THIS NOTICE OF INTENT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. This notice is for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. In accordance with FAR 6.302-1 and 41 USC 25(c)(1), the service needed by the USDA is available from only one responsible source and no other type of service will satisfy the needs of the USDA. This notice is not a request for competitive quotations. No solicitation document is available and telephone requests will not be honored. Potential sources who believe they can provide the services listed are invited to submit substantiating documentation in writing to the identified point of contact. Information received will be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice. A determination by the Government to compete this proposed contract based on responses to this notice is solely at the discretion of the Government. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Economic Research Service (ERS), intends to award a sole source contract to Haver Analytics for Analysis of Forces Affecting U.S. Agriculture and Food Security Outlook and Research Data Support. The Point of Contact for this action is Ms. Marian Dixon-Durham and any response must be emailed to
[email protected]. Verbal responses are not acceptable and will not be considered. Interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this requirement no later than June 16, 2014. The NAICS Code for this requirement is 518210 Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services 1.0 Introduction ERS plays a strategic role in developing the USDA Baseline doing research and analysis of the implications to U.S. agriculture and food security of shocks both in the United States and around the world. In undertaking such a role, the analysts at ERS need to draw on a variety of data from outside of the USDA. One such tool required is a comprehensive system of economic and financial data, such as the Haver database system. Such a tool, which can be used on a desktop computer, facilitates doing a variety of analyses. ERS does not have the internal resources to develop and maintain such a data system. It is therefore necessary that we purchase such from an outside vendor. 2.0 Background ERS publishes monthly and quarterly reports containing consistent U.S. and international nonagricultural data with a data history from the inception of the data source. The monthly forecast and reports about history require documentation to support ongoing reports and staff analysis done for the Secretary of Agriculture and other policymakers. The data needs to be developed on a basis consistent with the source entity to assure reliability in performing complex analyses of policy decisions, as well as reflect the interdependence of individual countries in the global market in Windows-based PC software such as Microsoft Office. The organization providing this has to have at least a 20-year track record 3.0 Scope This Statement of Work covers the provision of data, and training as needed. With all options exercised, the contract will last from July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2019. The agency's main objectives for this service is to improve its function in providing the USDA with long-term and short-term forecasts and history which are used in the USDA Baseline and other Department outlook and research, to efficiently provide the Department with analysis of the implication of a variety of shocks on U.S. and world agriculture as they arise, and to have access to an extensive historical database of general economic and financial variables for both the United States and countries around the world. For these activities, we need: 1) A Windows-compatible global database system that is usable in generating tables, graphs, and spreadsheets. The database system needs to be installable on standard PCs, and the ERS LAN with the ability for users to look at data both graphically and in spreadsheet format to be manipulated by users. In addition, the data should be well documented. 2) The database needs to be available within an hour of release by the source entity to ERS and electronically via the internet including the updated historical data set used in outlook and research. This data set needs to be updated as new data become available. 3) Training, documentation, and technical support for these products and services. This includes up to 2 training sessions at ERS's discretion. 4.0 Required Data Haver Analytics will provide the following data sets to the Economic Research Service on an as available basis. Using the Haver programs to do updates taken directly from the Haver Data Base in New York, and the Haver software (which allows instance access to the database), analysts at ERS can download, update, and access the data as needed. Clients have format options when downloading data. The most frequently used format is an Excel worksheet which pops up on your screen seconds after placing your order. Clients may also download in CSV (comma separated values) file format which can be easily loaded in several PC spreadsheet applications including Excel. • U.S. ECONOMIC STATISTICS (USECON) Haver Analytics' primary database of U.S. economic and financial data updated within minutes of release. Data cover national accounts, prices, housing, construction, industrial production, interest rates, money supply, public finance, wholesale and retail trade, manufacturers' shipments, inventories and orders, employment, productivity, population, international trade and business cycle indicators. • U.S. INTERNATIONAL (USINT) Detailed international trade in goods and services and international transactions by country, foreign direct investment in the U.S. and U.S. direct investment abroad by country and industry. • U.S. NATIONAL ACCOUNTS (USNA) Complete national income and product accounts from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, including underlying detail such as monthly personal consumption expenditures, personal income in millions of dollars and auto detail. • CAPITAL STOCK (CAPSTOCK) Complete net stock, depreciation, average age and investment data reported in the BEA publication Fixed Reproducible Tangible Wealth in the United States. Includes detailed estimates by industry and by type of equipment or structure. • EMPLOYMENT AND EARNINGS (LABOR) Monthly payroll figures by industry from the Establishment Survey reported in the Bureau of Labor Statistics publication Employment and Earnings. • INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION (IP) Complete industrial production detail including electric power use for 285 industries and industry groups published monthly in the Federal Reserve Board release, Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization. • CONSUMER PRICE INDEXES (CPIDATA) Monthly consumer price index detail by city, region and population size class, and CPI for older Americans as published in the CPI Detailed Report. Also includes average prices paid for commodities, utilities and fuels. • PRODUCER PRICE INDEXES (PPI, PPIR) Stage of processing, commodity and industry-based price indexes published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Producer Price Indexes. • FLOW OF FUNDS (FFUNDS) Flow of Funds data (Z.1) from the Federal Reserve Board. Financial assets and liabilities by sector and transaction type as well as Balance Sheet items. • WORLD AGRICULTURE STATISTICS (USDA) Contains USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service's Production, Supply and Distribution (PSD) data covering over 100 agricultural commodities and over 200 countries. Concepts include beginning and ending stocks, production, yields, imports, exports, domestic and foreign consumption, distribution, area planted and area harvested. Data begin in 1960, are annual and updated each month. • INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL STATISTICS (IFS, IFSANN) Monthly, quarterly, and annual gross domestic product and national accounts detail, interest rates, price and production indexes, money and banking, commodity prices, exchange rates, and balance of payments data for nearly 250 countries and regional aggregates published in the IMF's International Financial Statistics. • WORLD COMMODITY PRICES (WBPRICES) Timely monthly and annual prices for 76 key commodities and price indexes for 14 broad commodity categories for emerging countries from the World Bank Development Prospects Group. Also known as the Pinksheets, monthly data begin in 1983 and annual data begin in 1960. . • HAVER TAIWAN MACROECONOMIC DATE SET (EMERGPR Custom) GDP, GDP deflator, and CPI data on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis as available.