NTIA FSDS - Source Sought Synopsis Notice.pdf

Enterprise Services - Acquisition

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

(NTIA) for

Federal Spectrum Data Systems Modernization (FSDS)

Sources Sought

SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS

National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)

Federal Spectrum Data Systems (FSDS) Modernization

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS ONLY. This is a market research tool being used to determine the availability and capability of potential sources prior to determining the method of acquisition and whether the Government will proceed with this acquisition. The Government will not pay for any information solicited. If a contract is ultimately pursued, responses to this synopsis will be used to aid in determining whether the acquisition is set-aside for small business or in establishing small business subcontracting goals. All qualified firms are encouraged to respond.

The Department of Commerce is contemplating establishing a contract under NAICS Code(s) 541511

– Custom Computer Programming Services and PSC Code DA01 – IT and Telecom – Business

Application/Application Development Support Services.

There is no solicitation at this time. This request for capability information does not constitute a request for proposals; submission of any information in response to this market survey is purely voluntary; the

Government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred.

The Government will review market information to ascertain potential market capacity to:

1. Provide services consistent in scope and scale with those described in this notice and otherwise anticipated;

2. Secure and apply the full range of corporate financial, human capital, and technical resources required to successfully perform similar requirements;

3. Implement a successful project management plan (PMP) that includes: compliance with program schedules; cost containment; meeting and tracking performance; hiring and retention of personnel and risk mitigation, and surge support; and

4. Provide services under a performance-based service acquisition.

Based on the responses to this sources sought synopsis and broader market research activities, this requirement may be set-aside for small businesses or procured through full and open competition.

Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback will be provided to companies regarding their submissions.

BACKGROUND

A key mission of the Department of Commerce and National Telecommunications and Information

Administration (NTIA) is to manage the use of the radio frequency spectrum by all federal agencies.

NTIA’s Information Technology (IT) systems for performing this critical task require modernization to meet future challenges, with a focus on data exposure, process automation, and analysis. The need to modernize these systems is acute, especially as NTIA endeavors to make the spectrum more accessible for federal and commercial users; such as deploying 5G, advancing space commerce, and securing government missions dependent on spectrum. Spectrum usage and the need for spectrum sharing is on the rise, the systems that use it are more automated and dynamic, and the need to manage at the speed of technology is essential.

The current systems’ ability to execute NTIA’s spectrum management (SM) functions require a high degree of manual intervention and limit NTIA’s ability to accommodate the demands of advanced technologies. These and future SM demands can be met by upgrading NTIA SM system capabilities to the latest technical platforms, improving security and scalability. NTIA’s SM functionality must also improve accessibility to spectrum data across capabilities by developing advanced analytical tools, engineering models, and automating workflows. By unifying the capabilities into a Federal Spectrum

Data System (FSDS), NTIA will be able to efficiently and effectively manage federal spectrum demands while servicing the needs of the nation in its other mission areas.

The NTIA FSDS project will provide a modernized system of systems capability composed of user-capability areas that must be designed to reduce human in the loop processing and streamline and automate decision making, to the greatest extent possible and practical. The solution must be secure and promote efficiency and effectiveness of spectrum use through updated optimization and assessment applications. The capabilities will integrate data across multiple sources by accessing shared services exposed through a spectrum repository that integrates spectrum data presently siloed across different tools.

NTIA’s legacy spectrum IT systems will remain operational and will be supported outside the scope of the FSDS effort until the capabilities supported by the legacy systems are re-architected, re-factored, replaced or retired by the FSDS modernized solutions. The modernization strategy for each legacy system has not yet been specified. A table of NTIA’s current spectrum IT systems is included in GAO-22-

105221, Spectrum Management: Information Technologies for Managing Federal Use. Enclosure I

(https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-105221.pdf).

NTIA began moving the legacy spectrum IT systems to the Microsoft Azure Cloud in fiscal year (FY)

2023 and plans to complete the move of unclassified systems in FY 24.

Additional specific information on the capabilities being sought for the modernized FSDS are provided in Appendix A Statement of Need and Appendix B Standard Security Language for Access to

Classified Information.

The project is expected to be developed through modern agile processes, to be hosted in a cloud environment, and will apply DevSecOps principals to ensure security is continuously considered from project initiation through development, deployment, and operations.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

• This contract will require a DD-254 Contract Security Classification Specification based on the specifications described in Appendix B Standard Security Language for Access to Classified

Information. Contractors employees must have a Secret clearance, and the Contractor must have a facility security clearance from the Defense Security Service.

https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-105221.pdf https://www.dcsa.mil/Industrial-Security/Entity-Vetting-Facility-Clearances-FOCI/Facility-Clearances/

• The Government may require surge support during the base or any option period, and surge modifications will be within the scope of the contract and provide increased support for one or more defined task areas of this PWS. Surge support over the life of the contract will not exceed

75% of the contractor’s total proposed cost/price for the base and all option periods. This requirement will provide a full range of software services as defined in this PWS.

CONTEMPLATED PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Performance will occur at the Contractor’s site(s) and Government’s site(s).

NTIA FSDS MODERNIZATION – INDUSTRY ENGAGEMENT EVENTS

Overview: In support of the NTIA FSDS Modernization acquisition, NTIA will host two virtual industry engagement events that will include:

- Program Briefing and interactive PM Q&A Session on Monday, November 6, 2023, from 09:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

- Lightning Network Session (LNS) on Wednesday, November 8, 2023, from 09:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

PROGRAM BRIEFING and PM Q&A SESSION Purpose: The virtual Program Briefing and interactive PM Q&A Session is to provide an opportunity for Companies to learn more about the FSDS modernization program through a government program briefing and by asking questions to the program management and technical teams. This session will be an open forum for Companies to ask questions that they may have regarding the Program or the Governments priorities in a potential solution.

Date: Monday, November 6, 2023, from 09:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Meeting information: Microsoft Teams meeting, Join on your computer or mobile app

Click here to join the meeting

Meeting ID: 218 041 907 622

Passcode: FvaypZ

Or call in (audio only)

+1 540-492-5664,,747858676#

Phone Conference ID: 747 858 676#

Find a local number

Agenda:

- Program Briefing

- PM Q&A Session

Notes for the PM Q&A Session:

• This is an interactive PM Q&A. Written questions in advance are appreciated but not required, and can be submitted via email to Danielle Green at DGreen@doc.gov by https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ap/t-59584e83/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting_OGQ3ZDgwY2MtOTlkZS00MzgwLTg2MWItMzNjNjUzZmRlZTM1%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522c620dc48-1d50-4952-8b39-df4d54d74d82%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%2522c7ec0ed7-4a6a-43ac-bd43-ed20d5d94df7%2522%257d&data=05%7C01%7CTSevere%40ntia.gov%7C7fa651a47611487c6a3408dbd0db2055%7Cd6cff1bd67dd4ce8945dd07dc775672f%7C0%7C0%7C638333411780873196%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=F8Kc1fBcLQOQiQ7LbQ5b%2Be2KQL3tgcSTSEtvGaXgDKA%3D&reserved=0 tel:+15404925664,,747858676# https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdialin.teams.microsoft.com%2Ff5bf125e-1b0d-470e-aae7-f8fc6f64035e%3Fid%3D747858676&data=05%7C01%7CTSevere%40ntia.gov%7C7fa651a47611487c6a3408dbd0db2055%7Cd6cff1bd67dd4ce8945dd07dc775672f%7C0%7C0%7C638333411781029373%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=LpKYIr%2B%2Fgii9%2BruyQ4G1JTNxuXe6p1xWRhuXBT6F8uw%3D&reserved=0 mailto:DGreen@doc.gov

10/30/2023 at 02:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Subject “NTIA FSDS PM Q&A”.

• The Government may not have answers to all questions immediately available and reserves the right to both provide answers following the event and refuse questions that threaten the integrity of the acquisition.

• All questions and responses will be documented and made publicly available after the session.

LIGHTNING NETWORKING SESSION

Purpose: The Government expects that strong vendor teams, with the ability to apply a broad range of knowledge, skills, and tools across the entire FSDS Modernization need, will form the basis of successful offers. To encourage such partnerships and teaming, the Government intends to allow companies the opportunity to participate in a virtual Lightning Networking Session.

Date: Wednesday, November 8, 2023, from 09:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Meeting information: The government will provide meeting information via email to

Companies who provided a point of contact and LNS presentation as described under Approach.

Agenda:

- Introduction and Meeting Approach

- Company Presentations

Approach: Companies will be given the opportunity to provide a presentation (of no more than 3 slides, excluding cover slide, and 3 minutes) on their capabilities, for the purposes of partnering with other companies in this acquisition. This session will be entirely virtual. Each participating company will be given up to 3 minutes to present the following:

• A brief overview of the company’s interest in FSDS Modernization – this can include a summary of strength areas that the company can offer against FSDS Modernization needs

• A brief summary of what the company is looking for in a teaming partner

• Points of Contact information for interested partners

Companies will be limited to 3 slides and 3 minutes for their presentation. Should a Company reach this time limit without completing their presentation, the Government moderator will terminate the presentation at the 3-minute mark and advance to the next company. The order of presentations will be randomly assigned on the day of the event. Interested Companies for the

LNS must provide their Point of Contact for the LNS and their presentations in Microsoft

PowerPoint or PDF format via e-mail to Danielle Green at DGreen@doc.gov, Subject

“NTIA FSDS LNS Presentation” by Monday, 6 November 2023 at 05:00 p.m. Eastern Time in order to participate. Links to presentations will not be accepted.

Every participant in the Lightning Networking Session must provide a presentation.

Companies will not be permitted to “listen only.” Only Companies who are interested in forming partnerships to meet the FSDS Modernization need should attend the session.

SOURCES SOUGHT RESPONSE REQUESTED

Interested firms responding to this sources sought synopsis must provide a capability statement demonstrating their experience, skills and capability to fulfill the government’s Statement of Need. The capability statement shall be in sufficient enough detail, but not to exceed 8 pages TOTAL (excluding cover page), so that the government can determine the experience and capability of your firm to provide the required services at the scale and complexity of this project.

If your organization has the potential capability and interest to perform these services, please provide the following information in your 8 page (maximum excluding cover page) response:

1. Vendor Information to include:

a. Business name and address of company and/or companies (if there is a teaming arrangement or joint venture)

b. Name of company representative/point of contact (primary) and their Business Title, Phone Number, and Email Address

c. Company website

d. DUNS and Unique Entity Identifier

e. Company Business Size, type of ownership for the organization, and Small Business

Socio-economic status (if small) that apply to your firm under the designated NAICS code

f. Current Facility Clearance Level and CAGE CODE (if applicable)

g. Prime contract vehicles from which the solution can be procured through; to include

ENCORE III, SETI, NIH CIO-SP4, NASA SEWP V, General Service Administration

(GSA): DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ENTERPRISE SERVICES-ACQUISITION

5 OASIS, ALLIANT II, VETS II, STARS III, MAS (including applicable SIN(s), groups, or pools), or any other Government Agency contract vehicle that allows for decentralized ordering. (This information is for market research only and businesses with a valid cage that lack prime contract vehicles are still encouraged to respond to this notice.)

h. Potential Interest in this Acquisition as a Prime, Subcontractor, Teaming Arrangement, etc.

2. Tailored capability statements addressing the details of this effort, provided in the list below, with appropriate documentation supporting claims of organizational and staff capability including past performance supporting efforts of similar scope and complexity.

If significant subcontracting or teaming is anticipated to deliver technical capabilities, organizations should address the administrative and management structure of such arrangements.

REQUIRED CAPABILITY QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED

Describe the following capabilities of your business.

a) Spectrum Management (SM) Process Experience. Describe your experience with the U.S. Federal

SM processes and describe how this experience is applicable to meeting the Statement of Need.

Exclude experience not applicable to the Statement of Need. (Federal SM process are identified in the NTIA Manual of Regulations and Procedures for Federal Radio Frequency Management

(i.e., the NTIA Manual), which is available at https://www.ntia.doc.gov/page/2011/manual-regulations-and-procedures-federal-radio-frequency-management-redbook) https://www.ntia.doc.gov/page/2011/manual-regulations-and-procedures-federal-radio-frequency-management-redbook https://www.ntia.doc.gov/page/2011/manual-regulations-and-procedures-federal-radio-frequency-management-redbook

b) Spectrum Regulatory Experience. Describe your experience with the U.S. federal spectrum regulations and describe how this experience is applicable to meeting the Statement of Need.

Exclude experience not applicable to the Statement of Need.

c) SM Automation and Data Experience. Describe your experience with SM automation and spectrum data used to meet U.S. federal spectrum regulations and execute SM processes.

Describe how this experience applies to meeting the Statement of Need.

d) SM Engineering Analysis Experience. Describe your experience designing and implementing algorithms to make interference predictions and frequency nominations. In your description, describe how the analyses are used, by who, how often, and include the specifics on what frequency bands and equipment are supported by the algorithms.

e) Software Information Technology (IT) Systems Development. Describe your experience conducting the following activities as a prime systems integration contractor on software development projects valued at greater than $100M over a five-year period or less.

o Developing and deploying business process automation.

o Reverse engineering software.

o Managing and transforming of complex technical datasets.

o Data compatibility across different data standards o Ensuring product accessibility/508 compliance (Information and templates concerning the

Voluntary Product Accessibility Template and the Accessibility Conformance Report are provided on https://www.section508.gov/sell/. Completion of the Template and Conformance

Report is not required in this Sources Sought Response.)

Highlight experience performing these activities for U.S. federal agencies and describe the outcome of the activities.

Include experience obtaining and maintaining an Authority to Operate (ATO) for U.S. federal information system(s).

f) Technical Software Development. Describe your existing capabilities developing cloud-based software that implements both complex engineering analyses and massively parallel computing on projects with total lifecycle costs greater than $100 million over a five-year period or less.

Highlight experience performing these activities for U.S. federal agencies and describe the outcome of the activities.

g) Software Reuse. If your capabilities are based on Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) products, Government Off The Shelf (GOTS) products, or existing custom software product(s) then

a. Identify the product and briefly describe its capabilities, in the context of the government needs.

b. Describe your capability to modify the product for individual customer requirements and integrate the product with other solutions, or state that no product modifications or integrations are anticipated to achieve the SoN (Appendix A)

c. Identify the product licensing model, identify product availability on unclassified and classified environments, and identify any existing U.S. government security certifications

(e.g., authority to operate).

https://www.section508.gov/sell/

Do not include basic software products such as programming languages, databases and operating systems.

h) Contract Management: Describe your capability and capacity to manage this contract including:

a. meeting the Special Requirements described earlier in this document

b. delivering solutions requiring expertise in federal spectrum management, spectrum engineering, and modern software development and operations

c. If significant subcontracting or teaming is anticipated to deliver technical capabilities, describe the administrative and management structure of such arrangements.

OPTIONAL ACQUISITION APPROACH QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED

The following questions assist the government with refining their acquisition strategy and Statement of

Need are not included in the 8 page count maximum.

1. Describe any issues with the Statement of Need (Appendix A) that would impair or prevent project execution.

2. For the Statement of Need 2a – 2e, identify the contract type that best minimizes government costs and risks, and is within an acceptable risk-level for your organization. Select from the following options:

(A) FFP

(B) FFP per sprint

(C) Labor Hour (with contract line items for Other Direct Costs and Travel)

(D) Cost Plus Incentive Fee

(E) Other. Explain your rationale.

Only electronic copies of capability statements in PDF or Microsoft Word will be accepted and should be emailed to DGreen@doc.gov . Links to capability statements will not be accepted. The e-mail shall contain the following subject line: Response to Sources Sought Synopsis – NTIA FSDS

Modernization.

Decisions made as a result of information provided, including whether to proceed with the acquisition, are at the sole discretion of the Government. All interested Contractors should submit their capability statements by 2:00PM ET on Friday, November 17, 2023, to Attention: Danielle

Green at DGreen@doc.gov.

Late responses will not be considered in market research.

mailto:DGreen@doc.gov