Solicitation No. 75N95024Q00456
REFER TO ATTACHMENT FOR FURTHER DETAILS
Title: Just-In-Time Adaptive Interventions for Addictive Behaviors (JITAI)
1.This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a separate written solicitation will not be issued.
2.The solicitation number is 75N95024Q00456 and the solicitation is issued as a Request for Quotation (RFQ) on an unrestricted basis, as a full and open requirement.
This acquisition is for a commercial item or service and is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures; FAR Subpart 13.5— Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items; and FAR Part 12—Acquisition of Commercial Items, and is not expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold. A time and materials type of purchase order is contemplated for this requirement.
3. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2024-06, dated 07-30-2024.
4. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 541511 – Custom Computer Programming Services with associated small business size standard of $34,000,000 in revenue or less.
5. Line Items: Through this procurement NIDA anticipates a single award, time and materials/labor hour purchase order for Just-In-Time Adaptive Interventions for Addictive Behaviors (JITAI) services as described in Attachment 1 – Purchase Description.
Below is a table that contains the line item numbers and descriptions of the requirements for the anticipated award.
Line No. Description
1 FY24. Just-In-Time Adaptive Interventions for Addictive Behaviors (JITAI). September 20, 2024 – September 19, 2025
2 FY24. Option Quantity. Remuneration Support for Participants. September 20, 2024 – September 19, 2025
6. Description of Requirement: The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Intramural Research Program’s (IRP) Real-word Assessment, Prediction, and Treatment Unit (RAPT) requires additional expertise in several specific aspects of implementing a protocol to develop and test mobile-app-based systems for assessing, predicting, and responding to indicators of behavioral risk in people with addictions.
Our research group has made extensive use of the smartphone-based assessment tool called ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to understand people’s daily experiences with drug craving, use, and lapse. EMA is only an assessment, not an intervention. We are developing ways to use EMA for detection and prediction of risky states (e.g., stress, drug craving), and ways to prevent or intervene unwanted outcomes (e.g., lapse to drug use). This type of system is sometimes called a JITAI (Just-in-Time Adaptive Intervention). JITAIs require machine-learning models that train on large datasets and are iteratively tested to make increasingly accurate classifications of risk and non-risk states.
We are also expanding the scope of our EMA/JITAI work to encompass not only local participants who physically come to our research center in Baltimore, but also participants nationwide who access a smartphone app remotely.
Please refer to Attachment 1 – Statement of Work for further details on this requirement.
7. The provision at FAR Clause 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors—Commercial Items (Sep 2023) is applicable to this solicitation.
8. The provision at FAR clause 52.212-2, Evaluation – Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. The following is provided as an addendum to clause 52.212-2:
The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible Offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, i.e. this RFQ will be evaluated and award made on the basis of best value to the Government. Offeror’s submitting a response must provide a completed Price Quote to be evaluated and considered for award.
A tradeoff process shall be used for this acquisition because it has been determined to be in the best interest of the Government to consider award to other than the lowest priced Offeror or other than the highest technically rated offeror. All evaluation factors and significant sub-factors that will affect contract award and their relative importance will be clearly stated in the solicitation; and the solicitation shall state whether all evaluation factors other than cost or price, when combined, are significantly more important than, approximately equal to, or significantly less important than cost or price. For this acquisition, the following considerations will be part of the trade-off process: Technical Evaluation Factors including Past Performance, and Price.
The evaluation will be based on the demonstrated capabilities of the prospective Offerors in relation to the needs of the project as set forth in the solicitation. The merits of each proposal will be evaluated carefully. Each proposal must document the feasibility of successful implementation of the requirements of the solicitation. Offerors must submit information sufficient to evaluate their proposals based on the detailed factors listed below.
TECHNICAL EVALUATION FACTORS
The evaluation factors are used by the technical evaluation committee when reviewing the technical quotes.
1. Technical Capability
The Offeror shall be evaluated on its demonstrated Technical Capability to provide the item(s)/service(s) identified in the Statement of Work and meet the Government requirement
2. Project Understanding
The Offeror shall be evaluated on its demonstrated understanding of the Government’s requirement.
PAST PERFORMANCE
The Offeror shall provide past performance information indicating the quality of work during the past three years. Past performance information shall cover a minimum of 1 year in relevant services. The Offeror shall provide at least one reference for any project identified under the experience factor that has a performance period within the past three years. For each reference, the offeror shall provide: (1) Organization/company/contracting partner's name; (2) Point of contact's (POC) name and contact information: Current phone numbers. Valid email addresses; (3) Description that precisely explains: General scope of the contract. Specific requirements of the contract.
Offerors will be evaluated based on information obtained from references provided by the offeror, other relevant past performance information obtained from other sources known to the Government, and any information supplied by the offeror concerning problems encountered on the identified contracts and corrective action taken.
Furthermore, the Government will assess the relative risks associated with each offeror. Performance risks are those associated with an offeror's likelihood of success in performing the acquisition requirements as indicated by that offeror's record of past performance. The assessment of performance risk is not intended to be the product of a mechanical or mathematical analysis of an offeror's performance on a list of contracts but rather the product of subjective judgment by the Government after it considers all available and relevant information.
COST/PRICE EVALUATION
Offerors cost/price proposal will be evaluated for reasonableness. For a price to be reasonable, it must represent a price to the government that a prudent person would pay when consideration is given to prices in the market. Normally, price reasonableness is established through adequate price competition, but may also be determined through cost and price analysis techniques as described in FAR 15.404.
EVALUATION OF OPTIONS
It is anticipated that any contract awarded from this solicitation will contain option provisions and periods. In accordance with FAR Clause 52.217-5, Evaluation of Options, (July 1990), the Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement, except when it is determined in accordance with FAR 17.206(b) not to be in the Government's best interests. Evaluation of options will not obligate the Government to exercise the options.
9. The Offeror is to include a completed copy of the provision at FAR clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial Items, with its offer.
10. The provision at FAR Clause 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition and is supplemented by Attachment 3 - 52.212-4 Addendum and Supplemental Clauses.
11. The provision of FAR Clause 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. See Attachment 4 - 52.212-5.
12. The following additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions as determined by the Contracting Officer are necessary for this acquisition and consistent with customary commercial practices. Additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions determined by the Contracting Officer to be necessary for this acquisition are supplemented by the following attachments:
- Attachment 1 – Purchase Description
- Attachment 2 - 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions – Commercial Items (Nov 2023)
- Attachment 3 - 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items.
- Attachment 4 - Invoicing Instructions
- Attachment 5 – Non-disclosure Agreement
13. The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) are not applicable to this requirement.
14. The response to the combined synopsis/solicitation is due no later than September 5, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST). Offers submitted after the deadline may not be considered. The response should be submitted in a searchable format to the Contract Specialist, Shaun Rostad at shaun.rostad@nih.gov. Electronic submittals must include the combined synopsis/solicitation 75N95024Q00456 and the Title in the Subject Line.
In addition, the Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size must be included in the response. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov.
Technical Quotes shall be submitted in accordance with the General Requirement identified in Section 6 of this combined synopsis/solicitation.
Any Quote, modification, or revision that is received at the designated Government office after the exact date and time specified for receipt of quotations is “late” and may not be considered. Quotes received “late” may not be evaluated or considered for award and may be returned to the Offeror. If an emergency or unanticipated event interrupts normal Government processes so that Quotes cannot be received at the Government office designated for receipt of Quotes by the exact time specified in the solicitation, and urgent Government requirements preclude amendment of the solicitation closing date, the time specified for receipt of Quotes will be deemed to be extended to the same time of day specified in the solicitation on the first work day on which normal Government processes resume.
The Government reserves the right to award without discussions if the Contracting Officer determines that the initial cost/prices are fair and reasonable and that discussions are not necessary.
15. Questions may be submitted to Shaun Rostad and Josh Lazarus at shaun.rostad@nih.gov and josh.lazarus@nih.gov up to September 3, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
