CIDER Software Maintenance and Enhancements

Added: Aug 17, 2009 1:17 pm

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has a requirement for a Time and Materials Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to acquire Crash Investigation Data Extraction and Readout (CIDER) software application maintenance and enhancements. The price ceiling for this contract is $3,000,000 over five (5) years.

The requirement is to provide CIDER software maintenance and enhancements in the three (3) following task areas:

Task Area 1 - System Maintenance
As the system is mainstreamed and put into full operating mode, the NTSB may identify unintended programming errors that will require revision. The NTSB maintains a database that logs system errors, and the NTSB shall issue individually funded fixed price task orders to the contractor to re-program, correct, and repair all programming errors identified to that point.

Task Area 2 - New Features and Functionality
As more NTSB staff use the CIDER application, the NTSB may identify new features and functionalities to be added to enhance the NTSB's ability to perform data extraction and readout.

Task Area 3 - System Enhancements
As the system is mainstreamed and used by additional NTSB staff, the NTSB may identify system enhancements and improvements of dealing with and presenting the data. These improvements do not necessarily add additional functionality to the program but usually make the overall process of data reduction, analysis, and presentation easier and faster for the NTSB. The NTSB maintains a database that logs improvements and enhancements.

Use of a Time and Materials type contract is recommended because the NTSB has identified the types of labor hours required, however it is not possible at the time of placing the contract to estimate accurately the extent or duration of the work or to anticipate costs with any reasonable degree of certainty. Materials are necessary to perform the contract, however, the exact extent can not be estimated before the contract begins. The contract shall include a ceiling price of $3,000,000 that the contractor exceeds at his own risk.

Use of an IDIQ type contract is recommended because the exact quantity of requirements for system maintenance, new features and functionality, and system enhancements over the course of a year are not known at the time of award. Once a requirement is identified in a task area above, the NTSB shall provide a Statement of Work (SOW) to the contractor specifying the requirement. The NTSB will then obligate funds under firm-fixe-price task orders.

The period of performance of the base year is from August 17, 2009 through August 16, 2010.

General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems (GDAIS) was the contractor who developed CIDER for NTSB. GDAIS has a unique understanding of the programming language, structure, and nuances of CIDER and is the only known company with extensive knowledge and understanding of flight recorder data generated from various flight data recorders AND experience/knowledge in Java, Microsoft SQL, WebDav and JavaViews software products. See attached Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) for additional information.