IDIs on Perceptions of USIM in Afghanistan

Title: IDIs on Perceptions of USIM in Afghanistan Solicitation Number - BBG50-Q-15-0063 (i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. (ii) Solicitation No. BBG50-Q-15-0063 is issued as a Request For Quotation (RFQ) for a Firm-Fixed -Price Simplified Acquisition contract that will be awarded using the SAP procedures in FAR Part 13 and Acquisition of Commercial Items, FAR Part 12. (iii) This solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect from the Federal Acquisition Regulations 2005-83, dated August 5, 2015. (iv) This is a full and open competition. The North American Industry Classification Systems (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 541910. (v) The Contractor shall provide and be responsible for managing all logistical aspects of the project above and should engage local support staff as necessary to complete the following in accordance with attached Statement of Work. Screener. BBG, via the Market Insight staff at RFE/RL, will provide a draft screening questionnaire within one week of contract award that the Offeror will format and translate into Dari and Pashto. Offeror will be welcome to offer suggestions for improvement. Recruiting participants. Offeror will recruit all participants according to the screening criteria listed above. Offeror will discuss proposed recruitment methods in the proposal. At least one week prior to the start of the first IDI, the Offeror will provide a brief description of the composition of the participants in terms of age, gender, occupation, etc. Offeror should recruit several alternatives in case any of the original participants are unable to participate or have not satisfactorily completed the home exercise. Home exercise questionnaire. BBG, via the Market Insight staff at RFE/RL, will provide the draft home exercise within two weeks of contract award. Offeror will be welcome to offer suggestions for improvement and is expected to format and translate the home exercise questionnaire into Dari and Pashto. BBG, via the Market Insight staff at RFE/RL, reserves the right to review the translation. Interview guide. BBG, via the Market Insight staff at RFE/RL, will provide the draft interview guide within three weeks of contract award. Offeror will be welcome to offer suggestions for improvement and is expected to format and translate interview guide into Dari/Pashto. BBG, via the Market Insight staff at RFE/RL, reserves the right to review the translation. Interviewer. Offeror will provide one or more trained and experienced qualitative interviewers for the project. In their proposal, Offeror will detail the proposed interviewers 'experience with IDIs in general and specify experience with media-related qualitative interviewing, if any. The interviewers should complete the same home exercise as the participants prior to the IDIs. Recording of IDIs. Audio and/or video record all aspects of research necessary for full and accurate data collection, transcript generation and inclusion of illustrative samples in the final analytical report. Offeror will film interviews and film should be high quality with clear sound. If participants do not consent to videotaping, audio recordings are acceptable. Written summary of IDIs. Offeror will provide a 2-3 page written summary of the interviews in idiomatic English within one week after the final IDI. Written analytical report. Offeror will analyze all resulting data, write and edit final analytic report (see Deliverables) for review, editing and acceptance by the BBG, via the Market Insight staff at RFE/RL, within four weeks of the final IDI. DELIVERABLES Analytic report of 25-30 pages in idiomatic English, which includes a one or two page executive summary, addressing the research needs outlined above. The report should include some illustrative quotes from the IDIs and be accompanied by short video elements, if possible. Offeror should clearly identify quotes (e.g. "Female, 22, student, occasional listener") so we know exactly which respondent said what. The report should also include relevant analysis of the diaries from the home exercise. Full transcripts of the discussions in Dari/Pashto and English. Video recordings of the discussions. Recording should be delivered to BBG, via the Market Insight staff at RFE/RL, electronically to the Market Insight FTP site or mailed on DVD or USB. TIMING The IDIs should be held as soon as possible after contract award. . (vi) The BBG's requirement is for a Contractor to gain insight into how Afghans view USIM and their place in the growing Afghan media market and to determine the importance of USIM's various delivery platforms in order to best position USIM broadcasting moving forward. (vii) The period of performance will start at time of award. Anticipated to be for 5 months. (viii) The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision FAR 52.212-1 Instruction to Offerors-Commercial Items, applies to this solicitation. Full text of all FAR clauses and provisions are available electronically at the following Internet address: (http://www.arnet.gov/far). In accordance with the Statement of Work. INTERESTED OFFERORS RESPONDING TO THIS SOLICITATION SHALL SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING ITEMS TO THE CONTRACTING SPECIALIST: (1) a Technical Proposal which addresses the technical factors described below in (ix) and (2) and a Price Proposal in accordance with (ix). The Price Proposal must contain a copy of the attached SF 1449 and which must be filled out by the interested contractor. The Government plans to award without discussions, but may conduct discussions if it deems it is in the Government's best interest. (ix)The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation-Commercial Items, applies to this solicitation. The Government will award a Commercial Item, Firm-Fixed-Price, contract resulting from this RFQ to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the RFQ will provide the best value to the Government. SELECTION CRITERIA An award will be made based on review of the Technical Capabilities and Experience as well as Pricing. Of the two Selection Criteria, Technical Capabilities and Experience, sub-criteria are as follows: 1. Offeror's demonstrated experience conducting focus group research in Afghanistan; 2. Offeror's demonstrated experience conducting media related qualitative studies in Afghanistan and producing actionable analytical reporting on such studies; 3. Professional qualifications and experience of proposed interviewer(s), the proposed writer of the analytical report and other project staff; 4. Proposed participant recruitment methods; and 5. Ability to complete the project in a timely manner. (x) Offerors shall include a completed copy of the provision FAR 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items with its offer. Offerors may either submit a paper copy of FAR Clause 52.212-3 or submit this information through the System of Award Management (SAM) at HTTPS://WWW.SAM.GOV/PORTAL/PUBLIC/SAM/. Proposals must also include contractor's DUNS Number, prompt payment terms, and correct remittance address, if different from mailing address. THE SUCCESSFUL OFFEROR MUST BE REGISTERED ONLINE IN THE SAM WEB SITE AT CONTRACT AWARD. (xi) The FAR clause 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition with addendum to the clause. The addendum in addition to the language contained in Attachment B is as follows: CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION The Contractor shall designate below a company official whom the BBG may contact during the period of performance of this contract for prompt contract administration: NAME: TITLE: ADDRESS: E-MAIL: PHONE: FACSIMILE: The Contractor shall also designate below a company official responsible for reviewing performance evaluation entered into the Contractor performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS). NAME: TITLE: ADDRESS: E-MAIL: PHONE: FACSIMILE: (xii) FAR clause 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items, applies to this solicitation by reference and proposed subsequent contract as well as the following clauses contained within FAR clause 52.212-5: 52.203-6 Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government (Sept 2006) with Alternate I (Oct. 1995); 52.204-10, Reporting Executive compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards (Jul 2013); 52.209-6, Protecting the Government' Interest When Subcontracting with Contractors Debarred, Suspended, or Proposed for Debarment (Aug 2013) ; 52.209-9, Updates of Publicly Available Information Regarding Responsibility Matters (Jul 2013); 52.219-8 Utilization of Small Business Concerns (Oct 2014); 52.219-28 Post Award Small Business Program Representation (Jul 2013); 52.222-3 Convict Labor (June 2003); 52.222-19 Child Labor-Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies (Jan 2014); 52.222-21 Prohibition of Segregated Facilities (Feb 1999); 52.222-26 Equal Opportunity (Mar 2007) (E.O. 11246); 52.222-35 Equal Opportunity for Veterans (Jul 2014); 52.222-36 Equal Opportunity for Workers with Disabilities (Jul 2014); 52.222-37 Employment Reports on Veterans (Jul 2014); 52.222-40, Notification of Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act (Dec 2010);52.222-50 Combating Trafficking in Persons (Mar 2015); 52.223-18, Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging while Driving (Aug 2011); 52.225-13 Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases (June 2008) and 52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-System for Award Management (Jul 2013). (xiii) Additional FAR provisions and clauses incorporated by reference and applicable to this solicitation and the proposed subsequent contract are: 52.237-3 Continuity of Services (Jan 1991). There are no other additional contract requirement(s) necessary for this acquisition other than those consistent with customary commercial practices. (xiv) No Defense Priorities and Allocation System (DPAS) rating assigned. (xv) Failure to provide the required services for any of the above CLIN may result in the rejection of your proposal. Questions concerning this solicitation must be submitted in writing and must be received by the Contracting Specialist, Seneca Belinfontie, no later than 1:00 PM EDST on August 28, 2015 via email at contact@example.gov. Offerors are cautioned not to direct questions concerning this solicitation to anyone but the Contracting Specialist. No questions will be accepted after the established deadline date. Proposals shall be in writing and must be signed by an official who is authorized to bind the organization. Fax or oral proposals will not be accepted. Proposals shall be submitted electronically via email to Seneca Belinfontie at contact@example.gov. All proposals must be received by 4:00 p.m. EDST on September 4, 2015. Offerors are reminded to submit two separate attachments - a technical proposal and a separate price proposal. Offerors may send one email with both attachments. ALL ATTACHMENTS MUST BE SENT IN "PDF FORMAT" AND THE TOTAL SIZE OF ALL ATTACHMENTS MUST NOT EXCEED 23MB. ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST INCLUDE THE SOLICITATION NUMBER (BBG50-Q-15-0063) IN THE SUBJECT LINE. (xvi) Contact: Seneca Belinfontie, Contract Specialist, Facsimile +1 (555) 000-0000, email: contact@example.gov. All responsible sources may submit an offer that will be considered by the Agency.