CDC_Internet_Minutes_for_Preproposal_conference.docx

Meeting Minutes of Pre-proposal Conference CDC Internet contract – SKE50017R0006

Attendees: Wendy M. Washington – GSO / Contracting Officer Francis Nyawade – Contracting Officer Representative/CDC ICT Manager Isaac Wanjero – Lead IT Advisor Amos Odero - IT Advisor Grace Muasa – Contracting Specialist Doreen Kituyi – Procurement Agent Representatives from Internet companies (total 11).

Introduction:

· Agenda was distributed to all the offerors.

· Sign-in sheet was distributed to all the offerors.

· Introduction was given by the Contracting Officer (CO) – Wendy M. Washington.

· Introductions were given by all the offerors followed by the introduction of the Embassy team and their expertise.

· The CO informed all the offerors, that all contractual questions should be written and submitted by email to GSO Procurement (NairobiGSO-Contracts@State.gov). The answers to those questions would be disseminated later to all the contractors before the submission date of the proposal.

Project Overview:

· The CO explained the purpose of the solicitation and mentioned that the solicitation is based on a Full and Open Competition.

· The CO informed the offerors that the technical questions would be answered by the Contracting Officer’s Representative-COR during the Q&A session after the COR had explained what the Statement of Work (SOW) entailed.

· The CO called upon the COR to explain SOW and overall intention of the SOW.

· The CO mentioned the solicitation requires an English speaking Project manager.

· The CO explained the pricing schedule and advised the offerors not to bid very low in order to get the contract and then afterwards, request the Embassy for an increase in pricing during the contract term. She also advised them not to quote very high which will lead their bids not being considered if they are not within the competitive range.

· The CO also explained the workers compensation insurance Defense Base Act (DBA) and how to get in contact with the companies that issue the policy. This can be accessed through the link available in section 3 of the solicitation.

· Francis Nyawade, the COR, explained the SOW in detail and covered all technical aspects of the solicitation. In addition, the COR explained, the solicitation is based on internet services covering CDC Nairobi and Kisumu campuses with connection to CDC headquarters in Atlanta, USA.

· The COR talked about invoicing of services will commence once the completion certificate has been signed by the COR and contractor, confirming completion of installation and internet services are working to the standards required in the contract.

Submittal Requirements:

The CO informed the offerors about the submittal requirements which are:

· Proposals should be submitted by or before March 31st 2017 10:00am (local time).

· Technical and Price Proposals should be submitted separately, one original and two (2) copies as per our requirements.

· Offerors should follow the directions given in Section L for submitting the proposals.

· The Proposals should be submitted in a sealed envelope to the US Embassy Truck transfer, addressed to the Contracting Officer, indicating the solicitation number on the envelope SKE50017R0006. Proposal submitted in soft copies will not be accepted.

· Late proposals will not be considered for evaluation.

Evaluation Factors:

The CO informed the Offerors about the evaluation factors which are:

· Proposals must be prepared in accordance with Section L and M, and must meet all the requirements set forth in the other sections of the solicitation.

· Proposals will be evaluated in two phases: Technical Evaluation and Price Evaluation.

· Technical Evaluation: The Technical Evaluation Panel (TEP) includes the COR and other personnel, who determine the acceptability of the proposal based on the solicitation’s technical requirements.

· Price Evaluation: The CO will evaluate the price and consider only the lowest priced, technically acceptable offer, and will follow up with negotiations for proposals that fall within the competitive range.

· The award selection will go to the lowest priced, technically acceptable offeror.

Questions & Answers:

The COR answered written technical questions that had been received earlier and a few that were asked during the pre-proposal conference by the contractors. Contractors were advised to send questions in writing by Thursday, March 16th, 2017 for Nairobi pre-proposal/site visit and by COB on Friday March 17th, 2017 for the Kisumu walk through.

One contractor pointed out an error in the Scope of work (SOW) which was acknowledged by the COR. The CO advised the contractors an amendment will be posted on the US Embassy website and FedBizOpps website to extend the submittal date of proposals from March 29th, 2017 to March 31st, 2017.

The conference adjourned at 10:45 am.