JA Overdrive Additional Digital content REDACTED.pdf

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

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773 Enterprise Sourcing Squadron 1517 Billy Mitchell Blvd, Bldg 954 San Antonio, TX 78236-1865

The Department of the Air Force (DAF) and the Department of Defense (DoD) Libraries have a requirement to purchase additional content on the already established Overdrive Digital Platform subscription using Other Than Full and Open Competition as prescribed by FAR 13.106-1(b)(soliciting from a single source), and 13.501(a) (Sole source acquisitions). This individual action will result in the award of a new Firm Fixed Price Contract.

This sole source requirement will be acquired from the OverDrive, Inc.

The mission of DAF/DoD Libraries is outlined in DoDI 1015.10 stating DAF/DoD Libraries will provide information resources and services required to accomplish the mission. The DAF/DoD Libraries support military personnel assigned to contingency operations, remote sites, and military missions IAW DoDI 1015.10, Military Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) Programs. The program provides professional military and voluntary education programs materials and services. Libraries also provide resources and services to enhance the quality of life, regeneration, and resiliency for authorized customers. These resources relate to various overarching goals of the DAF/DOD such as recreation, physical wellness, emotional resiliency, and educational pursuits.

To meet these needs, the DAF/DoD Libraries must procure several thousand e-books and e-audiobooks on the OverDrive Platform. A collection of digital content valued at over $20M has already been invested on the OverDrive Platform that started in 2008. OverDrive provides Educational, Quality of Life, and Leadership resources to 1.1M users. DAF/DOD Libraries are adding digital content to their already established collection.

The digital content needs to be able to be accessed globally, including in areas with low or no internet access.

An example would be military or DOD members deployed to remote areas not having access to the internet, however OverDrive allows the digital content to be downloaded to their own personal devices beforehand, therefore the content is able to still be accessed. This requirement is a vital leisure tool for DAF/DoD personnel. It is important to service personnel and library staff for having the ability to provide instantly accessible digital information in multiple online resources that can be streamed or downloaded with no waiting.

This subscription must be firm-fixed priced so there is no increase when new titles are accessed. Digital content has a "Shelf-life" of typically either 180 checkouts or 24 months before the book essentially expires and needs to be replaced. This requirement is to purchase more digital content to replace and add to inventory of e-books and/e-audiobooks.

The proposed effort covered by this individual J&A is for a 24-month subscription for additional OverDrive Digital Content for DAF/DoD Libraries. The 24 month subscription includes one 12-month base year and one 12-month Option Year. The requirement is for a subscription database that provides downloadable e-books, audio books, and movies to meet mission needs. This system must be able to interface with the DAF/DoD Libraries' database websites, provide downloadable material for collection materials such as e-books, e-videos, audio books, e-music including new releases, current best sellers, and back catalog for the Overdrive Digital Platform.

Security between the Website and server must be Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.3. Must be able to supply or allow retrieval of database usage statistics by Branch of Service (Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Military OneSource/Other, Navy, and Space Force). Must have HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) with long duration deployed on the servers to mitigate/prevent man-in-the-middle attacks. Website certificates must be RSA 2048-bits (SHA256withRSA). Must be able to provide a login system for customers that meets the needs of active duty users and their dependents as well as retirees.

The current contract ends on 14 September 2024. The new contract is for a one (1) base year and one (1) option year in the amount of . This requirement will be purchased with OSD funds, 3400 O&M funding.

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Base Year:

CLIN 0001 - DAFL OverDrive Additional Digital Content - , PoP: 30 Sept 2024 - 29 Sept 2025

CLIN 0002 - DoDL OverDrive Additional Digital Content - , PoP: 30 Sept 2024 - 29 Sept 2025

Option Year:

CLIN 1001 - DAFL OverDrive Additional Digital Content - : PoP: 30 Sept 2025 - 29 Sept 2026

CLIN 1002 - DoDL OverDrive Additional Digital Content - , PoP: 30 Sept 2025 - 29 Sept 2026

The Army has historically procured the DOD portion of this requirement, however the Army is experiencing issues and was not able to procure this year. It is anticipated that the DOD portion will be procured by the Army next year, however an Option Year is included in the event the Army is not able to.

DAFFARS 5313.501 - 10 U.S.C 3572, Implementation of Simplified Acquisition Procedures (41 U.S.C. 1901)

The OverDrive Digital Content subscription offers an all-encompassing collection and services that provide high quality resources that can be accessible in all locations via the OverDrive Digital Platform. The depth and breadth of OverDrive Digital Content make it the only feasible supplier that can meet the DAF/DoD Libraries' needs and provide customers with an all-inclusive database. There are no other comparable services that would cover all of these aspects in one place with the same functionality and access. Without this acquisition, the DAF/DOD Libraries' mission to provide timely and instantly accessible digital information that can be streamed or downloaded would be seriously harmed or delayed without the latest, up-to-the minute information and full service capabilities available from this subscription.

OverDrive has exclusive legal copyright to its content collection and is a "must order direct" company.

OverDrive's content collection cannot be accessed through a third party. OverDrive is a proprietary platform that the DAF/DoD Libraries has access to over $20 million e-books and audiobooks on the platform. These 148,000 books cannot be moved to another platform due to the copyright license agreements that the publishers have with OverDrive for the e-content to be hosted on their platform. Any attempt to move to another platform will result in the loss of the government's $20M+ investment over the last 16 years. This collection was started in 2008 and has been built over time to enable over 70,000 users to borrow over 361,000 titles monthly. Currently there are over 185,000 holds on titles digitally checked-out.

Also without this already established platform the DAF/DoD Libraries will not be able to meet the demands of all active duty, retirees, civilian employees and their families. This includes Leadership who requests titles to be added to the platform frequently for their Leadership Libraries. Failure to add content will result in stagnancy and loss of customer usage. In addition, transferring to a new platform will take years and millions of dollars to properly create a sufficient collection and volume that is currently available; not to mention the countless hours required to retrain staff and users on a product that already has familiarity to the government that is currently purchased from OverDrive, Inc.

Market research confirms that OverDrive, Inc is the only known source that can satisfy the Government's requirements in it's current capability and is intended to support the DAF/DoD Libraries Program.

The Government published a Sources Sought Notice on SAM.gov, Notice ID FA8052PRE0725 on 30 May 2024 with a response due date/time of 12:00 PM CST on 13 Jun 2024. Additionally, the posting outlined the minimum

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Based on market research, OverDrive, Inc., is the only known vendor capable of performing this requirement.

For the most recent contract, the Contracting Office posted a sources sought notice on SAM.gov, with only one capable offeror. Going forward the Contracting Office intends to hold an Industry Day to draw potential vendors. Additionally, the Contracting Office will attend the annual library/educational conference to monitor and evaluate potential sources of supply. They will also post sources sought notices to survey the market to determine if there are any viable vendors capable of fulfilling this requirement. The results of the market research will dictate the acquisition strategy.

Additionally, the 773rd ESS will collaborate with AFICC Program Management (KA), Higher Headquarters and Small Business to perform an opportunity assessment in hopes of realizing additional procurement avenues.

AFSVC/VCL will continue to survey the market for vendors to obtain competition through publishers' advertisements, annual professional conferences, vendor demonstrations, customer suggestions and new publication reviews in conducting its surveys.

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