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UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR GLOBAL MEDIA OFFICE OF INTERNET FREEDOM REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS “Open Season” Opportunity Internet Censorship Circumvention Tools Basic Ordering Agreement INTRODUCTION This is t... UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR GLOBAL MEDIA OFFICE OF INTERNET FREEDOM REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS “Open Season” Opportunity Internet Censorship Circumvention Tools Basic Ordering Agreement INTRODUCTION This is the solicitation for the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) - Office of Internet Freedom’s (OIF) “Open Season” Request for Proposals (RFP). The purpose of this Open Season solicitation is for the USAGM to prequalify additional firms that will be eligible to compete for future task orders under task areas 1 through 6 of the OIF’s Internet Censorship Circumvention Tools Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) to improve competition and provide the agency with access to innovative and improved technologies and capabilities, enhanced metrics, improved performance and competitive pricing. This Open Season solicitation is open to firms currently holding BOAs with the OIF that wish to be considered for projects under additional task areas of their BOAs. The solicitation is also open to all other responsible business concerns that are actively registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) and that have the requisite technical capability and experience necessary to provide Internet Censorship Circumvention solutions and related services. The agency plans to hold competitive procurements for the issuance of new task orders after concluding the Open Season selection process. The agency anticipates that new task order solicitations will be issued during fiscal year 2021. However, the exact date for issuance of new task order solicitations is not guaranteed and may occur at any time of the year or may not occur at all. SOLICITATION INSTRUCTIONS General This is a Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13 solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation. Proposals are being requested and no other request for proposals will be issued during this Open Season period. This solicitation sets forth submission requirements for proposals for a Task Order contract to provide the USAGM with a variety of Internet Censorship Circumvention services as described herein in the Description of Services. Proposals conforming to the solicitation requirements will be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation and award criteria set forth herein. Neither the solicitation nor any part of a submitted proposal will become part of the resulting contract except to the extent expressly incorporated therein by the Contracting Officer. Procurement Authority The agency will conduct this procurement action under its statutory authority to conduct procurements without regard to any other provision of law relating to such procurements [See 22 U.S.C. 6204(a)(10)]. Where Congress has authorized a government entity to acquire goods or services “notwithstanding any other provision of law related to the acquisition of such goods or services…”, those transactions, by their nature, are not subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), or to other procurement-related laws, such as the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) [See 10 U.S.C. 2304, “…except in the case of procurement procedures otherwise expressly authorized by statute…”]. Because competition requirements under CICA will not apply to the procurement, GAO will not have jurisdiction over protests related to the Open Season selection process or to any task order awarded under the BOA. All protests related to the procurement must be submitted directly to the contracting officer, whose final decisions are appealable to the agency’s Senior Procurement Executive. Notice on Availability of Solicitation This solicitation will remain open through the initial submission due date, and will remain continuously open until it is closed by the agency. While the solicitation remains open, the agency will continue to accept and consider new proposals that are submitted in accordance with the solicitation instructions. After the initial submission deadline and award of BOAs, the agency intends to conduct a quarterly review and evaluation of new proposal received until the agency closes the solicitation; however, the agency reserves its right to evaluate new proposals more or less frequently than on a quarterly basis and may award new BOAs at any time. Submission Requirements Interested Firms shall submit a Proposal in accordance with the following requirements: Format – Offerors must submit their written proposals in either Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Adobe-compatible PDF formats. Font type and size of proposals shall be Arial or Times New Roman, no smaller than 12-point pitch, respectively. Smaller fonts are acceptable for graphics, figures, tables, footnotes, and legends. Proposals shall be presented on 8 ½ x 11-inch page size with 1-inch margins. Proposal documents may be submitted in PDF format if desired. Hard copies will not be accepted. Content and Arrangement of Proposals - Offerors may submit proposals for one or more of the BOA’s six (6) Task Areas, which are described in the Description of Task Areas section of this solicitation. Proposals must include the name and address of the firm, the firm’s mailing address if it is different from its main address, and the firm’s DUNS Number. All proposals must indicate clearly the Task Area(s) in which the firm seeks consideration for award, and must address the following criteria in order to receive consideration for an award: Volume 1 - Capabilities and Qualifications - To be considered, Offerors are required to submit a description of their company history and an informative capability statement that describes in detail the firm’s subject matter expertise, capabilities, credentials, general experience and other qualifications that enable it to successfully undertake projects under one or more of the BOA’s Task Areas. Volume 2 - Past Performance and Experience - In addition, each submission must include specific and relevant examples of the Offeror’s past performance and experience history conducting work or research in the Task Areas under which the Offeror seeks consideration. Pricing Information - Pricing information is not required at this time. Pricing information will be requested only when solicitations are issued for the performance of task orders under the various task areas. Submission Due Date – Firms submitting proposals for consideration (Offerors) must submit their proposals via e-mail to Natalie Ellis, Contract Specialist, at nellis@usagm.gov and to J.R Hill, Branch Chief, at chill@usagm.gov no later than 9:00 A.M Eastern Daylight Time on Monday October 19, 2020. The email subject line must read: Proposal - Internet Censorship Circumvention Tools BOA – [Name of Firm] QUESTIONS - Submit all questions via email to Natalie Ellis at nellis@usagm.gov by 12:00 P.M Eastern Daylight Time on Monday October 5, 2020. Please be advised that the Government reserves the right to transmit those questions and answers of a common interest to all prospective Firms. EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS The USAGM may evaluate proposals as they are received, including proposals received prior to the proposal due date. The Government will evaluate the following elements of each proposal submitted in response to this solicitation: Compliant Proposal – The agency will evaluate the Offeror’s submission to determine whether it complies with the solicitation’s format, content and submission instructions. The agency may reject non-compliant submissions or may, at its discretion, return a non-compliant submission for revision. Overall Technical Capability - The agency will evaluate the Offeror’s capability statement to assess the firm’s subject matter expertise, capabilities, credentials, general experience and other qualifications as they relate to the BOA’s Task Areas to determine the agency’s confidence in the firm’s probability of successfully undertaking and completing projects under one or more of the BOA’s Task Areas, based on the firm’s stated technical capabilities. Past Performance and Experience History - The agency will evaluate the Offeror’s experience developing similar tools or providing services of similar scope and complexity to those required to determine the agency’s confidence in the firm’s probability of successfully undertaking and completing projects under one or more of the BOA’s Task Areas, based on the firm’s experience. The Offeror’s submission shall contain verifiable detailed information about its past performance and relevant experience history performing the same or similar services as those in Task Areas in which it seeks consideration. The Offeror’s submission must include, where possible, a description of at least three prior projects, their associated deliverables, and client contact information for each experience reference. The point of contact must be someone who can verify the Offeror’s past performance. BASIS FOR AWARD The USAGM will award a BOA to the responsible Offeror, whose proposal conforms to the submission instructions of this solicitation and whose proposal the agency determines, through a comprehensive evaluation, demonstrates that the firm is highly qualified and capable of providing the necessary internet censorship circumvention services to the agency. The USAGM intends to award BOAs to multiple offerors during this Open Season. Entering into a BOA with the USAGM does not guarantee that an offeror will receive a task order for work; however, all offerors holding BOAs will be afforded an opportunity to compete for task orders in the Task Area(s) under which they are qualified, unless the agency has a justifiable basis for limiting competition. SOLICITATION PROVISIONS The following solicitation provisions and contract clauses are incorporated into this solicitation by reference and the resulting BOA, respectively, and automatically flow down to all task order solicitations and task order contracts issued under the resulting BOA. The full text of all Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provisions are available electronically at http://www.acquisition.gov/far 52.212-1 Instruction to Offerors-Commercial Items 52.212-2 Evaluation-Commercial Items 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items (Complying with this provision requires prospective Offerors to register in the System for Award Management (SAM) website at www.sam.gov (Offerors must be registered in SAM prior to submitting a proposal.)) 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items 52.204-24, Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment 52.204-25, Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment 52.204-26, Covered Telecommunications Equipment or Services-Representation 52.227-14 Rights in Data-General 52.242-15 Stop-Work Order. CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION Contract Type The Government intends to award Basic Ordering Agreements (BOAs) from this Open Season Solicitation. The contract type for each task order awarded under the BOA will be determined at the time task order solicitations are issued. The BOA provides for the issuance of task orders issued on a firm fixed- price basis. When necessary and in the best interest of the agency, task orders may be awarded on a time-and-materials basis also. Place of Performance All services under this BOA shall be performed from the Contractor’s facilities, unless a task order specifies otherwise. Ordering Period The existing BOA is currently in its first year of a five year ordering period that ends on August 3, 2025. The agency may award task orders against the BOA at any time during the ordering period. Task orders placed during the ordering period may extend beyond the BOA’s ordering period and may include optional periods of performance. There are no optional periods that may be exercised on the BOA. Funding This BOA does not obligate funds. All funding requirements for subsequent work will be determined at the time task orders are awarded. DESCRIPTON OF SERVICES Background The USAGM is determined to expand freedom of expression by continuing to explore, develop, and fund the most secure and effective internet freedom tools. The USAGM accomplishes this goal through its Office of Internet Freedom (OIF). The OIF’s mission is to support the testing, deployment, and management of technologies that circumvent internet blocking, filtering, and other censorship techniques principally used by repressive regimes. It accomplishes its mission by backing technologies that will embolden journalists, activists, and other citizens fighting for liberty around the world by allowing them to evade censorship and surveillance. The OIF backs these technologies by funding and administering contracts and other agreements that provide the public with censorship circumvention technology. The USAGM’s Basic Ordering Agreement for Internet Censorship Circumvention Tools is one such contractual agreement. General BOA Information The USAGM in the past has awarded a variety of contracts and agreements for internet censorship circumvention tools. The current Internet Censorship Circumvention Tools BOA is a multiple-award/multiple task-area agreement that is currently in its first year of a five year ordering period. The BOA provides for services under six (6) Task Areas. Scope of BOA The overall purpose of the BOA and the general nature of the work for Task Orders awarded under the BOA is to obtain Internet censorship circumvention tools and services. The primary supplies and services required under this contract relate to state-of-the art, specialized information technology (IT) software and systems for circumventing Internet censorship by foreign governments, and require active, ongoing maintenance and support throughout the term of the Task Orders by the Contractor to ensure required service levels. Description of Task Areas The USAGM's internet censorship circumvention requirements are categorized into one or more of the task areas described below. Some task orders may require the delivery of integrated censorship circumvention platforms, which may require the Contractor to provide services encompassing several different task areas, while other task orders may require services related to only a single task area. TASK AREA 1: Circumvention Client Software Requires the provision of software to circumvent Internet censorship imposed by foreign governments and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) using client software technology, which, at a minimum, transparently proxies Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) traffic, and may, based on individual Task Order requirements, implement transparent proxy services for additional protocol traffic, up to and including full Virtual Private Network (VPN) service. The software will work on operating systems as specified in each individual Task Order, which may include various desktop and mobile computing devices. The software must allow Internet users in target countries to use the client software package to circumvent the censorship of the Internet within their country. This shall be accomplished by accessing a network of servers operated by the firm, which are distributed globally and use a diverse set of Dynamic Internet Protocol (IP) addresses which cannot easily be discovered, enumerated, and blocked. TASK AREA 2: Clientless Web Proxies Requires the provision of a network of web proxies which may be accessed by any web browser which supports Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS) and which can be distributed by USAGM broadcasters. The system must allow Internet users in target countries to circumvent the censorship of the Internet within their country by accessing web proxies operated by the firm, which are distributed globally and use a diverse set of domain names and dynamic IP addresses which cannot easily be discovered, enumerated, and blocked. The proxy sites will need to be changed regularly, based on the specifics of site blockages in the target countries. TASK AREA 3: Data privacy and security tools Requires the provision of software that uses cryptography to protect user privacy for digital information stored on computers and/or mobile devices from discovery and access by parties not specifically authorized by the user. The software may provide various features including, but not limited to, secure on-device storage, anonymous access to the internet, and secure communication, but the overriding principles must be to allow for user privacy and security in countries where internet freedom is threatened. TASK AREA 4: Training Requires the development and conduct/delivery of training courses in digital security and circumvention tools for journalists and stringers in various countries worldwide who produce news and other content for USAGM, as well as for trainers and other relevant personnel. Local trainers may be required to conduct/deliver the training courses in several designated languages around the world. Depending on USAGM’s needs, the training may require in-person, online and/or digital delivery. TASK AREA 5: Censorship Circumvention Technical Expertise and Support Requires the provision of technical expertise in Internet censorship circumvention to further the USAGM's other Internet anticensorship initiatives. This may consist of producing technical documentation and reports on the current state of Internet censorship in target countries; providing computer programming and software engineering for USAGM's internal software products, open source software, or the firm’s other software; or setup, maintenance, and operation of computer systems and network devices as described in the Task Order. The firm may be tasked with providing personnel on-site at USAGM offices in Washington, DC, and such personnel may be required either on a short term (e.g. Weekly) or full-time basis, and may be needed on a quick reaction basis to meet emergency operation requirements. TASK AREA 6: Promotion of Internet Freedom Tools and Techniques Requires the promotion and distribution of tools and techniques within USAGM, as well as its entities and in USAGM target regions, to provide information and awareness of the availability of such tools and techniques that allow for securely accessing and sharing USAGM broadcasting networks’ online news and other programming to counter foreign government-sponsored Internet censorship controls. Notice to firms currently holding a BOA for OIF’s Internet Censorship Circumvention Tools: The preceding task area descriptions reflect scope revisions to Task Areas 3 and 4, and the inclusion of a new Task Area 6. The USAGM will modify the existing BOAs to reflect the new requirements at the conclusion of the Open Season selection process. Firms currently holding BOAs with the OIF that wish to be considered for projects under these revised or additional task areas of their BOAs must submit proposals in response to this solicitation. 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