ID09210005 - PERSEREC - RFI.pdf

U.S. General Services Administration Federal Acquisition Service

Contracting Division

Request for Information (RFI) Date: February 19, 2021

Contracting Office: U.S. General Services Administration (GSA)

Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) Contracting Division (9QZAB) Pacific Rim Region (R9)

From: Rebecca Longo, Contracting Officer, Federal Acquisition Service

Project Title: ID09210005 – Personnel and Security Research Center (PERSEREC)

Research, Development, and Communication Support For Personnel Security, Suitability, and Credentialing (SSC), Reliability, Counter-Insider Threat, and other Risk Management Programs

NOTICE:

This Request for Information (RFI) is being issued solely for information and planning purposes, it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This RFI does not commit the Government to a contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Furthermore, the Government is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Responders are advised that the Government will not reimburse for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested parties’ expense.

Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in a future RFP, if one is issued.

MARKET RESEARCH:

This RFI is seeking responses from businesses that can provide the required services. This synopsis is encouraging responses from all qualified and capable businesses. The data obtained from this RFI will assist the Government in understanding the capabilities available in the industry marketplace and to inform the development of a way-ahead for GSA to obtain support services on behalf of The Defense Human Resources Activity (DHRA), Office of People Analytics (OPA).

The Government is seeking contractor recommendations in the following areas:

1. To see if the PWS provides enough information to encourage competition and allow vendors to propose a competitive solution.

2. To determine an appropriate contract type.

BACKGROUND:

The Defense Human Resources Activity (DHRA), Office of People Analytics (OPA) requires support for a research and development program. This line of effort is dedicated to improving the effectiveness, efficiency, and fairness of Federal- and DoD-level security, suitability, and credentialing (SSC), reliability, counter-insider threat, and other risk management programs. Program activities include use of social and behavioral science (SBS) methods to (1) conduct operational research and development efforts; (2) develop innovative systems, tools, trainings, and job aids for policymakers, practitioners, and the workforce at large; and (3) generate and communicate action-oriented research findings for stakeholders and project sponsors.

OPA is part of the Defense Human Resources Activity (DHRA), a Department of Defense (DoD) Field Activity. OPA supports decision making by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (OUSD[P&R]), the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security (OUSD [I&S]), and other Federal government organizations both within and outside the DoD enterprise.

See attached unclassified draft Performance Work Statement (PWS) for further background information.

Potential offerors are invited to submit a Statement of Capability (SOC) demonstrating that they have the capacity, facilities, cleared personnel, and expertise to perform the work described within this announcement.Marketing brochures and/or generic company literature will not be considered. Not addressing all the requested information may result in the Government determining the responder is not capable of performing the scope of the work required.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Format: Interested respondents are requested to complete the following items below utilizing the templates provided on Page 3.

● Section I - Corporate Information

● Section II - Feedback

Follow the table formats and do not substitute, delete, or add to the questionnaires. Responses shall be formatted for viewing/printing using 8.5 by 11 inch paper size, 1 inch margins, and no smaller than a 10 point font.

Page Limits: The Government reserves the right to not review any pages in excess of the maximum page limitation.

Please email your responses to Rebecca Longo at rebecca.longo@gsa.gov, Emma Andreoli at emma.andreoli@gsa.gov and Gary Hall at garyr.hall@gsa.gov.

Responses are due no later than March 8, 2021 at 8:00am PST.

mailto:rebecca.longo@gsa.gov mailto:emma.andreoli@gsa.gov mailto:gary.hall@gsa.gov

REQUESTED INFORMATION:

Section I: Corporate Information

Section II: FEEDBACK

A. State whether the firm is a large or small business (and if small business, the status category) based on North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code: 541720 Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities

B. State the level at which the firm performs the majority of contract efforts (i.e. prime or subcontract level).

C. Briefly describe teaming and subcontracting efforts the firm has engaged in with small business concerns.

D. The Government is considering several different alternatives for acquiring this capability including but not limited to, a FAR Part 16 task order competed under General Services Administration (GSA) Government-wide Acquisition Contract and Schedules. Please describe any existing GSA contract vehicles utilizing stated NAICS code, if applicable, and include the

Section Description Page Limit I Corporate Information 1 page II Feedback 15 pages

Company Name

DUNS Number

Cage Code

Address

Company Website URL

Total Number of Full Time Employees

Point of Contact Info (Name, Email, and Phone Number)

Does your firm have an approved cost accounting system determined adequate by a cognizant audit agency? (e.g. DCAA)

Yes No

Would your firm plan to submit a proposal as the prime contractor?

Yes No name of the contract, contract number, period of performance, and any other relevant parameters of the contract vehicle applicable for use by the PERSEREC program.

E. What contract type is recommended?

F. Based on review of the attached DRAFT PWS, please respond to the following:

1. Describe relevant projects in which your company has been responsible designing and conducting studies, analyses, tools, job aids, curriculum, and outreach related to the listed tasks in the Draft PWS as follows:

· Security, Suitability, and Credentialing (SSC) and Reliability Programs

· Counter-Insider Threat Programs

· Workplace Risk Management and Mitigation

· Data Discovery, Collection, Analysis, Management and Presentation

· Automated Record Checking and Emerging Social Indicators

2. Anticipating possible surge requirements, describe your company’s ability to scale up supporting services in response to increased demand for PERSEREC’s research support services. Descriptions should demonstrate the vendor’s success in increasing volume of services provided without any deterioration in the quality of service.

3. Describe your company’s ability to meet personnel security requirements as indicated in the Draft

PWS.

4. Identify by associated task number within the Draft PWS which tasks, if any, require additional information.

5. Describe the anticipated impacts to the solution and approach if a performance-based contracting approach is pursued. What creative solutions can your company offer in the Quality Assurance elements of the listed requirements within the Draft PWS, as well as Quality Assurance measures in contract performance?

6. Describe successes achieved and challenges encountered in your previous contract efforts for similar work as indicated in the Draft PWS.

7. Describe a high-level overview of the team structure and skill mix required to execute the proposed approach.

8. Are you capable of assembling a team that can perform the work described in which the prime contractor performs at least 70% of the work? Please provide a capability statement that describes your ability to perform this type of work.

9. Will your company be able to assemble a team with at least 25% of the staff (excluding any subcontractors) who are located in the Monterey, CA area and can work on-site?"

10. Will your company be able to provide staff who already have eligibility for access to classified information, and have experience accessing classified systems at the Top Secret and SCI levels?

11. State any general questions(s) relating to the draft PWS that need to be clarified prior to release of the solicitation, if the solicitation is released.