NNJ17598394R_Q&A.pdf

Open Innovation for Technology Scouting

NNJ17598394R

Amendment 1

Final RFP Questions and Answers

Q1: We are registered in the United Kingdom. Is the RFP still open to us to respond?

A1: This procurement is set up as a U.S. Small Business Set Aside, which has the following definition:

The SBA defines a small business either in terms of the average number of employees over the past 12 months, or average annual receipts over the past three years- both values for this requirement are defined in the RFP. In addition, SBA defines a U.S. Small Business as a concern that:

Is organized for profit

Has a place of business in the U.S. (an office)

Operates primarily within the U.S. or makes a significant contribution to the U.S. economy through payment of taxes or use of American products, materials or labor

Is independently owned and operated

Is not dominant in its field on a national basis

Please read more about the requirements to meet the SBA program on the following page:

https://www.sba.gov/contracting/getting-started-contractor/qualifying-small-business

Q2: Is there any benefit to the Government knowing when the contractor plans to submit the RFP?

A2: Per the OITS Solicitation notice issued on December 7, 2016, “Prospective offerors shall notify this office of their intent to submit an offer.” It is not required to notify the Government of when the contractor plans to submit their proposal.

Q3: Is there any advantage to either the Government or the contractor to submit the proposal early?

A3: Per the Proposal Submissions section of the RFP Cover Letter, “Proposals are due at NASA JSC no later than 2:00 p.m., CDT on Tuesday, January 31st, 2017.”

Q4: Will the award go to only one or multiple submitters?

A4: Per the Acquisition Structure Highlights section of the RFP Cover Letter: “The OITS will be conducted as a single award IDIQ-type procurement.”

Q5: Are there any security clearance requirements for program?

A5: There are no security clearance requirements in this RFP.

Q6: Who is the NASA customer of this technology recruiting?

A6: Use of the OITS contract is administered by the NASA Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI) and is open to NASA projects/programs, but can also be accessed by other Federal Agencies via an Inter-Agency agreement.

Q7: What happens after NASA finds a suitable technology provider?

https://www.sba.gov/contracting/getting-started-contractor/qualifying-small-business

Amendment 1

A7: Per Attachment 4-1 in the RFP, upon NASA guidance and request, the contractor shall place the NASA Project Coordinator/equivalent and/or NASA Center points of contact in direct contact and coordinate meetings between the NASA Project Coordinator/equivalent and/or NASA Center points of contact and the technical need prospects to provide further elaboration on their capabilities. Once final recommendations are delivered, the customer may independently pursue follow-on activities with identified technology providers.

Q8: Is this next scope within the scope of this contract?

A8: This question is unclear.

Q9: Where is the NASA customer geographically located?

A9: NASA CoECI is based out of NASA HQ (Washington D.C.) and Johnson Space Center (Houston, TX), however, per Question 6, customers are based out of their respective NASA center or other Federal agency location.

Q10: Is the technology recruitment limited to US-based companies only?

A10: Per the Statement of Work, Attachment 4-1, the contractor shall pursue potential partners, companies, research groups and technologies available anywhere worldwide that meet NASA’s technical need requirements.

The contractor must be a small business as this procurement is a small business set aside. Please refer to A#1 for a detailed explanation.

Q11: Are there any restrictions on IP usage?

A11: The purpose of this contract is to identify targeted technologies regardless of IP status/rights. Follow on activities outside of the OITS contract may address IP licensing/agreements.

Q12: Does the government want all IP rights?

A12: Please refer to A11.

Q13: How much are the technology providers IP rights protected?

A13: Please refer to A11.

Q14: The JSC Office of Procurement external web page (NAIS) does not list OTIS as a current significant acquisition. Will JSC add OTIS information to the external procurement web site?

A14: No JSC will not add OITS information to the external procurement website. Please reference the FBO website for all communication regarding this acquisition.

Q15: Reference: RFP Section 5.7 Offer Acceptance Period states that “Proposals submitted in response to this solicitation shall remain firm for at least 240 days after the date specified for receipt by the Government and shall contain a statement to this effect.”

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Question: Where should be place this statement in our proposal?

A15: Please provide this statement in the cover/response letter of the proposal.

Q16: Reference: RFP Section 5.9.1 Price Proposal (Volume III). RFP instructions state that “The rates table in Section 1.5 Rates Table for Developing Task Orders will be used as a price proposal.” Directions: 1.

Offerors shall fill-in the corresponding Section 1.6 rates table.

Question: Is the correct reference Section 1.5?

A16: The Rates Table for Developing Task Order is found in RFP Section 1.5.

Q17: Reference: RFP Attachment 5-1 Sample Scenario, paragraph 5 table, page A 5-1. RFP instructions state that “The contractor should also include project-specific milestones, dates/duration, and pricing per the table below:” The table contains fill in columns for Duration and Price.

Question: Is the duration for Milestones 2, 3, and 4 to include the time to achieve the previous milestone?

A17: Yes, the duration should reflect the time to achieve each milestone.

Q18: Reference: RFP Attachment 5-1 Sample Scenario, paragraph 5 table, page A 5-1.

RFP instructions state that “The contractor should also include project-specific milestones, dates/duration, and pricing per the table below:” The table contains fill in columns for Duration and Price.

Question: Is the price for Milestones 2, 3, and 4 to include the price for the previous milestone?

A18: Each milestone should have a specific price assigned to it and the Total should reflect the aggregate of all milestones.

Q19: Reference: RFP Attachment 5-1 Sample Scenario, paragraph 5 table, page A 5-1. RFP instructions state that “The contractor should also include project-specific milestones, dates/duration, and pricing per the table below:” The instructions ask for “dates/duration” and table contains a column titled “Duration.”

Question: Is it NASAs intent that we specify date or duration? If the intent is date, can we specify days after task/project start?

A19: Yes, respondents can specify dates or duration. Yes, respondents can specify days after task/project start.

Q20: Reference: RFP Attachment 5-1 Sample Scenario, paragraph 5 table, page A 5-1. RFP instructions state that “The contractor should also include project-specific milestones, dates/duration, and pricing per the table below:” The table specifies four milestones.

Question: Is it NASAs intent that there only be four milestones?

Amendment 1

A20: No, this is just a suggestion. The offeror may tailor the number of milestones in response to the Sample Scenario.

Q21: Will contractor have access to NASA data bases and experts?

A21: Access to NASA (or other Federal Agency) experts may be provided on a project specific basis. There are no plans to provide the contractor access to any databases.

Q22: How would the IDIQ be structured in this case? A fixed Fee is asked for. If the task orders change, does this affect the fee? Or, how is the range for the IDIQ determined? What is expected from applicant?

A22: IDIQ is a U.S. federal government contracting acronym meaning Indefinite Delivery/ Indefinite Quantity. This is a type of contract that provides for an indefinite quantity of services during the fixed period of time, and the government is obligated to only meet a minimum IDIQ Task Order value of $ 25,000.00. There is no range, this contract will have firm fixed price Task Order for each Task Order throughout the term of the contract. The contractor must include in their proposal a fixed price for Task Orders for each Contract Year.

Q23: The RFP emphasizes the role of the contractor in searching for and pursuing potential partners, researchers, and technologies to address NASA technical needs. We assume that other approaches to open innovation -- such as setting up a crowd sourcing website or a prize competition -- are not within the scope of this RFP. Is that correct?

A23: The Statement of Work provides the Government with ultimate flexibility, but historically the Government has not utilized crowd sourcing websites or prize competitions on this contract and it is not the Government’s intent to utilize prize competitions on the future OITS contract.

Q24: As part of the clarification of the technical need for each task, will the contractor be able to talk with NASA center technical personnel to clarify technical needs, to identify potential partners that may already be known to NASA, and to discuss technologies that have been tried but not worked?

A24: Yes, per Section 1(a) in the Statement of Work.

Q25: The contractor is small business set aside. Can the small business have a large business as subcontractor so longer as it (large firm) doesn’t do majority of the work. What is the definition of majority (less than 49% or some other percentage)?

A25: To clarify, the contractor is not a small business set aside, the procurement is a small business set aside. The contractor would be a small business. Furthermore, the RFP contains FAR clause 52.219-14 “Limitations on Subcontracting” which states that the Contractor agrees that in performance of the contract in the case of a contract for services, that at least 50 percent of the cost of the contract performance incurred for personnel shall be expended for employees of the small business concern.

As a reminder, please be sure to fill out section 5.9.4 Responsibility Considerations for Subcontracting Arrangement Information if a contractor is considering a subcontracting arrangement.

Amendment 1

Q26: The RFP appears to ask us for one price for to cover any technology scouting task. If this is the case, it could create a problem if different technology requests from NASA vary in complexity, and they may require somewhat different budgets (for example, a complex task might require more than one consultant, or might require some travel). Should we define what we think is a standard case (like the sample case), and budget for that, with the understanding that funds could be increased for cases of greater complexity?

A26: Per RFP Section 1.5, the rates will remain fixed for the duration of the contract.

Q27: Also, the training task does not define the amount of training to be provided (expected training time, number of people to be trained) or the location of training. Should we make our own assumptions and budget for that?

A27: Yes, and document the assumptions.

Q28: Will the contractor have the option to decline topics that are unsuitable for the contractor’s scouting approach, or outside of the contractor’s scope of expertise?

A28: The contractor is responsible for meeting all requirements specified in the Statement of Work, Attachment 4-1. Per the Statement of Work, the contractor will meet with NASA to develop a clarification of the technical need, including specific performance characteristics, application needs and cost parameters.

Q29: What is the anticipated volume of work (number of projects per year)?

A29: Please refer to RFP Section 1.4, JSC Procurement Instruction 52.216-90 IDIQ MINIMUM AND

MAXIMUM ORDERING LIMITS.

Q30: Is it possible to receive a two week extension to the due date of the proposal?

A30: With the release of Amendment 1 of the RFP the proposal due date is extended from 2:00 PM CDT 1/17/2017 to 2:00 PM CDT on 1/31/2017.