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Question #
| Reference |
| Contractors’ Question |
| Government Responses |
| 1 |
| General |
| Is it anticipated that performing on this Call will present an OCI for any future Calls under this BAA? For example, we could be establishing evaluation criteria that might be an OCI for executing work using those criteria. |
| Potentially. Evaluation criteria developed under this task may be used to inform future Calls. If so, a risk mitigation plan may be required. |
| 2 |
| General |
| When conflicts exist between requirements in the main HSHQDC-14-R-B0009H and HSHQDC-14-R-B0009 Call 0002, should Call 0002 have precedence? |
| Yes Call 0002 has precedence. Call 0002 has tailored been for this particular requirement. |
| 3 |
| HSHQDC-14-R-B0009 Call 0002, page 1, Section 5, second paragraph |
| Can the existing gap analysis referred to in this section be provided to offerors holding the required clearances prior to submission? |
| No. The purpose of the proposed effort is to replace the existing SME-driven, and therefore subjective, gap analyses with a formalized quantitative approach. The existing gap analyses are not relevant to developing and implementing an objective approach to develop the gap analysis, and therefore will not be provided. |
| 4 |
| HSHQDC-14-R-B0009 Call 0002, page 1, Section 5, second paragraph |
| Will the performer be expected to “expand the number of agents assessed,” or solely to develop a methodology by which additional agents may be assessed in the future? If additional agents are to be assessed, can an estimate be provided on the number of agents and whether reliability information (confidence) would need to be solicited for these agents? |
| Yes. Offerers are expected to develop and implement a methodology to “expand the number of agents assessed,” and the methodology should allow additional agents to be assessed in the future including any or all agents considered in BTRA modeling. The BTRA presently considers 38 potential biological threat agents. |
| 5 |
| HSHQDC-14-R-B0009 Call 0002, page 1, Section 5, second bullet |
| In what form will the existing BTRA models be provided? Compliable source code? An executable that can be automated? A graphical tool that requires manual clicking to perform a single run? |
| The existing BTRA models will be provided as executables (i.e., DLLs, or dynamic link libraries) that are suitable for automation. Graphical tools are not available and will not be provided. If the proposal intends to utilize the existing DHS Bioterrorism Risk Assessment (BTRA) model, the offerer’s proposal must include all costs necessary to acquire, set up, and demonstrate that the model is functioning. |
| 6 |
| HSHQDC-14-R-B0009 Call 0002, page 1, Section 5, second bullet |
| Assuming that the BTRA models will be provided in some form, what are the technical specifications required for the computing system that would run those models (number of CPUs, memory and storage requirements, operating system, etc)? |
| Current system is a classified SECRET level high performance environment that contains the following: |
- 32 blades (8 processers per blade)
- At least 16 GB of RAM per blade
- Blades installed with CentOS 5.8
- 1 File Server, 16 GB of RAM, 5.7 TB of storage space
| 7 |
| HSHQDC-14-R-B0009 Call 0002, page 1, Section 5, second bullet |
| To help establish a schedule, what is the anticipated timeframe for when the models would be provided? |
| For scheduling Offerers should assume that executables (i.e., DLLs) and input files would be provided two months after contract award. |
| 8 |
| HSHQDC-14-R-B0009 Call 0002, page 7, Section 11 |
| Will cost be an evaluation criterion? If so, what is the breakdown in importance between technical criteria and cost? |
| This requirement is heavily based on technical capability. Technical approach is more important than cost. All technical criteria are of equal importance. |
| 9 |
| HSHQDC-14-R-B0009 Call 0002, page 7, Section 11, first bullet, second paragraph |
| Given the evaluation criteria of “evaluat[ing] biodefense knowledge gaps,” does this imply that the performer will be expected to perform this activity? This role is not called out in the bullets in Section 5. |
| Yes. As described in HSHQDC-14-R-B0009 Call 0002, page 1, Section 5, first bullet, Offerers will be expected to “develop objective data quality criteria that can be vetted by the BTCP with interagency partners” for the agent/parameters that impact consequences or risk. Offerers will therefore require experience evaluating whether specific information meets the objective criteria. |
| 10 |
| HSHQDC-14-R-B0009 Call 0002, page 7, Section 11, first bullet, third paragraph |
| Are offerors expected to have pre-existing, independent access to classified databases, or the ability to gain access to such databases when sponsored by DHS S&T? Offerors may only currently have access that is tied to a specific contract. |
| Offerors are expected to have pre-existing access to databases containing classified information (e.g., DTIC) with all necessary agreements in place to allow DHS co-utilize these resources, or to establish these in support of this effort. DHS will provide data sheets for parameters and data values/ranges that contain references to source documents within one month of contract award. The Performer is expected to acquire a copy of any and all copyrighted materials necessary to assess the quality of the data. DHS will provide copies of cited Government reports within the limits of appropriate distribution statements. |
| 11 |
| HSHQDC-14-R-B0009 Call 0002, page 7, Section 11, second bullet, first paragraph |
| As described, the objectives of the effort are for an analytical methodology and for software development. But, the technical criteria indicate the need for experience with the production of biological agents as well. Is there an additional objective that would require that capability? |
| Yes. An objective has been added to explain the need for expertise in production, as this expertise is critical for evaluating data quality. |
| 12 |
| HSHQDC-14-R-B0009 Call 0002, page 7, Section 11, second bullet, second paragraph |
| Given the requirement for knowledge of animal models, is it anticipated that perfomers will develop experimentation plans? Is it expected that the data quality criteria mentioned in Section 5 (page 1) should be based upon a new analysis of the underlying data (requiring knowledge of animal models) and not be based upon the existing gap analysis? |
| It is not anticipated that performers will develop any experimentation plans. It is expected that the data quality criteria mentioned in Section 5 (page 1) should be based on an analysis of underlying data and not based upon the existing gap analysis. |
| 13 |
| HSHQDC-14-R-B0009 Call 0002, page 7, Section 11, second bullet, third & fourth paragraphs |
| Is it expected that performers will need to collect and quantify bioaerosols for this effort? Is demonstrating knowledge of collection methodologies in order to evaluate quality of data an equivalent criterion? |
| Performers will not need to collect and/or quantify bioaerosols in the laboratory for this effort. It is expected that the data quality criteria mentioned in Section 5 should be based on a new analysis of underlying data. Offerers must demonstrate knowledge and continuing application of generation and collection methodologies. |
| 14 |
| HSHQDC-14-R-B0009 Call 0002, page 7, Section 11, second bullet, third & fourth paragraphs |
| Is it expected that the performer of this activity will need the capability to perform a follow-on task to close the research gaps identified in this task? |
| No. Offerers are expected to demonstrate experience and expertise with generating, collecting, and characterizing bioaerosols from a variety of small and medium scale devices to ensure that they have the technical expertise to evaluate and apply confidence rankings to such data. |
| 15 |
| General |
| My company would like to submit a white paper on our biosensor by August 22 in response to HSHQDC-14-R-B0009. Are white paper submissions allowed under this particular BAA for the August 22nd deadline? |
| White papers will not be evaluated. Call 0002 will only have single phase evaluation of full proposals submitted. |
