U -- Spanish Language Computer Telephone Test

U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina is seeking a Contractor who will, under provisions of a fixed price contract, develop and provide to the Government, a test of a computer and telephone interface system that will: Demonstrate the capability to collect and distribute Spanish spoken materials relevant to language speaking skills assessment; Gather a pool of spoken material from a representative cross section of the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) Spanish military linguists suitable for research on the validation of the system methods; Estimate the feasibility of fielding spoken language tests for multiple languages for USSOCOM government use and; Determine the relative accuracy and reliability of different scoring options acceptable to the Defense Language Institute, Monterey, CA. Contractor shall have an existing commercial computer telephony language testing product that is in use and can be modified to meet this requirement. --- This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION; QUOTES ARE BEING REQUESTED AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION WILL NOT BE ISSUED. All quotes must reference the Request for Quotation number USZA92-02-Q-0013. Solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through FAC 2001-06. It is the Contractor's responsibility to be familiar with all applicable clauses and provisions. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is 611710. The size standard is $6M. This requirement is set aside for small business. Statement of Requirements: Contractor shall build a pool of at least 250 spoken Spanish test items (questions and comments) for use in the project study. Write, record and develop tests for analysis at the contractor's site. Install the Spanish test on the contractor's computer telephony system. Write a manual that explains the operation of the test that will be used by military personal who call into the system and take the test (what to do and what to expect). Evaluate a minimum of 800 spoken responses from non-native (Government-provided) Spanish speakers using contractor-provided native Spanish examiners. Provide written test result to the Government representative. Provide a representative sample (10%) of the recorded tests to include questions and responses to the Government representative for further assessment and validation by government evaluators. Build preliminary machine scoring algorithms for the Spanish data and provide to the Government representative for human evaluators use in rating the tests when called in by punching in numbers on a touch-tone phone. Prepare manual for U.S. Government raters to use the computer telephony system to rate spoken Spanish samples. Support and coordinate experiment using ACTFL-approved evaluations of recorded tests by Contractor personnel and personnel selected by the government, and evaluating a 10% representative cross-section of the submissions by same evaluator base doing telephone interviews directly with test subjects to establish a performance rating on the collected spoken Spanish samples. Prepare and submit to the Government representative a report on the experiment, reviewing data and comparing rating methods. Project and test results shall be completed no later than one year from start date. PROVISIONS AND CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE: The following Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provisions are applicable to the acquisition: 52.212-1, Instructions to Offers-Commercial Items; 52.212-2, Evaluation Commercial Items, with the following evaluation factors inserted in paragraph "a" of the provision: "Award of the contract resulting from this solicitation will be made to the offeror whose proposal is deemed to represent the best value to theGovernment based on the following factors: Proposals will be evaluated on the offeror's technical approach to meeting the Government's requirement; price and delivery." Offerors written technical approach shall include the methodology and time lines proposed to meet the requirement, a description of the contracotr's existing computer telephony product, and the methodology proposed to integrate the contractor's product with the Government's requirement.; 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items and Defense Federal Acquisition Supplement; (DFARS) 252.212.7000, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items are applicable to this requirement and offerors shall include a completed copy of the Representations and Certifications with their quote. The following FAR Clauses are applicable to this acquisition: 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items; 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items, with the following clauses being applicable to the solicitation: 52.203-6 Alt I, 52.222-21, 52.222-26, 52.222-35, 52.222-36, 52.222-41, 52.222-42. Additionally, DFARS 252.204-7004, Required Central Contractor Registration; 252.212-7001, Contract Terms and Conditions Required To Implement Statutes Applicable to Defense Acquisition of Commercial Items, with the clause 252.225-7024 applicable. QUOTES ARE DUE: Quotes shall be received at HQ, USASOC, ATTN: AOCO (Barbara Bowles), Fort Bragg, North Carolina, 28310, not later than 2:00 p.m. ET, 31 May 2002. Fax submissions will not be accepted. Quotes shall include: (1) letter signed by an individual authorized to bind the organization (2) technical approach to meeting the requirements outlined in the statement of work and in the evaluation factors listed in FAR Clause 52.212-2, Evaluation Commercial Items, (3) completed Representations and Certifications, and (4) acknowledgement of any amendments that may be issued. Any amendments that may be issued will be published in the CBD the same as this combined synopsis/solicitation. Point of contact for this requirement is Ms. Barbara L. Bowles, Contracting Officer at (910) 432-8598 or e-mail [email protected]