Inactive Historically Underutilized Business (HUBZone) Set-Aside (FAR 19.13)

THIS IS A SOURCE SOUGHT SYNOPSIS ONLY. This is NOT a Request for Quotation and in no way obligates the Government to award any contract/purchase order. The purpose of this Source Sought Synopsis is to... THIS IS A SOURCE SOUGHT SYNOPSIS ONLY. This is NOT a Request for Quotation and in no way obligates the Government to award any contract/purchase order. The purpose of this Source Sought Synopsis is to seek out interested businesses capable of fulfilling this service requirement. The United States (U.S.) Government desires to procure services with competition limited to eligible HUBZone Small Business participants, to identify their capabilities in meeting the requirement. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is performing market research to determine available sources that can provide Professional Consulting Services to support in development of Marine Route Survey requirements for an undersea telecommunications cable to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. The Geosciences Directorate, Office of Polar Programs (GEO/OPP) has been evaluating the science justification and technical feasibility of an undersea telecommunications cable equipped with science sensors between McMurdo Station and Australia or New Zealand. A science workshop was held in June 2021 and concluded that science opportunities were significant; in parallel, a desktop feasibility study completed in August 2022 returned favorable results on industry’s ability to design and deploy such a cable. The scope of this requirement is for structured Project Management Office to support OPP with submarine cable subject matter expertise to ensure the successful delivery of a fully operational and network integrated Scientific Monitoring and Reliable Telecommunications (SMART) Cable within the structure of the NSF’s Planning and Managing process, the Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC) framework. The work includes the following: 1) Plan and provide facilitation and coordination services for a science workshop to be hosted by NSF’s Office of Polar Programs (OPP). 2) Develop a management framework and set of deliverables that include mapping an industry-standard subsea telecommunications cable development lifecycle into the Major Research and Engineering Facilities Construction (MREFC) stages with an initial conceptual Project Execution Plan and systems development “swim lanes” chart with timelines, as defined by the NSF’s Research Infrastructure Guide (RIG). 3) Integrate the results of the science workshop output for science sensor placement, branching unit numbers/placement, and cable routing trade-offs between science goals and cable geohazards to finalize the cable route and other technical specifications in accordance with Submarine Fiber Optic Cable industry practice. 4) Use the results of tasks 1 and 3 to support OPP in the development specific requirements for a follow-on acquisition for a detailed Marine Route Survey. The anticipated period of performance is approximately 24 months. Submission Details: Interested vendors are encouraged to respond to this notice with a corporate capability statement that includes a description of the technical capabilities describing your organization's experience with projects similar to the requirement. Be advised that generic capability statements are not sufficient for effective evaluation of respondents' capacity and capability to perform the specific work as required. The capabilities statement should demonstrate experienced Project Management staff, SMART Cable Subject Matter Experts and Engineers, and project schedulers. Please note, this scope may involve international travel, to include deployment to Antarctica. Deployment to Antarctica requires traveling staff to meet NSF Physical Qualification requirements for deployment (see PQ Process website). Please submit your responses to this RFI via email to Jennifer Shymansky at jshymans@nsf.gov before Aug 31, 2023, 02:00 pm EDT. The email Subject line of your response must reference NSF-23K0010 when submitting your response. Attachments that exceed 20 MB in size cannot be supported and will not be received. The total Capabilities Statement response is not to exceed five (5) pages, inclusive the following Cover Sheet (1 Page); tailored capabilities statement (3 pages); References (1 page). If your organization has the potential capacity to perform these contract services, please provide the following information: A cover page that includes the following information: Organization name; mailing address; website address; Unique Entity Identifier (UEI); CAGE code; business size and, if a small business applicable NAICS codes. HUBZone Status and any other information regarding type of ownership/socioeconomic status for the organization. Name, title, email address, and telephone number for Organization Point of Contact. A list of any existing government wide contract vehicles on which your organization provides services within this scope. A tailored capability statements addressing the particulars of this effort, with appropriate documentation supporting claims of organizational and staff capability. If significant subcontracting or teaming is anticipated in order to deliver technical capability, organizations should address the administrative and management structure of such arrangements. Please include a description of the extent of your experience working in polar regions for work of similar scope and knowledge of applicable environmental permitting requirements. Project references that your organization has worked on that are similar in scope, please provide contract number and agency for federal government experience. Thank you in advance for your interest in the acquisition programs of the National Science Foundation. Please do not call the contracting office for information. All inquiries should be emailed to jshymans@nsf.gov to avoid any misunderstanding or confusion. Please note: THIS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS OR QUOTATIONS. This Request for Information/Sources Sought Notice is issued solely for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation, nor is it an indication that the National Science Foundation will contract for the items outlined in this notice. As such, this RFI shall not be construed as an obligation on the part of the Government. It is a market research tool used to determine the availability and adequacy of potential sources prior to determining the method of acquisition and issuance of award. No solicitation is available at this time. This Sources Sought notice does not restrict the Government's acquisition approach on any future solicitations of funding opportunities. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this Sources Sought Notice. Any proprietary information or data must be clearly marked as such. Responses to this RFI will not be returned and respondents may not be notified of the result of the review. This RFI does not commit the Government to solicit or award an order now or in the future. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to organizations regarding their submissions.