Sources Sought - NCSES License Data Security Inspection and ISSO Services.pdf

National Science Foundation Division of Acquisition and Cooperative Support

2415 Eisenhower Avenue, 7th Floor Alexandria, Virginia 22314

SOURCES SOUGHT

NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STATISTICS

DATA SECURITY INSPECTIONS AND ISSO SERVICES

THIS SOURCES SOUGHT IS FOR MARKET RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST

FOR PROPOSAL (RFP). IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION AND SHALL NOT BE

CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT. RESPONSES IN ANY FORM ARE NOT

OFFERS AND THE GOVERNMENT IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT, TASK

ORDER, OR OTHERWISE AS A RESULT OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE TO

PAY FOR THE PREPARATION OF RESPONSES TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. ANY INFORMATION

SUBMITTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THIS TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION IS STRICTLY VOLUNTARY. THE

INFORMATION REQUESTED BY THIS SOURCES SOUGHT WILL BE USED BY NSF TO FACILITATE

DECISION MAKING AND WILL NOT BE DISCLOSED OUTSIDE THE GOVERNMENT.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950

"to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense..." NSF is conducting market research to identify qualified, experienced, and interested sources to support the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES)with NSF’s Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences (SBE).

The NSF encourages all qualified businesses (large and small), including joint ventures, to respond to this Sources Sought. Additionally, small businesses in all socioeconomic categories (including, 8(a) Business Development Program, Small Disadvantage Business, Historically Underutilized Business Zone, Service‐Disabled Veteran‐Owned, Women‐Owned Small Business concerns) are encouraged to respond to help make a final small business set‐aside determination, if any.

The anticipated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this requirement is 541618 Other Management Consulting Services, size standard $19M.

Please see the attached Statement of Work (SOW) to provide a capability statement that adheres to the requested information below.

Interested and qualified vendors should submit a response to this Sources Sought. Please follow the instructions and include all content requirements below:

a. Instructions:

1. Responses should be concise and compliant with the content requirements.

2. Responses must not exceed 5 pages.

3. Responses should be provided in 12‐point font with a Times Roman font type.

4. Generic sales brochures, videos, and other marketing information materials will not be reviewed.

5. Do not submit cost or price information with the response.

6. Provide relevant, applicable references, including references performed under a joint venture, of previous work or solution implementations that relate to the NSF’s requirement.

b. Content:

1. Cover Page with Corporate Information as follows:

Corporate Information:

i. Company name and address

ii. Name of company representative, business title and email

iii. Small business socioeconomic status under NAICS 541618

iv. UEI Number

v. Applicable contract vehicles your company has (e.g., Federal Supply

Schedules (FSS), Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs), Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contracts) available for use by NSF

2. Demonstration of Your Capability by answering the following questions:

i. Does the contractor have staff (or consultants) able to provide information systems security services (ISSO)? NCSES requires assistance with both evaluating our systems, documenting these findings, and providing recommendations for improving the security of NCSES’s systems.

ii. What experience does this contractor have in inspecting individual researcher’s workspaces for security risks? This includes the technical configuration (e.g., type of machine, operating system, security attributes) of the researcher’s computer system as well as the environment (e.g., office location, home office, proper maintenance of license documentation) where the work with NCSES data will be performed. How many years of experience does the contractor have with inspecting individual researcher’s workstations?

iii. Does the contractor have experience evaluating security plans (rather than security setups) of NCSES researchers? Can the contractor identify potential security risks based on the researcher’s plan (rather than setup)?

Can the contractor provide recommendations to improve the security of the proposed setup?

iv. Does the contractor have any experience in digitizing and storing sensitive electronic documents such as application forms?

Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged. Any questions related to the preparation of a response to this Sources Sought shall be submitted in writing to the point of contact listed below.

NSF may contact respondents to this Sources Sought for additional information or one‐on‐one due diligence sessions.

Submission Instructions: Interested parties who consider themselves qualified to perform the above‐listed services are invited to submit a response to this Sources Sought by 2/15/2024 at 12:00PM ET. All responses under this Sources Sought must be emailed to Derek Bowks, dbowks@nsf.gov .

mailto:dbowks@nsf.gov