[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 147 (Wednesday, August 4, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41960-41963]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-16581]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Technical Information Service

[Docket No.: 191122-0088]


Opportunity To Enter Into a Joint Venture Partnership With the 
National Technical Information Service for Data Innovation Support

AGENCY: National Technical Information Service, Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The National Technical Information Service (NTIS) requests 
proposals from interested private-sector organizations to assist 
Federal agencies in the development and implementation of innovative 
ways to collect, connect, access, secure, analyze, disseminate and 
enable effective and efficient use of data to address unique and 
complex national data priorities. Specifically, NTIS is interested in 
partnering with organizations that have specialized skills and 
capabilities in applied data science areas, such as artificial 
intelligence, machine learning, robotics, and cybersecurity, to assist 
the Federal government in leveraging data as a strategic asset to 
achieve Federal agency mission outcomes. Organizations that are 
selected in accordance with the evaluation criteria and selection 
process set forth in this notice will be invited to enter into a joint 
venture partnership agreement with NTIS to be eligible to compete for 
Federal data service opportunities identified by NTIS in cooperation 
with other Federal agencies. In accordance with the President's 
Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved 
Communities Through the Federal Government, E.O. 13985 of Jan 20, 2021, 
NTIS encourages all individuals and organizations to apply who meet the 
listed qualifications and requirements in this notice, including those 
who come from underserved communities, such as Black, Latino, 
Indigenous and Native American, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders 
and other persons of color; members of religious minorities; lesbian, 
gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons; persons with 
disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; and persons otherwise 
adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality and the 
organizations that support these individuals and groups.

DATES: Proposals will be received and evaluated on an ongoing basis. 
Proposals will not be accepted after August 24, 2024. This Notice 
replaces the notice published on December 13, 2019, 84 FR 68147. 
Applicants that have already submitted proposals under the 2019 notice 
do not need to resubmit under this notice.

ADDRESSES: Submit proposals electronically, with the subject line 
``Opportunity to Enter into a Joint Venture Partnership with the 
National Technical Information Service for Data Innovation Support'', 
by emailing both <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5b142b2b34292f2e35322f221a3535342e35383e363e352f1b352f3228753c342d"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="521d22223d2026273c3b262b133c3c3d273c31373f373c26123c263b217c353d24">[email protected]</span></a> and Randy Caldwell at 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#522031333e3625373e3e123c263b217c353d24"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="304253515c5447555c5c705e4459431e575f46">[email protected]</span></a>.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Randy Caldwell at (703) 605-6321, or 
by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#55273634393122303939153b213c267b323a23"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="aad8c9cbc6ceddcfc6c6eac4dec3d984cdc5dc">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction/Background for Potential Joint Venture Partners (JVPs)

    NTIS, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is seeking 
proposals from potential JVPs that can work with NTIS to assist Federal 
agencies to leverage innovative ways to collect, connect, access, 
secure, analyze, disseminate and enable effective and efficient use of 
data to address unique and complex national data priorities.
    Federal agencies are currently addressing national issues in such 
areas as fraud detection, improper payments, public services, health 
and safety, cybersecurity, technology transfer, supply chain 
optimization, and internal requirements to operate more effectively and 
efficiently. Addressing these mission-critical data issues requires new 
capabilities in machine learning, artificial intelligence, predictive 
analytics and other advanced data science expertise. See OMB M-19-18 
\1\ and Executive Order 13859.\2\ Federal agencies that need the data 
services of NTIS and its JVPs require holistic solutions that may 
require the application of multiple data and technological capabilities 
in new and innovative ways in order to support the agencies' strategic 
plans and mission-critical priorities. Many of the challenges facing 
Federal agencies are at the intersection of data science and 
information technology (IT) modernization. Solutions often require 
related capabilities in emerging technologies, innovation, change 
management, and agile delivery methods. Mission areas that NTIS 
supports include, but are not limited to, fraud detection, public 
services, health and safety, technology transfer, and national 
security.
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    \1\ https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/M-19-18.pdf.
    \2\ https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/02/14/2019-02544/maintaining-american-leadership-in-artificial-intelligence.
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    Activities conducted by NTIS and its JVPs in support of other 
Federal agencies may include: (1) Designing, testing, analyzing, or 
demonstrating the application of Federal data and data services, either 
alone or in combination with non-Federal data; (2) based on Federal 
data or the use of Federal data in some combination with open Federal 
data and non-Federal data, facilitating the creation of suites of 
products, platforms, and services that assist Federal agencies in 
meeting the needs of businesses, innovators, government agencies, and 
others; and (3) otherwise enhancing data discovery and usability, data 
interoperability and standards, data analytics and forecasting, or data 
infrastructure and security. Projects that can be accomplished by a 
Federal agency via a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) procurement or 
acquisition action will not be conducted by NTIS with its JVPs.
    Organizations that enter into joint venture partnership agreements 
with NTIS, pursuant to this notice, will have opportunities to engage 
in early discussions about projects with NTIS and the sponsoring 
Federal agencies and may subsequently compete for the opportunity to 
work with NTIS to provide data services on specific projects under a 
merit-based selection process established by NTIS.
    Under a separate notice that will be published in the Federal 
Register (``assistive technologies JVPs notice''), NTIS will accept 
proposals from interested private-sector organizations to become a JVP 
eligible to work with

[[Page 41961]]

NTIS on projects involving assistive technologies. JVPs selected under 
the instant notice will not be eligible to compete for assistive 
technology project opportunities with NTIS unless they also apply and 
are selected under the assistive technologies JVPs notice. 
Organizations that enter into JVP agreements with NTIS pursuant to the 
assistive technologies notice will not be eligible to compete for data 
innovation opportunities with NTIS unless they also apply and are 
selected under the instant notice. Organizations selected under the 
instant notice will be eligible to work with NTIS on projects involving 
the types of data innovation described in this notice.
    The Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) has delegated to NTIS 
authority to operate as a permanent clearinghouse of scientific, 
technical, and engineering information and to collect and disseminate 
such information. 15 U.S.C. 1152. The National Technical Information 
Act of 1988, codified at 15 U.S.C. 3704b, additionally accorded the 
Secretary, acting through NTIS, the authority to enter into joint 
ventures, and declared the clearinghouse to be a permanent Federal 
function that could not be privatized without Congressional approval. 
The National Technical Information Act of 1988 was amended by section 
506(c) of the American Technology Preeminence Act of 1991 (Pub. L. 102-
245), which directed NTIS to focus on developing new electronic methods 
and media for information dissemination.
    As the nature and scope of information and data dissemination have 
changed, NTIS has continued to focus on innovations to address these 
changes. New capabilities are available in application program 
interfaces (APIs) as conduits for data dissemination that have 
significantly improved data use, interoperability, and accessibility. 
Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and predictive analytics are 
transforming how data are analyzed and managed to support national 
priorities in fraud detection, emergency preparedness, cybersecurity, 
citizen services, and in promoting health and public safety.
    Using its joint venture authority, NTIS has established a unique 
joint venture partnership program that has resulted in a number of 
innovative data service projects across the Federal government that 
allow other Federal agencies to address national priorities more 
efficiently and effectively.
    Specifically, through NTIS' joint venture partnership program, NTIS 
will (1) accelerate private-sector use of Federal government data, 
either alone or in combination with non-Federal data, for the 
development and use of new and improved data products and services, and 
(2) accelerate the Federal government's use of data to improve the 
effectiveness and efficiency of Federal programs and thus improve 
mission outcomes.
    The NTIS joint venture partnership program enables NTIS to 
structure joint venture partnership agreements with the private sector 
and interagency agreements with Federal agencies that offer the best 
combination of speed, agile applications development, and performance 
for delivering integrated innovative data services and solutions. NTIS 
manages joint venture projects in a highly flexible, interactive, and 
collaborative manner with its customer Federal agencies and JVPs 
throughout the project lifecycle.
    Joint ventures are not procurements or acquisitions and do not 
result in contracts under the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). 
Joint ventures involve the investment of resources by NTIS and its 
JVPs, with a formal agreement for the sharing of revenues associated 
with the venture. The joint venture partnerships provide data services 
that allow customer Federal agencies to accelerate the time it takes to 
achieve mission outcomes. The joint venture partnerships accomplish 
this by using innovative and creative methods of collecting, 
connecting, accessing, securing, analyzing, disseminating and enabling 
effective and efficient use of Federal data and non-Federal data.

II. General Scope

Technical Requirements

    Proposals must address at least one of the following two technical 
requirements by demonstrating the proposer's capabilities to deliver 
data-driven innovations. The proposer must explicitly state in the 
proposal which area(s) are addressed.
    1. Innovations in the use of data and data services to leverage 
data as a strategic asset to improve business processes and mission 
outcome. The proposal must include a description of how the proposer 
would contribute innovations in the use of data and data services. The 
scope of this area includes data science and engineering innovations 
and the ability to integrate and deliver complete data-driven solutions 
associated with (a) making it easier to use data through data cleansing 
and improved interoperability; (b) searching, discovering, combining, 
analyzing, disseminating, and using Federal government data, either 
alone or in combination with non-Federal data, in new ways; and (c) 
implementing innovative and secure data infrastructures to advance 
artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning for enabling 
cybersecurity, and creating cloud based analytic data platforms that 
deliver capabilities for data analytics through highly scalable 
infrastructure.
    2. Analysis, interpretation, and understanding of data, as well as 
meaningful application of the analysis and interpretation, to automate 
business processes, predict future events and prescribe potential 
solutions. The proposal must describe how the proposer would use AI, 
machine learning, and robotics to improve the analysis, interpretation, 
understanding, and application of either static or real time data to 
achieve innovations in business processes automation, supply chains, 
and overall mission outcome.

Additional Requirements

    NTIS will enter into joint venture partnership agreements in 
accordance with all relevant provisions of applicable Federal law. Any 
proposal that has the appearance of circumventing the FAR or other 
agency acquisition requirements will be determined to be non-responsive 
to this notice during the initial phase of the selection process and 
will not be considered further. Proposers must acknowledge and address 
the following terms in their proposals:
    <bullet> Data received from a Federal agency and from non-Federal 
organizations as part of a project performed by NTIS with a JVP may 
only be accessed and utilized for project purposes consistent with all 
applicable statutory and regulatory provisions and all relevant 
agreements.
    <bullet> Federal agencies and private-sector organizations that 
provide data as part of a project performed by NTIS with a JVP will 
retain ownership of the data rights. Federal agencies and private-
sector organizations may be requested to provide licenses to use the 
data for the purposes of a project.
    <bullet> At a minimum, systems, programs, and applications included 
in the proposal must comply with the documented security assessment and 
authorization (A&A) policies issued by the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB), standards and guidance issued by the National Institute 
of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Federal Information 
Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) (44 U.S.C. 3551 et seq.), 
before the systems, programs, and applications are offered to Federal 
agencies under a joint venture partnership.

[[Page 41962]]

    <bullet> JVPs who are selected and enter into joint venture 
partnership agreements pursuant to this notice will be eligible to 
submit proposals for specific project opportunities. Eligible JVPs 
interested in such opportunities will be required to submit a proposal 
in response to an opportunity announcement for specific projects within 
a short time period, typically two to three weeks.
    <bullet> Proposers must have the ability to accept electronic fund 
transfers.
    <bullet> NTIS will not guarantee that any revenue will be generated 
for the JVP merely by entering into a joint venture partnership 
agreement with NTIS.
    <bullet> Proposers must have the ability to fund their portion of 
any projects commenced pursuant to a joint venture partnership 
agreement for a period of time, which may differ for individual 
projects, due to Federal accrual accounting practices. NTIS does not 
allow (and has never offered) financial incentives for entering into 
joint venture partnership agreements. NTIS will not provide advance 
payments to JVPs.

III. Requested Response

    NTIS seeks to enter into joint venture partnership(s) with one or 
more partners to assist Federal agencies in furthering their missions 
in innovative and creative ways by enabling government agencies and the 
public with improved access to, or analysis, collection, or use of 
Federal data and data services, either alone or in combination with 
non-Federal data. NTIS and its JVPs provide data services for speedy 
execution of innovative projects, typically involving one or more of 
the following attributes: (a) First or early use of emerging 
technology; (b) complexity of solution architecture, interoperability, 
and/or security; (c) agile applications development and systems 
operations, which require adaptive scoping; or (d) custom solutions to 
meet unique requirements without COTS solutions.
    Proposers are encouraged to include proposed teams of private-
sector organizations, which may include small and medium-size 
enterprises and start-ups that bring unique and innovative capabilities 
for delivering data science capabilities. Proposals should describe any 
proposed teaming arrangements and solution integration capabilities, 
including the relationships among the parties, how the team would 
function, and how the team may be augmented to fill missing 
capabilities. Although teaming arrangements are encouraged, the JVP 
itself will be expected to provide at least 50 percent of the labor on 
each project for which it is selected. NTIS will evaluate each proposal 
and may solicit oral presentations from some or all proposers. Where 
appropriate, NTIS, in its discretion, may reach out to selected JVPs 
for teaming arrangements on future projects that involve emerging and/
or cutting-edge capabilities that fall within NTIS' mission.

Proposal Submission Information

    The proposal is a word-processed document of no more than fifteen 
(15) single-spaced pages responsive to the evaluation criteria set 
forth below. Any pages submitted beyond the 15-page limit will not be 
considered. Each proposal page layout should be 8.5 inches by 11 inches 
with 1-inch margins. The font for the proposal should be Times New 
Roman 12 point or similar font in readable size (no less than 10 
point). All submissions must be made in electronic format and submitted 
in accordance with the ADDRESSES section above. All proposals are 
subject to the False Claims Amendments Act of 1986, 31 U.S.C. 3729 and 
18 U.S.C. 287, as well as the False Statements Accountability Act of 
1996, 18 U.S.C 1001. In accordance with Federal appropriations law, an 
authorized representative of the selected proposer(s) may be required 
to provide certain certifications regarding Federal felony and Federal 
criminal tax convictions, unpaid Federal tax assessments, and 
delinquent Federal tax returns.

Proposal Technical, Administrative and Business Information

    The proposal must address each of the evaluation criteria set forth 
in the following section and should include all of the information set 
forth in this section in a manner sufficient to allow each section to 
be reviewed against the evaluation criteria set forth below. Each 
section of the proposal should include a brief title or description of 
its content.
    (1) The proposal to become a JVP must include a capability 
statement that describes the nature and scope of the organization's 
expertise to perform data services to address mission-critical Federal 
data requirements. The proposal must include: (a) A description of 
technical capabilities in each area of data innovation that the 
proposer and, where applicable, its team, will address; (b) examples of 
up to three major projects where the proposer and, where applicable, 
its team, have demonstrated data innovations using the technical 
capabilities; if the proposer and, where applicable, its team, have not 
conducted projects in which they have demonstrated data innovations 
using the technical capabilities, the proposer should include instead a 
description of how it would go about doing so; (c) a description of the 
professional accomplishments, skills, certifications, and training of 
the personnel proposed to provide the technical capabilities and 
perform the work proposed in the proposal, including each individual 
whose innovative technical capabilities are critical to the development 
or execution of joint venture projects in a substantive and measurable 
way; and (d) a description of the resources, such as staff, 
partnerships, integration and project management capabilities, 
contracts, or technologies, that the proposer would use to achieve 
these innovations. This information will be considered against 
evaluation criteria 1 through 3 below.
    (2) The proposal may include any other information that the 
proposer thinks will assist reviewers in their evaluation of the 
proposal against the evaluation criteria described below.
    To the extent permitted by law, including the Freedom of 
Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552, NTIS will not disclose 
confidential or proprietary information provided and clearly marked in 
any proposal submitted in response to this notice without providing the 
organization that submitted such information the opportunity to object 
to the potential release of the information. If NTIS receives a request 
for disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, it will 
promptly notify the submitting organization in writing and give it an 
opportunity to demonstrate that NTIS should withhold the information in 
accordance with Department of Commerce FOIA regulations (15 CFR part 
4).

Evaluation Criteria

    The evaluation criteria for the proposals are as follows:
    (1) Rationality (0-35 points).
    The extent to which the logic and soundness of the proposer's 
approach to enable data innovations that will address Federal data 
priorities by (a) advancing the use of data as a strategic asset to 
achieve mission outcome and support evidence-based policies; (b) 
transforming and optimizing supply chains through the use of data 
science capabilities; (c) promoting data governance and 
standardization; and (d) creating new capabilities for data discovery, 
data set search, and interoperability to connect and derive new 
insights for predictive analytics and prescriptive actions.
    (2) Technical Merit of Contribution (0-30 points).
    The technical effectiveness and innovation of the proposed 
capabilities

[[Page 41963]]

and past work or plans for providing such capabilities described in the 
proposal and the extent to which they would contribute to the fields of 
data science, AI, engineering, or best practices relevant to the 
services to be provided by NTIS and its JVPs as described in the 
General Scope section of this announcement.
    (3) Organizational Qualifications and Resource Availability (0-35 
points).
    The likelihood that the professional accomplishments, data services 
and solution integration delivery experience, skills, certifications, 
and training of the personnel proposed to provide the technical 
capabilities and perform the work proposed in the proposal, including 
all individuals whose innovative technical capabilities are critical to 
the development or execution of joint venture projects in a substantive 
and measurable way as identified in the proposal, will contribute to 
the successful execution of projects; and the extent to which the 
proposer has access to the necessary equipment, tools, facilities, 
technologies, and overall support and resources to accomplish proposed 
objectives and work jointly with NTIS to accomplish project goals.

Evaluation and Selection Process

    All proposals received before the end date set forth in the DATES 
section of this notice will be reviewed to determine whether they are 
submitted by a private-sector organization (eligible), contain all 
required technical, business and administrative information (complete), 
and are responsive to this notice. Proposals determined to be 
ineligible, incomplete, and/or non-responsive based on the initial 
screening will be eliminated from further review. However, NTIS, in its 
sole discretion, may continue the review process for a proposal that is 
missing non-substantive information that can easily be rectified or 
cured.
    All proposals that are determined to be eligible, complete, and 
responsive will proceed for full reviews in accordance with the review 
and selection process set forth below.
    At least three (3) objective individuals, knowledgeable about the 
particular technical areas described in the proposal, will review the 
merits of each proposal based on the evaluation criteria. The reviewers 
may discuss the proposals with each other, but scores will be 
determined on an individual basis, not as a consensus. NTIS may solicit 
oral presentations from some or all proposers.
    The Selecting Official, who is the NTIS Deputy Director or 
designee, will make final proposal selections, taking into 
consideration the results of the reviewers' evaluations, relevance to 
the scope and objectives described in this notice, the distribution of 
proposals across technical areas, and the distribution of proposers 
among a diverse set of qualified organizations. A diverse set of 
qualified organizations would include large, medium, and small 
organizations that may be for-profit or non-profit and that have both 
unique and discrete data science capabilities and specialized expertise 
and experience in integrating such capabilities for holistic, complete 
solutions.

Notification of Results

    Unsuccessful proposers will be notified in writing. Proposers whose 
proposals are selected will be notified and will be provided with a 
standard NTIS joint venture partnership agreement for execution. Each 
joint venture partnership agreement entered into between a selected 
proposer and NTIS will incorporate the selected proposer's proposal by 
reference. NTIS will not be responsible for any costs incurred by any 
proposer prior to execution of a joint venture partnership agreement.

    Dated: July 30, 2021.
Gregory Capella,
Deputy Director, National Technical Information Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-16581 Filed 8-3-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-04-P


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