Analytics, Financial Forecasting Data Subscription Services
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)
INTRODUCTION
THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI). This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation; therefore, do not submit a quote. There is no obligation for the Government to acquire any products or services described in this RFI. No funds have been authorized, appropriated, or received for this effort. The information provided may be used by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) in developing its acquisition strategy and to revise the Statement of Work (SOW). Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary, restricted or competition sensitive information contained in their response. Only electronic responses to this RFI will be accepted. The Government will not pay for any time expended or information submitted in response to this RFI. Eligibility in participating in a future acquisition does not depend upon a response to this notice.
BACKGROUND
The VBA has a requirement for a Contractor to provide all resources necessary to deliver to the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) Analytical, Financial Forecasting Data Subscription Services. The Contractor shall be required to provide and accomplish ALL specific tasks, optional tasks, and deliverables described within the draft Statement of Work (SOW) listed below.
NAICS: 518210 Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services
QUESTIONS AND CRITICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR INTERESTED CONTRACTORS
Responses are solely treated as information for the Government to consider. Direct or Indirect costs incurred in response to this RFI are at the expense of the vendor, not the Government. In accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations, responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Any contract that may be awarded will not be based on information received or derived from this RFI, but rather on the outcome of a subsequent competitive process.
It is requested that all vendors interested in participating in this effort note their interest by responding to the areas identified in the Company Details", "Capabilities Statement , and General Questions sections below.
COMPANY DETAILS
The page limit for responses to this section is one page.
Provide company point(s) of contact information (name, email address, address, telephone, fax numbers and DUNS number.
Identify if your company are any of the following business concern statuses (include all that apply): Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB); Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB); Small Business (SB); Certified Small Business Administration (SBA) 8(a) firm; Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB); Economically Disadvantage Women-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB); Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB); Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HubZone) Small Business; Large Business
Provide contracting vehicles your company holds, such as GSA schedules.
CAPABILITIES STATEMENT
The page limit for responses to this section is five pages.
Provide an overview, detailing your firm s capabilities to fulfill all the requirements within the SOW, to include organizational and staff capability and experience.
Provide a brief narrative summary of your technical approach to meet VA s requirements within the draft SOW.
Provide up to three (3) contracts that your company has performed for the same or similar requirement and of comparable size, complexity and scope. Describe scope and similarities and differences as pertinent. Identify tools that were part of your solution, emphasizing econometric and simulation tools. Please be specific and provide a complete reference to include: contract number, contract title, description, period of performance, and award amount; as well as identify whether you performed as a prime contractor, sub-contractor, teaming partner, or as a project manager.
GENERAL QUESTIONS
The page limit for responses in this section is one page.
Provide feedback and recommend any changes to better support the requirements detailed in the SOW.
RESPONSE SUBMISSION
Please submit responses via email to Mario.quilici@va.gov 7/7/2017 by 12:00pm EDT.
VA reserves the right to not reply to any emails, responses, and/or materials submitted.
**DRAFT STATEMENT OF WORK
1.0 BACKGROUND
Loan Guaranty Service (LGY) has a significant need for non-VA economic, credit, and housing market data that will allow LGY staff to compare VA program data to broader markets, forecast future loan and borrower performance, and provide the capacity to test and implement data-driven program policy decisions. Having access to this robust and detailed data, and the sophisticated level of predictive analysis and forecasting will provide a needed and significant enhancement to the LGY program s capability to design and assess various policies aimed at increasing loan performance, assisting borrowers in default, and analyzing existing credit underwriting and loss mitigation standards. This acquisition will also provide LGY with enhanced ability to meet its established strategic objective of being a data-driven organization, and with the ability to professionally calculate its Residual Income tables; a key loan underwriting metric of borrower creditworthiness.
SCOPE
The providing of data, analysis, and on-call analytical support will be required for the duration of the contract. As LGY does not have access to an active data source of publicly and privately held economic and census factors that would allow for the multi-leveled analysis of program data, future outlook of LGY programs, as well as external influences to LGY programs, this contract must allow for actively updated data sources, as well as a staff of analysts and economists capable of providing in-depth, robust support to LGY on the entire range of available housing, credit, and economic data. As this data and analytic support is crucial to the success of a number of ongoing and near-term major program initiatives, the LGY program requires a product and professional on-call support that is immediately available, that can provide demonstrated success in other similar industries and programs undertaking similar initiatives, and that has been validated for professional use in a financial and Federal audit capacity.
2.1 PERFORMANCE PERIOD:
The Contractor shall complete the work required for one year from the date of award, with four option years, unless otherwise directed by the Contracting Officer (CO). If the Contractor proposes an earlier completion date, and the Government accepts the Contractor s proposal, the Contractor s proposed completion date should prevail. The work shall begin within five business days of the contract being awarded, unless otherwise specified. Work at the government site will not take place on Federal holidays or weekends unless directed by the CO.
2.2 TYPE OF CONTRACT: Firm Fixed Price
2.3 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE:
The vendor s place of business, and:
The Department of Veterans Affairs
1800 G. Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20006
3.0 SPECIFIC TASKS
Data Access and Delivery
The economic and financial historical data, forecasts, and written analyses shall be accessed by Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) license holders through the vendor s website. Historical data, forecasts, and written analyses shall be accessible by the VA at all times during the performance of this contract. Historical data and forecasts shall be accessed for download/export from an easy-to-use, single web-page location where the user is able to select geography level (national, state, or MSA), time period, economic/financial variables, etc., of data to download/export. The download/export webpage should contain graphing/charting capabilities.
The vendor shall provide immediate access to any and all data via existing delivery method.
The vendor shall provide 5 separate licenses to allow 5 concurrent LGY analysts to have access to data and analytic products.
Historical Data
The vendor shall provide a database that consists of economic and financial historical data of the economy at the national, state, MSA, county and zip code level.
The database shall include historical data that, where possible, goes back to 1980 or earlier and covers all states and all 400+ MSAs.
Historical data shall be updated continuously to incorporate revisions and updates to the data.
Forecasts and Economic Scenarios and Models
The vendor shall use its own expert, validated macroeconomic model(s) to forecast quarterly economic and financial data at the national, state, and MSA levels over at least a 30 year time horizon. Forecast models shall be recognized in the academic, governmental, financial, and data analytic communities as expert and authoritative.
Vendor shall supply at least 1,600 variables at the national level, 200 variables at the state level, and 100 variables at the metro and county levels.
The vendor shall update the forecasts every month.
The national level forecasts shall include multiple (preferably six to eight) expertly prepared alternative economic scenarios.
Forecasts and economic scenarios/models shall have the following characteristics:
Consistency: Data must be compiled, models constructed and forecasts must be applied using consistent methods for MSAs, states, and national economic or financial series to permit sound analysis. The vendor s forecast model(s) at the state and MSA level shall be consistent with national level forecasts, and vice versa.
Comprehensive coverage: Forecasts and models must include coverage of all MSAs and counties in the United States to help identify and analyze local economic factors that affect the condition and performance of mortgages. Forecasts and models must also take into account any relevant international data that impacts the U.S. economy.
Expert Analytics: Forecasts shall be recognized in the academic, governmental, financial, and data analytic communities as expert and authoritative.
Customization: The ability to customize forecasting models during the fiscal year shall be of significant importance, as requirements change with new legislation and new federal requirements. These customizations will include, but not be limited to the addition of new variables and inputs to the model, as well as potentially updated model application scenarios.
Written Analysis
The vendor shall provide professional written analysis and commentary of key economic and financial trends at the national level on an at least monthly basis.
The vendor shall also provide written analyses and detailed commentary of key economic and financial trends for each state and MSA at least three times per year.
The vendor shall also provide written analyses and commentary of key economic or financial data releases within 1 business day after the release date in a web based blog format.
The vendor shall also provide written analyses and commentary of significant and emerging economic or financial trends.
Written analyses shall have the following characteristics:
Articulate: Written analyses should be expertly prepared, and should articulately and professionally convey the data, analytic methodology, key points, notable facts, and/or recommendations in a manner understandable to technical subject matter experts as well as non-experts.
Expert: Analysis and commentary shall be provided by qualified individuals, certified by the vendor as educated and experienced in their data product, analytical field, or other area of professional expertise, at a level sufficient to render independent and expert judgement or analytical advice. Written analyses shall be recognized in the academic, governmental, financial, and data analytic communities as expert and authoritative.
Consumer Credit Forecasts
The vendor shall supply forecasts of credit bureau data for mortgages for 10 credit score bands, and all vintages dating back to 2005.
The forecasts shall include at least four delinquency states, prepayment, and default.
The forecast for loan volumes shall be in both number of loans and total dollar volume of loans.
The vendor shall update forecasts on a monthly basis. The forecasts shall regularly include baseline, recession, and severe recession scenarios.
Forecasts of consumer credit shall have the following characteristics:
Consistency: Data must be compiled and forecasts must be applied using consistent methods for national economic or financial series to permit sound analysis.
Expert Analytics: Analysis and forecasts shall be provided/produced by qualified individuals, certified by the vendor as educated and experienced in their data product, analytical field, or other area of professional expertise, at a level sufficient to render independent and expert judgement or analytical advice. Forecasts of consumer credit shall be recognized in the academic, governmental, financial, and data analytic communities as expert and authoritative.
Analytic and Economics Support
The vendor shall provide for VA license holders real-time access to economist and analysts responsible for and familiar with all analytic products and economic and financial data products purchased. Real-time access is defined as acknowledgement of query within an hour of submission, and a response within the same business day for simple, or uncomplicated requests, or a response within 5 business days for complicated or detailed requests.
Support shall be provided by qualified individuals, certified by the vendor as educated and experienced in their data product, analytical field, or other area of professional expertise, at a level sufficient to render independent and expert judgement or analytical advice.
Analytic Mortgage Portfolio Analysis
The vendor shall provide LGY-tailored model, using micro and macro-economic factors, to include 50 states, Washington DC, 381 MSA, and making use of loan and borrower characteristics such as the terms and conditions of the mortgage, the type of property, loan purpose, borrower FICO score, loan vintage, and local macro-economic conditions such as state and MSA level home prices and unemployment rates, and interest rates. Statistical tests run on LGY data will include univariate analysis, in-sample, and out-of-sample validation
Provide guidance to LGY analysts on data formatting and organization to provide a seamless transfer and to enable data compatibility.
Vendor shall use this tailored model to provide portfolio analysis, to identify trends, patterns, potential issues within the management of LGY portfolio. Vendor shall feed model through multiple scenarios to determine how LGY portfolio will likely perform under different market conditions. Vendor shall allow for the addition of customized scenarios based on changing economic or social factors.
Providing flexible, accurate, fast, analysis in an easy to use package with provided training for portfolio analysis. Analyses shall be provided by qualified individuals, certified by the vendor as educated and experienced in their data product, analytical field, or other area of professional expertise, at a level sufficient to render independent and expert judgement or analytical advice.
Vender must offer significant transparency and customization that allows LGY insight and access to the economic factors that will allow LGY the ability to alter the model simulation to fit future analytical needs and additional program data.
Technical Support
Technical support shall include telephone access to a user desk, access to analysts, response to questions and issues within one business day, regular conferences or client meetings to discuss economic issues.
4.0 OPTIONAL TASKS
The addition of optional tasks in which The vendor s analysts is able to provide analytical support in the vein of in depth, situational analysis into a range of topics that arise that would be necessary to provide housing benefits to Veterans and their families.
Optional Tasks will be similar to, but not be limited to the following; (1) the detailed analysis of the rental markets in the 20 MSAs with highest Veteran population, to help determine the validity of purchasing versus renting in those MSAs, (2) Identification of the MSAs most likely to see a downturn in house price over the next 10 years based on economic and social factors, (3) The creation of short and long term index of LGY job openings to public and private sector competing firms as well as new individuals entering the work force to enable LGY leadership to make more informed hiring decisions,(4) The development of a new national economic forecast based on factors identified specific to LGY to be applied to the LGY MPA..
As needs arise within LGY, The vendor s Analysts will work with LGY analysts to develop streamlined plans in order to produce the end state in a timely and efficient manner, while still allowing for the research and analysis necessary to provide an accurate picture to LGY leadership.
5.0 DELIVERABLES SCHEDULE
Metric
Frequency
Provide access to U.S. economic and financial historical data at the national, state, metropolitan, county, and zip code levels
Within 3 business days from receipt of data from the source of data
Provide access to Forecast Databases
quarterly U.S. economic and financial data at the national, state, and metropolitan statistical area levels
Monthly update of forecast
Written analysis and commentary of economic and financial trends at the national level
Monthly update
Metro Forecast Reports for all 400+ metros in the United States
Each report updated three times per year.
Analytic and Economic Support
48 hour response time to initial request for analysis
Analytic Mortgage Portfolio Analysis
Provide access to portfolio analysis within 28 weeks of the delivery of LGY program data.
Optional Tasks
Initial response within 48 hours of request, further timelines will vary depending on the size of the task
6.0 DATA SECURITY
Data Transfer of LGY Portfolio Information
VA will supply the vendor with (non PII) program information, to include Loan data and addresses. This data will come in the form of a one-time secure connection to VA data infrastructure, which will require a Memorandum of Understanding between the vendor and VA IT, or LGY program data will be sent to the vendor on a secured hard drive. It will be the responsibility of the vendor to follow any and all Federal information security policies for Federal/VA data once the transfer has taken place.
VA Information and Information System Security/Privacy Requirements
General
All Contractors and Contractor personnel shall be subject to the same Federal security and privacy laws, regulations, standards and VA policies as VA, including the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. B'552a, and VA personnel, regarding information and information system security. Contractors must follow policies and procedures outlined in VA Directive 6500, Information Security Program; and VA Handbook 6500.6, Contract Security which are available at: http://www1.va.gov/vapubs and its handbooks to ensure appropriate security controls are in place.
Access to VA Information and VA Information Systems
VA will supply the Contractor with the minimum logical (technical) and/or physical access to VA information and VA information systems for employees, sub-contractors: (1) to perform the services specified in the contract, (2) to perform necessary maintenance functions for electronic storage or transmission media necessary for performance of the contract, and (3) for individuals who first satisfy the same conditions, requirements, and restrictions that comparable VA employees must meet to have access to the same type of VA information.
All Contractors and subcontractors working with VA Sensitive Information are subject to the same investigative requirements as those of regular VA appointees or employees who have access to the same types of information. The level of background security investigation will be in accordance with VA Directive 0710, Handbook 0710, which are available at: http://www1.va.gov/vapubs, and VHA Directive 0710 and Implementation Handbook 0710.01, which are available at: http://www1.va.gov/vhapublications/index.cfm . Contractors are responsible for screening their employees. The following are VA's approved policy exceptions for meeting VA background screenings/investigative requirements for certain types of Contractor personnel:
VA Information Custodial Requirements
VA information provided to the Contractor for either the performance or administration of this contract shall only be used for those purposes. No other use is permitted without the CO s express written authorization. This clause expressly limits the Contractor s rights to use data as described in Rights in Data - General, FAR 52.227-14(d)(1). The Government shall retain the rights to all data and records produced in the execution or administration of this contract.
Prior to termination or completion of this contract, Contractor will not destroy information received from VA or gathered or created by the Contractor in the course of performing this contract without prior written approval by the CO. A Contractor destroying data on VA s behalf must do so accordance with National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) requirements as outlined in VA Directive 6300, Records and Information Management and its Handbook 6300.1 Records Management Procedures, and applicable VA Records Control Schedules. All data and reports shall be transferred to VBA upon contract completion.
The Contractor shall not make copies of VA information, electronic or otherwise, except as necessary to perform the terms of the agreement or to preserve electronic information stored on Contractor electronic storage media for restoration in case any electronic equipment or data used by the Contractor needs to be restored to an operating state.
The Contractor shall not use technologies banned in VA in meeting the requirements of the contract (e.g., Bluetooth-enabled devices).
Physical Security
IfB the contract requires taking VAB data to a contractor site and the dataB contains Personally Identifiable Information,B the contractorB will provide an independent physical security assessmentB ofB their facilityB to the COR prior to commencing work.B General guidelines for physical securityB can be found inB VA Directive 0730, Section 6 (Physical Security) and VA Memorandum (subj:B IT Oversight & Compliance Information Physical Security Assessments) dated October 24, 2007.B B
Training
All Contractor and subcontractor personnel requiring access to VA information and VA information systems shall complete the following before being granted access to VA information and networks:
Sign and acknowledge understanding of and responsibilities for compliance with the National Rules of Behavior related to access to VA information and information systems
Successfully complete VA Information Security Awareness training and annual refresher training as required
Successfully complete VA Privacy Awareness training and annual refresher training as required
Successfully complete any additional Information Security or Privacy training as required for VA personnel with equivalent information system access
The Contractor shall provide to the COR a copy of the training certificates for each applicable employee within 1 week of the initiation of the contract and annually thereafter, as required. These online courses are located at www.tms.va.gov. To self-enroll, click the Create New User button on the red bar and complete the assigned training.B The COR will provide the contractor with the appropriate information to complete self-enrollment. Technical issues with TMS should be directed to the TMS help desk at vatmshelp@va.gov or 1.866.496.0463.
Failure to complete this mandatory training within the timeframe required will be grounds for suspension or termination of all physical and/or electronic access privileges and removal from work on the contract until such time as the training is completed.
Contractor Personnel Security
All contract employees who require access to the VA site(s) and/or access to VA local area network (LAN) systems shall be the subject of a background investigation and must receive a favorable adjudication from the VA Security and Investigations Center (SIC). These requirements are applicable to all subcontractor personnel requiring the same level of Background Investigation.
The level of background security investigation will be in accordance with VA Directive 0710 dated September 10, 2004 and is available at http://www1.va.gov/vapubs/viewPublication.asp?Pub_ID=487&FType=2
Background Investigation
The contract employee level of background investigation required for this effort is:
TBD, but will most likely be a NACI
Contractor Responsibilities
1. The Contractor shall bear the expense of obtaining background investigations or reciprocals of previous investigations held that meet or exceed the required investigation level. The cost of background investigations is based on the current Office of Personnel Management (OPM) rate at the time the application is processed at OPM. Fiscal Year 2017 rates are as follows: Low Risk (NACI) $381, Moderate Risk (MBI) $1,730, High Risk (BI) $4,431 or Reciprocals are $62. VA will pay for investigations or reciprocals processed through the VA SIC and conducted by OPM in advance; however, the Contractor shall reimburse the full cost of background investigations/reciprocals to VA within 30 days of Bill of Collections received from VA. VA shall send up to three plus one final delinquent notice to the Contractor. If the Contractor does not adhere to the Bill of Collections, future invoices may be subject to be offset by VA to recoup background investigation/reciprocal costs.
2. Immediately after contract or task order award, the COR will provide the Contractor with the following background investigation documents to be completed by the Contractor and returned to the COR to begin the background investigation process for all contract employees working on the contract who will have access to VA facilities, VA systems, or privacy data:
Background Investigation Request Worksheet
Optional Form 306 Declaration of Federal Employment
Fingerprint Request Form
3. Upon receipt of the above-stated documents from the COR, the VSC will perform preliminary onboarding review and process the request through the SIC. Upon notification of favorable fingerprint results by the VSC, the contractor may begin work while the background investigation is ongoing. Thereafter, the Contractor will receive an email notification from the SIC identifying the website link that includes detailed instructions regarding completion of the background clearance application process in the Electronic Questionnaires for Investigations Processing (e-QIP) system. E-QIP is an online, Internet accessible system where the contractor employee shall complete the security questionnaire required for OPM to process the background investigation.
4. Contractors who have a current favorable background investigation previously conducted by OPM or Defense Security Service (DSS) may be accepted through reciprocation. When a previous clearance is currently held, it does not preclude the vendor from submitting a complete Background Investigation Package as stated above to the COR immediately after contract or task order award for all contract employees who will be working on the contract.
5. The Contractor shall prescreen all personnel who require access to VA site(s) and/or access to VA LAN systems to ensure they maintain a U.S. citizenship or Alien Registration that authorizes them to work in the U.S. and are able to read, write, speak and understand the English language.
6. Contract performance shall not commence before:
The VSC has confirmed favorable fingerprint results, or
SIC confirms that it has received the Contractor s investigative documents, the documents are complete, and that the investigation information has been released to OPM for scheduling of the background investigation, or
VSC or the SIC has confirmed that the verified investigation will be reciprocated.
7. The COR will notify and forward the Contractor a copy of the Certificate of Eligibility (Form 4236) if the investigation has been reciprocated. The Contractor, if notified of an unfavorable adjudication by the Government, shall withdraw the employee from consideration from working under the contract. Failure to comply with the Contractor personnel security requirements may result in termination of the contract for default.
8. The Contractor will be responsible for the actions of those contract and subcontract employees they provide to perform work for VA. In the event damage arises from work performed by Contractor personnel, under the auspices of the contract, the Contractor will be responsible for resources necessary to remedy the incident.
9. Should the Contractor use a vendor other than OPM or DSS to conduct investigations, the investigative company must be certified by OPM/DSS to conduct Contractor investigations. The Vendor Cage Code number must be provided to the VA SIC, which will verify the information and conclude whether access to the Government s site(s) and/or VA LAN systems can be granted.
10. The investigative history for Contractor personnel working under this contract must be maintained in the databases of either OPM or the Defense Industrial Security Clearance Organization (DISCO).
Government Responsibilities
1. After the SIC has adjudicated the background investigation package from the Contractor, the SIC will send an e-mail notification to the Contractor and their POC identifying the e-QIP website link that includes detailed instructions regarding completion of the background clearance application process and the level of background that was requested.
2. Upon receipt of required investigative documents, SIC will review the investigative documents for completion and initiate the background investigation by forwarding the investigative documents to OPM to conduct the background investigation. If the investigative documents are not complete, the SIC will notify the vendor of deficiencies and include corrective instructions.
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3. VA will pay for investigations and reciprocals processed through the VA SIC and conducted by OPM in advance, however, the Contractor shall reimburse the full cost of background investigations/reciprocals to VA within 30 days of Bill of Collections from VA. VA shall send up to three plus one final delinquent notice to the Contractor. If the Contractor does not adhere to the Bill of Collections, future invoices may be subject to be offset by VA to recoup background investigation costs and may be considered grounds for default.
4. The COR will notify and forward the Contractor a copy of the Certificate of Eligibility (Form 4236) if the investigation has been reciprocated. The COR will also notify the Contractor of an unfavorable adjudication by the Government.
Security Incident Investigation
The term security incident means an event that has, or could have, resulted in unauthorized access to, loss or damage to VA assets, or sensitive information, or an action the breaches VA security procedures. The contractor/subcontractor shall immediately notify the COR and simultaneously, the designated ISO and Privacy Officer for the contract of any known or suspected security/privacy incidents, or any unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, including that contained in system(s) to which the contractor/subcontractor has access.
Department of Veterans Affairs
Contracting Officer: Vernon Mario Quilici
mario.quilici@va.gov
