USCB GEODES - JUSTIFICATION FOR EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY CO Signed-1.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

In Accordance with RFO FAR 16.507-6(b)(2)

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity

Agency/ Contracting Office: U.S. Census Bureau (USCB), Acquisition Division

Sponsoring Organization: Geography Division (GEO) of the Decennial Directorate (ADDCP)

Address: 4600 Silver Hill Rd., Suitland, MD 20746

Contracting Officer: Bryan Shearer, Level II Contracting Officer

2. Nature and/or Description of the Action being approved

This is a Sole Source Task Order to provide support previously obtained via Task Order # 1333-LB-19-F-0000-0609, issued through the NITAAC CIO-SP3 Small Business Government Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC). AMAR Health IT’s contract # HHSN316201200115W.

This is a noncompetitive acquisition of services related to software maintenance and support of Geography Division (GEO) Document E-Archive System (GEODES) for GEO.

Proposed Awardee: AMAR Health IT

UEI: GFM3CRFKMQN1

Contract Number: HHSN316201200115W

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value)

The United States Census Bureau’s (herein referred to as the Census Bureau, USCB or the Government) Geography Division (GEO) has the need to continue collecting and maintaining the geographic data necessary to support agency programs and initiatives.

Over 40,000 tribal, state, and general-purpose local governments contribute to the geographic information managed by the USCB by providing regular input and feedback on the USCB’s boundaries, streets, and addresses. This geographic base contributes to the efficient and accurate collection and tabulation of data for the Decennial Census, the

American Community Survey (ACS), the Economic Census, and annual estimates and surveys such as the Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS).

In support of USCB’s strategic goals and objectives, maps and supporting documentation relevant to the upkeep of the Master Address File (MAF)/Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER) System are currently digitized, if not already digitally available, and archived into a records management system called the GEO Document E-Archive System (GEODES).

The existing system, GEODES, on which maintenance/updates/enhancements are to be performed, is built on the Knowvation solution. The Knowvation solution has been custom developed to meet the Census Bureau’s specialized requirements, enabling efficient data archiving and research (including spatial data formats) used across GEO’s geographic partnership programs. The maps and documentation stored in this historical database specifically support the Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS), the Boundary Validation Program (BVP), and many other geographic partnership programs. The USCB is seeking to continue the software and hardware maintenance and support of GEODES provided by AMAR Health IT.

This order will provide support and maintenance services to fulfill the USCB’s mission critical archival of geographical data via the GEODES system.

The period of performance includes a base period from April 1, 2026, through March 31, 2027, and four (4), twelve (12) Month Optional Periods. The total estimated price of the order is $391,673.26.

4. Identification of the exception to fair opportunity (see RFO FAR 16.507-6) and the supporting rationale, including a demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the exception cited. If the contracting officer uses the logical follow-on exception, the rationale shall describe why the relationship between the initial order and the follow-on is logical (e.g., in terms of scope, period of performance, or value).

Statutory Authority

This justification is prepared pursuant to RFO FAR 16.507-6(b)(2), which authorizes issuance of an order on a sole source basis when:

"Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized."

Supporting Rationale for Cited Authority

The current order, Order # 1333-LB-19-F-0000-0609, was awarded off of NITAAC’s CIO SP3 GWAC using FAR part 16, and was competed and eventually awarded to AMAR Health IT.

This Order expired in late March 2026, and GEO requires continued software and hardware maintenance and support services. The total amount obligated to date is $586,429.10. The current and final Period of Performance was Option Period 5 (6 Month Extension via FAR 52.217-8) with a Period of Performance of 9/24/2025-3/23/2026.

As previously stated, the current GEODES order was awarded to Amar Health IT off of NITAAC’s CIO SP3 GWAC. Since that time, the vendor’s proprietary software called Knowvation has been customized for the Census Bureau’s use and is the only provider of this proprietary software. Personal knowledge in procuring supplies/services of this type and the review of internet sources were executed to ensure that another company would not be able to perform the services required to maintain, upgrade, and perform enhancements to the GEODES proprietary system. The Geography Division found that AMAR Health IT is the only vendor capable of performing the requirements for maintenance/updates/enhancements of the existing system, GEODES, built on the Knowvation solution. Knowvation is a browser-based, full-text search and discovery system for digital collections. It allows organizations such as the Census Bureau to manage data within one easy to use system utilizing Cloud-based intelligent search, continuous federated indexing, digital object management, and geotagging. The Knowvation Content Services Platform (CSP) also supports Esri tools and data types. Esri Web tools can access unstructured data in the Knowvation CSP and use Esri displays and web interfaces.

Knowvation CSP visualization capabilities provide four real-time results interfaces for discovery of collected data and events, including a map display for data with geospatial relevance (source: https://ptfs.com/knowvation/).

The Knowvation solution was custom developed to meet the Census Bureau’s specialized requirements, enabling efficient data archiving and research (including spatial data formats) used across GEO’s geographic partnership programs. Procuring an alternative solution would necessitate an entire rebuilding of the existing proprietary system and would result in expenditures of agency time and resources. Additionally, it is unlikely that another vendor could reproduce the current functionality. Transitioning to a different system would introduce operational risks such as potential delays, downtime, and integration challenges.

Continuation of services from the incumbent vendor provides the U.S. Census Bureau with several critical advantages. Foremost, risk mitigation is essential for the 2030 Decennial Census and retaining the current vendor ensures uninterrupted delivery of mission-critical services. Engaging a new provider would heighten the risk of system instability, schedule delays, diminished performance, and the loss of institutional knowledge vital to ongoing operations of the 2030 Decennial Census. Cost avoidance is another key consideration: a https://ptfs.com/knowvation/ new vendor would be required to reconstruct the system in its entirety, including redevelopment, re-engineering, and data migration, incurring significant, avoidable costs.

Technical continuity also constitutes a major benefit, as the incumbent’s proprietary software and architecture are integrated with the bureau’s current systems. Replacing them would necessitate extensive redevelopment to maintain interoperability and could impose additional fiscal and technical burdens. Finally, leveraging the incumbent’s established institutional knowledge ensures sustained operational efficiency through the 2030 Decennial Census. The vendor’s familiarity with the bureau’s environment, data security requirements, and stakeholder expectations preserves proven workflows, performance benchmarks, and service quality that would be challenging for a new provider to replicate without significant transition risks during USCB’s most critical time of the decade.

In the event GEO lost access to the existing application while working with a vendor to build a new application, GEO would lose access to historical data artifacts that support research, and access to the database used to store incoming partner submissions.

To summarize, the current Census Bureau GEODES System was built on AMAR Health IT’s proprietary Knowvation solution. The proprietary Knowvation solution was customized to meet the Census Bureau’s needs allowing for easy data archiving and research (including spatial data formats) for our geographic partnership programs. Using another solution with a different vendor would require an entire rebuild of the existing system.

The proposed order is a Sole Source Award to AMAR Health IT off of their NITAAC CIO SP3 Small Business Government Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC). AMAR Health IT’s CIO SP3 SB GWAC Contract # is HHSN316201200115W.

5. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable

There are no unique pricing factors for this acquisition. Estimated current fair market costs for the resources required are based on Census’ and NIH’s current contracts with AMAR Health IT and adjusted for inflation as applicable to ensure comparability. Pricing will be obtained on a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) basis.

The Contracting Officer will compare pricing against historical prices paid for the same or similar services (including with the previous task order) and against Government cost estimates.

The Census Bureau will take into consideration the cost of the maintenance of hardware and software, as well as the cost of any modifications necessary to meet the Census

Bureau’s requirements. The CO anticipates that the costs of this acquisition will be fair and reasonable.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification.

N/A

7. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the exception to fair opportunity before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

GEO does not anticipate the need for continued GEODES specific support and maintenance after this order expires. If/when a new archiving system is introduced/designed, a new procurement will be conducted. This Sole Source Award will bridge the gap of an already built system through the 2030 Census. However, GEO will continue to perform ongoing market research in an effort to remove any barriers of competition in the future. The GEO team, in conjunction with the Acquisition Division, will conduct reoccurring market research to identify capable companies, any new or emerging developments within the industry, and will develop an acquisition strategy that maximizes competition in the future when this Order expires. In addition, GEO and the Acquisition Division will work collaboratively to plan effectively to avoid delays within the Procurement Action Lead Time (PALT) and (In accordance with RFO FAR Part 19.101(a)) provide maximum practicable opportunities in its acquisitions to small businesses, veteran-owned small businesses, small, disadvantaged businesses, and women-owned small business concerns.

8. Market Research.

For this acquisition, the market research primarily relied on historical acquisition\information, personal knowledge in procuring supplies/services of this type, and review of internet sources. Historically, there has only been one source capable of providing Census with the specialized services required. However, the team used the Market Research gathered from the planned 2025 procurement, as well as revisiting to see if any alternate options became available in early FY26. The market research conducted for the planned FY25 procurement included the team reviewing company websites and conducted searches on SAM.gov. More specifically, companies reviewed were PeopleDocs, AMAR Health IT, Ideal System Solutions, Inc., Lunatek – Nm, TechAnax, LLC, Blue Tech, and Victory Global Solutions. More detail can be found in Appendix A of the full

Market Research Report contained in the Task Order file. The internet searches were conducted by the Geography Division Market Research Team and determination of each of the contractors’ capability to complete the required work was reviewed and validated by the technical leads.

Because the current Census Bureau GEODES System was built on AMAR Health IT’s proprietary Knowvation solution and was customized to meet the Census Bureau’s needs, no other vendor can operate the current system which Census needs to achieve the 2030 Decennial Census requirements.

9. Contracting Officer Certification

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Bryan Shearer Date Contracting Officer Acquisition Division U.S Census Bureau

10. Technical/Requirements Certification

I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance are accurate and complete.

Laura Blackwelder Date Program Analyst, FAC COR III Contract Business Management / DCEO / HQ U.S Census Bureau