Justification and Approval SIMS Bridge Final Competition Advocate Approved v1_Redacted.pdf

This is a Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP) Commercial Item Single Source Justification for a bridge contract award.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Contracting and Procurement office is justifying a single-source award to Identification Technology Partners, Inc. (20251 Century Boulevard, Suite 330, Germantown, MD 20874) for a Secure Identity Management Support (SIMS) bridge contract. The procurement request number is PR267503A017, with tracking number JA-2026-04-1392. This is a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract conducted under FAR Part 12 for commercial items. The contract period is six months, structured as a three-month base with three optional one-month extensions. The estimated total contract value is redacted in the document. The bridge contract will provide technical development, support, operations, and maintenance of identity and biometric-based state and federal systems, including recurrent criminal history notifications, rap sheet specifications and standards, and biometric standards, identification, and authentication services (national and international). Specific services include initial and recurrent biometric vetting; Rap Back biometric enrollment and vetting; DHS Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT)/Homeland Advance Recognition Technology (HART) support; biometric standards, accreditation, and requirements development; automated rap sheet parsing and scoring; and data management system support with artificial intelligence methodologies.

The justification cites 41 U.S.C. 1901 and FAR Subpart 12.102 as authority for restricting competition. TSA determined that the incumbent contractor is the only responsible source capable of providing uninterrupted support during the transition to a new competitive order, given the complex workflows, integrated reporting, and embedded staff across TSA operations. Market research confirmed multiple capable sources exist for follow-on competitive services under GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) and identified transparent labor rates and pricing structures. The bridge contract pricing utilizes the incumbent's current GSA MAS rates with a requested discount, maintaining the same labor mix, FTE levels, and effort scope. The Contracting Officer determined the anticipated cost represents fair and reasonable pricing based on the incumbent's previously awarded rates. A Notice to Sole Source was issued through SAM.gov on July 9, 2026, with no responses received to date.