VISN 23 Network 23 Contracting Office, Saint Cloud, Minnesota intends to award a firm fixed price contract on a sole source basis to EC America, Inc.; 8444 Westpark Drive, Suite 200; McLean, VA, 22102. This procurement is being conducted in accordance with FAR 6.302-1-only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. A justification for other than full and open competition has been prepared in support of this acquisition. The North American Industry Classification System Code (NAICS) is 334614. The NCO intends to procure software and hardware to upgrade from v5.0 to v360 of the Nuance PowerScribe Speech Recognition System for VISN 23 from EC America, Inc. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotes. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The Government will consider all submissions received by 3:00 PM Central Time on Friday, August 23, 2013. Information received shall be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement in the future. No telephone inquiries shall be accepted. Information can be sent to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Network 23 Contracting Office (NCO23),4801 Veterans Drive, Saint Cloud, MN 56301 or via email to the Contracting Officer at
[email protected].