Lexical AI Platform and access for 40 user Licences

DESCRIPTION AND BACKGROUND : The National Institutes of Health – OD/OER intends to procure the services of a contractor to provide  Lexical AI Platform and access for 40 user Licences and technical services. This is a continuation of previous services and is not a request for competitive quotes.

Back in 2019/2020, NIH/OD/OER/ORRA (previously called Office of Research Information Systems - ORIS), had a requirement to identify and test an artificial intelligence platform against the current NIH Research, Condition and Disease Categorization (RCDC) system by comparing the results of identification and categorization of 3 years of NIH sponsored projects of Alzheimer’s Disease and 16 other disease, condition, or research categories. The results of the test were evaluated by comparing the identification and categorization of Alzheimer’s and Alzheimer’s related projects against the data

derived from present technology (https://report.nih.gov/rcdc/process.aspx).

As a result of this competed requirement, the Lexical Intelligence AI Platform Safinia was selected to be customized and implement advanced natural language processing algorithms and artificial intelligence to categorize 3 years of NIH projects to Alzheimer’s Disease and 16 other disease, condition, or research categories. The categories tested include the following:

1. Alzheimer’s Disease

2. Frontotemporal Dementia

3. Pick’s Disease

4. Dementia

5. Lewy Body Dementia

6. Vascular Cognitive Impairment/Dementia

7. Traumatic Brain Injury

8. ALS

9. Parkinson’s Disease

10. Multiple Sclerosis

11. Prevention

12. Nutrition

13. Hodgkin’s Disease

14. American Indians or Alaska Natives

15. Breast Cancer

16. Ovarian Cancer

17. Tuberculosis

NIH/OD/OER/ORRA would like to continue piloting more broadly the AI functionality to conduct an earnest evaluation of its efficacy as an adjunct tool to inform and improve the RCDC/IC validation process. This requires a follow-on contract with Lexical Intelligence as their AI platform has already been invested in and customized to meet the Government’s needs. Safinia is proprietary software to Lexical Intelligence and continuing with the utilization of the same system would be the most advantageous to the Government versus starting from scratch and working with a different AI Platform which would incur significant costs.

Per the details above, Lexical Intelligence is the vendor that owns the proprietary software needed to continue with the pilot of the AI platform. Lexical Intelligence does not have any existing resellers of their software and the only known source for procuring licenses for utilization of the Safinia AI platform. As the industry is moving more towards Artificial Intelligence, it’s important that OER continues to invest in providing functionality NIH/OD/OER/ORRA Stakeholders are requesting as well as the users of the current RCDC system.

This proposed procurement is for a service for which the government intends to solicit and negotiate on a sole source basis to Lexical Intelligence located at Viers Mills Rd. in Rockville MD 20851.  In order to comply with the requirements in this Special Notice #HHSNAIPlatform06032021, the responses should be based on our interpretation of the general requirements provided below.

The proposed contract action is for a continuation of previous services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under the authority of FAR 6.302. Interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement or submit quotations. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotes. However, all quotes received within the time and date of publication of this "Special Note " will be considered by the Government. A determination by the Government not to compete with this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a future competitive procurement.

HOW TO RESPOND: In order to compete for this project, interested parties must be registered in the Central Contracting Registration and submit a price quotation by 2:00 pm, ET, June 21, 2021. Offerors should submit one copy of the quote to MOE FILALI by email preferably. Electronic transmissions to Moe.Filali@nih.gov are preferable but must be timely. It is the responsibility of the Offeror to ensure the proposal is received by the date and time shown above.

The following Federal Acquisition Regulations clauses are incorporated by reference: FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items (Mar 2005), 52.212-4 (Sept 2005), 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes of Executive Orders-Commercial Items (Aug 2006). (6)(i) 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity (Apr 2002) (E.O. 11246). (18) 52.222-35, Equal Opportunity for Special Disabled Veterans, Veterans of the Vietnam Era, and Other Eligible Veterans (Dec 2001) (38 U.S.C. 4212). (19) 52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Workers with Disabilities (Jun 1998) (29 U.S.C. 793). (20) 52.222-37, Employment Reports on Special Disabled Veterans, Veterans of the Vietnam Era, and Other Eligible Veterans (Dec 2001) (38 U.S.C. 4212). (31) 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-Central Contractor Registration (Oct 2003) (31 U.S.C. 3332).

Other clauses include but are not limited to Section 889 (52-212-24-25)…