** Industry Day Announcement -See Below ** RE: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) Agency: Defense Human Resources Activity (DHRA) Component: Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) Subject/Requirement: Military Training and Experience Evaluation Program Modernization 1.0 Description THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) OR A REQUEST FOR QUOTATIONS (RFQ); IT IS STRICTLY A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) TO INVITE INDUSTRY AND OTHER POTENTIAL VENDORS INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ACADEMIA, SMALL BUSINESSES, LARGE BUSINESSES AND NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS TO PROVIDE A WHITE PAPER IN RESPONSE TO THE SUBJECT TOPIC. 1.1 The Defense Human Resources Activity and its component activity, Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) seeks information from industry, academia, and other organizations to explore existing and emerging technologies related to Digitization / Modernization of the Military Training and Experience Evaluation Program which delivers services to evaluate and document the knowledge, skills, abilities, competencies, and proficiencies gained by service members as a result of military training courses and on-the-job experiences. Subsequently, the outcome of the evaluated courses and occupational experiences (i.e. college credit recommendations to satisfy degree requirements, competency profiles to apply towards certifications, licensure, employment opportunities, etc.) is communicated to the military Services, academic institutions, credentialing organizations, and potential employers. 1.2 THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for market research information and planning purposes - it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, DHRA is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Respondees are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party's expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. 1.3 The proposed NAICS for this effort is 611710, Educational Support Services (size standard $15M). Comments on this NAICS and suggestions for alternative codes must include supporting rationale. 2.0 Background 2.1 DANTES is currently receiving support under contract number N00189-15-C-Z075 for the manual evaluation of military training, educational, and occupational experiences. Those experiences are translated into academic credit recommendations that are currently accepted at over 2,000 academic institutions, as a form of prior learning assessment, to satisfy postsecondary certificate and degree requirements. (Institutional acceptance of these credits are at the discretion of individual colleges and universities and vary greatly based on institutional credit acceptance and award policies.) These evaluations are conducted either onsite or virtually, with Service-level training schools, located across the country by a team of multidisciplinary Subject Matter Experts from regionally accredited colleges and universities. Although this evaluation methodology has served the Defense Department well over the years, several factors necessitate modernization of the program. This includes the need to better leverage technological advances, keep pace with the changes within the postsecondary learning landscape, provide greater scalability to increase the amount and frequency of evaluations, to reduce costs associated with traditional on-site reviews, and expand the ability for evaluations to include competencies, in addition to academic credit recommendations, that can be easily accessed by the military Services, academic institutions, credentialing agencies, and potential employers. 2.2 The Government is specifically performing Market Research to see if there are potential vendors who can provide a cost effective and demonstrable solution to: Improve the Defense Department's capacity to evaluate, document, and communicate the knowledge, skills, abilities, competencies, and proficiencies (KSAC&P) gained by service members as a result of military training courses and on-the-job experiences to a wide range of stakeholders (i.e. the military Services, academic institutions, credentialing agencies, potential employers, etc.) through automation. The Contractor shall develop and implement a digital evaluation methodology that replaces the traditional manual review process. The digital evaluation methodology shall leverage a combination of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and related technologies, paired with leading or emergent taxonomies used to support college degree completion, career pathways, credentialing, industry/civilian workforce competency frameworks, and prior learning assessment methodologies. The new digital evaluation methodology may include the evaluation of classified course content (classified at the SECRET level).When necessary, digital evaluations may be supplemented by, or combined with, manual reviews (virtual or on-site) and periodic, on-site inspections. The Contractor shall establish the technological capability to streamline the collection, review, analysis, documentation, and communication of course and occupational related material in a readily consumable manner (i.e. modern application program interface (API) frameworks, open data architecture, etc.) that supports broader analysis and integration across programs, systems, and platforms of relevant stakeholders. The Contractor shall provide appropriate personnel, data management, quality control, and customer/stakeholder support necessary to support program execution. Regardless of evaluation methodology, the output of each evaluation shall align to evaluation rubrics (referenced in PWS Section 4.3.3.5), be formatted to be stored within a Digital Catalog (referenced in PWS Section 4.4.2.1) and, at a minimum, include: • KSAC&Ps as the building blocks for academic credit recommendations as well as alignment with and mapping to non-academic credentials • College credit recommendations and competency profiles that clearly demonstrate quality, transparency, portability, and market value. o College credit recommendations, in terms of semester hours, noting academic course equivalents o Competency profiles and proficiency statements with levels that delineate and document the degree to which KSAC&Ps are achieved through a training or occupational experience. Competencies shall be mapped in a manner that align to the entry to practice profiles for learners to become credentialed in a discipline as determined by certifying and professional accrediting bodies, i.e. Apprenticeships, Certifications, Licensure, Strategic Career Pathways, etc. o Alphanumeric course identifiers that accompany each credit or competency award that includes information such as prefix, level code, century digit, decade digit, unit digit, lab code, skill level, etc. • Supporting documentation (i.e. course artifacts such as syllabi, textbooks, learning assessments, etc.) to justify credit and competency awards, standardized course identifiers to assist with credit and competency mapping, etc. • Standardized scorecards that provide actionable items that military training facilities can use for continuous improvement in areas such as curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Ultimately, the outputs of course and occupational evaluations shall result in: 1) college credit recommendations that are accepted and applied to satisfy certificate and degree requirements at regionally and nationally accredited colleges and universities; 2) competency profiles and proficiency statements that are accepted by credentialing agencies and applied towards completion of certification and licensure requirements; and 3) competency statements with proficiency levels that can be adapted to auto populate draft resumes tailored to service members' training and occupational experiences to validate KSAC&Ps to potential civilian employers. 3.0 Requested Information 3.1 Industry feedback is requested on the DRAFT Performance Work Statement (PWS) (located in Appendix 1) for this requirement. Please list any challenges or potential performance roadblocks related to fulfilling the PWS requirements and any suggestions for improving the PWS language. Additionally, the Government seeks answers to the following questions concerning this requirement. Please consider providing responses: • What is industry's capacity to execute the requirements? Specifically, is the maturity of academic and competency frameworks, digital evaluation methodologies, and information technology systems sufficient to begin the digital assessment of military training courses and occupational experiences for knowledge, skills, abilities, competencies, and proficiencies at the projected contract award date in Spring 2020? If so, please articulate that capability. If not, please articulate potential challenges and proposed mitigation strategies related to conducting military course and occupational evaluations to fulfill the PWS requirements. • What data sources, documents, and format requirements are needed from military training sites for course and occupational reviews to be conducted digitally? • What additional information, if any, is needed from the Government to determine the Contractor's cost and performance management approach? Please provide a firm fixed price, non-binding, rough order of magnitude estimate for a 48-month period of performance under the attached PWS. • Please indicate relevant past performance or current projects that are similar in scope, magnitude, and complexity to the PWS requirements. For similar projects/pilots, please highlight challenges and planned/or completed actions to address those challenges. • Please indicate willingness and ability to conduct an in-person demonstration of proposed technological solutions to a panel of government personnel. 4.0 Responses 4.1 Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI with a white paper. 4.2 White papers are due no later than 5 Feb 2019, 12:00 PM Eastern Time . Responses shall be submitted via e-mail to the DHRA Enterprise Operations Center (DEOC/PK) Contract Specialist, Chuck Mayfield (
[email protected]). Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned. 4.3. Section 1 of the white paper shall provide administrative information, and shall include the following as a minimum: 4.3.1 Vendor name, address, website, Data Universal Numbering Systems (DUNS) Number, and Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code. 4.3.2 Point of contact to include e-mail address and telephone number. 4.3.3 Type of business, including socio-economic category (Large, Small, 8(a) Participant, Small Disadvantaged Business, HUBZone, Woman-Owned Small Business, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, or Non Profit) 4.3.4 If applicable, GSA contract number and applicable schedule(s). Also include any other existing contract vehicles outside of GSA. 4.3.5 The facility security clearance of the vendor. 4.4 Section 2 of the white paper shall answer the issues addressed in Section 3 of this RFI and shall be limited to 10 pages. The number of pages in Section 1 of the white paper shall not be included in the 10-page limitation. 5.0 Industry Discussions 5.1 DHRA representatives may or may not choose to meet with potential offerors. Such discussions would only be intended to get further clarification of potential capability to meet the requirements. 6.0 Questions 6.1 Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing by e-mail to the Contract Specialist's email address. Verbal questions (i.e. telephone calls) will NOT be accepted. The Government does not guarantee that questions received after 21 Jan 2019 will be answered. 6.2 Interested vendors may additionally contact the Small Business Point of Contact to discuss this requirement: Ms. Tammy Proffitt,
[email protected], phone #: 571-372-2591. 7.0 Summary 7.1 THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY to identify sources that can provide Military Training and Experience Evaluation Program Modernization. The information provided in the RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. DHRA has not made a commitment to procure any of the items discussed, and release of this RFI should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned. 7.2 White papers are due to Chuck Mayfield (
[email protected]) no later than 5 Feb 2019, 12:00 PM Eastern Time. Appendices: 1. DRAFT Military Training and Experience Evaluation Program Modernization PWS --------------------Update-------------- **********Industry Day 21 & 22 February 2019 – Fairfax, Virginia********** DHRA/DANTES will conduct an Industry Day for organizations/entities who are interested in fulfilling the Governments requirement with respect to the previously issued RFI above - Special Notice # H9821019X0001 issued on 6 Feb 2019. **Venue Space is limited** 1. All interested parties must pre-register (RSVP) to attend . 2. Registration is limited to two (2) representatives from each organization or firm. 3. The entities that submitted white papers in response to the previously issued RFI will have priority for registration. 4. All expenses associated with attendance at the event are the responsibility of the participant(s). The Government will not pay/reimburse any costs associated with this event. 5. To pre-register, please send your RSVP to
[email protected] 6. The DEADLINE to pre-register is 14 February 2019 with a RSVP to Mrs. Tammy Proffitt at
[email protected] 7. Agenda: TBD - Specific instructions pertaining to the event (location/agenda) will be sent to only those entities who RSVP to Mrs. Proffitt. Please RSVP as soon as possible. **Deadline to RSVP is 14 February 2019**