SOLICITATION NOTICE
B -- Bulgaria: Phase I Feasibility Study on the Proposed Integrated Emergency Management System (IEMS) Project
- Notice Date
- 6/3/2005
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 541690
— Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services
- Contracting Office
- United States Trade and Development Agency, USTDA, USTDA, 1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1600, C/O US TDA 1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1600, Arlington, VA, 22209-3901
- ZIP Code
- 22209-3901
- Solicitation Number
- Reference-Number-0470051B
- Response Due
- 7/11/2005
- Archive Date
- 7/26/2005
- Description
- POC Evangela Kunene, USTDA, 1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1600, Arlington, VA 22209-3901, Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax: (703) 875-4009; PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT CONTRACTS OFFICE. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION PLACE: Dr. Nikola Nikolov; Chairman; Council of Ministers, State Agency Civil Protection, 30, Nikola Gabrovski Street; Sofia 1172, Bulgaria; Phone: 359-2-960-10211 or 962-0439; Fax: 359-2-868-8115; E-mail: sacp@cp.government.bg. The Grantee invites submission of qualifications and proposal data (collectively referred to as the "Proposal") from interested U.S. firms, which are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to develop a feasibility study to define the architecture for the IEMS and the terms of reference (TOR) for a Phase II pilot study in Plovdiv. Bulgaria?s emergency management system, referred to as the ?Civil Protection? system, is civilian-led, based on laws and executive orders, and is an all-hazards system. The Bulgarian Council of Ministers has established a ?Standing Committee on the Protection of the Population in the Cases of Disasters and Accidents,? reporting to the Prime Minister. The working body of this Standing Committee is the State Agency Civil Protection (CPA), which is responsible for coordinating Bulgaria?s national strategy for emergency management. The Standing Committee and the State Agency connect the four levels of civil protection activity: national; regional; municipal; and peripheral. The CPA has established 14 teams for emergency-rescue activities at the regional civil protection directorates, with a staff of some four hundred personnel deployed in 55 rescue teams, with rotating shifts providing continuous rescue and emergency medical coverage. While considerable organizational structure and staffing already exists at the local and regional levels ? local police and firefighting agencies, diving and alpine rescue teams, emergency medical agencies and the like ? the CPA seeks to develop an IEMS to coordinate emergency response activities on the local, regional, and national levels. The CPA proposes to develop the architecture for the IEMS and design a pilot project in the Plovdiv municipality to demonstrate the IEMS. The proposed pilot would create a plan for cooperation among all governmental organizations (fire, police, rescue and others). Cooperative efforts would be focused particularly on mutual sharing of databases, as well as the development of networks to permit real-time sharing of information during a crisis. A Regional Emergency Center (REC) would be established to coordinate the various activities. This center would be both a clearinghouse of information through a dedicated Internet portal and database exchange, and a communication channel. The REC would include a security and disaster recovery solution in case the REC itself is affected. A database storage system with back up and retrieval would be implemented as part of the REC. The project would also involve the establishment of IEMS infrastructure design for other municipal emergency centers to be created on a shared basis with local fire and rescue emergency centers. The municipal emergency centers would act as points of communication and coordination, and would coordinate closely with the REC. At present, most municipalities outside Sofia and Plovdiv have very little IEMS infrastructure. Municipal emergency centers are critical to ensure that emergency management works regionally. Because other regions must also acquire integrated emergency management capabilities, it is highly likely that they will follow the technological standards and solutions developed in Plovdiv. The study and pilot together would establish a prototype design for IEMS transferable to other regional and municipal emergency centers, on a shared basis with existing local fire rescue emergency centers. The IEMS can be defined in three major steps: Definition of a functional model Agreement on system architecture Deployment of supporting infrastructure A unified command and control center (for multiple first responders) would be at the center stage of the actual deployment of the IEMS. This would incorporate the operations protocols, provisions for data collection, and exchange and voice communications. There would be both primary and back-up control centers linked to satellite sites in the districts. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $291,340 grant to the Grantee from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes requirements for the Proposal, the Terms of Reference, and a background definitional mission/desk study report are available from USTDA, at 1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1600, Arlington, VA 22209-3901. Requests for the RFP should be faxed to the IRC, USTDA at 703-875-4009. In the fax, please include your firm?s name, contact person, address, and telephone number. Some firms have found that RFP materials sent by U.S. mail do not reach them in time for preparation of an adequate response. Firms that want USTDA to use an overnight delivery service should include the name of the delivery service and your firm's account number in the request for the RFP. Firms that want to send a courier to USTDA to retrieve the RFP should allow one hour after faxing the request to USTDA before scheduling a pick-up. Please note that no telephone requests for the RFP will be honored. Please check your internal fax verification receipt. Because of the large number of RFP requests, USTDA cannot respond to requests for fax verification. Requests for RFPs received before 4:00 PM will be mailed the same day. Requests received after 4:00 PM will be mailed the following day. Please check with your courier and/or mail room before calling USTDA. Only U.S. firms and individuals may bid on this USTDA financed activity. Interested firms, their subcontractors and employees of all participants must qualify under USTDA's nationality requirements as of the due date for submission of qualifications and proposals and, if selected to carry out the USTDA-financed activity, must continue to meet such requirements throughout the duration of the USTDA-financed activity. All goods and services to be provided by the selected firm shall have their nationality, source and origin in the U.S. or host country. The U.S. firm may use subcontractors from the host country for up to 20 percent of the USTDA grant amount. Details of USTDA's nationality requirements and mandatory contract clauses are also included in the RFP. Interested U.S. firms should submit their Proposal in English directly to the Grantee by 4:00 p.m., July 11, 2005 at the above address. Evaluation criteria for the Proposal are included in the RFP. Price will not be a factor in contractor selection, and therefore, cost proposals should NOT be submitted. The Grantee reserves the right to reject any and/or all Proposals. The Grantee also reserves the right to contract with the selected firm for subsequent work related to the project. The Grantee is not bound to pay for any costs associated with the preparation and submission of Proposals.
- Record
- SN00822819-W 20050605/050603213520 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |