Most governmental organizations contract with private-sector firms for various services, but the cost in time and paperwork can be high.
NOAA has lessened these issues by establishing two contract vehicles that provide access to several private-sector firms; one covers geospatial services and data, and the other pertains to social science-related services. Organizations within NOAA and other federal, state, or local governmental entities can use these contracts instead of creating their own. Participating vendors, who are the top companies in their fields, then compete for jobs.
To use the contracts, the following requirements must be met.
- All work must be done to facilitate the management and protection of coastal communities and natural resources.
- Participants must be governmental organizations.
- A memorandum of understanding with the NOAA Coastal Services Center must be in place before the contracting vehicle is used.
Using these contracts reduces paperwork, saves time, and may result in a better scope of work request, since assistance with project scoping is available.
Coastal Geospatial Services Contract Vehicle
This contract provides access to the geospatial industry’s top performers—over 70 subcontractors available through four prime contractors. Each of the four contractors has a $17.5 million ceiling for the life of the five-year contract, which means the contracts are classified as indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) multiple-year task order contracts.
A memorandum of understanding with NOAA is required. Contract management and limited technical consultation are provided at no cost. Individual task orders are managed using a Web-based system that allows the contractors and the government to monitor and document contract and contractor performance. Task orders can be awarded particularly fast in times of natural disasters.
Services available from the coastal geospatial services contract include thematic mapping, aircraft-acquired data, satellite imagery, aerial photo interpretation, GIS tool development, data analysis, acoustic data, sediment profiling, and high-resolution topographic and bathymetric data.
Social Sciences Contract Vehicle
Two contractors, Eastern Research Group, Inc., and Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., were competitively selected for this multiple-award, five-year contracting vehicle. Requests for services result in bids from these two contractors to be awarded the work.
Currently the greatest time savings when using this contract are realized by federal entities. Federal organizations outside of NOAA will first need to establish an interagency agreement with the NOAA Coastal Services Center.
Services provided through this contract include audience analysis, facilitation, social assessment, policy analysis, economic impact and feasibility studies, evaluation, focus group design and implementation, performance measures, nonmarket valuation, community-based social marketing, and survey design.
After the task request is placed in the system, the award is usually made within a month’s time.
To learn about and access these services, visit www.csc.noaa.gov/idiq/.
