SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Software
- Notice Date
- 8/15/2013
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 511210
— Software Publishers
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, 6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 4211 - MSC 9559, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20892
- Solicitation Number
- HHS-NIH-NIDA-NIMH-AM2976472
- Archive Date
- 9/10/2013
- Point of Contact
- Andrea McGee, Phone: 3014358781
- E-Mail Address
-
andrea.mcgee@nih.gov
(andrea.mcgee@nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Total Small Business
- Description
- THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) SYNOPSIS TO AWARD A CONTRACT OR A PURCHASE ORDER WITHOUT PROVIDING FULL AN OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND NAME). The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Station Support Contracts and Simplified Acquisitions Branch (SS/SA) on behalf of the National Institutes of Mental Healthintends to negotiate and award a fixed price purchase order to without providing for full and open competition (Including brand-name) to Ryklin Software Inc, 60 Pearl Street, 3rd Fl, New York, NY 10004. The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 511210 with a size standard of $35.5 dollars. The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 05-69, August 1, 2013. This acquisition is conducted under the procedures as prescribe in FAR subpart 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures at an amount not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold. This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures, Subpart 13.106-1 (b) (1), Soliciting from a single source and is not expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold. Contract awarded using FAR Part 13 -Simplified Acquisition Procedures are exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6 - Competition Requirements. Description of Requirement: Ryklin Software will include software development, debugging and documentation in a real-time environment. The government will furnish existing software, software tools, and specialized computer hardware on an as-needed basis. Background: The NIMH IRP conducts basic research on the neural mechanisms underlying such cognitive functions as perception, memory, and emotion in non-human primates. A great number of these studies involve training and recording from non-human primates. Such studies rely on sophisticated experimental control and data acquisition software. Over the past decade the Laboratory of Neuropsychology has developed and maintained a widely-used computer program for this purpose: NIMH Cortex. NIMH Cortex is free and open source. It has the power and flexibility to support the complexity of behaviors exhibited by primates. Purpose: The maintenance, development and support of NIMH Cortex can be categorized into the following tasks: master and review of existing program code for both the DOS and Windows versions of the NIMH Cortex suite, identify and fix improper program operation (bugs) using both software and hardware techniques while maintaining a bug tracking database, document all changes both internally (within the programming code) and in user documentation, introduce major new features, develop, debug and deliver drivers to support new devices, develop, debug and deliver "helper" (support) programs, provide user technical support by web, email and telephone. This next year will also focus on integration with the next generation of software MonkeyLogic. Identify and fix improper program operation (bugs) using both software and hardware techniques while maintaining a bug tracking database: Both testing and feedback from users (see below) will identify apparent inconsistencies in the operation of NIMH Cortex. These bugs must be classified, cataloged and advertised to warn users of data integrity and program performance issues. Once cataloged, the standing list of performance problems will be prioritized based on impact and frequency, and an action plan formulated for those of high priority. The action plan must include reproducing the aberrant performance followed by methods that are most likely to identify the exact problem. When the problem is clearly identified necessary steps will be taken to fix or mitigate the issue. After each bug fix, a decision must be made if and when the changed version of the program is ready for testing and release. "Official" release of programs will take place only after a testing suite is performed to assure unintended problems were not created by the changes. Document all changes both internally (within the programming code) and in user documentation: NIMH Cortex programs must be internally documented using best practices of the industry. User documentation is maintained in two forms. There are a series of user manuals that will be maintained up-to-date, and a NIMH Cortex web site that will be similarly maintained. Major new features will be advertised in emails and posted on the web site. A history of changes will be maintained. New support programs will be documented either by adding chapters to existing manuals or through the introduction of new manuals. All manuals will be posted on the documentation page of the web site. Version information will be explicitly indicated on each manual as it is updated. Introduce major new features: New features for the NIMH Cortex suite of programs will be developed under the direction of the Dr. Andrew Mitz, LSN Staff Scientist. Features will be integrated into the existing program(s) without impacting the existing operation, unless changing the existing operation is the explicit goal. In so far as it is feasible, features added to either the DOS version or the Windows version of the acquisition program will also be added to the other version. After a major feature is introduced, a decision must be made if and when the changed version of the program is ready for testing and release. "Official" release of programs will take place only after a testing suite is performed to assure unintended problems were not created by the changes. Develop, debug and deliver drivers to support new devices: As vendors retire old hardware and introduce new hardware, and as experimental designs demand, new drivers will be written to support new hardware or new features of existing hardware. Drivers will not interfere with the real-time performance of the experimental control or data acquisition operations. Drivers will not interfere with the stability of the operating system (DOS or Windows). Drivers will be tested under a wide range of conditions to validate their performance. "Official" release of programs that utilize the new drivers will take place only after a testing suite is performed to assure unintended problems were not created by the new drivers. Develop, debug and deliver "helper" (support) programs: New "helper" (support) programs will be introduced as part of the NIMH Cortex suite of programs. These will be developed under the direction of Dr. Mitz. Support programs will include tools for generating configuration and layout files for NIMH Cortex, tools for converting between NIMH Cortex file format and other file formats, DOS tools for moving data to modern storage devices, and other programs as identified. File formats used by these programs will be fully compatible with the existing NIMH Cortex file formats. All new programs will be fully tested before final release. All new programs will be documented as described above in "Document all changes both internally (within the programming code) and in user documentation." Provide user technical support by web, email and telephone: User technical support is a key requirement. It provides essential support, but it also provides an important picture of how NIMH Cortex is being used and what segments of the programs are the most important or the most problematic. Technical support will be in the form of web support on the NIMH Cortex web site, answering questions and collecting bug reports. Technical support will also be in the form of email, and, when necessary, telephone (or voice over IP) support. A fixed percentage of time will be set aside for support and the quality of support will be assessed periodically and must be to the satisfaction of the users as determined by Dr. Mitz. Support incidents that identify potential bugs will be handled as described above in "Identify and fix improper program operation (bugs) using both software and hardware techniques while maintaining a bug tracking database." The determination by the Government to award a contract without providing for full and open competition is based upon market research conducted as prescribed in FAR Part 10-Market Research. This programming work requires experience in the problems associated with real-time data acquisition and data file structure and specific experience developing behavioral neurophysiological data acquisition systems and software. Such experience is essential because it is critical that the implementation does not introduce damaging errors. This synopsis is not a request for competitive proposals. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capabilities in response to this notice. Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties' bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement and include: unit price, lit price, shipping and handling costs, the delivery period after contract award, the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS)m the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov. A determination by the Government not to compete the proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely with the discretion of the Government. The information received will normally be considered for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement. All responses must be received by August 26, 2013 3:00pm EST and must reference number HHS-NIH-NIDA- NIMH-AM2976472. Responses may be submitted electronically to Andrea McGee amcgee@nida.nih.gov or by U.S. mail to the National Institutes on Drug Abuse, Station Support Contracts and Simplified Acquisitions Branch (SS/SA), 31 Center Drive, Bldg. 31, Room 1B59, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-2080 Attn: Andrea McGee, Contract Specialist. Fax responses will not be accepted.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/NIH/NIDA-01/HHS-NIH-NIDA-NIMH-AM2976472/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, United States
- Zip Code: 20892
- Zip Code: 20892
- Record
- SN03150348-W 20130817/130815235554-8881f59f900e57d55c0b877796dd6604 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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