SBES Data Discovery and Interoperability Awards

This Sources Sought Notice is for market research purposes only and does not constitute a Request for Proposal or Quotation. It is not considered to be a commitment by the Government to award a contract nor will the Government pay for any information provided; no basis for claim against the Government shall arise as a result from a response to this Sources Sought Notice or Government use of any information provided.

Pursuant to Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Overhaul (RFO) Part 10 (Market Research), the purpose of this notice is to:

1. Determine if sources capable of satisfying the agency's requirements exist.
2. Determine whether the acquisition should utilize any of the small business programs in accordance with RFO Part 19.

Pursuant to RFO Part 6 and RFO Part 19, competition and set-aside decisions may be based on the results of this market research. This notice in no way obligates the Government to any further action.

Requirement: This notice is issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Western Acquisition Division (WAD) and the Weather Program Office (WPO) to identify sources capable of providing the following:

An existing data-rich social, behavioral, and economic science (SBES) framework optimized for data discovery and interoperability studies. This unique SBES framework and database will be used as a mechanism to administer competitive subcontracts for discrete interoperability activities among the academic SBES community following final selection and approval of subcontractors by the COR. The contractor shall solicit, review, and administer targeted subcontracts to academic researchers that advance SBES data assets toward operational readiness within the weather and water enterprise. The contractor’s subcontractors will undertake concrete interoperability activities - including metadata alignment, open-source tooling development, dataset integration proofs-of-concept, and interoperability readiness assessments - that directly improve the discoverability and usability of SBES datasets for integration with meteorological and hydrological systems. 

CRITICAL REQUIREMENT (EXISTING FRAMEWORK):

This requirement is strictly for contractors who already possess, license, or maintain an operational, data-rich SBES framework and database. The Government will not fund the baseline development or creation of a new framework under this contract. Responses must provide explicit, verifiable evidence that an existing framework is currently available for immediate use at contract award. 

A Firm-Fixed-Price contract is anticipated for award.

See DRAFT Attachment 1 – Performance Work Statement for further details on this requirement.

Anticipated Period of Performance: The anticipated period of performance is two (2) years which consists of a single base period (no options), with a start date on or before 18 September 2026. 

NAICS Code/Size Standard: The applicable NAICS Code is 541720, Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities, and the size standard is $28.0M.

Submission of Information: Companies having capabilities necessary to meet or exceed the stated requirements are invited to provide information to contribute to this market survey/sources sought notice.

To be considered a viable source, your capability narrative must explicitly address:

1. Proof of Existing Framework: Technical description, name, or citation of your existing, operational SBES framework and database.
2. Administration Capability: Brief summary of your experience managing academic research partnerships or subcontracts.

Companies may respond to this Sources Sought Notice by using the Google Portal Link below.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfIX3VdXwlGoZspmD0o730AYS0B57wYr54XMHR6Qj4DibYfeA/viewform?usp=header

Responses shall be received no later than 30 June 2026 at 3:00 PM Mountain Time.

Interested parties: Need to be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM).  Failure to submit sufficient detailed information may result in considering a company as not a viable source and may influence competition and set-aside decisions. Regardless of the information obtained from this Sources Sought Notice, the Government reserves the right to consider any arrangement as deemed appropriate for this requirement.

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. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response to this Sources Sought Notice. The Government reserves the right to use any information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate, including using technical information provided by respondents in any resultant solicitation.

After a review of the responses received from this notice, a pre-solicitation notice and solicitation may be published on the Governmentwide Point of Entry (GPE). It is the potential offeror's responsibility to monitor the GPE for release of any future solicitation that may result from this Sources Sought Notice. Responses to this Sources Sought Notice will not be considered adequate responses to any resultant solicitation.