JA-2022-04-0875_Redacted.pdf

Justification and Approval FAR Part 6 Authority

JA-2022-04-0875

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

(41 U.S.C. § 3304(a)(1))

Pursuant to the requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.3 and in accordance with the requirements of FAR 6.303-1, the justification for the use of the statutory authority under FAR Subpart 6.3 is justified by the following facts and rationale required under FAR 6.303-2 as follows:

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Contracting and Procurement (C&P), and Requirements Capabilities and Analysis (RCA) propose to issue a modification to contract 70T04021C7573N010 with TeleSecurity Sciences, Inc. (TSS) to incorporate additional scope on a basis of other than full and open competition in accordance with FAR 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.

The Justification and Approval tracking number for this document is JA-2022-04-0875.

2. Nature and/or Description of the Action Being Approved.

This Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition sets forth the Agency’s rationale to issue a modification for additional work within scope to support the continued development of TSS’ On-Person Screening (OPS) Common Workstation (CW) 2.0 software development, testing, and integration.

The current contract is for the development and testing of CW 2.0 software for various transportation security equipment (TSE) technologies that support OPS and Accessible Property Screening (APS) TSE.

The modification will include the following:

(a) Contractor: TeleSecurity Sciences, Inc., 2500 N Buffalo Dr., Ste 150, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89128-7854

(b) Type of Action: Modification to add work within scope

(c) Estimated Modification Amount:

(d) Contract Type: Firm Fixed Price

(e) Purchase Request: 227573B180

(f) Type of Funding: Operations and Support (O&S) Funds

(g) Year of Funding: FY 2022

(h) Background information about requirement: See Section 5 below.

(i) Current total contract amount:

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

TSA requires a modification to contract number 70T04021C7573N010 to provide additional Human Performance Study support and additional CW 2.0 integration and development for various OPS and APS TSE for test and evaluation.

On May 6, 2021, TSA issued Targeted-Broad Agency Announcement (T-BAA) 70T04021BAA7573N001 to obtain innovative solutions for various specific technical topic areas (TTAs) related to enhancing OPS capabilities. TTA 0004 outlined two methods of interest for improved data

One module for this OA is a Common Workstation which serves as the hardware and software package for end users such as Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) to view and adjudicate scanner images. The design of this User Interface (UI) is critical to support the TSO decision making process. As other modules of the OA are being advanced, early stage user-in-the-loop testing must also be conducted on UI elements to ensure that algorithm based detection advancements are translated and cognizable for TSOs to better support live checkpoint detection improvements. This Common Workstation will be a major driver of OA and modular TSE design, giving more vendors the ability to provide products to the TSA, ultimately increasing competition.

The TSS Common Workstation is the only solution that was proposed to TSA under the T-BAA, the only proposed solution that has been demonstrated to meet TSA OA objectives, and the only proposed solution that can be networked with multiple OPS systems. Additional in-scope requirements will be incorporated to allow for enhancements to the solution and to develop and test the solution on other various OPS TSE for feasibility. Through testing of the current scope of work, RCA requires the additional in-scope work to further conduct research and test the solutions capabilities.

Due to recent human performance studies, cybersecurity challenges, and the evolution of TSA OA design, there are new unforeseen government requirements that will be addressed through the work in this contract modification. It is imperative for TSA to modify the current contract to continue the development and testing of the CW 2.0 solution to better understand the capabilities and results in order to define future OPS requirements. Awarding this work to a different vendor at this stage would reset all of the progress made by TSA in testing and expenditures as well as updating the proposed CW in support of TSA’s future OA and modular checkpoint goals.

6. Description of Efforts Made to Ensure that Offers Are Solicited from as Many Potential Sources as is Practicable.

As stated above, on May 6, 2021 TSA issued a T-BAA, 70T04021BAA7573N001, on Sam.gov requesting vendor solutions to specific TTAs including Common Workstation solutions. Only one vendor submitted a Common Workstation solution.

7. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable.

The Contracting Officer will ensure that proposed pricing will be evaluated to determine fairness and reasonableness through price analysis techniques in accordance with FAR 15.404-1 prior to award.

8. Description of Market Research.

Market research was conducted prior to award of this contract. Prior to the release of T-BAA 70T04021BAA7573N001, Request for Information (RFI) TSA25-04-03475 was issued to obtain information from industry through an Industry Day on July 29, 2020. The results of that event did not reveal any other vendors offering a similar common workstation solution. Additionally, only one vendor provided a common workstation solution for additional development and testing as a result of the T-BAA.

As such, TSA requires additional in-scope requirements to further test and develop potential enhancements under this solution for OPS systems.

9. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other Than Full and Open Competition.

None.

10. A Listing of the Sources, if Any That Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition.

In accordance with FAR 5.203(a), TSA posted TSA25-04-2760 on September 12, 2022, notice of intent to sole source on www.sam.gov. The notice provided notification of TSA’s intent to sole source and provided other vendors with an opportunity to express interest in the requirement. The notice was open for response for 15 days and TSA did not receive any responses.

11. A Statement of the Actions, if Any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome Any Barriers to Competition Before Any Subsequent Acquisition for Supplies or Services Required.

The modification to this contract is for developmental and testing purposes. The goal of this work is to refine specifications of the TSA Common Workstation. The Common Workstations developed under this contract are limited to developmental and testing purposes and this contract will not be used for the acquisition of Common Workstations to be used for large scale operational deployment. TSA intends to compete any future requirement for common workstations for large scale operational deployment.

12. Contracting Officer’s Certification.

I certify that the data supporting the recommended use of other than full and open competition is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

9/27/22

Date Contracting Officer

13. Technical/Requirements Personnel Certification.

I certify this requirement meets the Government’s minimum need and that the supporting data, which forms a basis for this justification, is complete and accurate.

9/27/22

Program Manager

14. Legal Counsel Review.

I reviewed this Justification and Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition for legal sufficiency in accordance with HSAM 3006.304-70.

Legal Counsel

APPROVAL:

9/28/22

Competition Advocate