CMVP Tester Exam Development and Provisioning

Document Type: Sources Sought Notice Notice Number: AMDTC-21-0001 Title: CMVP Tester Exam Development and Provisioning NAICS Code: 611710 - Educational Support Services Contracting Office Address National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Acquisition Management Division, 100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 1640, Gaithersburg, MD, 20899-1640 Sources Sought Notice AMDTC-21-0001 Project Title: CMVP Tester Exam Development and Provisioning This is a Sources Sought Notice ONLY. Requests for copies of a solicitation will not receive a response. This Notice is for planning purposes only and is not a Request for Proposal or Request for Quotation or an obligation on the part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for conducting a follow-on acquisition. NIST does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Notice, or otherwise pay for the information requested. No entitlement or payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by NIST will arise as a result of submission of responses to this Notice and NIST use of such information. NIST recognizes that proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary data and present it as an addendum to the non-restricted/non-proprietary information. In the absence of such identification, NIST will assume to have unlimited rights to all technical data in the information paper. NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS EXIST AT THIS TIME. Background: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) promotes the U.S. economy and public welfare by providing technical leadership for the nation's measurement and standards infrastructure. NIST's responsibilities include the development of management, administrative, technical, and physical standards and guidelines for the cost-effective security and privacy of other than national security-related information in Federal information systems. In advancing its mission objectives, NIST must validate cryptographic modules and cryptographic algorithms, and ensure independent, National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) accredited laboratories meet competence and performance criteria for conducting algorithm and module testing. NIST's Computer Security Division's (CSD) objective for this tasking includes developing a computer-based competency exam and administering the exam to NVLAP accredited laboratory testers for the Security Testing, Validation and Measurement (STVM) Group's cryptographic validation programs. Requirement: NIST is seeking information on contractors who can provide the following general services: It is anticipated the tasks will be accomplished in two phases: 1 Test Development 2 Implement testing and maintenance Phase 1: Test Development - Create exams (currently 2 exams, one for 140-3 and one for approved cryptography implementation), based on questions and answers developed by NIST. -Exams will be 100 questions each from a pool of possible questions for each test. Questions will be developed by NIST and then adjusted as necessary to remove bias. The contractor shall: Edit and balance the questions (take out bias, grammar, and not have a pattern), Assess the difficulty of each question, and Be able to either assemble a balanced test from the pool of questions, or create multiple tests that can be chosen so that the test would not be easy to memorize over time, by a person with good memory or by a lab pooling their memory of the tests taken. -Based on NIST's evaluation of the difficulty for each question, Vendor will determine passing score -Work with NIST to assess post test score patterns or issues 2 Implement testing and maintenance: The Contractor shall: -Provide secure testing centers worldwide within 50 miles of CST Labs, currently located in the US and Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Spain, Australia, and Taiwan. - Deliver the exam, onsite, within approximately 30 miles of the candidates home or office for the 20+ labs that include, at least the countries listed above (more may be added over time). Those taking the exam will travel to a vendor controlled secure testing center (physical location). -Remote testing (virtual test center) has been determined to be insufficient for our needs. -Candidates shall contact vendor directly to schedule testing but must be approved by NIST to take tests. Candidates will pay a fee (TBD) to offset the cost to the government. -Vendor shall be responsible for authenticating candidates, securing their results, and protecting questions from unauthorized access or removal. Vendor shall provide only NIST with results. -Vendor shall work with NIST for the notification of the candidate. -Included in testing is support maintenance. Questions may be updated/refreshed at least twice a year. New questions will be vetted for bias and difficulty by the vendor and the government so that the scoring difficulty of the test can be adjusted and testing can continue. At the conclusion of the update/refresh, the vendor will update the test provided to the candidates. Work with NIST to review the questions, editing, adding or substituting as necessary up to ~10% of the questions Balance and assess questions Update tests to incorporate changes Period of Performance: Phase 1: Test development ~ Four months from date of award Phase 2: Testing and maintenance - 12-month period of performance, beginning upon completion of test development (Phase 1) with two 12-month option periods. Interested parties shall describe the capabilities of their organization as it relates to the services described above. NIST anticipates issuing a Request for Quotation in the first or second quarter of FY21 and awarding a contract no later than the third or fourth quarter of FY21. NIST is seeking responses from all responsible sources, particularly small business concerns. The small business size standard associated with the NAICS code for this effort, 611710, is $16.5 Million. Please include your company's size classification and socio-economic status in any response to this notice. After results of this market research are obtained and analyzed, NIST may conduct a competitive procurement and subsequently award a contract. Companies that can provide such services are requested to email a written response describing their abilities to Lynda.Horton@nist.gov no later than the response date for this sources sought notice. The following information is requested to be provided as part of the response to this sources sought notice: Name, Address, DUNS number, CAGE code, and point of contact information of your company. Any information on the company's small business certifications, if applicable. Description of your company's capabilities as they relate to the services described in this notice. A description of your company's previous experience providing the services described in this notice. Indication of whether the services described in this notice are currently offered via your company's GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts, Government-wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), or other existing Government-wide contract vehicles; and, if so, the contract number(s) for those vehicles. Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in finalizing its market research. Responses are limited to a total of twelve (12) pages. The responses must be in PDF format. Pages shall be 8-inch x 11-inch, using Times New Roman 11 Point Font. Each page shall have adequate margins on each side (at least one inch) of the page. Header/footer information (which does not include any information to be analyzed) may be included in the 1" margin space.