BRDIS Services

NOTICE OF INTENT: The U.S. Census Bureau intends to award a noncompetitive contract to Twin Ravens Consulting. The purpose of this procurement is to obtain expert advice and assistance to the Census Bureau through the Business R&D and Innovation Survey (BRDIS). The BRDIS is conducted under an interagency agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF). To assist with its work on the BRDIS, the Census Bureau requires the subject matter expertise possessed by Twin Ravens Consulting in the areas of research and development, innovation and technical experience in the design and improvement of enterprise survey methodology and in the analysis and presentation of BRDIS data. Any interested vendor in this procurement must fully demonstrate its capabilities and approach in meeting the following tasks and essential skills below: Task 1 - Management and Coordination Activities a. Participation in management meetings. The contractor will assist project leaders from NSF and the Census Bureau in defining the meeting agendas and prioritizing issues. As needed, the contractor will facilitate meetings and identify areas of mutual agreement when conflicts arise. As needed, the contractor will produce options memos or research summaries for the steering committee based on the work of various project teams as well as other summarized documentation the survey management may need to make well-informed decisions. b. Provide research, design, and content support for conferences and meetings. The contractor will assist in the research, writing, and presentation of content for both internal project meetings as well as external venues such as the Joint Statistical Meeting of the American Statistical Association. This may require use of various software packages including SAS, JMP, Power Point, MS Project, MS Word, and Excel. c. Provide subject matter and analytic support and training to survey staff. The contractor will respond promptly to all requests for information/assistance from survey staff. The contractor will also participate in weekly status update meetings so that the contractor can provide subject-matter expertise and answer questions in a group setting. The contractor will develop and maintain training materials reflecting the current state of BRDIS and incorporate answers to questions received from survey staff. The contractor will train survey staff on topics including BRDIS subject matter, corporate accounting, analytic techniques, and survey methodology as requested by BRDIS management. Task 2 - Team Participation a. Provide BRDIS content and industry coverage knowledge and expertise. The contractor shall have the knowledge and experience to advise BRDIS project managers on developments in specific technology companies/industries, accounting standards, tax regulations, and economic research that is relevant to the subject matter of BRDIS. b. Participate in the production and review of BRDIS data products. The contractor shall assess and provide recommendations on data user needs in order to propose new data products. The contractor will perform macro-level review of BRDIS data tables prior to their public dissemination. The contractor shall also be responsible for preparing custom tabulations and analytic reports using BRDIS data. c. Work with BRDIS staff to develop and refine the survey frame and sample design. The contractor shall be responsible for writing specific chapters of the technical notes and methodology report for BRDIS. d. Evaluate and recommend alternative methods of industry classification and collecting/reporting line of business/business segment data. The Contractor shall be responsible for recommending changes to the list of business codes used by BRDIS and drafting updates to the list as necessary. e. Provide analytical review, quality control and quality assurance. The contractor shall participate in the review and correction of data reported by companies to BRDIS. The contractor will also assist BRDIS managers in implementing quality control and quality assurance procedures to improve the overall quality of BRDIS data through analyst review. The contractor will be required to lead debriefing meetings with company respondents to assess the quality of data reported to the survey and identify areas required additional resources. f. Provide instrument design and testing. The contractor shall work with the survey managers to develop and test changes to the BRDIS. The contractor shall lead record keeping and cognitive interviews with survey respondents to test proposed changes to survey questions and instructions. g. Review and improve BRDIS editing and imputation procedures. The contractor shall review current BRDIS editing and imputation methodology and identify areas for possible improvements. The contractor will be required to write technical specifications that will be used during the implementation of the specific imputation/edit processes. The contractor will be required to review SAS programs as well as specifications within the Census Bureau's Standard Editing and Processing System (StEPS). h. Design and improvement of survey tools. The contractor will assist BRDIS staff to develop and improve tools and methods used to collect, review, edit, and tabulate BRDIS data using software applications such as Excel, JMP, MS Visual Basic, and SAS. ESSENTIAL SKILLS 1) The contractor shall possess successful in-depth knowledge and experience of BRDIS to: a) Plan, develop and implement all technical aspects of the BRDIS project i) The contractor shall present on the BRDIS design process, lessons learned, survey data quality, comparability of BRDIS data to other R&D survey data, and initial survey results as needed for data user meetings, industry expert panels, Census and NSF management, and professional association meetings. ii) The contractor shall have software development expertise, particularly with web-based applications and Microsoft Excel applications. Knowledge of HTML, CSS, javascript, Visual Basic for Microsoft Excel are essential to support and improve the electronic survey instrument and other electronic tools used for data collection, analysis, and survey management. iii) The contractor shall have technical experience to draft new and/or modified questions, instructions, and supporting survey material for review and approval by the survey content and instrument design team. Proposal shall reflect an expert understanding of the survey content, survey design principles, and reporting patterns of BRDIS respondents. b) Advise the BRDIS steering committee i) The contractor shall have expertise in the following areas to adequately inform the steering committee: knowledge gained from BRDIS respondent debriefings, an understanding of BRDIS data user needs, an understanding of corporate accounting and recordkeeping practices, an understanding of international standards for collecting R&D and innovation data, reviews of survey data (micro and macro), best practices from other enterprise R&D surveys. c) Train and Present BRDIS i) The contractor shall have in-depth knowledge of BRDIS user operation to train survey analysts and survey clerks in Jeffersonville, IN on the BRDIS subject matter. ii) The contractor shall present on the BRDIS design process, lessons learned, survey data quality, comparability of BRDIS data to other R&D survey data, and initial survey results as needed for data user meetings, industry expert panels, Census and NSF management, and professional association meetings. d) Analyze BRDIS data i) The contractor shall have analytical expertise to review current BRDIS methodologies and identify areas for possible improvements in the editing, imputation, sample design, estimation, and frame development programs of the current BRDIS project. ii) The contractor shall possess familiarity with BRDIS data to propose deletions, additions, and changes to the set of business codes used to collect sales and R&D data on BRDIS based on analysis of survey data, knowledge of industry structure, and knowledge of data user needs. iii) The contractor shall review reported BRDIS data for completeness and accuracy at the macro and micro level. iv) The contractor shall be able answer technical questions from survey analysts regarding reported survey data, edit failures, or questions from respondents. e) Understanding organizational recordkeeping and accounting principles dealing with company R&D activities. i) The contractor shall have the capability to lead recordkeeping interviews, cognitive pre-testing interviews and respondent debriefings to inform decisions on BRDIS survey content and assess BRDIS data quality. The government anticipates the services will be obtained through a firm fixed price contract for a total duration of 60 months (12-month base and four 12-month optional periods). A determination not to compete this proposed contract has been made Pursuant to 41 U.S. C. 253(c)(1), as implemented by 6.302-1, this requirement has been justified and approved in accordance with FAR 6.303 and FAR 6.304. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. Interested individuals capable of doing this type of work must submit their written capabilities statements that demonstrate the identified tasks and essential/desirable skills and DUNS number via electronic submission at contact@example.gov. No information will be taken by telephone or mail. Any questions regarding this notice should be directed to Paul Boesch, email: contact@example.gov as soon as possible, but not later than 8:00am (EST), November 13, 2015. Any such statement of capabilities and qualifications received by the deadline will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to compete this requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.