be, separate daily summaries or grouped into a single summary on Monday morning?

A single summary is acceptable.

23. Paragraph 5. 1) states, "ICE requires an analyst with English and Spanish language skills, who will be available to OPA on a 24/7 basis." How often does the Government anticipate, need to reach a bilingual member? Is the 24/7 basis an exclusive source or may the individuals develop the morning briefing?

The requirement stems from our need to be able to contact a representative familiar with our account during regular business hours. We also need to ensure there is a representative to cover the “midnight shift” to put our summaries together and is also available to handle our questions.

24. Paragraph 5. 1) states, "ICE requires an analyst with English and Spanish language skills, who will be available to OPA on a 24/7 basis." What does the Government intend by 24/7? Would the Government please elaborate, is this 365 days per year? How does this schedule into a workweek? Would it start at 1200 AM preceding the morning report delivery through the 11:59 PM after the last delivery of the period? For example, Monday morning 1200 AM - Friday 11:59:59 for a normal workweek and then adjusted for holidays?

See response for 23.

25. Paragraph 5. 1) states, "ICE requires an analyst with English and Spanish language skills, who will be available to OPA on a 24/7 basis." Would the Government allow time for the individual to compile the articles, develop the stories, and distribute the morning report or does the Government expect the 24x7 access to be exclusive of the morning report production?

This requirement is not intended to be exclusive, nor does it have to be the same analyst at all times. We want to be able to contact someone about our service whenever needed during regular business hours and on nights when our summary is being produced.

26. Paragraph 5. 1) states, "editor’s score...provide a sense for the overall tone of coverage over time" what is the Government's anticipate for developing the sentiment (e.g., per the story line tone assessment or for the overall news of the day assessment)?

As noted in Question 5, please remove this requirement. See revised SOW.

27. Paragraph 5. 1) states, "editor’s score...provide a sense for the overall tone of coverage over time" What is the formula or scoring mechanism that the Government has used or had available previously?

As noted in Question 5, please remove this requirement. See revised SOW.

28. Paragraph 5. 3), how long should the briefings and full text back-up be available?

They should be available through the entire length of the service period. The archive with our current vendor begins in June 2007.

29. Paragraph 5. 3), are video and audio clips required in the storage?

No.

30. Paragraph 5. 3), how many individuals may access the data storage?

All ICE employees.

31. Paragraph 5. 3), how many concurrent accesses should the compilation site be prepared to handle?

Concurrent access should be available to at least 25 people at any time. Unlimited access is preferred.

32. Paragraph 5. 3), as paragraph 5. 1) states, "Distributions to non-employees are prohibited"; What is the Government's process to ensure that only ICE employees access the searchable compilation site? How may we authenticate or know the employee status for access to the compilation site?

The compilation site should only allow access to computers within an appropriate IPN range. If the contractor has another, equally easy and transparent, solution to limit access, that will be fine as well.

33. Paragraph 5. 3), as paragraph 5. 1) states, "Distributions to non-employees are prohibited" Will the ICE employees access the compilation site from non- ICE or non-Government computers?

No.

34. Is there a current incumbent supporting this requirement? If so, who is or are the incumbent(s)?

Yes, there is a current incumbent supporting this requirement. Bulletin News, LLC is the incumbent.

35. What is the contract number? What is the total contract value? What is the current PoP obligated amount?

The contract number is HSCEMS-11-C-00006. The total contract value is $1,228,568.04. The current POP obligated amount $159,263.88.

36. Media Monitoring Questions 3.1. Can you please provide a sample list of keywords the US Government wishes the Contractor to monitor for?

The contractor should monitor for all mentions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations and/or Homeland Security Investigations. The contractor should also be able to accommodate additional search terms upon request if ICE Public Affairs deems it necessary to ensure that all mentions of ICE are being captured.

37. What is the expected volume of articles delivered per day?

See response to question 14.

38. Are there multiple topic categories to separate news into? How many different topics?

The formatting of the news briefing is a minor detail that ICE Public Affairs will work out with the contractor. There are currently four categories – Top News, Operational, Policy and Issues, and Spanish Language.

39. What time of day is the expected delivery time each day?

8 a.m.

40. Will the USG consider an email deliverable instead of a Word or PDF document?

We are requesting both an email summary and a version Word/PDF document.

41. How big is the intended recipient list/audience of the daily report?

ICE Public Affairs currently manages the subscription list. Our current briefing is sent to 5,595 recipients every morning.

42. Media Analysis Questions 4.1. Would ICE like the Contractor to analyze news coverage and the media environment and provide recommendations (i.e., these stories are misleading and should be clarified … this blogger is a key influencer and should be directly engaged, etc.)

No.

43. Would ICE like the Contractor’s searchable compilation site to provide analytical capabilities for the USG to perform ad-hoc analytics?

No.

44. Is there any need for the USG users to create their own ad-hoc media roundup for dissemination on an as-needed basis?

No.

45. Would ICE like to have media outreach tools as part of this solution in order to send press releases, contact journalists, or identify journalists in the media who are publishing topics of interest?

No.

46. The USG has listed a requirement to have an analyst with English and Spanish language skills who is available to OPA “on a 24/7 basis”. The necessity for this availability will drastically increase the cost of the proposals. We further note that the purpose for this analyst is for OPA to communicate with the editors of the report to customize quickly when necessary.

a) Would it be acceptable to have an analyst available during business hours, and an off-hours support center whereby OPA can get answers to quick questions and put in requests to customize the next day’s reports with immediate confirmation and implementation of the customization?

Yes.

b) If an analyst is needed 24x7 – please confirm that ICE desires the solution to budget for three full-time analysts plus back-ups to cover day, evening and night shifts, with support for surge analyses, QA/QC and 508 compliance.

We want to be able to contact someone about our service whenever needed during regular business hours and on nights when our summary is being produced.

47. If there are other media outlets in addition to the list for Spanish, would ICE like to monitor those as well or just the ones from the list?

We limited the number of Spanish outlets in order to hold down the costs associated with translation. If that number is scalable without additional expense then ICE would be happy to have additional outlets monitored.

48. For the compilation site with daily reports and articles that allows ICE employees to obtain access without requiring user names and passwords, what level of security is desired?

As these are compilations of public news stories, ICE defers to the contractor on the required level of security.

a) 9.1. Is it acceptable to provide a dedicated link that is accessible to only those that have the link? – OR

b) Would ICE prefer to provide the emails of the authorized staff so that we can restrict access to only those who are authorized (with a link to request authorization which would be automatically approved/added for any @ice.dhs.gov emails) ICE would prefer a process that is transparent to our employees by allowing access only from computers within our IPN range. If another, equally transparent, solution is offered by the contractor then ICE would have no objection.

49. Section 4 Scope: Will monitoring online editions of print newspapers meet ICE’s need for “print news stories”?

Yes.

50. Section 5 part 1: “local, regional” markets for print and broadcast Which local and regional markets is ICE interested in monitoring for news stories and broadcast?

All markets in the United States should be monitored.

51. Section 5 describes a full text backup and, as we understand it, a license that would permit 25 ICE employees to access the full text of stories, even if those stories are behind pay walls. We have three questions:

a. Is that a correct understanding? If not, would you please expand on the meaning of “access to a minimum of 25 licenses/subscriptions paywalls.”

This requirement has been removed from the Statement of Work(SOW).

b. Our usual approach to this work is for our company to write the briefing, including provision of the human analysts required to do so, while we partner with another company that has licenses to full text so that can be provided as well. Is that type of teaming relationship acceptable?

Yes.

c. If teaming of that nature is acceptable, is it acceptable for us to provide a single proposal that describes the combined solution, and all related pricing, but then requires ICE to enter into separate agreements with each of the two team members/partners?

Yes, it acceptable. This is Firm Fixed Price requirement and the proposal should be all – encompassing.

52. Does ICE intend to request an on-deadline sample to permit an apples-to-apples comparison of different offerings? If so, when should the sample be delivered?

ICE doesn’t intend to request for samples.

53. Would ICE be interested in a lower service price for providing an additional day without service at both Thanksgiving and Christmas?

Yes. ICE is OK with not receiving a briefing for the day after Thanksgiving and a negotiable day connected to the Christmas holiday.

54. 24/7 Availability, including Spanish-language. If a designated account representative is made available 24/7, and that account representative is able to address ICE’s questions or concerns related to Spanish-language sources or content within 24 hours, will this suffice?

Yes.

55. Past Performance form. The Contract Terms and Conditions makes reference to a Past Project Form to be completed by the offeror. Could you please indicate where we can find that form?

The request for Past Performance Form has been removed from this solicitation. Please see revised Contract Terms and Conditions.

56. We understand that pricing needs to be structured by CLIN as enumerated on page 2 of the SF-1449, however does the Government have a pricing template that they would like offerors to utilize for submission to ensure the appropriate level of detail is provided in the response?

The Government doesn’t have a pricing template. This requirement is Firm Fixed Price and should be priced according to each CLIN.

57. In 5.1 the government states that clips will “stream to the reader’s desktop.” Can the government provide more details on this? Will it suffice to include hyperlinks to videos that are available on an internet portal?

Links to videos that are available on a media outlet’s website are acceptable. However, not all TV interviews, and many radio interviews, are either not posted online or may be delayed, so ICE prefers that the contractor have a system in place to stream all relevant broadcasts.

58. In 5.3, the government states the searchable compilation site will allow access “without requiring usernames and passwords.” Can the government provide any additional information about the desired security protocols for a site such as this?

ICE would prefer a process that is transparent to our employees by allowing access only from computers within our IPN range. If another, equally transparent, solution is offered by the contractor then ICE would have no objection.

59. Can the government provide a list of desired radio stations for monitoring?

ICE expects broadcast radio monitoring for national news radio networks, including NPR, WestwoodOne, Fox News Radio and the Associated Press Radio Network. ICE anticipates that content from local or regional radio stations will primarily be identified by material posted on their websites.

60. In section 13, the government states that 25 paywall subscriptions and a searchable compilation site are both due upon award. Can the government elaborate? Wouldn't any web portal be empty upon award?

The requirement for the 25 subscriptions has been removed from the Statement of Work (SOW).

While the web portal would be empty upon award, it would be ready to host the first daily briefing issued and every subsequent daily briefing thereafter.

61. In section 13, the government states the Daily Media Report is due every weekday. Does the government have a due date for the first deliverable?

The first due date would be the first business day after award.

62. Is the 508 compliance required for both the compilation site and the daily distribution document, or will compliance for only one of the two suffice?

Compliance is required for the entire requirement.

63. Can the non-password protected compilation site be phased in over the first 30 days of the project?

Yes.

64. Will individuals outside of the 25 licensed users need to access the searchable compilation site?

Yes. The compilation site should include only the article summaries and not full articles.

65. Will key translated excerpts from actual articles suffice for the “English summary of stories”?

No. The summary should be a brief analysis by a Spanish speaker who understands tone and linguistic nuance.

66. Is the government requesting hyperlinks to be included in a document that will link/direct the reader to an audio or video clip? Or should the document contain links for the reader to broadcast directly on the reader’s desktop?

Both options are acceptable. Links to material posted on a media outlets website are fine. However, for broadcast stories that aren’t hosted online, then those should be streamed to the consumer.

67. Will the analyst be required to communicate in Spanish with OPA?

No.

68. Please clarify what is meant by “top-level view.”

If we consider the Top News to be the front page, then this requirement speaks to the rest of the story. We are looking for story summaries, with limited analysis, to be arranged in an inverted pyramid style, from most important to least.

69. Is the government willing to provide past work products demonstrating this requirement?

The government cannot provide past work products.