Notice_of_Intent_1.pdf

Notice of Intent to Sole Source

Solicitation Number: 75N94024Q00260 Solicitation Type: Sole Source (Non-Competitive) Title: NIMHD: Service: Smartphone Sensors Data, Wearables Data, and EMAs NAICS / Size Standard: 541715 / 1,000 Employees

Introduction

THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) SYNOPSIS TO AWARD A PURCHASE ORDER WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), Office of Acquisitions (OA), intends to negotiate and award a purchase order on a noncompetitive sole source basis to Metricwire to provide support services to the DHD lab.

Background Information

The mission of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) is to “lead scientific research to improve minority health and reduce health disparities.” The Digital Health & Health Disparities (DHD) Research Laboratory is housed under the Population and Community Health Sciences Branch of NIMHD’s Division of Intramural Research (DIR).

The mission of the DHD Research Laboratory is to leverage digital technologies to improve minority health and reduce health disparities. To achieve this mission, the laboratory’s focus is on understanding disparities in digital health; designing and evaluating just-in-time adaptive interventions via the collection of real-time ecological momentary assessments and physiological smartphone sensor and wearables data; and disseminating digital health solutions through wide-scale e-referral and e-report systems.

As part of Dr. Sherine El-Toukhy’s research, she is developing a personalized mobile-based health intervention for smoking cessation. This contract supports efforts to develop and test the mobile intervention to ensure that it improves cessation outcomes and is particularly effective among disadvantaged populations, including smokers with low socioeconomic status. Specifically, to develop personalized interventions, there is a need to collect real-time data from smokers that allow us to capture smokers’ psychological (through ecological momentary assessments) and physiological (through wearables biometrics) state and other surrounding exposures or triggers (e.g., their location). This research is both innovative and crucial and will inform policy and programming addressing the particular needs of minority and low socioeconomic smokers in the United States.

The DHD Lab will receive approval for the protocol and use of this software from the NIH Institutional Review Board (IRB) prior to moving forward with any human subjects research. Results will be presented at national conferences and published in scientific manuscripts journals that advance the mission of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.

Purpose and Objectives

The purpose of this procurement is to acquire specialized and comprehensive, non-Research &

Development services to support the development and evaluation of a smoking cessation mobile intervention under the guidance of the principal investigator of the DHD Research Laboratory. All work shall be performed in accordance with established procedures.

Period of Performance

The Period of Performance will be September 15, 2024 through September 14, 2025 with the potential for four option years as follows:

Option Year 1: September 15, 2025 through September 14, 2026 Option Year 2: September 15, 2026 through September 14, 2027 Option Year 3: September 15, 2027 through September 14, 2028 Option Year 4: September 15, 2028 through September 14, 2029

Contractor Requirements

The contractor needs to provide support services to the DHD Research Laboratory in the following technical areas: (1) collection of ecological momentary assessments, (2) collection of wearables data, (3) collection of smartphone sensor data:

1. Ecological momentary assessments (EMAs). Ecological momentary assessment (EMA), a tool that can capture behaviors, attitudes, intentions, moods, and other in-the-moment experiences and exposures while study subjects participate in their normal daily lives are necessary to personalized interventions.

2. Wearables data. Biometrics collected via wearable devices (e.g., Fitbit) capture the physiological state of users every 5 to 30 seconds allowing us to personalize interventions. These biometrics include, but are not limited to, respiratory rate, heart rate, sleep, blood oxygenation, physical activity, and gyroscope data (that shows hand-mouth gestures).

3. Smartphone sensor data. Smartphone sensor data provide information on users’ location and use of smartphone apps (e.g., social media apps) that can trigger smoking or cause relapse. The collection of this information is important for personalized interventions.

The Contractor shall make available all logon and access information to the DHD Lab. The contractor shall assist with technical support as appropriate and necessary to use the platform in a research setting.

DELIVERABLES

A license for capture EMA + Wearables + Smartphone sensors for up to 200 participants Access for 3 to 5 users to the platform Downloads of all collected data at the conclusion of user testing

Sole Source Justification Metricwire is the only software that will meet all of the requirements to support this important, innovative, and high quality health behaviors research. Metricwire is needed to provide ecological momentary assessments services to support a protocol for testing the efficacy of a smoking cessation mobile application that NIMHD developed, called Quit Journey. The study will provide innovative insight into the effectiveness of the app and possible triggers of smoking episodes and reasons for relapse among the app users. The use of Metricwire platform is necessary to the completion of this protocol because it will allow for the evaluation of momentary, in situ measurements of exposure and smoking behavior.

Metricwire software allows researchers to capture wearables data from Fitbit and Polar, two popular wearables companies. This data includes biometrics such as heart rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygenation, hand-mouth gestures, among others. These real-time data are captured at narrow intervals and allow researchers to gather information on a user’s physiological state related to smoking behavior (e.g., in a nicotine deprived state, during smoking, in a nicotine satiated state). Metricwire allows researchers to capture other important data such as the use of smartphone apps through a smartphone sensor kit and the location data. This information is helpful in identifying smoking triggers (e.g., being near certain tobacco retailers, use of social media apps that may contain smoking advertising).

The Metricwire software is the only software that provides all the necessary technical requirements for the user testing of Quit Journey project, including:

• ability to program fixed time and random survey prompts,

• ability to pipe previous responses to stand-alone surveys into random and fixed prompts,

• access to cellular telephone sensors (e.g., location),

• ability to capture wearables data (e.g., respiratory rate),

• ability to custom capture wearables data (e.g., gyroscope data) that are unavailable through other vendors,

• easy to use application interface for study participants,

• easy to program interface for study personnel for study establishment,

• monitoring tools, including to-the-minute information on prompt response which participants are in the field,

• basic data analysis tools, including survey completion information and ongoing descriptive statistics,

• full download capacity for all data collected.

Regulatory Authority

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Subpart 13.106-1(b) Soliciting from a single source. (1) For purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, contracting officers may solicit from one source if the contracting officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available (e.g., urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, or industrial mobilization).

FAR Clauses

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

The provision at FAR clause 52.212-2, Evaluation – Commercial Items, is applicable. The Government will award a contract resulting from this notice to the offeror listed above. The following factors shall be used to evaluate the offer: The contractor shall demonstrate its ability to provide the detector listed that meets the specifications provided above.

FAR clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications – Commercial Products and Commercial Services, is applicable. The Offeror shall complete only paragraph (b) of this provision if the Offeror has completed the annual representations and certification electronically in the System for Award Management (SAM) accessed through https://www.sam.gov. If the Offeror has not completed the annual representations and certifications electronically, the Offeror shall complete only paragraphs (c) through

(v) of this provision.

FAR clause at 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions – Commercial Products and Commercial Services applies to this acquisition.

FAR clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders – Commercial Products and Commercial Services applies to this acquisition.

Additional Information

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code is 541715 and the Small Business Size Standard is 1,000 Employees. This acquisition is being conducted under FAR Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures, therefore the requirements of FAR Part 6, Competitive Requirements, are not applicable and the resultant award will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular 2024-06 effective August 29, 2024.

This synopsis is not a request for competitive proposals. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice. Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties’ bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement and include: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, the delivery period after contract award, the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), the Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement.

All responses must be received by August 29, 2024 5:00 PM ET and must reference solicitation number 75N94024Q00260. Responses shall be submitted electronically to nicole.freid@nih.gov. Responses will only be accepted if dated and signed by an authorized company representative. All responsible sources may submit a bid, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency.

http://www.sam.gov/ mailto:nicole.freid@nih.gov