Valid_Eval_-_J&A_REDACTED.pdf

General Services Administration (GSA) Assisted Acquisition Service (AAS)

Federal Systems Integration and Management Center (FEDSIM) Innovation Group

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

SOLICITATION

INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT NUMBER

The General Services Administration (GSA) makes this Justification and Approval (J&A) for Other Than Full and Open Competition orders pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302.

1. Identification of Agency and Contracting Activity:

Agency:

General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Systems Integration and Management Center (FEDSIM) Acting in support of: U.S. Air Force AFWERX

Contracting Activity:

GSA FEDSIM Contracting Office (QF0B) 1800 F Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20405

2. Nature and/or Description of Action Being Approved:

This is a justification to award a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III contract to Valid Evaluation, Inc.

Valid Evaluation, Inc. was awarded an SBIR Phase I contract FA3002-19-P-A001 on 16 November 2018, resulting from Solicitation number F183-005-0370, Open Call for Innovative Defense-Related Dual-Purpose Technologies/Solutions with a Clear Air Force Stakeholder Need.

Valid Evaluation, Inc. was then awarded an SBIR Phase II contract FA875119CA047 on March 1, 2019, resulting from SBIR topic number AF183-005 Open Call for Innovative Defense-Related Dual-Purpose Technologies/Solutions with a Clear Air Force Stakeholder Need.

The proposed SBIR Phase III contract will be an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) with a five year ordering period with ability to issue Firm Fixed Price (FFP) orders. The initial IDIQ will also contain the first task order request in parallel. The estimated IDIQ dollar value is $10,000,000. The first task order dollar value will be approximately .

3. A Description of Supplies/Services Required to Meet Agency’s Need:

The customer, U.S. Air Force (USAF) AFWERX, is in need of an automated tool to assist traditional source selection technical evaluators in assessing and selecting innovative Defense-related dual-purpose (e.g. both DoD and non-DoD uses) technologies and solutions. The USAF is exploring innovative technology domains that have demonstrated clear commercial value in the non-defense sector (i.e., through existing products/solutions) in order to see if they have similar USAF applications. Through a previous SBIR Phase I contract, Valid Evaluation, Inc.

researched the possible adaptation of its currently-in-use evidence-based assessment, decision-making, and mentoring platform for innovation pipelines. The platform, named Valid Eval, “intermediates existing activities where human experts evaluate innovations: SBIR programs, rapid- and traditional acquisition workflows, accelerators, and many-to-many mentoring programs.” The platform does this by establishing criteria schemes, weighting of factors, and definitions of values that reduce subjectivity among differing evaluators. The tool also allows the team to analyze results in an interactive manner using live data. The objective of this SBIR Phase III contract is to extend the research conducted under the SBIR Phase I award by enabling the procurement of licenses for the Valid Eval tool and enabling its fielding to evaluators involved in various innovative acquisition processes (e.g., SBIR special topic Broad Agency Announcements) to assist in forming their expert opinions on proposals they have received. The tool will support better decision-making, defend outcomes, and give evaluated applicants world-class feedback.To do this, the tool requires the evaluation experts to come to consensus on the rating criteria using exposed logic so all evaluators can view it. The exposed and agreed upon logic being documented in the evaluation tool during the setup of the event or competition reduces role bias later when it is time to evaluate. The agreed upon evaluation logic can be calculated into a rating (e.g., a number rating) which is designed to rack and stack and inform what the best outcome is based on setup criteria. The manner in which the tool captures the evaluation process can support more informed debriefings on why someone won and potentially a more acceptable explanation of why someone lost a competition.

The tool will have the following functionalities:

The ability to invite evaluators to the platform to evaluate applicants’ performances.

Automatically match evaluators with applications based on Client customizable criteria.

Access to powerful visualizations of evidence-based evaluations, including summaries, detailed relative performance comparisons and heat-maps.

Reporting tools allowing export (via “.xls” spreadsheet files) and analysis of feedback and evaluation data captured during the review process.

The ability to control applicants’ access to evaluation data. Ability to manage multiple rounds of sequential evaluations.

In all, this Phase III IDIQ contract will provide the following:

Program Design and Platform Customization Software License Training

Ancillary Support

4. An Identification of the Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition:

The authority under which this J&A is made is pursuant to FAR 6.302-5, that the project is a SBIR Phase III award that is derived from, extends, or completes efforts made under prior SBIR funding agreements and is authorized under 15 U.S.C. 638(r)(4).

In accordance with the SBA SBIR/STTR Policy Directive dated May 2, 2019, the competition for SBIR Phase I and SBIR Phase II awards satisfies any competition requirement of the Armed Services Procurement Act, the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act, and the Competition in Contracting Act. Furthermore, 15 U.S.C. 638(r)(4) states:

“To the greatest extent practicable, Federal agencies and Federal prime contractors shall issue SBIR Phase III awards relating to technology, including sole source awards, to the SBIR and STTR award recipients that developed the technology.”

5. A Demonstration that the Proposed Contractor’s Unique Qualifications or the Nature of the Acquisition Requires Use of the Authority Cited:

The nature of the acquisition requires the use of the authority cited. The SBIR Program is structured in three phases.

PHASE I: The objective of Phase I is to establish the technical merit, feasibility, and commercial potential of the proposed Research/Research and Development (R/R&D) efforts and to determine the quality of performance of the small business awardee organization prior to providing further Federal support in Phase II.

PHASE II: The objective of Phase II is to continue the R/R&D efforts initiated in Phase I.

Funding is based on the results achieved in Phase I and the scientific and technical merit and commercial potential of the project proposed in Phase II. Only Phase I awardees are eligible for a Phase II award.

PHASE III: The objective of Phase III, where appropriate, is for the SBIR awardee to pursue commercialization objectives resulting from the Phase I/II R/R&D activities. The SBIR program does not fund Phase III. For some federal agencies, Phase III may involve follow-on non-SBIR funded R&D or production contracts for products, processes, or services intended for use by the U.S. Government. The Phase III work derives from, extends, or completes efforts performed under Phase I and/or Phase II, therefore the use of the authority cited is required.

Under the SBIR Program, Valid Evaluation, Inc. was awarded a competitive Phase I contract for the Valid Eval assessment tool (awarded November 16, 2018) and a competitive Phase II (awarded March 1, 2019) contract for the research and development of an evaluation services suite of tools. Outcomes from the Phase I contract received positive results, thus this intended SBIR Phase III action is a follow-on to the initial research to continue testing the technology in operational settings.

6. A Description of Efforts Made to Ensure that Offers are Solicited From as Many Potential Sources as Practicable:

The original open call for the SBIR topic AF183-005 was posted on the SBIR.gov website portal (August 2018) with an application due date of October 2018. No other efforts were made to solicit other potential sources in accordance with the SBIR Policy Directive. Furthermore, in accordance with FAR 5.202(a)(7), proposed contract actions resulting from the acceptance of a proposal under the Small Business Innovation Development Act of 1982 are exempt from being publicized.

7. A Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable:

The Contracting Officer will conduct proposal analysis in accordance with FAR Subparts 15.404-1 (Proposal Analysis Techniques) and 15.405 (Price Negotiation) to ensure that the final price is fair and reasonable and the award is in the best interest of the Government. This determination will be documented in the Award Decision Document, which will be included in the contract file.

8. A Description of the Market Research Conducted and the Results or a Statement of the Reason Market Research was not Conducted:

FAR 10.001(a)(2) states that market research appropriate to the circumstances must be conducted. SBIR Phase III procurements are such that the traditional market research to determine alternative sources is generally not applicable. The Government conducted market research to verify and determine that the proposed Phase III work derives from research, effort, and/or prototypes performed under Phase I efforts by obtaining copies of the Phase I solicitation F183-005-0370 and contract FA3002-19-P-A001, as well as the final report summarizing Phase I feasibility. The contracting officer has determined from review of aforementioned solicitation, contract, and research report that the requirement requested in Phase III derives from Phase I research.

9. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other Than Full and Open Competition:

All other supporting factors have been described above.

10. A Listing of the Sources, if Any, that Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition:

To date, the Contracting Officer has not received any statements of interest regarding the proposed Sole Source effort, with the exception of the proposed awardee. This is a continuation of an existing SBIR announcement which Valid Evaluation was originally selected.

11. A Statement of the Actions, if Any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome Any Barriers to Competition Before Any Subsequent Acquisition for the Supplies or Services Required:

The Government is not taking any additional action at this time. Any subsequent acquisitions for similar requirements will be required to follow the guidelines outlined in the SBA SBIR Policy Directive as it relates to procuring items for commercialization of technologies and capabilities that are derived from, extend, or logically conclude efforts from prior SBIR awards.

12. Contracting Officer Certification that the Justification is Accurate and Complete to the Best of the Contracting Officer’s Knowledge and Belief:

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief, and I determine on the basis of the findings above that an other than full and open competition approach is in accordance with the requirements and is in the best interest of the Government.

Final Approval:

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief, and I determine on the basis of the findings above that an other than full and open competition approach is in accordance with the requirements and is in the best interest of the Government.