Solicitation GPO10-0001

The United States Government Printing Office (GPO), in cooperation with the Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs (DoS/CA) plans to issue an RFP in Fiscal Year 2010 for the procurement of eCovers used in the manufacturing of U.S. Passports. The resultant contract award will be a multiple award which will require awardees to compete for individual task orders. 1. BACKGROUND: The current U.S. electronically enabled Passport program has been in effect since 2004. This is the second procurement for eCovers to ensure continuity in the supply of passports for issuance to U.S. citizens/nationals. 2. REQUIREMENTS: The Statement of Work (SOW) will include all the appropriate physical, functional, interoperable, and security requirements and standards that the eCover needs to meet. This includes but is not limited to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Document 9303, International Standards Organization (ISO), and other standards as listed in the SOW. The proposed eCovers shall be fully compatible with the existing GPO manufacturing and DoS passport personalization processes. The eCover shall consist of an inlay adhered to book cover material. For evaluation purposes, vendors will be required to submit sample eCovers and a Software Development Kit (SDK) with their proposal for testing. The eCovers and SDK shall be provided at no cost to the government. The eCover submission shall be manufactured using the supply chain and manufacturing processes, in accordance with the requisite RFP requirements and as described in the vendor's proposal. Additional eCovers may be required for further testing to ensure the offered product meets the applicable standards and the stated technical specifications for performance, interoperability, durability, quality and security. The Government intends to issue the RFP on or around November 16, 2009. Written and telephone requests or inquires will not be accepted at this time.