> **Request for Proposal ED-00-R-0034**
>
> **BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT** (BAA) entitled\-- America Connects
> Consortium. The U.S. Department of Education, Contracts Application
> and Control Center, GSA ROB-3 Bldg., Rm. 3633, 7th and D Streets, SW.,
> Washington D.C. 20202-4725. Contract Specialist John Zentner and
> Contract Officer: Joyce Calloway.
>
> I. INTRODUCTION: The United States Department of Education (ED),
> Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) requests proposals for
> an America Connects Consortium (ACC). The Consortium shall facilitate
> national efforts to create, improve, and sustain community technology
> centers(CTCs), and in particular U.S. Department of Education projects
> funded under its Community Technology Centers Program (CFDA No.
> 84.341).
>
> ED contemplates awarding one fixed-price contract. ED expects to make
> an award not exceed \$2,000,000 in the first year; with funding
> available for each of three additional option years. ED expects that
> its funding will leverage substantial contributions from non-federal
> sources and a match of cash or in-kind contributions will be required
> of at least 30 percent in option year one, and 40 percent in
> subsequent years. Option years and funding levels are at ED\'s
> discretion, and subject to the availability of funds.
>
> II\. BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
>
> A 1998, U.S. Department of Commerce report, *Falling through the Net
> II: New Data on the Digital Divide*, showed that although more
> Americans now own computers, certain groups are still far less likely
> to have computers or online access. A follow-up study, released by the
> President in July 1999, documented that the digital divide continued
> to grow and highlighted the usefulness of Community Access Centers in
> meeting the need for services. Bridging the digital divide is a top
> priority of President Clinton's and he announced in his FY 2001 budget
> a comprehensive Digital Divide to Digital Opportunity Initiative.
>
> There are currently hundreds of community technology centers and
> community technology access points across the country \-- from
> well-established comprehensive community technology centers offering a
> comprehensive range of services to libraries or housing project
> learning rooms with only a few computer stations available. There is
> also great interest at the State and local level in creating community
> technology centers. The U.S. Department of Education and numerous
> corporations have begun providing seed capital funding for start-up
> and expansion. The U.S. Department of Education currently funds 120
> projects that are creating or expanding over 400 CTCs. The President's
> FY 2001 budget has a request for \$100 million for the CTC program
> with the expectation that an additional 1000 centers would be built
> over 3 years.
>
> However, existing Community Technology Centers are for the most part
> very weakly organized, with no real sustainable support. CTCs are
> unevenly distributed across the country with many States having few
> models on which to build. Organizations in disadvantaged communities
> often do not have the expertise to write winning proposals for grants.
> There is also a great need for technical assistance in the area of
> organizational/leadership development, outreach, and the effective use
> educational technology to serve diverse customers.
>
> III\. PURPOSE: The U.S. Department of Education is soliciting
> proposals for an America Connects Consortium that shall bring together
> stakeholders whose services are critical to the success of projects
> funded under the Community Technology Centers program (CFDA No.
> 84.341) as well as broader Community Technology Center development,
> service delivery, and sustainability. Although ED believes that no
> single entity has the expertise and resources to fully achieve the
> desired objectives and that a consortium, appropriately structured,
> could achieve them, non-consortium or single entity applicants will be
> considered. The Consortium shall consist of a variety of member
> entities and shall launch a focused, coordinated, and comprehensive
> national effort to promote, support, and sustain Community Technology
> Centers. The effort shall consider the needs of the field in terms of
> technical assistance and research and provide services to meet them.
>
> IV\. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: ED will use a two-phase submission
> process to evaluate proposals submitted in response to this
> announcement. For the first phase: offerors must submit an abstract of
> a proposal. ED will evaluate all abstracts against the evaluation
> criteria below. To be considered, abstracts must include letters of
> commitment from the proposed Consortium members. For the second phase:
> ED will invite full technical, past performance, and cost proposals
> from the top-ranked abstracts submitted in response to this BAA. In
> the invitation, ED will specify proposal format, the representations
> and certifications required under the Federal Acquisitions
> Regulations, the Education Department Acquisition Regulations and
> other ED clauses to be included in the contract that will result from
> the BAA. There will be no formal RFP document or other solicitation
> regarding this requirement. An invitation to submit a proposal does
> not assure subsequent award.
>
> No award will be made under this BAA without a full technical, past
> performance and cost proposal. The cost proposal must provide
> sufficient detail to allow assessment of costs and the offeror\'s
> capacity to perform the work proposed.
>
> To be considered, abstracts of proposals shall be received by 2:00
> p.m. (EST) on May 24,2000 at the ED Contracts Application and Control
> Center address stated above. All abstracts should include the
> identifier RFP:ED-00-R-0034, on the envelope and on the first page.
> The abstract should provide an overview of the project and associated
> costs. It shall be prepared on 8.5 X 11 inch plain paper and shall be
> printed on one side of each page only. It should be in a type size
> that enhances readability, with one inch margins on all sides, and
> double spaced. The abstract shall include: (1) a description of the
> proposed Consortium and the work the offeror proposes to perform; (2)
> a summary table or chart specifying each proposed task and subtask by
> project year and the level of commitment proposed for each Consortium
> member; (3) projected costs for each year of the Consortium; and, (4)
> any other information the proposer wishes to have considered.
> Additionally, an appendix shall be attached to the abstract containing
> letters of commitment from all proposed partnership members.
>
> The abstract, including the description of the proposed work, the
> staffing table or chart, projected annual costs, and any other
> information shall not exceed 15 pages. The appendix containing letters
> of commitment is not included in this limitation, but shall contain
> only letters of commitment. Any cover letter, cover, fly leaf, etc.
> and all other attachments (save letters of commitment from proposed
> Partnership members) are subject to the 15 page limit. Any pages
> beyond the 15th page of the abstract and any item in the appendix
> other than letters of commitment will not be read by reviewers.
> Offerors shall submit an original and 5 copies of the entire
> submission.
>
> The following Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) are incorporated
> in full force by reference for this BAA solicitation:

1)  FAR Subpart 15.208, Submission, Modification, Revision, and
    Withdrawal of Proposals, AND

2)  FAR Clause 52.215-1, Instructions to Offerors Competitive
    Acquisitions, (Oct. 1997) AND

3)  FAR Clause 52.215-1, Alternate I (Oct. 1997).

> V. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: Abstracts shall: clearly state the purpose,
> objectives, and proposed activities of the Consortium; include a
> listing of the proposed Consortium members and their roles; specify
> and provide the rationale for the Consortium\'s makeup, procedures,
> and activities; briefly describe anticipated products and services and
> their schedule for delivery; outline a strategy to secure matching
> funds for option years and highlight any current commitments; provide
> evidence of offeror\'s capacity to carry out the work; and specify
> project goals and performance measures tied to those goals.
>
> The abstract shall indicate how the Consortium will carry out
> technical assistance, product development (such as CD-ROMs, online, or
> other materials), applied research, and outreach to:

1.  Help disadvantaged communities develop and build sustainable
    Community Technology Centers;

2.  Help existing community technology centers effectively use
    appropriate educational technology to serve a wide range of clients
    (including, but not limited to, pre-school children, K-12 students
    in after-school setting, senior citizens, and adults engaged in
    basic education, ESL, GED completions, and/or post-secondary degree
    or certificate completion);

3.  Help community technology centers create or improve, small-business
    assistance, information technology workforce and micro-enterprise
    development programs;

4.  Help community technology centers ensure that they are accessible to
    individuals with disabilities and using appropriate educational or
    assistance technology to best meet their needs;

5.  Help community technology centers access corporate, foundation, or
    other donations of equipment, software, and services;

6.  Help community technology centers, or communities interested in
    building them, learn from CTC models of excellence and applied
    research on best practice.

7.  Help community technology centers develop their organizational
    capacity, manage for results, and create appropriate and effective
    evaluation strategies.

> In addition, the offeror shall:

A.  Specify the entities to be included in the Consortium, such as:
    national organizations and\\or networks with experience in providing
    technical assistance to CTCs and communities seeking to create or
    expand them; organizations, institutes, and, others, as appropriate,
    with expertise in providing technical assistance and/or training in
    the effective use of educational technology for the diverse
    customers who visit CTCs.

B.  Specify a conceptual and management plan that identifies the
    problems inherent in an organization such as the one sought for in
    this work and that addresses those problems in a creative manner.
    Outline strategies or current commitments for meeting the
    non-federal matching requirement in option years.

C.  Specify plans for the operation of a steering committee, executive
    committee, advisory group or some other entity responsible for
    oversight of the entire project, recommendations of any adjustments
    that might be required, resolution of any problems that might arise,
    and coordination of the Consortium\'s activities with other related
    efforts (both governmental and non-governmental). This
    group/committee/etc. shall be representative of the various
    perspectives and concerns of the Partnership, yet small enough to
    work efficiently.

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C.  Specify how the consortium will effectively serve the project's
    funded under ED's Community Technology Centers program, while more
    broadly serving other CTCs, outlining criteria that will be
    appropriately applied to determine their eligibility.

D.  Specify and justify the mix of activities -- technical assistance,
    applied research, product development, outreach, \-- that the
    offeror proposes to carry out and how such activities will not
    duplicate existing efforts, resources, or products.

> VI\. AWARD PROCESS: The expected award date is September 12,2000. ED
> reserves the right to select for award any or none of the proposals
> received, and to require an offeror to revise its proposal. Technical
> quality will be evaluated by a peer review panel, based on the
> criteria specified below. For this BAA solicitation, price will be a
> factor in source selection, however quality factors (including
> technical merit and past performance), considered together, are
> significantly more important than cost or price. The Government will
> make award to the responsible offeror whose offer conforms to the BAA
> solicitation, as no deficiencies (as defined in FAR 15.301) and is
> most advantageous to the Government, cost or price and other factors
> considered. The contracting officer will determine whether the
> difference in quality is worth the difference in cost or price.
>
> Evaluation of Options (FAR 52.217-5) (July 1990) - Except when it is
> determined in accordance with FAR 17.206(b) not to be in the
> Government's best interests, the Government will evaluate offers for
> award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total
> price for the basic year's requirement. Evaluation of options will not
> obligate the Government to exercise the options(s).

VII. PERFORMANCE INDICATORS: All offerors who

> are invited to submit complete proposals during the Second Phase, must
> specify performance indicators for their projects in the full
> proposals.
>
> VIII\. TECHNICAL EVALUATION CRITERIA: The following criteria apply to
> both abstracts and full technical proposals requested under this
> announcement. No other technical criteria will be used to evaluate the
> abstracts or the invited full technical proposals.

1.  Offeror\'s demonstrated experience and expertise related to CTC
    development and capacity to carry out technical assistance, product
    development, research, and outreach related to above mentioned
    priority areas (section V). Maximum points[: 20]{.underline}.

2.  Scope and quality of strategies and the proposed work plan to
    achieve outlined objectives (section V). Maximum points[:
    30]{.underline}.

3.  The quality of the proposed performance measures and management
    structure of the Consortium. Maximum points[: 15]{.underline}

4.  The quality and time commitments of proposed personnel, and the
    extent to which they have appropriate training and experience for
    conducting the proposed work, including demonstrated capacity to
    work with researchers and practitioners in the field. Maximum
    points[: 15]{.underline}.

5.  Facilities and equipment adequate to conduct the work proposed.
    Ma[xi]{.underline}mum points[: 10]{.underline}.

6.  The quality of the plan and demonstrated capacity of offeror to use
    federal funding to leverage non-federal matching funds in option
    years in order to maximize the impact of the effort. Maximum
    points[: 10.]{.underline}