D -- INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES -- POTENTITAL SOURCES SOUGHT

Notice Date

November 28, 2000

Contracting Office

Department of State, Office of Acquisition, P. O. Box 9115, Rosslyn Station, Arlington, VA 22219-0244

ZIP Code

22219-0244

Solicitation Number

N/A

Response Due

December 5, 2000

Point of Contact

Lisa C. Goodwine, Contract Specialist, (703) 875-4558

Description

This is a Sources Sought Synopsis; there is no solicitation available at this time. Requests for solicitation will receive no response. This Sources Sought Synopsis is published for market research purposes only, to identify potential sources capable of creating clipping services "cyber stations" on the Internet. The Department of State expects the qualified contractor/s to possess the capabilities (No GFE provided) and experience. The requirement shall include but is not limited to the following: The contractor is to create clipping service "cyber stations" on the Internet and provide timely, high-quality access to breaking news on a seven day a week, 24 hour basis. Each (maximum two) cyber station would provide, quality controlled 24-hour a day news clips on a topic related to the strategic plan (see topics below) of the Department. The Contractor is to identify their expertise in developing web sites, handling of news clips, as they may relate to topics listed below, and performance of a similar function. The contractor is to use a baseline of sources defined by the Government (major national news services) plus any other quality publications or news services available. The site will not "shape" the news content in any way, but would work to ensure breadth of coverage and views. The Cyber Stations shall be available to anyone logging on to the site and host wires, news clips, periodicals, dissertations and any other reliable sources available world-wide. In their fully developed form, the cyber stations shall have hyper-links to respected companion sites and include related speeches, conference proceedings, articles and documents. Eventually certain overseas reports generated by United States Government officers could be posted on the site. An architecture may be required for moving news clips from the Internet to the DOS Intranet. The Department will conduct a "proof of concept" pilot project. The Department of State is seeking a contractor to assist with a six weeks (two weeks to create site and coordinate processes and four week full-time active period), "proof of concept" pilot project to create news "Cyber Stations" on the Internet. The Contractor shall be able to provide a Technical/Cost proposal by 12 Dec 00 and oral presentations by 13 Dec 00. The total cost shall not exceed $25,000. The contractor will comb daily wires and news services, digital and hardcopy newspapers, local, national and world news reports on a 24 hour basis, selecting the most "news worthy" (not necessarily the best) articles for posting. Newsworthiness could be defined as quality of content, range of views, and who writes and publishes the article. An example of newsworthiness: If the prime Minister writes an unrealistic article on HIV/AIDS, the fact that the Prime Minister wrote it makes it newsworthy. While these web-sites will track issues of immediate importance to the Department's strategic plan and thus in the forefront of public policy, access will be open to the public worldwide. Key elements: -- Design and establishment of an Internet Web Site offering 24 hour, 7 Days a week news coverage. . -- Use of baseline sources identified by the relevant policy bureaus such as the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, Dallas Morning News, and Christian Science Monitor). Foreign Language sources to be used as extensively as possible. -- Postings will be timely and vetted for news worthiness, breadth of perspective, and relevance to policy making. -- The pilot cyber station will cover at most two of the topics listed below:  Four Democracies in transition: Colombia, Ukraine, Nigeria, and Indonesia (Associated Press, Foreign News Services, Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Financial Times, The Economist. Etc.)  Science and Technology: Global Climate Change, HIV/AID's/Emerging Infectious Disease, Biotechnology/GMO's, Global Disaster Mitigation, and Intellectual Property Rights (Nature, Science, Washington Post, New York Times, The Economist, etc.)  Economic Prosperity: Trade Negotiations, Overseas Markets and Business Opportunities (The Economist, Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, etc).  Diplomatic Readiness: Advances in Telecommunications: Federal budgets and Research and Development initiatives; United States Government Initiatives in Information Technology: Security and Counter-terrorism; (Computer News, Defense News, Aviation Week and Space Technology, New York Times, Washington Post, Space News, Etc.) The web site should be fully populated and active two weeks after the contract is awarded and run for 30 days. Additional sources (Ph.D. dissertations. Journal articles, etc.) may be added to the site to improve the product. There will be a review/feedback mechanism in place after 15 days after award. The Department is looking to determine the future use, need, and benefit of this service; however, there is no guarantee of a future procurement. All copyright issues are to be addressed by the awardees (s). The Department will not be responsible or liable for any copyright infringements and will not furnish any government furnished equipment. This synopsis neither constitutes a Request for Proposal; nor does it restrict the Government to an unlimited acquisition approach. This synopsis should not construed as a commitment by the Government for any purpose. This Sources Sought synopsis is not a request for proposals: it is a market research tool being utilized to determine the availability prior to issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP). Any information submitted by respondents to this sources sought, are strictly voluntary. The Department will not pay for any information that is submitted by respondents to this sources sought request. Contractors who believe they possess the expertise and experience shall submit related qualifications and technical capabilities electronically to goodwinelc@state.gov. Response shall be received by 5 Dec 2000. Firms responding must indicate the business size. All documentation shall become the property of the government. Sincerely, Vincent J. Chaverini, Jr. Contracting Officer

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20001130/DSOL007.HTM (W-333 SN5075L7)