Request for Information - NCI BITSDIS.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Biomedical Information Technology, Software Development, and Informatics Support

(BITSDIS)

INTRODUCTION

The Department of Interior (DOI) Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD), on behalf of the National Cancer Institute’s Center for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology (CBIIT), is seeking information for market research purposes to determine the availability of qualified Contractors to provide support for the following tasks:

• Contract, task order, project, and task management;

• Biomedical informatics and information technology support;

• Program and project planning, development, and tracking support;

• Enterprise architecture support;

• Application, system, and database definition, design, development, and maintenance;

• Semantics operations support;

• Biomedical informatics and IT consulting and subject matter expertise support; and

• Website maintenance, content management and updates.

This Request for Information (RFI) is for market research purposes only. The information from this market research will assist the Government with acquisition planning.

BACKGROUND

The National Cancer Institute (NCI), a major healthcare research institute within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), coordinates the nation’s research program on cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, survivorship and control. As a result of the 1971 National Cancer Act legislation, the NCI has built a research community that includes regional and community cancer centers, physicians who are cancer specialists, cooperative groups of clinical researchers, and volunteer and community outreach groups. NCI also has initiated cancer control programs to hasten the application of knowledge gained through cancer research.

NCI has developed research programs supported by an infrastructure for discovery composed of support mechanisms, organizations, and networks that link scientists, facilities, and information.

This infrastructure is the underpinning for activities that encompass all aspects of cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, survivorship and control. In addition, the infrastructure supports basic, translational, and clinical cancer research, which culminates in a significant contribution of scientific advances in all areas of cancer research based on the efforts of thousands of scientists supported by the NCI.

NCI invests several hundred million dollars annually to sponsor and conduct clinical trials in the areas of cancer therapy, prevention, diagnosis, and epidemiology. Studies are conducted both at the NCI and at NCI-funded organizations nationwide. These organizations include the NCI-designated Cancer Centers; the NCI Clinical Trials Cooperative Groups; the Specialized Programs for Research Excellence (SPOREs) along with several smaller trial consortia. The major NCI Centers and Divisions sponsoring clinical trials include NCI Center for Cancer Research (CCR), Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP), Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG), Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS), and Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD). These research activities, the institutions where these activities are performed, and the personnel conducting these activities, are collectively referred to as the NCI Clinical Research Enterprise.

In support of NCI’s basic research efforts and the NCI Clinical Research Enterprise, The Center for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology (CBIIT) is responsible for a range of biomedical informatics research, research support, data management and sharing policy and process, and associated program and project management and administrative support. This support includes several general categories of program, project, resource management, biomedical informatics, and biomedical research and scientific program support including but not limited to providing subject matter expertise; application, system, and database definition, design, development, documentation, testing, implementation, update and maintenance; program and project communications support; policy development, IT and biomedical informatics training, and other biomedical informatics, biomedical research, and data science management support services.

CBIIT also provides biomedical informatics support and integration capabilities to the cancer research community and the NCI and serves as a focal point for cancer research informatics planning worldwide and works with research organizations, biomedical informatics groups and standards bodies to facilitate the identification and adoption of information exchange standards, thus connecting research information sources wherever they may reside.

Major ongoing initiatives and programs include but are not limited to a comprehensive Clinical Reporting and Research Informatics (CRRI) initiative that includes elements of the Cancer Moonshot and Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI). CRRI will include Precision Medicine Activities, Correlative Study Management (CSMS), the Clinical Trials Reporting Program (CTRP) as well as ancillary support services. Specifics include:

• A Precision Medicine Analysis and Coordination Center (PMACC) that will support current and next generation NCI precision medicine trials. This center will serve existing trials and the three new major initiatives; each of which will be composed of an umbrella/basket screening platform and linked clinical trials. Each master protocol will require both a MATCHBox precision medicine trial platform to determine patient eligibility for specific therapies and associated precision diagnostic laboratories provided by the NCI/DCTD Molecular and Immunologic Diagnostics Network of Laboratories (MDNet). The PMACC will provide the treatment assignment decisions based on data obtained from MDNet, other qualified laboratories, and the trial groups. The MDNet will provide primary diagnostic screening for trial arms that require specialized laboratory testing for patient allocation.

• A Correlative Study Management System (CSMS) that will provide biospecimen tracking and management support for the Cancer Immune Monitoring and Analysis Centers (CIMAC) biomarker network. Samples will be tracked from either the enrolling site or study-associated biorepository to the target research or diagnostic laboratory where assays will be performed. The CSMS will integrate with data coordinating centers and biobanks while maintaining unique network-wide case identifiers. The system may also provide capabilities for other CRRI-supported initiatives, as applicable.

• The Clinical Trial Reporting Program (CTRP) fulfills a recommendation made by the

NCI Clinical Trials Working Group (CTWG) to the National Cancer Advisory Board.

CTRP is designed to be a comprehensive database of regularly updated information, including accrual, on all NCI supported clinical trials. This comprehensive database of the entire NCI portfolio will help identify gaps in clinical research and duplicative studies, as well as facilitate effective clinical trial prioritization, trial search, and trial matching.

BUSINESS NEED

To effectively meet NCI objectives and end user support needs for informatics support, CBIIT requires expert project and program management, business analysis, system architect services, program support, as well as technical consulting and other subject matter expertise. CBIIT informatics systems applications are designed to support activities across the cancer research continuum and the community of end-users extends to the broad extramural research community at locations nationwide including many major cancer research institutions in the United States.

Specific service tasks are included in the draft Statement of Work (SOW) included at Attachment 1.

PURPOSE

This Request for Information (RFI) is seeking responses from vendors to address the questions outlined in the Section titled “Information Requested.” The NCI CBIIT is looking for a contract source to provide the services and tasks contained in the attached draft Statement of Work.

The Government is considering multiple procurement methods for this requirement.

INFORMATION REQUESTED

1. Identify if your company is one or more of the following business types: Other than Small business, small business, small disadvantaged business, 8(a) concern, women-owned small business, economically disadvantaged women-owned small business (EDWOSB) concern, HUBZone, veteran-owned, or service-disabled veteran-owned small business based on the NAICS identified herein.

2. The Government has identified the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code(s) of 541690, “Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services” for this requirement with a size standard of $15 Million. Please identify any other applicable NAICS codes to this requirement.

3. Provide your recommended method of procuring the aforementioned services. This includes the recommended vehicle for procurement (i.e. Open Market, GSA Multiple Award Schedule, NITAAC CIO-SP3, GSA Alliant 2 etc.) and type of contract mechanism (i.e. Single-award IDIQ, Multiple-award IDIQ, single Task Order award, multiple Task Order awards etc.).

4. Please describe your expertise and experience within the past three years in providing services satisfying the government’s requirements in the SOW in an organization of similar size (over 3,500 employees and collaborators), similar budget (~$6B), and complexity as NCI (Supports multiple Federal and National distributed teams, supporting multiple integrated federal and academic organizations, performing clinical and translational research, and defining data exchange standards in support of conducting next generation clinical trials)

5. Identify and describe your prior experience staffing and maintaining a capable workforce on projects of this size and scope. The Government estimates that the scope of work could require a level of effort equivalent to 150 – 200 FTE.

6. Provide the names and expertise of partners you have worked with previously to meet these requirements and identify if you will need to team or partner with one or more firms to meet these requirements and is(are) the required partner(s) large or small businesses.

7. Identify and discuss the success your company has had in providing, implementing, and maintaining, or exceeding these requirements.

8. Describe your experience and expertise in each of the applicable task areas in the attached statement of work.

9. Discuss how you deal with knowledge transfer and communications with outgoing and incoming contractors and individual contract support staff.

10. Identify any technical and programmatic risks you foresee in executing these requirements. Define risk reduction measures you would employ to address these risks.

11. Identify any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in the future. Please identify any suggested measures to mitigate the potential for Organizational Conflict of Interest

(OCI).

12. Describe how you have worked in a multiple contractor environment and dealt with relationships, communication, and project management across multiple contracts.

13. Describe how you have implemented innovative processes in these areas to improve productivity and obtain cost reductions including metrics used to measure performance and achievements.

14. Identify how you have implemented a successful process for communicating and working with healthcare, scientific, research, or medical stakeholders in each of the applicable task areas in the SOW.

15. Identify any information you feel is missing in the draft SOW that would be beneficial to accurately defining and developing your staffing model and costs.

16. Provide available commercial services brochures and/or information providing a description, capabilities, and features of your commercially available services that meet the government’s requirements.

17. Provide the name, telephone number, mailing address, and email address of a point of contact having authority and knowledge to discuss responses with Government representatives.

QUESTIONS

Please submit all questions/comments via one email directly to Nicole Beall at nicole_beall@ibc.doi.gov and Russell Pfeiffer at russell_pfeiffer@ibc.doi.gov no later than 10:00 AM ET, October 14, 2020. Vendor questions and Government responses will be distributed to all vendors. No questions will be addressed via oral communication.

Should any request for clarification be received after the date and time stated above, the Government reserves the right not to provide an answer. If, however, in the Government’s opinion, the request for clarification cites an issue of significant importance, the Government may provide written responses to all potential providers. Please note, questions and comments will not be protected by the Government as proprietary.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMISSION

Firms with the capability to provide the requirements referenced herein are invited to submit, in writing, information in accordance with the instructions below. This information should be responsive to the request for information as well as any technical questions, as indicated herein.

Submissions for the information must be organized and identifiable per the information in this RFI, e.g. responses to questions are numbered by question and follow the same sequence.

Responses are limited to twenty (20) pages or less. Submissions should be in a Microsoft Office compatible format (i.e., Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc.) or Adobe Acrobat

A page is defined as an 8.5 inch by 11 inch sheet of paper with no less than one-inch margins on all four sides; All pages shall be single-spaced, single-sided, with a font no less than 12 points for text and no less than 10 points for tables and graphics; Spacing before and after the line shall be no less than 3 point; the following page types do NOT count towards the page limitations:

• Section dividers

• Blank pages, which must be marked “This page intentionally left blank”

• Fold-outs shall be counted as the appropriate number of pages based upon an 8.5 inch by

11 inch sheet of paper; partial pages shall be rounded up (e.g., 1.5 pages will be treated as 2 pages.);

Responses are due no later than 10:00 AM ET on October 29, 2020. Submissions shall be submitted via email to Nicole Beall at nicole_beall@ibc.doi.gov and Russell Pfeiffer at russell_pfeiffer@ibc.doi.gov. Paper copies will not be accepted. The responses must include the business size of the vendor under NAICS code 541690 including any applicable small business subcategory (Service Disabled-Veteran Owned Small Business, Veteran-Owned Small Business, Women-Owned Small Business, HUBZone Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Small

Business, Historically Black College and University/Minority Institution, Small Business Joint Venture, Consortium, Team Partnering, or Other than Small Business). Offerors should indicate if they would need to subcontract and, if so, for which tasks.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

This RFI is being issued solely for market research information and acquisition planning purposes. It does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This RFI does not commit the Government to a contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Furthermore, the Government is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Responders are advised that the Government will not reimburse for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested parties’ expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in a future RFP, if one is issued.

Proprietary information and trade secrets, if any, must be clearly marked on all materials. All information received that is marked Proprietary will be handled accordingly. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned. All Government and contractor personnel reviewing RFI responses will have signed non-disclosure agreements and understand their responsibility for proper use and protection from unauthorized disclosure of proprietary information as described in 41 U.S.C. 423. The Government shall not be held liable for any damages incurred if proprietary information is not properly identified.

No telephone calls will be accepted requesting a bid package or solicitation. There is no bid package or solicitation. In order to protect the procurement integrity of any future procurement, if any, that may arise from this announcement, information regarding technical point of contact will not be given and no appointments for presentations will be made.