Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF SEPTEMBER 26, 2010 FBO #3228
SOLICITATION NOTICE

R -- Data Anaylsis for Research with Natural Language Processing

Notice Date

9/24/2010
 

Notice Type

Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
 

NAICS

541511 — Custom Computer Programming Services
 

Contracting Office

Department of Veterans Affairs;Rocky Mountain Network;VISN 19 Contracting;500 Foothill Drive;Salt Lake City, UT 84148
 

ZIP Code

84148
 

Solicitation Number

VA25910RP0266
 

Response Due

10/15/2010
 

Archive Date

10/30/2010
 

Point of Contact

Glenn Breitling
 

E-Mail Address

Breitling@va.gov<br
 

Small Business Set-Aside

Total Small Business
 

Description

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items/services prepared in accordance with the format in Federal Acquisition Regulation Subpart 12.6 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation. Proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. Prospective Offerors are encouraged to view the Federal Business Opportunities website frequently for any amendment to the solicitation. This solicitation is issued as a Request for Proposal(RP) reference number VA-259-10-RP-0266. The incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-39. This solicitation is set-aside for small business. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is 541511. The Small Business Size Standard is $25 million. The VHA Healthcare System, George E. Wahlen Medical Center, 500 Foothill Drive, Salt Lake City, UT has a requirement to assess the utility of Hierarchically Optimal Classification Tree Analysis (HOCTA) to further the development of Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools for the VA Informatics and Computing Infrastructure. A Statement of Work below details the requirements and the deliverables. To assist with clarification of the deliverables it is anticipated there will be communications with prospective offeror's. CLIN 0001 Professional assessment of the Research Architecture developed by the VA Informatics and Computing Infrastructure (VINCI) consisting of 3 deliverables (see delivery schedule): PRICE / COST SCHEDULE: QuantityUnitUnit CostTotal Cost 1JOB______________________ DELIVERY SCHEDULE: Period of performance is anticipated to be 270 days from the date of award. Dates provide will be estimated dates. Deliverable 1 Detailed work plan for the projectdate:_________________ Deliverable 2 Algorithm for rules to use NLP variables to predict low-frequency outcomesdate:_________________ Deliverable 3 Perform classification with HOCTA using a large number of variables with date:________________ sparse data All contract Administration matters will be handled by the individual listed on combined synopsis posting. All payments by the Government to the contractor will be made in accordance with 52.232-34, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer- Other than Central Contractor Registration. Invoices shall be submitted monthly in arrears with a copy to the COTR. Billing based on work progress reports and tasks associated with deliverables. This combined synopsis / solicitation document and incorporated clauses and provisions are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-36. In accordance with 52.252-2, Clauses Incorporated by Reference, clauses incorporated by reference have the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. The following FAR and VAAR Provisions and Clauses apply to this acquisition: FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items; Addendum to this clause requests the following: The proposal shall include the contractor's name, address, name of point of contact, phone numbers, email address, FAX number, DUNS number and tax ID number. Insure the proposal number VA-259-10-RP-0266 appears on all pages/documents in the proposal. In addition to the Price/Cost and Delivery Schedule above, each offer shall contain a draft work plan for the project. The proposal shall contain a narrative explanation with the concept and vision associated with the draft workplan. Offerors shall provide a minimum of 3 References with company name, address, contact name, email, phone, and fax for whom the same or similar type of work as this requirement has been performed. FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation-Commercial Items, Evaluation criteria to be included in paragraph (a) of that provision - "The government may, at its discretion, base past performance on past knowledge and previous experience with the contractor, supply or service being provided, customer survey or any other reasonable basis." Evaluation factor 1. Experience with optimal data analysis. Evaluation factor 2. Work experience with VA research or other data facilities /programs. Evaluation factor 3. Shall have work experience in hierarchically optimal classification tree analysis, preferably national recognition in this area. Technical and past performance, when combined, are of significantly greater importance when compared to price. Offerors are to complete the Online Representations and Certifications at http://orca.bpn.gov in accordance with FAR 52.212-3 (Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items), submit page 1 verifying annual cerification with proposal; FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items; FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Order - Commercial Items (Deviation); FAR 52-203-6, Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government; FAR 52.219-6, Notice of Total Small Business Set-Aside; FAR 52.204-9, Personal Identity Verification of Contractor Personnel; FAR 52.219-28, Post Award Small Business Program Re-representation; FAR 52.222-3, Convict Labor; FAR 52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities; FAR 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity; FAR 52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Workers with Disabilities; FAR 52.224-1, Privacy Act Notification; FAR 52.224-2, Privacy Act; FAR 52.225-3, Buy American Act - NAFTA Israeli Trade Act - Balance of Payments Program; FAR 52.225-13, Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases; FAR 52.227-14, Rights in Data - General; FAR 52.227-15, Representation of Limited Rights Data and Restricted Computer Software; FAR 52.222-50, Combating Trafficking in Persons; FAR 52.233-3, Protest After Award; FAR 52.233-4, Applicable Law for Breach of Contract Claim; VAAR 852.203-70, Commercial Advertising; VAAR 852.237-70, Contractor Responsibilities; VAAR 852.273-75, Security Requirements for Unclassified Information Technology Resources; VAAR 852.273-76, Electronic Invoice Submission; Contractors are required to register online with the government Central Contractor Registration (CCR) at http://www.ccr.gov/ccrstart.html before an offer/award can be made. Proposals are due: October15, 2010 by 4:30PM MDST Submit Proposals via email to Glenn.Breitling@va.gov alternate is FAX to 801-5842506 Attn: Glenn Breitling VA-259-10-RP-0266. Mail & address is VA Medical Center, 500 Foothill Drive, Bldg 4, Attn: Glenn Breitling /VA-259-10-RP-0291, Salt Lake City, UT 84148. STATEMENT OF WORK VA-259-10-RP-0266 A.GENERAL INFORMATION 1. Title of Project: VA Informatics and Computing Infrastructure (VINCI) - Hierarchically Optimal Classification Tree Analysis (HOCTA) 2. Scope of Work: The contractor shall provide all resources necessary to accomplish the deliverables described in this statement of work (SOW), except as may otherwise be specified. The VA Salt Lake City Health Care System (VASLCHCS) has a requirement for a pilot project to assess the utility of Hierarchically Optimal Classification Tree Analysis (HOCTA) to further the development of Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools for the VA Informatics and Computing Infrastructure (VINCI). 3. Background: VINCI is a program established to provide researchers with data and an analytical environment. A key mission of VINCI is to extract information from free-text documents with the development of tools for Natural Language Processing (NLP). 4. Performance Period: The contractor shall complete the work required under this SOW in 270 calendar days or less from date of award, unless otherwise directed by the Contracting Officer (CO). If the contractor proposes an earlier completion date, and the Government accepts the contractor's proposal, the contractor's proposed completion date shall prevail. Work at the Government site shall not take place on Federal holidays or weekends unless directed by the CO. 5. Type of Contract: Firm Fixed Price B. CONTRACT AWARD MEETING The contractor shall not commence performance on the tasks in this SOW until the CO has conducted a kick off meeting, or has advised the contractor that a kick off meeting is waived. C. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS 1. For every task, the contractor shall identify in writing all necessary subtasks (if any), associated costs by task, along with associated sub-milestone dates. The contractor's subtask structure shall be reflected in the technical proposal and detailed work plan. 2. All written deliverables shall be phrased in layperson language. Statistical and other technical terminology shall not be used without providing a glossary of terms. 3. Where a written milestone deliverable is required in draft form, the VA will complete their review of the draft deliverable within 15 calendar days from the date of receipt. The contractor shall have 15 calendar days to deliver the final deliverable from date of receipt of the Government's comments. D. SPECIFIC MANDATORY TASKS AND ASSOCIATED DELIVERABLES Description of Tasks and Associated Deliverables: The contractor shall provide the specific deliverables described below within the performance period stated in Section A.4 of this SOW. Task One: The contractor shall provide a detailed work plan and briefing for the VA project team, which presents the contractor's plan for completing the task order. The contractor's plan shall be responsive with this SOW and describe, in further detail, the approach to be used for each aspect of the task order as defined in the technical proposal. Deliverable One: A written work plan Task Two: The contractor shall provide a specific algorithm for rules to use NLP variables to predict low-frequency outcomes. Deliverable Two: Code/algorithm that will operate with commonly used statistical software such as SAS and STATA; Provide documentation for the development and use of the software (code); Provide a manual for use of the software and interpretation of the results; Provide perpetual use license to the government for his code Task Three: The contractor shall perform classification with HOCTA using a large number of variables with sparse data Deliverable three: Demonstrate the usefulness of HOCTA relative to other machine learning approaches; Advise how to measure the performance of HOCTA; Compare the performance of HOCTA algorithm with other learning algorithms, specifically, SVM and naïve Bayes Additional Requirements: Contractor will work with professional staff of VINCI to correctly document project and process VINCI will define one or more NLP task related to characterization of the context of a clinical finding VINCI will prepare one or more data sets containing contexts represented by text segments and gold-standard classifications determined by human reviewers for comparison E. EVALUATED OPTIONAL TASKS AND ASSOCIATED DELIVERABLES N/A F. SCHEDULE FOR DELIVERABLES 1. The contractor shall complete the Delivery Date column in Attachment A for each deliverable specified. 2. Unless otherwise specified, the number of draft copies and the number of final copies shall be the same. 3. If for any reason any deliverable cannot be delivered within the scheduled time frame, the contractor is required to explain why in writing to the CO, including a firm commitment of when the work shall be completed. This notice to the CO shall cite the reasons for the delay, and the impact on the overall project. The CO will then review the facts and issue a response, in accordance with applicable regulations. G. CHANGES TO STATEMENT OF WORK Any changes to this SOW shall be authorized and approved only through written correspondence from the CO. A copy of each change will be kept in a project folder along with all other products of the project. Costs incurred by the contractor through the actions of parties other than the CO shall be borne by the contractor. H. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 1. The contractor shall provide the PM/TM with monthly original in electronic form. These are due to the PM/TM by the second workday following the end of each calendar month, throughout the project's duration. The PM/TM is required to provide monthly progress reports to the Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) by the fifth workday of the new calendar month. 2. The progress report shall cover all work completed during the preceding month and shall present the work to be accomplished during the subsequent month. This report shall also identify any problems that arose, along with a statement explaining how the problem was resolved. This report shall also identify any problems that have arisen but have not been completely resolved, with an explanation. I. TRAVEL [If applicable] Should the contractor be required to travel to the VA SLCHCS Salt Lake City, UT, funds from this contract can be used for travel expenses. Program Manager will determine the necessity for travel. Travel and per diem shall be reimbursed in accordance with VA/Federal Travel Regulations. J. GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES The Government (the VINCI Program Manager and Principal Investigator) will provide the data required to test the algorithms. K. CONTRACTOR EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS The VA will determine what positions are considered key personnel. The contractor shall identify, by name, the key management and technical personnel who will work under this task order at the time the work is being negotiated. If a key person becomes unavailable to complete the Specific Mandatory Tasks and Associated Deliverables, the proposed Substitutions of key personnel shall be made only as approved directly by the Contracting Officer and the COTR. The government will not dictate specific experience and education requirements of the employees initially proposed to perform the work stated herein. The contractor shall submit a resume of qualifications for the COTR and all other direct employees proposed for the project. All Contractor employees will be approved by the COTR prior to bringing on duty. If, at any time from date of award to the end of the contract, non-key personnel Contractor personnel are no longer available, VHA SLC reserves the right to review the qualifications of the proposed replacement personnel and to reject individuals who do not meet the qualifications. Team personnel proposed by the contractor should possess some of the following knowledge and/or skills: Skills Required: Maximum Likelihood Analysis/Models of Likelihood (probability) Optimal Data Analysis/Models of Accuracy The contractor must notify VHA SLC in advance and we will approve or reject proposed contractor key personnel for the performance of this contract. The contractor shall submit a resume of qualifications to the COTR for key personnel and all other direct employees proposed for the project. All Contractor employees will be approved by the COTR prior to bringing on duty. If, at any time from date of award to the end of the contract, Contractor personnel are no longer available, the VHA will approve the qualifications of proposed replacement personnel and will reject individuals who do not meet qualifications set forth herein. The contractor must inform the VHA COTR, and Project Manager/Task Manager when personnel are removed from the contract for any reason. The Contractor shall remove any employee from the performance of this contract within five (5) workdays of receiving notice from the Contracting Officer that the employee's performance is unsatisfactory. All Contractor employees are subject to immediate removal from performance of this contract when they are involved in a violation of the law, VA security, confidentiality requirements and/or other disciplinary reasons. "The contractor must inform the VHA COTR, and Project Manager/Task Manager when personnel are removed from the contract for any reason. "If a key person becomes unavailable to complete the Specific Mandatory Tasks and Associated Deliverables, proposed Substitutions of key personnel shall be made only if approved by the COTR and Project Manager. "The contractor shall submit a resume of qualifications to the COTR for all direct employees proposed for the project. All Contractor employees will be approved by the COTR prior to bringing on duty. L. CONFIDENTIALITY AND NONDISCLOSURE It is agreed that: 1. The preliminary and final deliverables, and all associated working papers, application source code, and other material deemed relevant by VA which have been generated by the contractor in the performance of this task order, are the exclusive property of the U.S. Government and shall be submitted to the CO at the conclusion of the task order. 2. The CO will be the sole authorized official to release, verbally or in writing, any data, draft deliverables, final deliverables, or any other written or printed materials pertaining to this task order. No information shall be released by the contractor. Any request for information relating to this task order, presented to the contractor, shall be submitted to the CO for response. 3. Press releases, marketing material, or any other printed or electronic documentation related to this project, shall not be publicized without the written approval of the CO. M.CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL SECURITY REQUIREMENTS All contractor employees who require access to the Department of Veterans Affairs' computer systems shall be the subject to all requirements in VA Handbook 6500.6 and receive a favorable adjudication from the VA Office of Information Security. This requirement is applicable to subcontractor personnel requiring the same access. 1.Position Sensitivity - The position sensitivity has been designated as Low Risk 2.Background Investigation - The level of background investigation commensurate with the required level of access is National Agency Check with Written Inquiries 3.Contractor Responsibilities a.The contractor shall prescreen all personnel requiring access to the computer systems to ensure they maintain a U.S. citizenship, and are able to read, write, speak and understand the English language. b.The contractor shall submit or have their employees submit the required forms (SF 86 or SF 85P, SF 85P-S, FD 258, Contractor Fingerprint Chart, VA Form 0710, Authority for Release of Information Form, and Optional Forms 306 and 612) to the VA Office of Security and Law Enforcement within 30 days of receipt. c.The contractor, when notified of an unfavorable determination by the Government, shall withdraw the affected employee from working under the contract. d.Failure to comply with contractor personnel security requirements may result in termination of the contract for default. 4. Government Responsibilities a.The VA Office of Security and Law Enforcement will provide the necessary forms to the contractor, or to the contractor's employees, after receiving a list of names and addresses. b.Upon receipt, the VA Office of Security and Law Enforcement will review completed forms for accuracy, and forward the forms to the office of Personnel Management (OPM) to conduct background investigations. c.The VA Office of Security and Law Enforcement will notify the CO, and contractor, of adjudication results received from OMB. d.Upon being notified about a favorable determination, the CO may issue a notice to proceed to the contractor. Attachment A to the Statement of Work: Schedule of Deliverables Deliverable No. OneItem A detailed work plan and briefing for the VA project team Quantity 1Delivery Date Within 30 calendar days after award TwoAlgorithm for rules to use NLP variables to predict low-frequency outcomes1Within 210 calendar days after award ThreePerform classification with HOCTA using a large number of variables with sparse data1Within 270 calendar day after award
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/VA/SLCVAMC660/SLCVAMC660/VA25910RP0266/listing.html)
 

Place of Performance

Address: VHA Healthcare System;George E. Wahlen Medical Center;500 Foothill Drive;Salt Lake City, UT 84148

Zip Code: 84148
 

Record

SN02295469-W 20100926/100924234557-8f76aec8b251248304c433a9d3e0b8bd (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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