Combined_Synopsis_Solicitation_-_COMPETITIVE_4894719.pdf

Combined Synopsis Solicitation – COMPETITIVE This is a small business (SB) set-aside

Title: Virtual Reality Framework for Research and Treatment of Adolescence Depression

Solicitation Number: NIHDA201800110-CSS

(i) This is a request for quotation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 8.4 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice.

This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

(ii) The solicitation number is NIHDA201800110-CSS and the solicitation is issued as a request for quotation (RFQ). This is a small business (SB) set-aside.

This acquisition is for a commercial item or service and is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 8.4 — Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) Procedures; FAR Subpart 13.5—Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items; and FAR Part 12—Acquisition of Commercial Items, and is not expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold.

(iii) The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-94 and 95, dated January 1, 2018.

(iv) The associated NAICS code 511210 – Software Publishers and the small business size standard is $38.5 Million.

(v) Specific Requirements: See attached Statement of Work

(vii) Period of Performance: The period of performance shall consist of a base year and four (4) option year periods:

Base Year: September 29, 2018 – September 28, 2019 Option Year One (1): September 29, 2019 – September 28, 2020 Option Year Two (2): September 29, 2020 – September 28, 2021 Option Year Three (3): September 29, 2021 – September 28, 2022 Option Year Four (4): September 29, 2022 – September 28, 2023

(viii) The provision at FAR clause 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors – Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition.

The provision at FAR clause 52.211-6, Brand Name or Equal, applies to this acquisition.

(ix) The provision at FAR clause 52.212-2, Evaluation – Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition.

(a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: (1) Technical Approach; (2) and Past Performance.

(b) Technical approach is significantly more important than cost or price.

(c) Options. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

(d) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer’s specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.

(x) The Offerors to include a completed copy of the provision at FAR clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial Items, with its offer.

(xi) The FAR clause at 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions – Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition.

(xii) FAR clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders–Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. FAR clauses at 52.209-10, 52.233-3, and 52.233-4, Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations, Protest After Award, and Applicable Law for Breach of Contract Claim, respectively, apply to this acquisition.

(xiii) The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) are not applicable to this requirement.

(xiv) QUESTION & ANSWER PERIOD

Interested contractors may submit questions relating to this requirement. Questions shall be submitted to the contract specialist, Danielle R. Brown, via email at danielle.brown2@nih.gov by or before Wednesday, June 6, 2018 at 2PM EST. Late questions shall not be accepted. Questions will be anonymized and answered, and the mailto:danielle.brown2@nih.gov answers will be provided as soon as possible after the question deadline via RFQ modification. Should no questions be received, no amendment shall be posted.

(xv) Responses to this solicitation must include sufficient information to establish the interested parties’ bona-fide capabilities of providing the product or service. The price quote shall include: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, delivery days after contract award, delivery terms, prompt payment discount terms, F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), product or catalog number(s); product description; and any other information or factors that may be considered in the award decision. Such factors may include: past performance; special features required for effective program performance;

trade-in considerations; probable life of the item selected as compared with that of a comparable item; warranty considerations; maintenance availability; and environmental and energy efficiency considerations.

Respondents proposing on an equal product of the brand-name product specified in this announcement must provide, as part of their response: (a) product, catalog, model, and/or part number(s); (b) product description; (c) all relevant information and documentation that the item(s) offered meets the salient physical, functional, or performance characteristics as specified in the purchase description; quantity; estimated price or cost; shipping, handling, and/or installation charges; and delivery date after receipt of order.

Responses to this solicitation must include clear and convincing evidence of the offeror’s capability of fulfilling the requirement as it relates to the technical evaluation criteria. The price proposal must include the labor categories, an estimate of the number of hours required for each labor category, fully loaded fixed hourly rate or each labor category, breakdown and rationale for other direct costs or materials, and the total amount.

In addition the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size must be included in the response. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov.”

All responses must be received by Friday June 8, 2018 at 2PM, Eastern Standard Time, and reference number NIHDA201800110-CSS. Responses may be submitted electronically to Danielle R. Brown, Contract Specialist, at Danielle.brown2@nih.gov.

Fax responses will not be accepted. There will not be any extensions to this solicitation.

(xvi) Please contact Danielle R. Brown, Contract Specialist, at Danielle.brown2@nih.gov or

(301) 594-1928 with any questions.

http://www.sam.gov/ mailto:Danielle.brown2@nih.gov mailto:Danielle.brown2@nih.gov

Version 11-30-2016-1 FAR Part 11—Describing Agency Needs

STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW) - SERVICES

GENERAL INFORMATION

Title of Project:

Virtual Reality Framework for Research and Treatment of Adolescence Depression

Statement of Need and Purpose:

The purpose of this acquisition is to acquire software programming services for the Mood, Brain, and Developmental Unit’s virtual reality (VR) platforms and pilot treatments.

Background Information and Objective:

The Mood Brain and Development Unit, has as its primary goal the elucidation of pathophysiological mechanisms underlying depression and related mood disorders. Depression is associated with aberrant processing and learning of environmental rewards. These aberrations can be studied using experimental tasks where subjects receive various rewards and their respective decision making is modeled. However, current experimental tasks are implemented in limited laboratory settings not resembling real-life experiences and lacking ecological validity. Last year, our Unit purchased equipment through Mode Four, LLC to conduct experiments and programming on novel virtual reality (VR) platforms and to pilot treatments that are using this modality. The VR equipment helped boost the Unit’s translational potential for ecological validity, efficiency, youth-friendliness, and suitability for innovative treatment.

Period of Performance:

Please consider the following period of performance for these services:

Base Year September 29, 2018 – September 28, 2019 Option Year One September 29, 2019 – September 28, 2020 Option Year Two September 29, 2020 – September 28, 2021 Option Year Three September 29, 2021 – September 28, 2022 Option Year Four September 29, 2022 – September 28, 2023

SCOPE OF WORK

General Requirements:

Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the Government as needed to perform the Statement of Work below:

Specific Requirements:

The contractor shall provide all resources necessary to accomplish the tasks and deliverables described in this Statement of Work (SOW). The contractor shall provide the programming necessary to maintain the existing virtual scenery adapting the basic scripts provided by the company for our specific experimental needs. The contractor shall provide all necessary maintenance and modifications and all other necessary technical support according to the Unit’s needs.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

The government shall expose subjects to the Contractor’s virtual reality setup- they could be walking and moving within a chosen virtual scenery, while performing a decision making behavioral task, being exposed to mood induction, or doing a treatment session. Their choices, action and trajectory of movement would be measured. This data would be analyzed by our Unit, so our expectation is that the Contractor shall provide all that is necessary to implement this framework technically, and assistance in troubleshooting possible technical issues, when possible.

DELIVERY OR DELIVERABLES

The contractor shall provide the following:

a) The technical support that is required for the setup, maintenance and troubleshooting of the Virtualizer ELITE 1

b) The programming support for the existing virtual software, as well as the programmer adding and modifying graphical features presented in the virtual experimental task. An estimation of 80 hours each for the work of the software developer, 40 hours for the graphic artist and approximately 40 hours for the work of the project manager. The experimental task aims at studying the relation between reward-related decision making and mood. Specifically, the experimental virtual environment is based on an existing template of a park with natural elements (e.g. trees, flowers). This existing template would have both a neutral and a happy scenery and would be extended so: participants can make choices by reaching out with their hands; the two values of monetary awards are presented on top of two boxes which then open up to show the outcome values; and moreover, these values could be modified in real-time according to subjects’ performance-mood ranking.

c) Unlimited technical support for the setup, maintenance and troubleshooting of the web secure platform, questionnaires, and data mentioned above. This technical support shall be available Monday to Friday within business hours.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

As we can monitor directly the results of the work, there is no requirement for regular reporting.

However, the contractor shall report promptly any technical or other problems that might impede the expected work. In the event of technical or other problems arising, the contractor shall notify via email to Dr. ArgyriosStringaris within 48 hours, with any recommended solutions and a timeline for the solution.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Data Rights:

The Mood Brain and Development Unit shall have unlimited rights to and ownership of all deliverables provided under this contract including reports, recommendations, briefings, workplans, and all other deliverables. This includes the deliverables provided under this contract and any optional tasks deliverables exercised by the contracting officer. In addition, it includes any additional deliverables required by contract change. The definition of “unlimited rights” is contained in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 27.401, “Definitions”. FAR Clause 52.227-14, “Rights in Data-General” is hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of this contract/order.

Section 508—Electronic and Information Technology Standards:

The Contractor shall comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794d), as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-220), August 7, 1998.

Confidentiality of Information:

The government will not provide to the contractor any information or data of a personal nature about individual(s) or proprietary information or data pertaining to an institution or organization which is confidential. Whenever the contractor is uncertain with regard to the confidentiality of or a property interest in information under this contract, the contractor should consult with the Contracting Officer prior to any release, disclosure, dissemination, or publication.

ATTACHMENTS

1. Independent Government’s Cost Estimate

2. Evaluation / Selection Criteria

3. Sole Source Justification

4. Market Research Document

STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW) SERVICES ATTACHMENT

Virtual Reality Framework for Research and Treatment of Adolescence Depression

ATTACHMENT 2: Technical Evaluation Criteria

The Government will award a contract or purchase order resulting from this requirement on the basis of best value, technical factors. Technical factors together shall be considered more important than price and all technical evaluation factors are detailed below:

Factor 1: Technical Approach

The Contractor’s proposal shall address each area of the statement of work requirements in sufficient detail to demonstrate a clear understanding of the efforts to be performed and the skill level required to perform them. The proposed technical approach shall be evaluated for the appropriateness and effectiveness of the overall approach as well as the methods, procedures, and resources proposed for performing the tasks described in this solicitation. Specifically, approach shall be evaluated for at least 5 years of experience in the set-up and maintenance of the Virtualizer ELITE 1 in addition to the experience of modifying graphic features in the virtual experimental task specifically of the relationship between reward-related decision making and mood.

Capability in these areas shall be viewed favorably.

Factor 2: Past Performance

The Contractor shall provide at least two (2) past performance references with knowledge of the contractor’s relevant skills and experience related to the requirements outlined in this Statement of Work.

References shall include the following information:

a. Name of Organization

b. Brief Description of Contractor’s Responsibilities

c. Contact Name and Title

Past Performance shall be evaluated for relevance to implementing animals to special light cycles, collecting and analyzing data, and carrying out histology and molecular biology tasks.

Technical proposals will be evaluated using a summary adjectival rating in accordance with the following scale:

Excellent The proposal has exceptional merit and reflects an excellent approach which will clearly result in the superior attainment of all requirements and objectives. The risk of unsuccessful performance is very low as the proposal provides a clear understanding of the requirements and demonstrates the offerors ability to meet the requirement. Risk Level: Very Low

Good The proposal demonstrates an approach which is expected to meet all requirements and objectives. This approach includes advantageous characteristics of substance, and few relatively minor disadvantages, which collectively can be expected to result in satisfactory performance. The risk of unsuccessful performance is low as the proposal contains alternative solutions which are considered feasible and practical. These solutions are further considered to reflect low risk in that they are clear and precise, supported, and demonstrate an understanding of the requirements. Risk Level: Low

Acceptable The proposal demonstrates an approach which is capable of meeting all requirements and objectives. The approach includes both advantageous and disadvantageous characteristics of substance, where the advantages are not outweighed by the disadvantages. Collectively, the advantages and disadvantages are likely to result in acceptable performance. The risk of unsuccessful performance is moderate, as the proposal solutions are generally feasible and practical. These solutions may also be considered to reflect moderate risk in that they may be somewhat clear and precise, partially supported, and/or demonstrate a general understanding of the requirements. Risk Level: Neutral

Marginal The proposal demonstrates an approach which may not be capable of meeting all requirements and objectives. The approach has disadvantages of substance and advantages, which if they exist, are outweighed by the disadvantages. Collectively, the advantages and disadvantages present a low or questionable likelihood of resulting in satisfactory performance. The risk of unsuccessful performance is high as the proposal contains solutions which may not be feasible and practical. These solutions may also be considered to reflect high risk in that they lack clarity and precision, are generally unsupported, and/or do not demonstrate a complete understanding of the requirements. Risk Level: High

Unacceptable The proposal demonstrates an approach which, based on a very high risk, will very likely not be capable of meeting all requirements and objectives. This approach has several disadvantages of substance, and advantages which, if they exist, are outweighed by disadvantages.

Collectively, the advantages and disadvantages are unlikely to result in satisfactory performance. The risk of unsuccessful performance is very high as the proposal contains solutions which are not feasible and practical. The solutions may also be considered to reflect very high risk in that they lack any clarity or precision. Risk Level: Very High