Sources Sought FINAL.pdf

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE

1. Title: OSA Advancing Innovation through Mentorship (AIM) Communication Support Services

2. Classification Code: U099 - Education/Training- Other

3. NAICS Code: 611430 - Professional and Management Development Training

4. Description:

This is a SMALL BUSINESS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal of abstracts or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified business sources; (2) determine whether they are small businesses (e.g., 8(a), Veteran-owned small businesses, service-disabled Veteran-owned small businesses, HUBZone small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, and women-owned small businesses); and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your response to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should indicate its small business status in its response.

This notice is issued to help determine the availability of qualified companies technically capable of meeting the Government requirement and to determine the method of acquisition. It is not construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotes. No award will be made as a result of this notice. The Government will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice. This notice is strictly for research and information purposes only.

Background:

NIH is the nation’s leading medical research agency and the primary federal agency whose mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability by supporting and making medical discoveries. NCATS is the only center at the NIH that focuses exclusively on all aspects of the translation of research with an innovative pipeline of treatment discoveries for all diseases. NCATS brings together a diverse group of scientists to translate basic science conducted elsewhere into products and services that help improve people’s health and lives. NCATS’ mission is to improve health through smarter science that results in better treatments faster for all diseases, rare or common.

Through this contract the Office of Strategic Alliance will use the services of a firm to provide logistical, administrative, evaluation and document development in support of the above stated curriculum.

General Requirements:

All capable contractors must demonstrate their ability to provide the following requirements:

• Provide certified I-Corp trainers targeted for life sciences community.

• Possess a deep subject matter expertise and extensive experience with the I-Corps at NIH program focusing on life sciences within the NIH intramural program.

• Deliver intensive training in business model development and customer validation tools, patterned after the NSF I-Corps program

• Track patent licensing and commercialization deals that course teams and participants established after participating in the AIM program.

Requirement: • Host the platform for the on-line sessions.

The implementation of the I-Corps at NIH program will include several key deliverables, including curriculum and course preparation, course development, operations, and program debriefing and evaluation. In order to deliver these contractual services, the following project roles and key activities are identified, as follows:

Roles: Personnel and Consultants:

• Program Officer/Manager will be responsible for program oversight, staff and consultant coordination and will serve as the liaison with NIH staff

• Instructor/Training Consultant will support delivery of course

Other Activities Related to AIMS I-Corps at NCATS Course:

• Curriculum and Course Activities Roles

• Implement a series of 1-2 pre-planning video conference calls prior to the start of each cohort

PO/Manager coordinates meetings. Instructors and NIH staff attend meetings.

• Administer the AIM curriculum PO/Manager coordinates AIM Team meetings. Instructors and

NIH staff attend meetings.

Course Registration and Logistics:

• Coordinate two pre-course webinars on topics such as “Introduction to LaunchPad Central” and “Customer Discovery”. PO/Manager will work with the Lead Instructor and Teaching Assistant to design, deliver and facilitate these webinars.

• Develop program materials, including the final schedule, final course syllabus and formative course evaluation. PO/Manager will coordinate these activities with support from research and evaluation staff. Materials will be reviewed by NCATS staff and Lead Instructor.

Course Tracking:

• Maintain a database capturing team and individual participants outcomes after the AIMS program at NCATS PO/Manager will deliver to NCATS database reports.

• Conduct a pre-course/intake survey, an evaluation of the kickoff workshop, and a final course evaluation. PO/Manager will deliver to NCATS the evaluation summaries with comparison to historical trends in responses

Delivery:

• Final curriculum that includes course content, course schedule, syllabus, and I-Corps at NIH Teaching Guide

• Pre-Course Webinars: Use of Course Platform and Customer Discovery Interviewing

• Electronic reports of course evaluation

Reporting Requirements:

• Conduct a pre-course/intake survey, an evaluation of the kickoff workshop, and a final course evaluation per each cohort. The vendor will craft the survey with input from the NIH. The vendor will provide NIH with the results after each survey/evaluation is completed.

Capability Statement / Information Sought:

Respondents must provide clear and convincing documentation of their capability of providing the products and support services specified in this notice. Also, information must be provided in sufficient details of the respondents’ (a) staff expertise, including their availability, experience, formal and other training; (b) current in-house capability to perform the work; (c) prior completed projects of similar nature; (d) examples of prior completed Government contracts, references, and other related information.

The respondent must also provide their DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HubZone, etc., pursuant to the applicable NAICS code and any other information that may be helpful in developing or finalizing the acquisition requirements.

Finally, respondents are also encouraged to provide a general overview of the respondent’s opinions about the difficulty and/or feasibility of the potential requirement, and any other information regarding innovative ideas or concepts that may be applicable.

Submission Instructions:

One (1) copy of the response is required and must be in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format. The information submitted must be in an outline format that addresses each of the elements of the requirement and in the capability statement /information sought paragraphs stated herein. A cover page and an executive summary may be included but is not required.

The response is limited to ten (10) page limit. The 10-page limit does not include the cover page, executive summary, or references, if requested.

The response must include the respondents’ technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses.

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS: This notice is for information and planning purposes only and does not commit the Government to any contractual agreement. The Government does not intend to award a contract based on responses under this announcement nor otherwise pay for preparing any information sent for the Government's use. Any proprietary information should be so marked. All capability statements must provide the following: 1) company name and address; 2) point of contact, 3) phone/fax/email; 4) NAICS Code(s), 5) business size and status; 6) capability information in response to the requirement and qualifications identified in this notice; and 7) type of small business your organization classifies itself as (i.e.: women-owned, HUBZONE, etc.).

All responses to this notice must be submitted electronically to the Contracting Officer Identified below.

The response must be received on or before August 21th at 3:00 p.m. EST. Facsimile responses are NOT accepted.

Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a presolicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.

Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).”

Primary Point of Contact:

Llakim Dubroff, Contract Specialist Llakim.Dubroff@nih.gov Phone: (301) 827-6963