AI technologies for procurement modernization commercial solutions opening (CSO)

The purpose of this amendment is to reflect the following: 1). Amend the Decription Section of the Notification; 2). Provide responses to vendor's questions, 3). revise the solicitation due date, and 4). provide the redline changes to the solicitation. 

NOTE: Solutions proposed to this CSO are not restricted to AI technologies and solutions. SAM system limitations do not allow for change of procurement title, but the remainder of this solicitation announcement has been updated to allow for additional solutions to be proposed.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Procurement Operations on behalf of the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO) Procurement Innovation Lab (PIL) is issuing the subject General Solicitation for DHS and all its Components to rapidly procure commercially available solutions for Procurement Modernization to improve the federal procurement process. This capability will be procured using the Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) authority to enable rapid acquisition of innovative, field-ready solutions that address evolving procurement modernization. The CSO is a merit-based solution selection strategy for DHS to acquire innovative commercial items through the use of general solicitation competitive procedures and the award of a contract. "Innovative", within the meaning of this statute, is any new technology, process, or method, including research and development, or any new application of an existing technology, process, or method.  "Commercial item" has the same meaning as commercial item under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 2.101, which includes certain commercial services. For additional information on DHS’s use of the Commercial Solutions Opening program, please reference the CSOP guide here: https://www.dhs.gov/publication/acquisition-forms

The CSO General Solicitation aims to identify new ideas, approaches, tools, and partnerships that can help the Department address critical challenges and accelerate transformation across its procurement enterprise. This General Solicitation provides a flexible mechanism to solicit, evaluate, and fund exploratory and applied work that does not fit neatly into traditional acquisition frameworks, but that has the potential to improve DHS’s ability to acquire, oversee, and operate within procurement.

This procurement is limited to innovative commercial products relevant to the task areas outlined in solicitation Section 2.0. Within the meaning of the statute, innovative is defined as, “Any new technology, process, or method, including research and development, or any new application of an existing technology, process, or method.”  Proposals will be evaluated on their individual merits rather than on a comparative basis..

The video submission and solution briefs will be evaluated against the evaluation criteria. Each video submission and solution brief submitted may be evaluated against the evaluation criteria separately and need not be evaluated against other video submission and solution brief responses submitted by other Offerors. More than one video submission and solution brief may be accepted. The Government reserves the right to request interview-style oral presentations or additional written information, if applicable, from one or more Offerors.

This CSO General Solicitation will stay open for a period of 12 months. The Department intends to use this CSOP to identify, evaluate, and deploy commercial technologies that advance one or more of the Department’s procurement modernization efforts.

Potential Submitters are hereby advised of the following:

1.         It is within the Government’s discretion to accept more than one solution for a contract award resulting from this CSO Solicitation.

2.         All costs of preparing and submitting solution videos, written submission, and additional presentations/demonstrations related to this CSO Solicitation are the responsibility of the submitting entity and not eligible for funding or reimbursement by the Government.

3.         The evaluation will include an assessment of whether the proposed commercial product or service is innovative within the meaning of the statute. Submission and proposals are evaluated on individual merit rather than on a comparative basis, and the Government has considerable latitude in determining which of the submitted proposals it will fund.

4.         To be eligible for award, Companies must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) prior to DHS making a CSO contract award.

The government is currently accepting proposals from Offerors that can provide solutions to any of the task areas outlined in the attached General Solicitation, Section 2.0. To be considered for a potential FY2026 award submissions must be received prior to Thursday, August 27, 2026, at 1:00 p.m.. eastern time.  Responses shall be submitted electronically to the following: Mariah.Watt@hq.dhs.gov and Tracy.Miller@hq.dhs.gov. The subject line of the e-mail must be titled “70RDA126R00000009 – Solutions for Procurement Modernization.” Note: The Government will review responses as they are submitted and may award at any time. 

All questions regarding this solicitation shall be submitted in writing (via email) to Mariah.Watt@hq.dhs.gov and Tracy.Miller@hq.dhs.gov by Wednesday, August 19, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. eastern time.

Questions and Answers:

The Government has reviewed questions received as of August 19, 2026. The Government offers the following information as general response to the questions received. Additional information can be found within the Q&A response sheet.

1. As outlined under Phase 2 Evaluation Criteria, selected vendors will be able to negotiate terms and conditions with the government as applicable to the proposed solution. This negotiation can include data rights concerns, FEDRAMP or ATO considerations, solution output completeness, explainability, required on-site support, etc.  (Solicitation Section 12.3, p. 10)
2. A single solution may cover more than one task and is not required to cover all potential aspects of a selected task area of Section 2.0 of the solicitation (pp. 2-3).
3. Attachment 1 to the General Solicitation, “Sample Performance Work Statement (PWS)” is a sample document to assist interested parties that are selected to participate in Phase 2. It is not meant to represent additional requirements. Vendors are expected to adapt and iterate to produce their own PWS in Phase 2 if selected.
4. Appendix A, “Representative Use Cases” is provided to show sample use cases but is not an all-inclusive list. Solutions are not limited to addressing these use cases.
5. Video submissions may be uploaded as “unlisted” or be password protected. The government will not review any video submission that requires a user account or additional credentials to view.
6. If a demonstration is requested in Phase 2, the government does not plan to provide a sandbox/testing environment. (Solicitation Section 12.2, p. 8)