Emerging Technology Education Program Undergrad (ETEP Undergrad)

THIS IS A Sources Sought Notice ONLY. The U.S. Government desires to procure the instruction for Signal Corps Professional Military Education (PME) courses on a small business set-aside basis, provided 2 or more qualified small businesses respond to this sources sought synopsis with information sufficient to support a set-aside. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. We encourage all small business concerns, 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), to identify their capabilities in meeting the requirement at a fair market price.

Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding submissions.

This notice is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Quote (RFQ)/Invitation for Bid (IFB)/Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFQ, IFB or RFP in the future. This notice does not commit the U.S. Government to contract for any supply or service. Further, the U.S. Government is not seeking quotes, bids or proposals at this time and will not accept unsolicited proposals in response to this sources sought notice. The U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this notice. Submittals will not be returned to the responder. Not responding to this notice does not preclude participation in any future RFQ or IFB or RFP, if any is issued. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the Government wide Point of Entry. It is the responsibility of potential offerors to monitor the Government wide Point of Entry for additional information pertaining to this requirement. The anticipated NAICS code(s) is/are:  611430 - Professional and Management Development Training, Size Standard $15.0M dollars.

The intent of this notice is to determine the availability of qualified commercial sources technically capable of providing instruction for Signal Corps Professional Military Education (PME) courses for the specific domains of data science, cloud computing, database management, zero-trust cybersecurity methodologies, and programming/application development through programming and scripting. It will also identify high value approaches to operational data engineering and emerging technologies from academia and industry to support Army data management and governance in support of the Army Data Plan and Unified Network Plan.

In response to this source sought, including any capability statement, shall be electronically submitted no later than 1000 EST, Friday, 27 October 2023, to the Contract Specialist/ Officer, Nina M. Rachal/ Sherrilyn U. Rice, in either Microsoft Word or Portable Document Format (PDF), via email nina.m.rachal.civ@army.mil / sherrilyn.u.rice.civ@army.mil please provide:

1.  Name of the firm, point of contact, phone number, email address, DUNS number, CAGE code, a statement regarding small business status (including small business type(s)/certifications(s) such as SDB, 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOSB, etc.) and the corresponding NAICS code.  If the company has a GSA Schedule provide the schedule number.

2.  Identify whether your firm is interested in competing for this requirement as a prime contractor or not.  Identify subcontracting, joint ventures or teaming arrangement that will be pursued, if any.

3.  Identify what percentage of work will be performed by the small business prime contractor and all similarly situated entity subcontractors.  Note: In accordance with FAR 52.219-14 Limitations on Subcontracting (DEVIATION 2021-O0008) “Similarly situated entity” means a first-tier subcontractor, including an independent contractor, that has the same small business program status as that which qualified the prime contractor for the award and that is considered small for the NAICS code the prime contractor assigned to the subcontract the subcontractor will perform.  An example of a similarly situated entity is a first-tier subcontractor that is a HUBZone small business concern for a HUBZone set-aside. 

4. Identify type(s)/certifications(s) such as SDB, 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOSB, etc.) of the proposed subcontractors.

5.  Information in sufficient detail regarding previous experience (indicate whether as a prime contractor or subcontractor) on similar requirements (include size, scope, complexity, timeframe, government or commercial), pertinent certifications, etc., that will facilitate making a capability determination.

6.  Identify how the Army can best structure these contract requirements to facilitate competition by and among small business concerns.

7.  Recommendations to improve the approach/specifications/draft PWS/PRS to acquiring the identified items/services.

8.  Identify any condition or action that may be having the effect of unnecessarily restricting competition with respect to this acquisition.  Please contact the MICC Small Business Advocate for Competition, Scott Kukes, at scott.d.kukes.civ@army.mil or 210-466-2269, if you believe that this action is unreasonably restricting competition.  Include the subject of the acquisition, this announcement, and the MICC POC information from the sam.gov notice.  Provide the specific aspects that unreasonably restrict competition and the rationale for such conclusion.