Pacific Disaster Center Managing Partner

Sources Sought Notice: Pacific Disaster Center Managing Partner This Sources Sought notice is not a request for competitive proposals and no solicitation package is currently available. However, non-profit organizations or educational institutions that believe they can provide the needed services and capabilities that fully meet the government's requirements may submit substantiating documentation in writing to the identified point of contact by the below stated date (See Instructions). Such documentation will be evaluated by the Washington Headquarters Services (WHS) / Acquisition Directorate (AD) solely for the purpose of determining the availability and potential technical capability of non-profit organizations or educational institutions to provide the described services. A contract, grant, or cooperative agreement is anticipated to be awarded in December 2014 with a one-year base period and up to four one-year option/extension periods. Background: The Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) is an applied research and development, public-private enterprise working to foster disaster-resiliency and disaster risk reduction through the use of science, information, and technology. Located in the State of Hawaii and with its principal facility on the island of Maui, it provides applied information, science, products and services for disaster and crisis management as well as executive decision makers related to natural and technological hazards, and social, cultural and economic stresses. PDC's products and services are used in disaster response and civil-military humanitarian operations, as well as in disaster risk reduction and planning, locally and globally by stakeholders and disaster managers, national governments, regional organizations, and International/Non-Governmental Organizations (I/NGO). The PDC area of responsibility encompasses the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions, Hawaii, and Alaska, as well as a global perspective, as per Section 12 of Public Law 105-174. PDC has been in operation since 1996, and has developed a rich set of disaster monitoring, early warning, and decision support applications for the disaster management communities, as well as the general public. Since 2007, the Center's DisasterAWARE platform is adopted by the governments of Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, and by the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Humanitarian Coordination (AHA) Center. The Center's mobile application (iOS, Android) for the general public has reached nearly 1.5 M downloads worldwide. The PDC's mission is to provide applied information research and analysis support for the development of more effective policies, institutions, programs, and information products for the disaster management and humanitarian assistance communities of the Asia Pacific region and beyond. PDC's core technical competencies include: o Multi-Hazard Disaster Monitoring, Early Warning, and Decision Support Systems and Information Sharing: Utilizing the latest Internet-based, visualization, and mobile technologies to create an integrated common operating picture among partners at state, national, regional, and international levels; this capability helps with situational (big picture) awareness and enables disaster managers to share and jointly act on vital information. o Disaster Risk Assessment and Hazard Mitigation Planning: Using historical disaster data and a variety of hazard (predictive) models, combined with methodologies to assess and analyze the associated risks and harm, this capability allows decision makers to understand and visualize the potential impacts of disasters, and identify actions to mitigate risks. o Socio-Economic Risk and Vulnerability Assessment: Hazard events of similar size, strength, and duration can result in very different outcomes, depending on the social, economic, political, built and natural environmental conditions in the affected area. PDC's socio-economic risk and vulnerability assessments examines these factors to help decision makers identify areas where negative impacts are likely to be greatest, set realistic risk reduction goals, and allocate resources effectively. o Geospatial Information Management and Visualization, and Scenario Modeling: Utilizing advanced geospatial data and tools to augment analysis of disasters and their multiple impacts, combined with hazard scenario modeling allow decision makers to better visualize and understand hazards and their impacts during exercises and before, during, and after an event. o Integrated Technologies and Capacity Building: Combining information technology and state-of-the-art assessment methodologies to provide stakeholders with the advanced tools and applications needed to sustain and enhance operations. By fusing the latest developments in information technologies, telecommunications, visualization, and modeling disaster managers are equipped with tools and scientifically based information for better decision-making. The PDC's success in mission not only depends on its technical competencies and staff, but also is rooted in the wide range and depth of its diverse partnerships, collaborations, and clients relations. Bridging the divide between the scientific community and professionals involved in disaster management, PDC has developed significant partnerships spanning over military/civilian, academic/operations, public/private, and US /foreign stakeholders, institutions, and communities of interest (COI). The goal of the PDC Program Office is to continue evolving an organization that optimizes the advantages of, and brings the best governmental and business practices to bear, in the development of a successful and economically viable public-private enterprise to carry out and expand the mission of the PDC for public good and use the PDC as a catalyst for economic development in Hawaii, supporting humanitarian assistance/disaster relief (HA/DR) operations at home and abroad. The primary objectives to achieve this goal are to: o Continue to develop and evolve PDC into a world leader and catalyst in the development and application of information research and technology for comprehensive emergency management and disaster risk reduction for the protection of life, property, and sustained development and commerce. o Continue to develop and evolve PDC into an innovative, community-based resource that combines scientific knowledge, geospatial data, information and communications technology, web-based and mobile tools and processes to develop and deliver actionable products and services to the emergency management community. o Continue to expand PDC's reach, business opportunities, clients, and partnerships worldwide. o Support and partner with entities to develop viable business subsidiaries that bring high technology capacity, job opportunities and economic development to Hawaii. An additional goal is to support Department of Defense entities around the world by developing international partnerships that focus on building capacity in under-developed and developing countries to plan and prepare for, as well as respond to and recover from, shock events, thus reducing the need for United States involvement and expending of resources. This effort would require both unclassified and classified programmatic involvement. In summary, the PDC has developed an impressive technical and institutional capability, including sought-after intellectual property, a good reputation locally, nationally and internationally, a solid record of technical accomplishments and numerous business opportunities. The technical goal of PDC is to promote the application of information technology and applied analytical research supporting comprehensive emergency management for the development of more effective policies, institutions, programs and information utilized by the HA/DR communities within the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Additionally, the PDC should continue to be an innovative, community-based resource that combines scientific knowledge, geospatial data, digital technology/tools and systems processes to develop and deliver valuable information products and services to the disaster management community, as well as promote a proactive (not reactive) culture of disaster readiness. Lastly, to promote true disaster resiliency, PDC should continue to expand its program and reach through business opportunities at home and abroad. While continually researching and improving its system capabilities utilizing a rapid prototyping methodology, the PDC continues to focus on the user-oriented utility of its system, finding new ways of delivering high value research, information products and services to its customers, including emergency managers at all levels of government. Additionally, the PDC is becoming a catalyst for disaster information services including data acquisition, management, and interoperability; a research and technology test-bed for developing and evaluating new technology, capabilities and data; and a model for national and global initiatives in natural hazard information systems development, engineering, management, and operational support. Given its government affiliation, PDC seeks to partner with industry and academia in proliferating science and technology solutions to natural hazards worldwide. More information about the PDC may be found at: http://sharepoint.pdc.org/. Scope: The purpose of this Notification is to request Capabilities Statements from non-profit organizations and educational institutions that are interested in partnering with the government to provide administrative/fiscal functions as the Managing Partner (MP) of the Pacific Disaster Center (PDC or Center) in Hawaii. The goal herein is to identify a potential recipient that will work with the Government and the PDC to stimulate, encourage, and enable the advanced development of PDC into its public and economic potential with particular emphasis on expanding the private opportunities, domestically and internationally, for the public good. A public-private partnership necessitates, and will benefit from, shared responsibilities and assistance from a government program office and a Managing Partner organization to assist with its internal management, administration, and development of the concepts. The organizational development strategy is to preserve and promote what works, improve what can be, and restructure what doesn't work. The PDC Program Office envisions an organizational model in which a single not-for-profit organization or educational institution will serve as a cooperating Managing Partner with the government to assist with the continued development and operations of PDC and, more importantly, to expand the PDC to achieve its vision for the foreseeable future. The PDC Program Office (PDCPO) will develop and provide policy, oversight and guidance, and jointly develop strategic guidelines and priorities for the PDC. The Managing Partner (MP) will be responsible for facilitating PDC's Executives in their implementation of the said policy and programmatic/strategic guidance, and will provide the administrative functions for the PDC including legal support for protection of the Center's Intellectual Properties, and management of contracts/subcontracts/agreements with other strategic partners/providers, as well as administration of the facilities, personnel (domestic and international), staff recognition/promotion/retention plans, and other Human Resources functions, as necessary. The Managing Partner will support the PDC in its goal of diversifying sources of revenue, especially those which can be expanded and sustained over time, will help PDC's business growth through a reinvestment plan, and will work to reduce overhead at the PDC Maui to a minimum. In this regard, the Managing Partner will propose and support reinvestment options aimed at facilitating PDC's business development objectives. The PDC Executive Director (PDCED) will be responsible for the strategic development, execution and continuity of the program, growth and ultimate success of the PDC. The PDCED shall be an equal partner with the Program Office and the MP in all aspects of the Program. It is expected that the Executive Director will provide the leadership necessary to instill both pride and commitment in the personnel associated with the Program. The PDCPO envisions the PDC, during the CA period, as a semi-autonomous unit within a parent organization, subject to the parent's organizational constraints. However, it is assumed that the parent organization's regulatory structure can be flexible enough to recognize some of PDC's unique requirements and have policies that enable these requirements to be met in an expeditious manner. Requirements of Managing Partnership are as followed: 1. Both the PDCPO and the MP would have an "arms-length" relationship with the Center with regards to operational and technical matters. Once a Strategic Plan (5-year) and an Annual Plan (for the work year) have been agreed to by all parties, it will be the responsibility of the Center Director to provide the leadership required to track and accomplish the defined efforts. The Center Director must therefore be provided the responsibility and authority to properly execute the work. Formal meetings between the Parties would be held to a minimum but would include at least one meeting per year for planning and technical review. 2. The PDCED would report directly to the senior member of the Managing Partner organization and the MP Organization Chart would reflect that relationship. 3. The MP would, whenever possible and reasonable, provide the PDCED with decisional authorities for operational and programmatic endeavors, adhering to the MP and US Government rules and constraints. This should include, but not be limited to, hiring/firing authority, travel approval, equipment purchase approval, contract and subcontract negotiations and approval, etc. Any administrative, fiscal, or human resources personnel that the MP hires to directly support the Center must be located at the main Center facility or spend time at the Center equivalent to the salary paid by Center funds. 4. It is intended that the PDC management team retain its ability to partner with and leverage the vast remote sensing, science and technology, information, communication and computational resources of the federal agencies and industry into the activities of the PDC. This may require formal relationships with secure facilities (e.g., the Maui High Performance Computing Center). 5. The team will be organizationally agile and work toward and recognize opportunities for new business configurations that serve the economic, developmental, and operational interests of the Center, as well as Hawaii. Toward this end, the PDC will balance its resources to accommodate business opportunities. 6. The MP would facilitate the Center's business growth through innovative and enabling mechanisms, including, but not limited to, partnership extension, operational (surge) expansion, reinvestment plans and allocation of required resources and funds for business development, and/or promotion of processes to help recognize existing staff and attract new talents. The MP would provide the PDCED with decisional authorities for these endeavors, adhering to the MP and US Government rules and constraints. The Managing Partner shall provide an annual Status Report and Renewal Proposal that outlines to the PDC Program Office the proposed annual work plan and funding requirements based on strategic objectives and guidance for the year. Regular program/progress reports will be provided on a regular basis throughout the life of the Cooperative Agreement. Program reviews will be held at least once a year with an additional technical review, as appropriate. Instructions: Non-profit organizations or educational institutions responding to this Sources Sought notice should respond to all of the requirements of managing partnership above demonstrating capability. Responses should be concise with only the pertinent information requested, not to exceed 6 single-spaced pages. If you believe that your company has existing qualified personnel, relevant past performance experience, and the technical capability to perform the type of work described above, please submit your capability statements with the following information: o Company name and mailing address. o Company point of contact. o DUNs and Cage Code. o Applicable Small Business Representation. o Capabilities statement describing the ability to perform the summarized scope of work along with past experience of a similar scope, size, complexity and relevance within the past 3 years. Provide the name of the project, contract number, value, and period of performance. o A recommendation of the most suitable North American Industrial Classification System code (NAICS) for this type of work. ALL INFORMATION SUBMITTED IN RESPONSE TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT MUST BE RECEIVED ON OR BEFORE THE CLOSING DATE OF: July 28, 2013 at 8:00 AM Eastern Standard Time. A copy of the capability statement must be sent to: ayla-rebeka.c.brooks.civ@mail.mil with a courtesy copy to david.w.bennett4.civ@mail.mil. Facsimile capability statements will not be accepted. Comments and questions regarding this announcement will NOT be answered, but may assist in creating a solicitation for this requirement. Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the government to award a contract, grant, or cooperative agreement or otherwise reimburse for the information provided in response. The government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses a solicitation may be published in the appropriate Government Point of Entry. However, responses to this notice will not be returned nor be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s). Contracting Office: Washington HQ Services/ Acquisition Directorate Enterprise Services and Technology Solutions Division Services II 2521 S. Clark Street (Polk Bldg) Suite 9100 Arlington, VA 22203 United States Primary Point of Contact (POC): Ayla-Rebeka Brooks Contract Specialist ayla-rebeka.c.brooks.civ@mail.mil Alternative POC: Wes Bennett Contracting Officer david.w.bennett4.civ@mail.mil