Amendment 01: The purpose of this amendment is to provide answers to contractor questions and a revised Statement of Work. Please see the attached Question and Answer document and revised Statement of Work document for details.
The only change to the Statement of Work is to correct the tables which NIST had not realized were corrupted and unreadable in the originally posted file.
All other terms and conditions of the solicitation remain unchanged. The response deadline remains September 12, 2024 at 11:00 AM ET.
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Request for Quotations
Open-Source Cross-Platform C++ Conversion of
Universal Latent Workstation’s Latent Quality Metric
RFQ No. NIST-RFQ-24-7301490
This is a Combined Synopsis / Solicitation for Commercial Items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6 – Streamlined Procedures for Evaluation and Solicitation of Commercial Items – as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. The solicitation is issued using simplified acquisition procedures under the authority of FAR Part 13.
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION. QUOTATIONS ARE BEING REQUESTED AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION DOCUMENT (i.e. STANDARD FORM) WILL NOT BE ISSUED.
This solicitation is a Request for Quotation (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2024-05 dated May 22, 2024.
The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 541511 – Custom Computer Programming Services. The small business size standard is $34 Million. This is an unrestricted competition. Both small and other than small businesses under the applicable NAICS code are eligible and encouraged to respond.
DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENTS
Background
LQMetric is the most widely used algorithm by researchers to objectively assess the quality of latent fingerprint images. However, there are technical implementation issues that NIST wishes to address, and solving these issues will lead to easier use and significantly greater accessibility. LQMetric uses modules written in multiple programming languages (including Visual Basic and C/C++), and uses libraries that are limited to Microsoft Windows, thereby restricting the applicability of LQMetric to other environments.
Purpose
The purpose of this requirement is to obtain contractor support services to convert LQMetric to a free-standing software library and command line executable using only ISO/IEC 14882-compliant C++ under an open-source license.
Scope of Work & Specific Requirements
Please see the attached Statement of Work for details.
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE
The period of performance shall be one year from date of award.
PLACE OF PERFORMANCE
The primary place of performance shall be the Contractor’s site.
CONTRACT TYPE & PAYMENT TERMS
A firm fixed price purchase order is anticipated. Payment will be made on a NET30 basis using milestone payments following inspection and acceptance of individual deliverables.
APPLICABLE PROVISIONS AND CLAUSES
Please see the attached document for applicable provisions and clauses.
QUESTION AND ANSWER PERIOD
CAR 1352.215-73 INQUIRIES (APR 2010):
Quoters must submit all questions concerning this solicitation in writing electronically to Ms. Lauren Roller, Contract Specialist, at lauren.roller@nist.gov. Questions must be received by or before September 4, 2024 at 11:00 AM ET. Any responses to questions will be made in writing, without identification of the questioner, and will be included in an amendment to the solicitation. Even if provided in other form, only the question responses included in the amendment to the solicitation will govern performance of the contract. (End of Provision).
DUE DATE FOR QUOTATIONS
All quotations must be submitted via email to Ms. Lauren Roller, Contract Specialist, at Lauren.Roller@nist.gov. Submission must be received not later than September 12, 2024 at 11:00 AM ET.
Note: Quoters must have an “Active” registration at www.SAM.gov at time of quote submission to be considered for award. “ID Assigned” registration is not acceptable.
INSTRUCTIONS TO QUOTERS (Addendum to FAR 52.212-1)
The Quoter’s quotation shall be submitted electronically via email and shall consist of two volumes as detailed below. Each quotation volume shall include the Quoter’s name, UEI number, and point of contact information in a cover page, header/footer, or other easily identified location. The Contracting Officer intends to award a purchase order without discussions but reserves the right to enter into discussions if in the best interest of the Government.
Volume 1: Technical Response
This volume shall contain the Quoter’s cover letter and technical response. The technical response (not including table of contents, figures, or key personnel resume(s)) shall not exceed ten (10) single-spaced, single-sided pages. Text shall be no less than 12-point font in Microsoft Word or searchable Adobe PDF format.
The technical response shall include:
- The contractor’s cover letter, inclusive of the name, title, phone number, and email address of the Quoter’s primary point of contact and the individual authorized to negotiate on behalf of the Quoter (if negotiations are determined to be necessary).
- A description of the proposed technical approach to performing each task in the Statement of Work.
- The resume of each proposed key personnel.
- Demonstrated prior experience information for at least one and up to three prior experiences, to include:
- A brief description of the scope (60 words or less)
- Contract/task order/agreement number
- Period of performance
- Contract Value
- Customer Name
- Role as prime contractor or subcontractor
- Reference information, including name, email, phone number, of the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), Program Manager (PM) or equivalent individual (not the Contracting Officer) for the experience submission.
Prior experience shall be from within the last three years and may be federal or non-federal. The Government may contact the Reference points of contact to confirm the level and quality of demonstrated prior experience submissions. In addition, the Government reserves the right to review any information contained within the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) or any other Government system, source, or individual.
- Completed provision responses, from the provisions attached to this solicitation. Provisions requiring response are highlighted in yellow. If these provisions are completed in the Contractor’s active SAM registration, they need not be resubmitted.
- A list of assumptions and/or exceptions made in preparing the quotation.
Volume 2: Price Quotation
This volume shall contain the Quoter’s price quotation in Microsoft Excel format or in searchable PDF format. All figures must be rounded to the nearest hundredth.
Price Quotation:
Price quotations shall be submitted on a firm fixed price basis in accordance with the contract line item numbering structure provided in this solicitation. Quotations shall be valid for 60 days after solicitation close.
To assist the Government in evaluating firm fixed price quotations, the Quoter shall provide a breakdown of the proposed labor categories to be used, estimated hours per labor category, and total price per CLIN.
Quoters shall also include a proposed fixed price payment schedule based on requirement milestones/deliverables in relation to the deliverables table in the Statement of Work.
CONTRACT LINE ITEM STRUCTURE:
The line item structure for this requirement shall be as follows:
CLIN 0001: Open-Source Cross-Platform C++ Conversion of Universal Latent Workstation’s Latent Quality Metric in accordance with the attached Statement of Work (Firm Fixed Price)
EVALUATION CRITERIA AND BASIS FOR AWARD (Addendum to FAR 52.212-2)
The Government intends to award a firm fixed price purchase order resulting from this solicitation to the responsible Quoter whose Quotation, conforming to the solicitation, offers best value to the Government.
Upon receipt of Quotations, the Contracting Officer will review them to determine if each Quoter followed all of the Quotation preparation/submission instructions in this solicitation. A Quotation that did not follow the Quotation submission instructions to an extent that the Government cannot properly evaluate the Quotation in accordance with the stated evaluation factors may be deemed unacceptable and may not be further evaluated.
The Government intends to evaluate quotations using the trade-off method. The factors below, listed in descending order of importance, will be used to determine best value. Non-price factors, when combined, are more important than price.
- Technical Approach: The Government will evaluate the Quoter’s technical approach for performing each task in the PWS. The technical approach proposed shall be evaluated for overall understanding of Government requirements and expected effectiveness. The technical approach shall also be evaluated for reasonableness in managing schedule, logistics, and staffing effectively.
- Key Personnel: The Government will evaluate the extent to which the resume(s) submitted for the Quoter’s proposed key personnel demonstrate that the proposed individual(s) meets or exceed the minimum qualifications detailed in the Statement of Work.
- Demonstrated Prior Experience: The evaluation of demonstrated prior experience will consider the extent to which the Quoter’s prior experience for work completed or substantially completed within the last three years demonstrates the capability to successfully provide services similar in scope to the current requirement.
- Price: Quoted pricing will be evaluated but not scored. Price evaluation will determine whether the quoted price is fair and reasonable in relation to the solicitation requirements.
The Contracting Officer intends to award without discussions but reserves the right to initiate discussions if necessary. The Contracting Officers reserves the right to hold discussions with only the highest-rated quoter(s) if in the best interests of the Government.
