Intent to Sole Source (Second Life Regions)

Notice of Intent to Award a Sole Source Contract This is a Notice of Intent to Award a Sole Source contract under statutory authority 10 USC 2304(c)(1), as set forth in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements. The government intends to award a sole source fixed price contract to (Linden Research, Inc.) for the following services: provide virtual environment designed to research, develop, test, and evaluate alternative interactive learning environments called Second Life regions. This requirement is for Air University at Maxwell AFB, AL for the period of 30 Sep 11 thru 29 Sep 2012. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 518210 with a size standard of $25 million. If any interested parties can fulfill this requirement, please provide a statement of interest with supporting documentation of capabilities to this office NLT 31 Aug 2011. Direct any correspondence to the 42nd Contracting Squadron, Acquisition Flight B, 50 LeMay Plaza South, Bldg 804, Maxwell AFB, AL 36112, ATTN: Viola Belser. Electronic submissions are acceptable and may be faxed to (334) 953-3527 or emailed to viola.belser@maxwell.af.mil. If faxing, please send email notification. Statement of Work for Purchase/Maintenance of Second Life Regions 1. Summary HQ AU/A4/6I is continuing to employ and explore an Air University virtual environment designed to research, develop, test, and evaluate alternative interactive learning environments. This effort requires the purchase of virtual property or "land" called "regions", which are hosted on non-Governmental commercial servers. The regions will be electronically developed and used to provide a collaborative learning/research environment in support of resident and distance learning programs throughout Air University (AU). This effort will enable AU schools and organizations with the ability to continue testing and scale innovative educational technology as well as conduct a multitude of educational activities such as virtual meetings, forums and discussions, and classroom instruction as well as a host of other media-rich enhancements in a low cost virtual environment. Currently, prototyping work has continued in Second Life in the estate known as Huffman Prairie Estate. Based on the early, promising results of Huffman Prairie, it has been determined that Second Life is the leading virtual environment, possessing the capabilities for which to pursue future learning enhancements for AU as it relates to the AETC Commander's vision for the future of Air Force education and training. 2. Description of Items This statement of work covers new requirements for the restructuring of the current ten regions acquired in a previous contract. Based on requirements to continue exploration of the uses of virtual worlds to further the potential application of these environments for tomorrow's Air Force education and training platforms, our plan is to establish a new one year contract to sustain our footprint through FY12. The remaining regions will be realigned to sustain the ongoing prototyping efforts of AU. At a minimum the Linden Labs services should consist of: - Deactivation of: Huffman Prairie Delta, Huffman Prairie Kappa, and Huffman Prairie Theta - Hosting of Huffman Prairie, Huffman Prairie Chi, Huffman Prairie Gamma, Huffman Prairie Sigma, Huffman Prairie Omega, My Base, and MyBase Zeta regions based on a prescribed configuration (All are configured as full regions) - Convert Huffman Prairie Sigma from a homestead to a full region Period of Performance: One (1) year from award of contract to begin 30 September 2011 3. Special Requirements To provide the flexibility needed to sustain the exploration of the uses of virtual worlds, the following options (CLINS) are requested to be included in the contract: - Relocation of regions on the grid throughout the life of the contract - Purchase of additional regions on the grid throughout the life of the contract