Elicitation Software

SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS The National Center for Credibility Assessment (NCCA) is issuing this sources sought synopsis as a means of conducting market research to identify parties having the resources to provide Elicitation Software (ES) capabilities. The results of this market research will contribute to determining future possible methods of procurement. THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AT THIS TIME. This request for capability information does not constitute a request for proposals; any submission of proprietary information shall be clearly marked; the government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred. If your organization has the potential capacity to provide the software described in appendix 1, please provide the following information: 1) Organization name, address, email address, Web site address, telephone number, and business size; 2) Tailored capability statements addressing the topics in appendix 1, Request for Information, with appropriate documentation supporting claims of organizational and staff capability; 3) ability to provide software and related services consistent in scope and scale with those described in this notice and otherwise anticipated; and 4) ability to provide the services under a performance based service acquisition contract. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding their submissions. Submission Instructions: Interested parties who consider themselves qualified to perform the below-listed services are invited to submit a response to this Sources Sought Notice by noon on February 22, 2013. All responses under this Sources Sought Notice must be emailed to contact@example.gov. If you have any questions concerning this sources sought please contact: David Sheppard at contact@example.gov. APPENDIX 1: Purpose and Objectives Background Given the high costs and amount of time involved in suitability assessments of applicants for employment, NCCA is researching effective, efficient methods to do a preliminary screening of applicants. The NCCA is researching capabilities in the area of Elicitation Software (ES) that may be suitable for use in screening applicants for Law Enforcement Positions. It is envisioned that the ES will be administered online relatively early in the application process, but only to candidates who can be considered serious job applicants. This might occur, for example, after all written selection tests have been passed, scores have been entered into official records, and a tentative selection letter has been sent to the applicant. Prior to responding to the ES, applicants will be informed that all their responses will be subject to verification by other screening processes, including a polygraph examination and an extensive background investigation. The use of ES will be subject to the same legal constraints applied to the suitability assessment processes that are currently included in the application process. It is envisioned that all data generated by the ES will be used as part of a final suitability determination; however, no data, responses, grades, scores, purported or claimed indications of deception, or any other information obtained by the ES can be used as an absolute or final selection screen. Prior to operational use, the ES would go through one or more validation assessments through the NCCA. Request for Information Vendors of Elicitation Software should provide a description of the software program as well as information pertaining to the following functions: - On line availability- example: 24-hour per day on the vendor's proprietary website. - ES will not be merely a digitized version of a written form or of the SF-86. - Describe the capacity to handle high volume- example: number of respondents in a 24hr. period. - Experience directly related to ES (creation, installation, modifications based on user needs, data handling and reporting, security and privacy issues, etc.). - Experience or capability with data involving DRUG USE and CRIMES (to include unreported crimes). - Capacity to record, organize and produce written documentation of all information revealed by the applicant in each of the areas of coverage (preferably including deletions, response times, completion times and any "response scores" or statistics calculated in ES). - Process and capacity for required login/password. - Ability to impose time-limits on applicant's access to ES -example: 1week from granting initial access and one week from initial logon. - Ability to provide a "dropout" option for applicants to select if they choose not to proceed with the application process, with the capacity to collect and report data on number of dropouts. - Ability to provide all available data to NCCA in a timely manner including reports, raw response data, dropouts, response deletions or edits, time to complete, number of applicants. - Capacity to collect, report, and interpret response latencies and other response characteristics. - Describe process for ensuring no personally identifiable information (PII) is collected from respondents and only applicant ID# provided by GOV is used to identify respondents. - Capability for modification/removal of topics from existing software (i.e. PII, work history, medical, addresses, and all other data not related specifically to drug usage and crimes committed, both reported and unreported). - Estimated costs and timeline associated with modifying the software. - Capability to provide ES-based Go/No-Go information to GOV based on applicant responses including evidence for the validity of the models or formulas used to derive this information. - Capability to provide information to respondents about likelihood of suitability based on decision/feedback model provided by the government. - Ease of installation and operability for applicant and administrator. - Description of typical issues in ease of administration and applicant screening. - Ease of extraction of responses and output from ES. - Extent to which software is proprietary to manufacturer. - Ability to handle issues of security and confidentiality and compliance with U.S. Government information assurance, cyber security and the Privacy Act. - Ability to ensure Section 508 compliance.