NASA JSC Integrated Mission Operations Contract II Organizational Conflict of Interest Request for Information
Synopsis – Apr 02, 2013
General Information
Solicitation Number: NNJ13ZBR004LB
Posted Date: Apr 02, 2013
FedBizOpps Posted Date: Apr 02, 2013
Recovery and Reinvestment Act Action: No
Original Response Date: Apr 23, 2013
Current Response Date: Apr 23, 2013
Classification Code: A — Research and Development
NAICS Code: 541712
Contracting Office Address
NASA/Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston Texas, 77058-3696, Mail Code: BR
Description
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) – Johnson Space Center (JSC) is requesting information from industry regarding potential Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCI) arising from the anticipated Integrated Mission Operations Contract II (IMOC II) for services supporting the Mission Operations Directorate (MOD).
The nature of the work anticipated under the anticipated IMOC II, where potential offerors will provide mission operations design, development/operability, and plan, train, fly (PTF) services for existing and future spaceflight programs/projects, may create a situation where there could be the potential for OCI as currently described in FAR Subpart 9.5, Organizational and Consultant Conflicts of Interest. Each potential offeror should review FAR Subpart 9.5 in light of NASA’s anticipation of OCI issues and consider carefully the extent to which an OCI may arise before making the decision to compete for the anticipated IMOC II.
NASA anticipates that the effort will include the following types of tasks which could lead to potential OCI issues. The current IMOC contract Statement of Work (SOW) is provided on the MOD procurement website for reference at http://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/IMOCII/ . OCI assessments should include consideration that NASA determines/leads operational processes, decision making, requirements definition and mission execution.
Considering the overall NASA leadership role and the potential IMOC II contract requirements, NASA anticipates that the effort will include the following types of tasks which could lead to potential OCI issues. This list is not all inclusive.
* Provide operational assessments to NASA of component and system designs, design requirements, analysis, and models developed for:
– Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV)/Space Launch System (SLS)
– International Space Station (ISS)
– Extravehicular Activities (EVA)
– Commercial crew or cargo providers
– New technology development
* Provide support to NASA for design, development, and technical integration operations activities for programs and projects including:
– Generic analysis and trade studies
– Reference mission development
– Operations concepts development
– Spacecraft and payload safety compliance
– Risk management
* Provide support to development of NASA PTF processes, standards, products, and training/certification requirements used for spaceflight mission operations planning, training and execution activities for programs and projects
* Monitor, evaluate and provide feedback to the NASA certifying official, as part of the documented NASA certification process, on student (i.e. crew, flight controllers, instructors, analysts) and training systems performance for certification and mission training activities.
* Provide support to NASA in the development of user requirements and user verification and acceptance testing for user applications, mission systems, and training systems within their associated facilities that are developed and maintained by Contractors other than the IMOC II Contractor
* Access to Government Sensitive Information such as pre-decisional information associated with on-going or future NASA projects that may result in future competitive procurements
* Access to a Contractor, Grantee, and Space Act Agreement Participant’s proprietary information where said Contractor, Grantee, and Space Act Agreement Participant is not the IMOC II Contractor
These types of tasks could lead to the following categories of OCI issues depending on the composition of the team selected for the anticipated IMOC II contract:
* Unequal access to nonpublic information of the type that may provide the IMOC II Contractor an unfair competitive advantage in a later competition for a government procurement contract
* Potentially creating biased ground rules by providing technical assessments and advice to NASA personnel on specific technologies and methodologies that may affect NASA’s preparation of a specification of work, other contractual requirements, or NASA’s evaluation of proposals in a future competitive procurement
* Potential impaired objectivity if the IMOC II contractor or its subcontractors are assessing data developed by themselves, related companies (e.g., affiliates, joint ventures, partnerships, etc.), or subcontractors
Potential offerors are requested to address the following questions:
1. What type of OCI issues would your company or potential team identify, if any, should you choose to propose on the anticipated IMOC II?
2. What strategies would you anticipate proposing to mitigate the OCI issues that you identified (if any)? Please provide strategy details, previous examples/experience with other contracts with NASA or other agencies, etc.
3. Are there any other types of potential OCI issues with the anticipated IMOC II that were not identified in this RFI?
4. Does your company foresee any OCI issues associated with IMOC II that would cause you to decide not to propose on the anticipated Integrated Mission Operations Contract II solicitation?
NASA intends to assess any responses received regarding potential OCI and each offeror’s proposed OCI mitigation strategy, responding to each company who submits a mitigation strategy in writing. NASA’s response will simply be an attempt to preliminarily examine possible circumstances which might lead to or eliminate an OCI. It will not be a confirmation that, in fact, an OCI will ultimately exist or that an offeror can successfully eliminate or mitigate an OCI. Furthermore, the response in no way alters or interprets the application of FAR 9.5 as it applies to a final statement of work or a final proposal submission, should a potential offeror elect to submit a proposal in response to a solicitation for the anticipated IMOC II. Subsequent to the initial submission and response, the Government will not consider further information as it relates to this RFI.
For your information, a link to the NASA Guide on Organizational Conflicts of Interest has been posted to the Integrated Mission Operations Contract II procurement website at: http://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/IMOCII/ . You are requested to provide electronic responses via e-mail to the Contracting Officer listed at the end of this synopsis. Your response is requested by 4 p.m. CDT on April 23, 2013.
The documents on the NASA procurement website are for information and planning purposes, to allow industry the opportunity to comment, and to promote competition only. NASA will not affirmatively release any information received in response to this RFI to the public, but may use information received in developing the best approach for a contract strategy, and therefore such information may be recognizable to the potential offeror who submitted it. “Any information submitted in response to this RFI that is marked as “Confidential Commercial or Financial Information” or with similar restrictive markings will be considered as voluntarily submitted in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act.”
The Government intends to release the names, addresses, and points of contact of all respondents unless specifically requested not to do so by the respondent. This information will be included in the “interested parties list” on the IMOC II procurement website. All questions should be directed to the point of contact identified below. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. The Government is under no obligation to issue a solicitation or to award any contract on the basis of this RFI. The Government will not pay for any information solicited under this RFI. No solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of a solicitation. If a solicitation is released it will be synopsized in FedBizOpps and on the NASA Acquisition Internet Service. It is the potential offerors’ responsibility to monitor these sites for the release of any solicitation or synopsis.
NASA Clause 1852.215-84, Ombudsman, is applicable. The Center Ombudsman for this acquisition can be found at http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/pub/pub_library/Omb.html .
The solicitation and any documents related to this procurement will be available over the Internet. These documents will reside on a World Wide Web (WWW) server, which may be accessed using a WWW browser application. The Internet site, or URL, for the NASA/JSC Business Opportunities home page is http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eps/bizops.cgi?gr=D&pin=73 It is the offeror’s responsibility to monitor the Internet cite for the release of the solicitation and amendments (if any). Potential offerors will be responsible for downloading their own copy of the solicitation and amendments, if any.
Point of Contact
Name: Kathryn McLaurin
Title: Contract Specialist
Phone: 281-792-7859
Fax: 281-244-5119
Email: JSC-IMOC-II@mail.nasa.gov
Name: Rosalie Carpentier
Title: Contracting Officer
Phone: 281-792-7856
Fax: 281-244-5119
Email: JSC-IMOC-II@mail.nasa.gov
