Installation Demo App - Next Generation Digital Application

DISCLAIMER THIS SOURCES SOUGHT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) TO BE SUBMITTED. IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION AND SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT. RESPONSES IN ANY FORM ARE NOT OFFERS AND THE GOVERNMENT IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT AS A RESULT OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE TO PAY FOR PREPARATION OF RESPONSES TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. ANY INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THIS TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION IS STRICTLY VOLUNTARY. The U.S. Army Contracting Command New Jersey (ACC-NJ), Picatinny Arsenal, NJ 07806-5000, on behalf of the Installation Management Command (IMCOM) is issuing this sources sought synopsis as a means of conducting market research to identify potential sources having an interest and industry technologies available to provide an enterprise solution to an installation - level digital application that allows Army Senior Commanders and their Garrisons to leverage existing web-based information platforms while tailoring specific content for their installations, and has the following characteristics: easy to access and navigate, reliable, timely and accurate, allows for iterative improvements, and meets minimum Army/Department of Defense (DoD) security requirements. The result of this market research will contribute to determining the method of procurement if a requirement materializes. All small business set-aside categories will be considered. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding submissions. PROGRAM BACKGROUND The Department of the Army (DA) has for the past decade been utilizing Mobile Applications to communicate with Soldiers, Civilians, Retirees and Family Members regarding critical installation operations, services, and events. It is the intent of the DA to have a single enterprise application that has the flexibility to provide customized and relevant information resources to members of the Installation and supporting community. The DA is looking to identify new concepts and implementations for a future enterprise application that will be a highly functional and easy to use capability to provide Army Leadership the ability to tailor timely and accurate messages to the Installation community. The resulting application will need to allow simple to manage interface and flexibility to grow. The DA is inviting qualified developers, or companies to provide potential concepts for demonstrating how a next generation application can utilize existing and emerging technologies to achieve these objectives. REQUIRED CAPABILITIES Interested companies shall provide: 1. A demo app that can be downloaded to a commercial mobile phone preferably either via the Apple Apps Store, or Google Play Store that would be targeted to support Installation missions. 2. The Demo App will provide the ability to display at a minimum the following capabilities: (These capabilities are not required to be fully functional. Stubs that demonstrate intended design and implementation are required.) How multiple installations could be incorporated into the App. How leadership alert messages will be displayed. Content organization structure. Potential end-user creating and managing customization of the App. Menu and navigation features. How the App will provide content. Potential Integration with other Apps (calendars/maps/geolocation). Supplemental links to relevant content external to the app. How the App could link to SMS or social media. How the App would collect metrics and feedback. 3. A briefing in the form of an Adobe document that highlights the following recommendations. Describe how the demo app will provide enhancements to existing capabilities, improve the user experience, and command ability to communicate. Highlight features that would utilize the latest mobile app techniques and capabilities. Discuss areas that might be further enhanced. How your approach anticipates and reduces the risks of obsolescence. How external data sources, like official Army web pages or the weather, would be loaded by the App dynamically. How the application updates and fixes would be handled. 4. A briefing about the company's experience and background providing mobile device applications for multiple platforms. Applications that perform some of the functions to support installations are publicly available for download from Android or Apple mobile app stores. Provide insight to the types of messages and functions that would be valuable to the applications listed below. Comments and input from end-users of the demo application can provide insight for potential improvements for these applications. Digital Garrison - Author Army & Air Force Exchange Service USAG Stuttgart - Author USAG Stuttgart USAF Connect - Author U.S. Department of Defense USAG-Humphreys - Author Exponentialee SUBMISSION DETAILS Provide sufficient information to support your company's capabilities that it currently has the technology, qualifications, and capabilities to be able to provide the software/application maintenance support such as updates/upgrades/patches. If subcontracting is anticipated in order to deliver technical capability, provide your anticipated subcontracting plan, teaming arrangements, and indicate whether communications have been established. What type of work has your company performed in the past in support of the same, or similar requirement? Can you provide a mobile application demo based on the requirement by 01 October 2023? If unable to provide an app that demonstrates the requirement, what app demo can you provide by 01 October 2023? Provide a point of contact's name, address, website (if available), phone number, and email address. Companies are to state their NAICS Code, CAGE Code, DUNS Number, and business size. All data received in response to this Sources Sought that is marked or designated as corporate or proprietary will be fully protected from any release outside the Government. Please identify any proprietary information submitted. Your response to this Sources Sought, including any capabilities statement, shall be electronically submitted to Contract Specialists Charriena Kortum at charriena.b.kortum.civ@army.mil and Solongo Oyunjamts at solongo.oyunjamts.civ@army.mil in either Microsoft Word or Portable Document Format (PDF). Additional Follow-Up Phone Calls/Market Research Assessments: The Government may contact any of the interested firms directly for additional information. These communications are anticipated to be released 22-24 September in order to schedule a follow-up via Microsoft Teams or telephone for Monday, 25 September 2023. Questions & Answers 1. Is there a page limit to the response? ANS: No. 2. Is there an incumbent and if so, what is the contract number? ANS: No. 3. Are there estimates as to how many users will be using the app? ANS: No. 4. Would the information be accessible only via app or would you also want the data to be available in other channels such as websites, chat interfaces, etc...? ANS: Only via app. 5. We can build offline capability to most apps -- is this a priority? ANS: Not a priority for this demonstration app. 6. Will there be a requirement to integrate the app to any other system IMCOM currently using or will this app be a standalone app? ANS: The requirement is to create a demo app. As stated in 2., the demo app is not required to be fully functional. Stubs should demonstrate intended design and implementation, such as potential integration with other Apps (calendars/maps/geolocation).