Interactive Real-time Language Translation System

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), receives from foreign entities text messages, emails and electronic documents (sometimes transmitted as attachments to emails), in languages other than English and FAS frequently sends text messages, emails and electronic documents in English to entities with whom English is not the primary language. FAS seeks all commercial sources that can electronically provide real time (instantaneous) translation of electronic communications and documents from a designated foreign language into English and from English into a designated foreign language. Minimum inclusive language set should encompass: Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, French, Russian, and Arabic. Additional preferred languages include as a Medium inclusive language set: Portuguese, Bahasa Indonesian, Bahasa Malay, Thai, Turkish, Swahili, Hebrew, Hindi, and Urdu. Maximum inclusive language set would include all of the above, plus: German, Polish, Italian, Greek, Hungarian, Bulgarian,Romanian, Danish, Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian. Respondents are requested to provide a clear, detailed description of the available service, including an explanation of its operational process and capabilities, as well as a brief list of past performance references. Some language customization to include unique terms may be required. This is NOT a development effort. Only Commercial, Off-the-Shelf (COTS) products and related services will be considered. THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS ANNOUNCEMENT; A MARKET SURVEY FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. PLEASE DO NOT REQUEST A COPY OF A SOLICITATION, AS ONE DOES NOT CURRENTLY EXIST. NO REIMBURSEMENT WILL BE MADE FOR ANY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH PROVIDING INFORMATION IN RESPONSE TO THIS SYNOPSIS OR ANY FOLLOW-UP INFORMATION REQUESTS. THE PURPOSE OF THIS SYNOPSIS IS TO GAIN KNOWLEDGE OF POTENTIAL VENDORS. Small business interests shall note the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 19, North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code and Small Business Size Standard for the requirement identified in this announcement. The anticipated NAICS code is 443120, and the size standard is $8M. Please submit the following information with your response to this Sources Sought Synopsis: a. Business Size: HUBZone 8(a), Other 8(a), HUBZone Small Business, Serviced Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, Small Business, or Large Business b. State whether items can be obtained under an existing Government wide agency contract (i.e. GSA, VA, etc.) If so, please include contract number and contract expiration date. c. A clear indication as to whether or not your company can provide items meeting the description listed above. All responsible sources are, including small businesses, are encouraged to respond to this sources sought notice. Any set-aside is to be determined based upon the information received, if any. All interested sources must respond to this Sources Sought Synopsis by 1600 hrs (4:00pm), Eastern Standard Time, on 21 Aug 08, in writing or email. Send responses to the USDA/FSA, Acquisition Management Branch/COB, Mail Stop / 0567, 1280 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington DC 20024. Electronic responses may be forwarded to Yvonne.Howerton@wdc.usda.gov. The Contracting Officer for this requirement is Ms. Renea Morton.