Market Research - Capability Call - Virtual Industry Day Announcement - 2030 CQA.pdf

Market Research, Capability Call, and Virtual Industry Day Announcement:

2030 Census Questionnaire Assistance (CQA)

1 Notice Information

Notice Type:

Market Research, Capability Call, and Virtual Industry Day Announcement

Agency/Office:

United States (US) Census Bureau

Title:

2030 Census Questionnaire Assistance (CQA)

Primary NAICS Code:

The proposed primary North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code assigned to this notice is:

• 561422 – Automated Contact Center Solutions

Other possible secondary NAICS codes that may cover the services pertinent to this Notice:

• 541511 Custom Computer Programming Services

Solicitation/Identification Number:

TBD

Contracting Office Address:

United States (US) Census Bureau- Acquisitions Division 4600 Silver Hill Road Suitland, MD 20746

Primary Point of Contact:

Matthew Gore (Matthew.S.Gore@census.gov)

Alternate Point of Contacts:

Bryan Shearer (Bryan.Allan.Shearer@census.gov)

2 Purpose

There is no solicitation available at this time. Requests for a solicitation will not receive a response. Responses to this Notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. The Government does not intend to award a contract based on this Notice or reimburse any costs associated with the preparation of responses to this Notice. This is a Notice only and will be used purely to gather further information about the topics covered. This is not a Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request for Quotation (RFQ). Any proposals, offers, or anything other than the specific or general information requested will not be considered. This notice does not constitute a commitment of any kind by any entity of the United States (US) Government.

mailto:Matthew.S.Gore@census.gov mailto:Bryan.Allan.Shearer@census.gov

The purpose of this Notice is to solicit responses from the vendor community to provide information to the United States Census Bureau (USCB) that will help the government develop and determine an acquisition strategy for commercial offerings regarding CQA services for the coming decade.

3 Background

The Decennial Census is our country’s oldest, most comprehensive source of information about our population. Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution mandates that an apportionment of representatives among the states must be carried out every 10 years. The primary goal of the Decennial Census is to count everyone once, only once, and in the right place.

The U.S. Government uses the data generated by the census to apportion congressional seats, monitor compliance with civil rights and other legislation, and forecast the number of people eligible for Government benefits. Tribal, state, and local Governments use census figures to distribute funds for education and other social programs, determine congressional, state legislative, and voting district boundaries, and predict disaster relief needs. Island Area Governments use Census data to access federal funding opportunities, to better understand the characteristics of a changing population, such as age and household composition, and to understand and address emerging needs, such as access to employment, health insurance, and internet access. In addition, decennial census data for the Island Areas of the Pacific and the U.S.

Virgin Islands are the sole data source for federal agencies. Business relies on the data for product development, marketing, demand forecasting, and determination of optimum location sites.

The Decennial Census is also the largest civilian mobilization in the nation and requires cooperation from the entire population. Success requires counting an increasingly diverse population, living in complex living situations, with growing concerns about privacy and Government credibility. The Decennial Census faces other challenges including, but not limited to, funding shortfalls, leadership changes, disruptions caused by natural disasters and pandemics, and a need to employ hundreds of thousands of federal temporary workers for a short period of time as enumerators. The Decennial Census utilizes technology to hire, manage, and schedule the field operations of this workforce.

3.1 2030 Census Lifecycle

Planning for the 2030 Census began in 2019. The 2030 Census Program is being conducted in four phases.

1. Early Planning (FY19-FY21)

2. Design Selection (FY22-FY24)

3. Development and Integration (FY25-FY29)

4. Peak Production and Close-Out (FY29-FY33)

Operational design development begins in the Design Selection Phase and is critical to the successful execution of a high-quality census of population and housing. In turn, successful execution is dependent on an evidence-based, integrated operational design that addresses the changing environment and inherent logistical challenges of such a large and complex undertaking.

The following graphic shows the four phases of the 2030 Census lifecycle, and the type of work and key milestones associated with each individual phase. Future Census cycles will have their own lifecycles and may or may not include solutions used for the 2030 Census.

Figure 1: 2030 Census Lifecycle Timeline

As a part of the 2030 Census, the 2030 CQA operation will provide support in the form of answering frequently asked questions, helping callers fill out the 2030 Census questionnaire by answering their inquiries, and completing questionnaires over the phone via an interview between the caller and a customer service representative (CSR) if the caller obliges.

3.2 2020 CQA Program Details

During the 2020 Census, live operations for CQA occurred from March 9 to October 15, 2020, and assisted callers from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The CQA contact center operations supported callers in 13 languages, including English, Spanish, and 11 non- English/non-Spanish (NENS) languages: Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), French, Haitian Creole, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. CQA also supported teletypewriter (TTY) technology to assist callers who had hearing impairments, as well as group quarters (GQ). Each language had a dedicated toll-free number for CQA that was printed on census materials sent to households. Calls were routed to one of 10 physical call centers across the U.S.

3.3 2020 CQA Call Volume Metrics

The 2020 CQA operation received nearly 13.5 million inbound calls throughout this operational period (March 9 through October 15, 2020) with more than 50 percent of these calls occurring in the first four weeks of operations. (See Figure 2 for 2020 CQA Inbound Daily Call Volume.)

Figure 2: 2020 CQA Inbound Daily Call Volume

Callers to the English and Spanish language lines were initially routed to an interactive voice response (IVR) system application. The IVR system included broadcast messages that provided callers with time sensitive information aligned to 2020 Census program milestones as well as a self-service portion where callers could navigate menus and submenus of popular FAQs. If callers had additional questions not addressed within the IVR, they had the ability to request to speak to a CSR. (Note: Calls to NENS language lines were routed directly to a CSR.)

During 2020 CQA, more than 61 percent of the calls on the English and Spanish language lines were contained within the IVR system and therefore deflected from the CSR service queue.

Ultimately, more than 5.2 million inbound calls were offered to CSRs, with over 4.6 million of these calls being English, 430,000 calls being Spanish, and 82,000 calls on NENS language lines. (See Table 1 for 2020 CQA Inbound Calls Offered to CSRs by Language Line.)

Of the 5.2 million inbound calls offered to CSRs during 2020 CQA, 4.7 million were handled by CSRs. The average handle time (AHT) for all calls handled by CSRs was 9 minutes, 24 seconds, but varied by language and the type of call.

Table 1: 2020 CQA Inbound Calls Offered to CSRs by Language Line

Language Group

Language Calls Offered to

CSRs IVR Calls Offered to CSRs Direct to CSR Call

Volume Total 5,210,940 4,817,537 393,403

English

English 4,641,934 4,439,446 202,488 English Puerto Rico

3,805 3,672 133

Total 4,645,739 4,443,118 202,621

Spanish

Spanish 379,410 325,707 53,703 Spanish Puerto Rico

52,545 48,712 3,833

Total 431,955 374,419 57,536

NENS

(Non-English, Non-Spanish)

Chinese Mandarin 13,877 - 13,877 Chinese Cantonese

11,493 - 11,493

Vietnamese 14,461 - 14,461 Korean 14,898 - 14,898 Russian 7,872 - 7,872 Arabic 4,633 - 4,633 Tagalog 2,926 - 2,926 Polish 2,722 - 2,722 French 1,345 - 1,345 Haitian Creole 3,256 - 3,256 Portuguese 2,258 - 2,258 Japanese 2,527 - 2,527 Total 82,268 - 82,268

Other

TTY 45,706 - 45,706

GQ 5,272 - 5,272

Total 50,978 - 50,978

3.4 2020 CQA Staffing

In total, 7,303 people were hired, trained, and worked as CSRs during the 2020 CQA operation:

• 5,799 CSRs were skilled in English only

• 1,151 CSRs were skilled in Spanish and English

• 353 CSRs were skilled in one of the NENS languages

The peak number of English and Spanish-skilled CSRs occurred at the beginning of CQA, with the week ending March 14, 2020. For the first day of operations on March 9, 2020, CQA had 5,680 English-skilled CSRs and 1,142 Spanish-skilled CSRs. Both hiring and staffing levels were scaled to accommodate peak operations, along with planned reductions in force, over the 2020 operational period. (See Figure 3 for 2020 CQA Weekly CSR Staffing Levels – English and Spanish Only.)

Figure 3: 2020 CQA Weekly CSR Staffing Levels – English and Spanish Only

Additional details about the 2020 CQA operation can be found in the 2020 CQA Operational Assessment Report located at https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade/2020/planning-management/evaluate/eae/2020-operational-assessment-report-cqa.html.

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade/2020/planning-management/evaluate/eae/2020-operational-assessment-report-cqa.html https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade/2020/planning-management/evaluate/eae/2020-operational-assessment-report-cqa.html https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade/2020/planning-management/evaluate/eae/2020-operational-assessment-report-cqa.html

4 Scope of Services

The 2030 CQA procurement scope includes the execution of all aspects to plan, build, test, staff, and operate an omni-channel contact center solution with an artificial intelligence (AI) focus to support inbound phone calls and web chats from the public for both the 2028 Census Dress Rehearsal and the 2030 Census covering the following operational timeframes:

• 2028 Census Dress Rehearsal – The operational period for CQA is expected to begin in mid-March 2028 and run through the end of July 2028.

• 2030 Census – The operational period for CQA is expected to begin in early-to-mid March 2030 and run through the end of July 2030.

The 2028 Census Dress Rehearsal is expected to have nearly identical CQA-specific requirements as the 2030 Census though will handle a significantly lower number of contacts and will utilize a much smaller number of personnel.

5 High Level Requirements

The USCB currently has the following high-level requirements for the 2030 CQA procurement:

• Fully standing up (cradle to grave) and operating a FedRAMP-certified, Census-Bureau authorized omni-channel contact center solution to handle a highly variable number of inbound contacts (phone calls and web chats). Approximately 13 million inbound contacts are expected over an operational timeframe of 4.5 months with 50 percent of these contacts occurring in the first month of operations. Core requirements will include:

o Physical assets to support the solution.

o Physical infrastructure, if needed, to support both contact center operations and any required premise and cloud-based systems that are FedRAMP certified (moderate level authorization at a minimum).

o Computing/communication systems to support and integrate voice and chat contact channels as well as handle up to an estimated 600,000 concurrent contacts in a single day.

o CSR desktop application development and integration with Census Bureau systems and services.

o Providing trained contact center CSRs with skills to field questions and collect data from the public.

o Providing automated and CSR respondent support in approximately 12 languages with most contacts in English and Spanish.

o Command center functions such as:

▪ Workforce Management to ensure adequate coverage to meet Service Level Agreements.

▪ Quality Assurance (QA) systems including real-time and historical contact with call and screen recordings for each interaction.

▪ Real-time contact and agent monitoring for compliance and QA.

o Artificial intelligence (AI) services which will be expected to handle most of the contacts received. Where appropriate, AI-enabled features should be used to improve customer experience, reduce the number of staff required, and reduce overall costs. Features are expected to include (but not limited to):

▪ AI-powered IVR and/or Conversational AI with intelligent routing, natural language processing, and machine learning to handle complex inquiries and assistance.

▪ AI-enabled Agent Assist for real-time CSR knowledge support, workflows, sentiment detection, and script generation.

▪ AI-driven QA to automate interaction monitoring and flag performance issues with real-time coaching, scoring and feedback to ensure compliance and adherence to Census policies and procedures.

▪ AI-based training for adaptive coaching and skill development.

▪ Chatbots/Virtual Assistants for self-service support with CSR escalation capable of handling complex inquiries.

• Specialized systems and professional services, including:

o All project management, information technology (IT) and contact center technical services to plan, develop, stand up, test, implement, fine-tune, and manage operational systems and applications.

o Integration and testing with Census Bureau systems and services such as data collection instrument and data repositories for questionnaire status and paper questionnaire form fulfillment.

o Recruitment, onboarding, and training of several thousand CSRs within a 30-day period and off-boarding CSRs rapidly after the first 60 days of the operational period.

o Management of operations to a set of Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

o Support obtaining Authority to Operation (ATO) and physical security for systems and facilities.

o Reporting and analytics of, but not limited to, operational data, network and system availability and uptime, quality assurance metrics, and program management metrics.

o Post operational analysis of call data, contact center operations, and lessons learned.

The solution must also meet all internal Decennial testing milestones and readiness checkpoints leading up to the 2028 Census Dress Rehearsal and the 2030 Census. The solution needs to be FedRAMP authorized (Moderate or higher), Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) compliant, and must meet applicable National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Security Policy standards.

The Census Bureau requires that all work associated with the 2030 CQA contract be performed from locations within the contiguous United States. All personnel assigned to tasks associated with the 2030 CQA contract must be US citizens and must successfully pass the Census security screening prior to starting work.

Note: Refer to the attached draft CQA Requirements Document for additional requirement details.

6 Requested Information

The Census Bureau is requesting that interested parties provide the following information organized in the sections listed below:

6.1 Company Profile

1. A brief description of your company along with years in business

2. Business size and socio-economic designation, including the applicable North American

Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes

3. Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), as registered in the System for Award Management (SAM)

4. Web site address

5. Point of contact, including email address and phone number

6. Annual company revenue and the percentage of the revenue that is derived from contact center services

7. Affiliate information parent company, joint venture partners, and potential teaming partners

8. List of Government-Wide Contract Vehicles that your company currently holds that are compatible with the scope in the draft 2030 CQA Requirements Document.

6.2 Capabilities

The Census Bureau is seeking to understand vendor capabilities associated with executing the following tasks to stand up and operate a completely new omni-channel AI-centric contact center solution that can support millions of contacts over a short operational period with a highly variable number of contacts. Please provide detailed information regarding your company’s proven ability to meet all required capabilities and scope as outlined in Section 4 (Scope of Services) and Section 5 (High Level Requirements) of this Notice and included in the draft 2030 CQA Requirements Document with a particular focus on the following critical elements:

• Fully plan, build, test, staff, and operate an omni-channel AI-centric contact center solution to handle a highly variable number of daily inbound contacts (phone calls and web chats).

• Handling approximately 13 million inbound contacts over an operational timeframe of 4.5 months with 50 percent of these contacts occurring in the first month of operations.

• Computing/communication systems and the utilization of AI to support and integrate voice and chat contact channels as well as handle as many as 600,000 concurrent contacts in a single day.

• Implementation of AI services to effectively handle voice and chat contacts received from the public, assist CSRs during live calls, and automate QA processes.

• Recruitment, onboarding, training, and offboarding of several thousand CSRs within a very short time frame.

• A secure FedRAMP authorized (Moderate or higher) solution that is Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) compliant and meets applicable National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Security Policy standards.

In your response, provide specific prior experience to help the Census Bureau understand how you have met these capabilities in the past. For each experience, please submit the following details:

1. Project Name and Customer

2. Contract number and customer point of contact (email address and phone number)

3. Brief project description

4. Duration of involvement

5. Scope of services delivered which are aligned with Section 4 (Scope of Service) and Section

5 (High Level Requirements) of this Notice along with the draft 2030 CQA Requirements Document (Attachment 1).

6. Indication of your performance as prime or sub, as well as identification of the major teaming partners and the role played by each

7. Description of role(s) played by subcontractor(s) on the contract including the percentage of contract cost that went to subcontractor(s)

8. Call volume metrics such as peak daily and weekly volumes; live agent volumes

9. Number and type of CSRs (physical/remote), and languages/modes supported

10. Description of contact center technologies used, including innovative and/or AI-driven solutions implemented, and outcomes

11. Description of Quality Assurance (QA) and security procedures used

12. Description of sensitive data handled (if applicable)

7 Response Submission Instructions

Email your responses to:

• Matthew Gore, Contracting Officer – Matthew.S.Gore@census.gov, and

• Bryan Shearer, Contract Specialist – Bryan.Allan.Shearer@census.gov

Please submit your responses no later than 4:00 pm EST, May 15, 2026, using the subject line “Response to Notice for 2030 CQA provided by __________ (enter name of your company).” A maximum of three (3) attachments (Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat, or Microsoft Excel formats only) should be included with the email:

1. Responses to Section 6.1 (Company Profile) and Section 6.2 (Capabilities) should be included as a single attachment labeled “Company Profile and Capabilities for __________ (enter name of your company),” limited in length to 10 pages combined using 8.5” x 11” pages, 12-pitch font size in Times New Roman, and single-spaced.

2. Vendors are also encouraged to submit questions and/or comments:

a. For questions and comments on this Notice, the draft 2030 CQA Requirements

Document, or other general inquiries, use the attached Microsoft Excel file (2030 CQA Questions & Comments Template) and include as a single Microsoft Excel file attachment labeled “2030 CQA Questions & Comments from _________ (enter name of your company).” NOTE: The Government is not obligated to respond to any questions and/or comments received as a result of this Notice.

Attachments included:

• Draft 2030 CQA Requirements Document (PDF File)

• 2030 CQA Questions & Comments Template (Excel File)

8 Vendor Feedback

The Government acknowledges that the attached requirements description is provided in a preliminary form and does not yet follow a finalized Statement of Objectives (SOO), Statement of Work (SOW), or Performance Work Statement (PWS) structure. This Notice is part of ongoing market research, and the Government is seeking industry feedback to help refine the requirements and inform the appropriate acquisition strategy.

Specifically, the Government welcomes input from interested vendors on the type of requirements document that would make the most sense for this effort (e.g., SOO, SOW, or PWS), as well as recommendations related to contract structure, performance metrics, and industry best practices. This feedback will assist the Government in shaping the most appropriate framework and developing a more complete and effective requirements document for any potential future solicitation.

Vendor Feedback on Pricing Structure and Evaluation Methodology

Request for Industry Input: The Government is seeking feedback from interested vendors regarding potential pricing structures and evaluation methodologies appropriate for this requirement. Respondents are encouraged to provide comments, recommendations, or concerns related to:

• Proposed pricing arrangements by CQA Requirements Document section (e.g., firm fixed price, time and materials, cost reimbursement, or hybrid structures)

• Pricing model considerations such as labor categories, unit pricing, volume assumptions, or cost drivers

• Evaluation factors or subfactors that would support fair, reasonable, and competitive assessments

• Alternative evaluation techniques that may improve clarity, reduce administrative burden, or better reflect industry capabilities

• Any risks, constraints, or market conditions that may affect pricing or evaluation outcomes

Purpose of Feedback: Industry input will assist the Government in refining its acquisition strategy, including the development of an appropriate pricing structure and evaluation approach. Feedback received may be used to shape future solicitation documents; however, responses to this notice are for market research purposes only and do not constitute a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or award a contract.

Voluntary Participation: Providing recommendations is strictly voluntary. The Government will not provide reimbursement for any costs associated with responding to this notice. No proprietary, classified, or sensitive information should be submitted.

9 Important Notes

• This Notice is not a request for quotation and does not imply a contractual commitment.

Participation is voluntary and will not affect eligibility for future solicitations.

• The Government will not reimburse any costs incurred in responding to this notice.

• Please do not submit capability statements, marketing materials, or other extraneous content. Verbal responses and submissions to any address other than those listed above will not be accepted.

• Respondents are advised not to include proprietary, classified, or sensitive information in their submissions. While the Government will take reasonable steps to safeguard information that is clearly marked as confidential, it cannot guarantee the protection of unmarked data.

• Please do not submit any actual Pricing data. The Government is seeking market research data regarding commercial pricing structures only. Any pricing information provided will be used solely for the purpose of refining the acquisition strategy.

• Contractor personnel may assist the Government in reviewing responses. All such personnel have signed appropriate non-disclosure agreements on file with the Decennial Contract Execution Office (DCEO).

• While the Government will not publicly release individual responses, information received may inform acquisition strategy and may be recognizable to the submitting party.

• As part of the market research process, Census Bureau personnel reserve the right to contact individual respondents for additional information or clarification on responses.

• There are two opportunities to submit questions/comments at this stage of the procurement, as follows:

-Questions/comments to be considered for Industry Day, in accordance with Section 10. (due 4:00 pm EST on April 27, 2026)

-Questions/comments as part of your final response, in accordance with Section 7.

(due 4:00 pm EST, May 15, 2026)

Attachment “2030 CQA Questions & Comments Template (Excel File)” shall be used for both submissions.

10 Virtual Industry Day

Notice to Vendors

The Decennial Programs and Decennial Contracts Execution Office (DCEO) at the US Census Bureau intends to host a virtual Industry Day associated with this CQA Notice on Thursday, May 7, 2026, from 1:00 pm EST to 2:00 pm EST. This webinar will give an overview of the recently released 2030 Census Questionnaire Assistance (CQA) Notice and draft Requirements Document. During the webinar, the US Census Bureau will discuss the need for contact center services to support the 2030 Census and will answer pre-submitted questions from industry.

Registering for the Industry Day

This will be a virtual event through Webex.

Register by visiting:

https://uscensus.webex.com/weblink/register/r23cc8e85d79f1cd0fbd4d04947285175

Teaming and Subcontracting

Due to the anticipated size, scope, and complexity of this requirement, the Government encourages interested parties to consider potential teaming arrangements or subcontracting partnerships.

A list of registered companies will be posted on SAM.gov after the event, however individual names and specific contact information will not be made public.

Questions for Industry Day

Vendors may submit questions to be considered for industry day no later than 4:00 pm EST on April 27, 2026.

https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fuscensus.webex.com%2Fweblink%2Fregister%2Fr23cc8e85d79f1cd0fbd4d04947285175&data=05%7C02%7CKevin.J.Zajac%40census.gov%7C77a6d9b8cb9f41865af808de9b2f90ad%7C3aa716f1e55941cea53047d18313c603%7C0%7C0%7C639118825767581455%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=FZxrF2TLSMhpy%2FMJ5q4yNNG2c5puGbCtXy20j91gyRM%3D&reserved=0

Questions should be submitted via email to Matthew.S.Gore@census.gov and Bryan.Allan.Shearer@census.gov with the subject “2030 CQA Industry Day Questions.”

For CQA Industry Day questions, use the attached Microsoft Excel file (2030 CQA Questions & Comments Template) and include as a single Microsoft Excel file attachment labeled “2030 CQA Industry Day Questions from __________ (enter name of your company).” NOTE: The Government is not obligated to respond to any questions and/or comments received as a result of this Notice.

Prior to submission of questions, vendors should review the draft CQA Requirements Document attached.

Summary of Key Dates in this Notice:

Date Event 4/27/2026 Deadline to Submit Questions to be Considered for Virtual Industry Day (4pm EST) 5/7/2026 Virtual Industry Day (1pm to 2pm EST)

5/15/2026 Final Deadline to Submit Responses to Notice and Requirements Document (4pm

EST)