Inactive Total Small Business Set-Aside (FAR 19.5)

Details are attached for the Combined/Synopis Solicitation Request for Quotation: RFQ 1333LF23QNFFO2254. Attached is an SF30 Amendment 0001 Document to respond to questions received under file name: R... Details are attached for the Combined/Synopis Solicitation Request for Quotation: RFQ 1333LF23QNFFO2254. Attached is an SF30 Amendment 0001 Document to respond to questions received under file name: RFQ 1333LF23QNFFO2254 Amend1 QA CO signed 22Aug2023. NOTICE TO OFFEROR: Instructions for submitting a quotation under this request for quote must be followed. Failure to provide all information to aid in the evaluation may be considered non-responsive. The Offeror that is non-responsive may be excluded from further evaluation and rejected without further notification to the offeror. 1. The quote shall be fully executed and returned on the Standard Form (SF) 18 and any acknowledgements of solicitation amendments on the SF 30. 2. Submit the quotation to the office specified in this solicitation on or before the time specified in the solicitation. Email to the Contracting Officer, Raynier B. Camerino, at raynier.camerino@noaa.gov. 3. The contractor shall provide the following information with their quote submission: a) Point of contact name, telephone and E-mail address. b) SAM.gov Unique Entity ID and Cage Code. 4. Provide a response to the following in this package: a) 52.204-24 Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment (Nov 2021) (d) Representation b) 52.204-26 Covered Telecommunications Equipment or Services-Representation (Oct 2020) (c) Representation c) 52.212-2 Evaluation – Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Nov 2021) (a) (i) (ii) and (iii) The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: (i) a & b (a) Technical Capabilities and Experience: Capabilities and experience to build an introductory R training website specific to skills and tasks adaptable to the National Marine Fisheries Service West Coast Region and provide training on the maintenance, update procedures, and usage of the website. Provide training support services regarding the course website. (b) Technical Capabilities and Experience: Provide course material licensing to the customer allowing users access to any course material developed by the vendor specific to R. At a minimum the course material offering should include the subject material stated in the SOW. License duration meets or exceeds the minimum stated in the SOW. Provide pedagogical support on how to train the trainer on best practices for teaching R. Provide support services regarding the vendors’ course material. (ii) Past Performance: Evidence of satisfactory and successful past performance building a website and training materials for communicating R specific to skills and tasks adaptable to the customer’s business practices and required usage. Providing course material licensing to the customer allowing users to access the course materials and providing support services regarding the website, curriculum, and teaching strategies. Provide one past performance reference. The reference will be asked to verify this past performance evaluation. (iii) Firm-Fixed Price all or nothing. A Firm-fixed price Purchase Order will be awarded to the selected offeror based on best value to the Government. The evaluation criteria (i) to (iii) are listed in descending order of importance. Criteria (i) to (iii) will be scored based on completeness of the response received from the offeror in meeting the need for the services with the highest score attainable of 100%. A deficiency in the response to each criteria element may be reduced in score by up to 5% for every deficiency found in each criteria element (i) to (iii). A no response to the criteria (i) to (iii) will receive a 0% and the offer will not be considered for award of the Purchase Order. (i) a & b 50% (ii) 30% (iii) 20% Total Score attainable is 100% Technical and past performance when combined, are significantly more important than cost or price. The quotation is required to be received in the contracting office no later than 4:00 PM PST on 08/25/2023. Quotes shall be e-mailed to the attention of Raynier B. Camerino, the Contracting Officer, at raynier.camerino@noaa.gov. Any questions regarding this solicitation shall be directed to the Contracting Officer, Raynier B. Camerino, by email to raynier.camerino@noaa.gov. The Government does not accept responsibility for non-receipt of quotes. It is the contractor's responsibility to request and receive a confirmation of the quote receipt. Period of Performance: Approximately 08/31/2023 to 08/30/2024 Background: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries West Coast Region conducts analyses to inform policy decisions. Being able to conduct these analyses in a reproducible manner is extremely important, yet something toward which the team has only taken the first few steps. Training the NOAA Fisheries team to convert workflows to R is a long-time goal, but one with which the current R users in the organization need help. While the NOAA Fisheries team has some R users, and staff committed to teaching themselves, we do not have anyone with experience teaching others to use R. Objectives: The NOAA Fisheries team is looking for support in developing internal training materials to help NOAA staff learn to use R. As staff continue to acquire new skills we want to enhance our existing course to meet the growing need. We need a virtual training course that would provide opportunities for staff to develop coding skills that would enable them to perform analyses and automate routine tasks. We also often have folks who onboard throughout the year, so often have cohorts of only a few folks at a time (ranging from 5 -10 individuals). Therefore, a training platform that allows folks to learn independently throughout the year is necessary. In addition, the R automation and document production tasks that would most benefit West Coast Region (WCR) staff efficiency and streamlining are specific to our policy roles, and rely heavily on templates and standardized language specific to our offices. Developing R training materials that are specific to our products and include exercises and templates that staff can apply directly to their daily work will greatly enhance the usefulness of a training course. Creating applicable templates and course content for regional documents will also help increase the consistency of our products and make sure they are accessible (i.e., 508 compliant). Teaching our staff how to use code sharing platforms such as Github will also maximize our ability to collaborate on projects with teams and across the Region. The major outcomes for the virtual course are to introduce WCR staff without any coding skills to R coding for workflows, and for those staff to be able to start using existing code or automated workflows available in their office, and to feel confident beginning to code for their own needs. Another key outcome will be the support that develops the teaching abilities of a few key WCR staff who are already using R and Github, helping the self-taught use best practices to teach coding concepts to newcomers (e.g. train the trainers). The end result will be a course website that is immediately serviceable, and while initially populated with a combination of WCR-owned and vendor-licensed materials, WCR staff will then have the skills to update the website during the term of the license to convert it to a fully WCR-owned training product. Some staff in our region are building these types of tools and have begun to incorporate them into existing workflows. However, new standards for data sharing, accessibility, and transparency have increased the applicability and need for this approach. We also need to be able to regularly update training to remain compliant with these standards (e.g. Section 508 compliance, accessibility and data sharing). Developing a platform for internal training that belongs to the WCR and can be updated and maintained by our staff would greatly improve our capacity to develop our staff and transform to efficient, transparent, and reproducible workflows over the long-term. Tasks & Deliverables: Task 1: The contractor shall build an introductory R training website specific to skills and tasks common to WCR work and train key WCR mentors in its maintenance Build and transfer to WCR staff a html website built out using Quarto Provide key WCR staff training on how to maintain and update website, replace or develop new content for existing modules, and create new modules of the course. Host meetings, including kickoff meeting and 2-3 training meetings to teach website maintenance, updating, and use. Task 1 Deliverables: Website developed in Quarto Imported training materials, including explanatory text, examples, and videos, to course pages for duration of license (see below for requested content) Email meeting and training information to WCR lead staff Draft and finalize agendas for training meetings at least 24 hours prior to the meetings Monthly progress report to include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following: accomplishments, issues encountered, and recommendations, if applicable. Task 2: The contractor shall provide course material licensing for a period of one year Course material created by contractor that includes the basic to intermediate R coding, with specific relevance to WCR work. Required content areas include: File/project/user interface setup, importing data, using a Quarto template, tidyverse packages and concepts, coding standard conventions and file structures, Github version control and collaboration, Quarto, getting help, functions, loops, data types, and accessibility (i.e., Section 508 compliance). Task 2 Deliverables: Licensing which allows NOAA Fisheries WCR users access to any course materials owned by the vendor (e.g., videos, animations, presentations) until approximately August 30, 2024. Task 3: The contractor shall provide Pedagogical Support A. Teach the NOAA Fisheries team best practices for teaching R to staff Kick off meeting and 25-30 hours over the course of multiple months to discuss training issues Provide support by email to address course website, curriculum, and teaching strategy questions as needed Task 3 Deliverables: Up to five hours of support per month over multiple months Email meeting information to participants Education/Experience Required: Program planning and management in a team environment Working with diverse interagency teams Excellent verbal and written communication skills Training people and organizations to use R code and to automate workflows Developing, launching, and maintaining R packages, Rmarkdown interactive documents, and R training materials including exercises, handouts, videos, and course websites The proposed personnel must possess and maintain the following skills/certifications and/or credentials during the period of performance: Current MS Office skills Advanced coding skills in the R programming language, using the RStudio platform and tidyverse syntax Current introductory R course instructor (private or academic) Confidentiality and Data Privacy: This contract may require that services contractors have access to Privacy Information. Services contractors are responsible for maintaining confidentiality of all subjects and materials and may be required to sign and adhere to a Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA). Government Furnished Resources: The Government will not furnish any resources to the Contractor in support of this contract. Place of Performance: Performance shall be at the Contractor’s place of business. Travel is not expected or authorized. Period of Performance: Approximately 08/31/2023 to 08/30/2024. Including an Option to Extend Services up to six months.