A--Combined Combined Solicitation Genealogy Research

Offers are to be received at the Department of Veterans Affairs, NCO 19 Rocky Mountain Acquisition Center, 4100 East Mississippi Avenue, Suite 900, Glendale, CO 80246 Attn: Shelly Johnstone, Contract Specialist no later than 11:30 A.M. mountain time on September 25, 2014. PROPOSALS SUBMITTED BY FASCIMILE (FAX MACHINE) WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. You may contact Shelly Johnstone, via email at contact@example.gov or via telephone at +1 (555) 000-0000. Questions Regarding Solicitation Number: VA259-14-R-0671 Creation and Analysis of a Genealogy/Medical Phenotype Resource Question 1: Has the VA considered utilizing genealogical data obtained from genealogical research already conducted for other government agencies to add to the database? Answer 1: Not at this time Question 1: Has the VA considered asking permission from the veteran population to be included on a list of veterans who give their permission to have genealogy research conducted to contribute to the building of the database for purposes of biomedical and genetics research? Answer 2: At this early point we are building a base genealogy. We fully expect to ask Veterans to contribute their own genealogy and phenotype and exposure data in future Question 3: If contractor is to give special focus on individuals eligible to have served in the military after 1940, does this include individuals born after 1900 or born after 1920? Answer 3: We are attempting to build the genealogy of the US, so all individuals are included; any effort that increases the number of veterans still alive will enhance our record linkage. Question 4: Would it be acceptable for contractor to use veteran lists obtained elsewhere for targeted research? Answer 4: We are not interested in any targeted research right now; we are trying to get our US genealogy built Question 5: Should our focus be only on living veteran genealogies, or are genealogies of deceased veterans to be included? Answer 5: All US genealogies are to be included Question 6: Has Washington and Oregon been selected as the next two states because of the ability to potentially link the genealogy data to existing veteran medical records? Or is there some other reason? Answer 6: We are starting with the states that appear to have the most genealogy data resources available and because of the number of VHA patients and because of migration patterns of these states which should allow tie in other data already in the genealogy. Question 7: Please define what size pedigree, how many generations, or degree of relationship is desired for each genealogy: first-degree, second-degree, third-degree, fourth degree, etc. Answer 7: We are trying to find genealogy for 32 million new individuals. We do this using GEnealogical Data COMmunication (GEDCOM) files…the bigger, the better Question 8: The solicitation states that each genealogy will contain records for approximately 2,000 persons. Is there a minimum and maximum number of family members desired for each genealogy? Answer 8: This is our estimate of the average size GEDCOM file Question 9: Please list the exact information you want provided in the GEDCOM file for each family member. For example, name, date of birth, place of birth, place of death, maiden name, vital records, sources, etc. Answer 9: GEDCOM is a standard format; we want the entire file for each individual with all information provided. Question 10: How do you want the GEDCOM data files to be transferred on a monthly basis to Pleiades Software Development (PSD)? Via File Transfer Protocol (FTP), email, login to a proprietary system? Answer 10: Transfer of data files is to be determined Question 11: Do you want only verified family data, linked to vital records? Answer 11: We want all available GEDCOM files. Question 12: Or do you want public family tree data that likely has unverified family information? Answer 12: All GEDCOM files representing these states are ok Question 13: Is Pleiades Software Development capable of identifying incorrect genealogy data from unverified public trees? Answer 13: Yes. The record linking system assigns a quality score (based on a number of factors) to incoming data; data sources with scores below a certain threshold are not added to the database. Most GEDCOM files contains inconsistencies of one type or another (loops, incorrect dates, errors in names, etc.), this is dealt with automatically as the data is linked. Question 14: Who provided the genealogy research services for the previous feasibility project that included Utah and Massachusetts? Answer 14: Pleiades Software Development Question 15: In the previous feasibility project, how many hours were devoted, on average, to building each genealogy? Answer 15: PSD has been building large genealogies for various research groups since 1995 and data collection efforts have been ongoing since that time. The software used for record linking has been in development since 1980. It is not possible to give a reasonable, useful answer to this question. Question 16: Would it be permissible for us to contact Pleiades Software Development to discuss collaboration and technical details? Answer 16: yes Question 17: On page 4 of the solicitation, in the Scope of Work Section, last sentence states that: The contractor that will perform the services covered by this contract must have over 30 years' experience in record linking, have experience working on the UPDB; have access to Pleiades linking software, and have all of the VA required security measures already in place. We have significant experience providing genealogical research services to the federal government and we conduct genealogical research in every state in the country, but we have no significant prior experience working on the UPDB. Since this is listed as a qualification of the contract, would this preclude us from being eligible to provide services for this project? Answer 16: yes Question 17: Is your intent to award to one or multiple awardee/s? Answer 17: one Question 18: If your intent is to award to a single contractor, please explain rationale of using only one contractor to deliver services for this large project? Answer 18: Budget limitations Question 19: Can proposals be emailed to Contract Specialist? Or is hard copy required? Answer 19: Proposals can be emailed to Contracting Specialist Question 20: What information will be provided to genealogy contractor to determine what names are to be researched? Answer 20: We are seeking genealogy data for specific states (Oregon, Washington, etc.); no names will be provided. Question 21: Is the VA able to provide contractor with a list of veteran names to specifically be researched? Answer 21: No names will be provided (see # 1 above) Question 22: If so, what information will be provided to contractor? Name, date of birth, mother's name, etc. Answer 22: No information will be provided to contractor except the states whose genealogy must be provided Question 23: Is your current intent to create genealogies for anyone (veterans and non-veterans) with roots in Washington and Oregon, and other states? Or specifically for the veteran population? Answer 23: Our goal is to build a representative population for the entire United States with focus on a few states (Washington, Oregon, etc.) for this phase of the project. We hope that by doing a search for genealogy with individual born in certain birth cohorts that we will discover veterans' genealogy, but there is no efficient way to look for veterans specifically. Service details are not a part of most genealogy data. Question 24: If a list of names is not provided, is contractor to conduct genealogical research only on individuals available to serve in the military from 1940 on? Answer 24: Our goal is to collect genealogies which contain individuals in the correct birth cohort in the target states. Hopefully this will include individuals in the veteran population but until the phase of the project where we link the data to veteran data at the VA, we have no way of measuring our success. Question 25: What specific information will be provided to contractor to initiate genealogy requests? Answer 25: none. Only the states of interest will be provided to the contractor. Question 26: Please define what size pedigree, how many generations, or degree of relationship is desired for each genealogy: first-degree, second-degree, third-degree, fourth degree, etc. The provided pedigrees should contain at least 4 generations of individuals. Answer 26: The size of the pedigree is not as important as its completeness. For example a genealogy that contains one individual and only that individual's parents, grandparents, etc. is not as useful as a genealogy that contains in addition, that individual's sibs, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. Question 27: Please list the information you want provided in the GEDCOM file for each family member. For example, name, date of birth, vital record indexes, etc. Answer 27: Names, gender, birth and death dates, birth and death place (city, state, county, state, country), marriage date and place. Question 28: How do you want the GEDCOM data files to be transferred on a monthly basis to Pleiades? Answer 28: File Transfer Protocol (FTP), website or login to a proprietary system, etc. An ftp site will be provided to receive the files. Question 29: Have you considered also utilizing genealogical data obtained from genealogical research already conducted for other government agencies to add to the database? Answer 29: No, we are not aware of any. Question 30: To ensure we have a comprehensive understanding of the project requirements and objectives, would it be possible to have a brief meeting or conference call to discuss the project prior to providing our response? Answer 30: Yes. Question 31: Has Pleiades Software Development provided genealogical research services for this project in the past, or are they only providing the record linking component? Answer 31: They provided the first 38 million individual genealogy records and did all record linking for the first phase. Question 32: Would it be permissible for us to contact Pleiades Software Development to discuss collaboration and technical details? Answer 32: Yes. Question 33: Do you have a preference for pricing to be presented either in hourly format versus flat rate? If yes, please state your preference. Answer 33: We require 10 million NEW individuals (not previously provided or in the 38 million individual already created) to be provided each year for 3 years. Flat rate is fine Question 34: Is there current funding already in place for this project? Answer 34: Yes