Notice of Intent to Sole Source to Itasca Consulting Group

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) intends to award a sole source fixed-priced purchase order contract to Itasca Consulting Group for the pre-purchase of 4 licenses to upgrade to the next version of 3DEC, and 6 licenses of the upgraded version of FLAC3D. The 3DEC and FLAC3D software is used to conduct research in ground control mechanism and ground control safety. These codes are used extensively in research investigations for the conditions of ground failure, rock bursts, coal bumps, floor heave, and other catastrophic events that pose a risk to the lives of mine workers. These products have the flexibility to use scripts or plug-in user-written constitutive models to simulate behaviors that are discovered in labs and easily conduct parameter studies of complex behavior. 3DEC and FLAC3D pre-purchases of next version are only available from Itasca Consulting Group, Inc. and are proprietary software with capabilities that are needed for such research in ground control studies. Other finite element codes written for mining problems do not have such flexibility. In addition to the shape of elements, it often brings into question the quality of the model mesh generated due to the element sizes are not compatible. Therefore, no other known manufacturer makes compatible software. This contract action is for services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b) (SAP) and 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1). The North American Industry Classification System Code for this procurement is 511210. Interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement or submit proposals. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotations; however, all quotations/responses received in response to the issuance of this notice will be considered by the government. A determination by the government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Any quotation /response should be emailed to the Contracting Specialist, Willie Moss, CTR, at lsf7@cdc.gov by 4:00PM EST 05-05-2023. No telephonic quotes shall be considered.