SOLICITATION NOTICE
D -- NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD SOLE SOURCE PROCUREMENT
- Notice Date
- 8/16/2010
- Notice Type
- Justification and Approval (J&A)
- NAICS
- 813920
— Professional Organizations
- Contracting Office
- Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Contract Management Branch, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 228, Alexandria, Virginia, 22302
- ZIP Code
- 22302
- Archive Date
- 10/27/2010
- Point of Contact
- Miatta N. Cleveland, Phone: 7033052265
- E-Mail Address
-
miatta.cleveland@fns.usda.gov
(miatta.cleveland@fns.usda.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Award Number
- FNS-MC-004
- Award Date
- 9/27/2010
- Description
- The Food and Nutrition Service intends to establish a firm fixed price blanket purchase agreement (BPA) on a sole-source basis to American Dietetic Association. The award is to continue refinement and implementation of a web-based system and set of tools called the Nutrition Evidence Library (NEL). No award will be made on the basis of offers received in response to this notice. Responses to this notice must show clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government. If no affirmative written response is received, the order will be awarded without further notice. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed award based on this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Detailed capabilities must be submitted via email to the following email address no later than 5:00 pm., Eastern Stardard Time, August 23, 2010; Miatta.cleveland@fns.usda.gov. Telephone inquires will not be accepted. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE AGENCY'S NEEDS: USDA/CNPP is continuing refinement and implementation of a web-based system and set of tools called the Nutrition Evidence Library (NEL). The public website associated with this new electronic system (www.nutritionevidencelibrary.com) was released to the public in June 2010. CNPP's requirement is to purchase consultation services that include hosting, maintenance, and enhancement of the USDA's NEL web portal and public website; training and coordination of USDA Abstractors; consultation services to ensure efficacious operation of and state-of-the-art updates to improve the NEL portal and NEL public website operations and functionality; development of training curricula and materials for staff using the NEL; developing and implementing training sessions needed to support the Evidence Analysis Library Division's evidence analysis, collaborative, and training functions; and assisting and supporting evidence-based review projects including projects that benefit the Food and Nutrition Service, USDA, and/or other federal agencies, and the development of future Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The NEL website is designed to provide an electronic portfolio of scientific evidence-based reviews of nutrition and food-related research questions accessible to the public, stakeholders, and scientists and researchers. The state-of-the-art technology is state-of-the-art in that it allows for a comprehensive examination of the scientific literature and the creation of evidence portfolios to answer pertinent nutrition and health questions. The development of those evidence portfolios and associated conclusion statements will inform the development of food and nutrition policy and guidance to support government scientists and expert bodies working for the government, such as the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Evidence portfolios include a set of complex documents including Search and Sort Plans, Evidence Worksheets specific to relevant articles, Evidence Overviews and specific evidence paragraphs on each article, Evidence Overview Tables, and Conclusion Statements related to a body of evidence. STATUTORY AUTHORITY: 10 U.S.C. 2304 (c)(1) Only one responsible source and no other supply or services will satisfy agency requirements. PROPOSED CONTRACTOR'S UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS: The American Dietetic Association (ADA) is the only organization that can efficiently and comprehensively meet the requirements for refining and implementing the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion's Nutrition Evidence Library (NEL) system because the ADA developed this complex website, is thoroughly familiar with all aspects of its public and backside components, and has vast technical and content expertise related to this electronic library. The cost of developing a new nutrition evidence library using another contractor would not be in the Government's best interest. The American Dietetic Association conceptualized the development of the Nutrition Evidence Library system, with the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. The continued proper utilization of the NEL requires assistance from a qualified company with experts who have specialized knowledge in systematically reviewing the nutrition science and applied nutrition literature, and also knowledge and experience with systematic review methodology and the unique NEL system with all of its components (e.g., Search and Sort Plans, Evidence Worksheets specific to relevant articles, evidence overviews and specific Evidence Paragraphs on each article, Evidence Overview Tables, and Conclusion Statements). There are numerous evidence-based methodologies available in the United States, but USDA's NEL was designed to be very similar to the ADA's Evidence Analysis Library, from which was modeled. The ADA has a proven track record with and detailed knowledge of this highly complex web-based evidence analysis system in terms of the software and web-technologies used, ability to understand and troubleshoot any issues or problems that may arise in the system. The ADA has over 5 years of experience implementing an electronic evidence-based nutrition library system, dedicated solely to systematically reviewing nutrition evidence. ADA also is unique in having a large number of abstractors/analysts and Lead Analysts, individuals with advanced degrees in nutrition with experience in the fields of epidemiology, public health, diet and energy balance, at their disposal, who have been fully trained by ADA and are available to CNPP to assist in completing high-quality evidence analysis products in a short timeframes, if needed. ADA also has the unique expertise to train USDA abstractors on how to use the NEL review methodology and electronic portal tools. While CNPP holds the copyright to the NEL system, CNPP relies on the unique and substantial expertise of the ADA, which created the original product, to train government scientists and USDA abstractors on the NEL processes since they have a unique training program. ADA is the only company/organization with the capability to satisfy the agency's requirement. The government has determined that the American Dietetic Association and its technical staff is 1) the accepted source with technical expertise in the nutrition arena for refining and implementing the USDA's evidence analysis library, and 2) qualified to train and consult professionals on evidence-based methods to rank and summarize the best available scientific research on dietetics, nutrition and physical activity for national dietary guidelines and to inform federal nutrition policies. DESCRIPTION OF EFFORTS MADE TO ENSURE THAT OFFERS ARE SOLICITED FROM AS MANY POTENTIAL SOURCES AS PRACTICABLE: The requirement to award a sole source contract to the ADA for consultation services related to the continued implementation of the CNPP Nutrition Evidence Library system was posted on FEDBIZOPS as a "Special Notice" informing vendors of the Government's intent to award a sole source action. As FEDBIZOPPS is web-based, contact to as many potential sources as practical was maximized. DETERMINATION BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER THAT THE ANTICIPATED COST TO THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE: The contracting officer will review historical pricing, commercial price lists, and schedule pricing. DESCRIPTION OF THE MARKET RESEARCH CNPP's Evidence Analysis Library Division (EALD) did research to determine if there were other companies or organizations in the United States that operate electronic evidence analysis libraries that systematically review and focus on nutrition evidence. CNPP/EALD did not find any other companies or organizations that specifically review the scientific literature in nutrition science and applied nutrition, using an electronic evidence analysis library. There are other evidence analysis libraries in existence, such as the Cochrane Collaboration, whose main focus is on health care, and medical schools with evidence-based medicine libraries that focus on medical treatment and clinical practice guidelines, but CNPP/EALD could not locate any electronic evidence-based libraries in the United States with a focus and vast technical and content knowledge and experience in systematically examining the nutrition scientific literature except for the American Dietetic Association.
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