R499--RFI Language Translation Services

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION SOURCES SOUGHT Introduction: This is a Request for Information (RFI) issued for conducting market research and for eliciting industry input as to the Government s possible requirement for Language Translation services. Accordingly, this RFI constitutes neither a Request for Proposal/Quote (RFP/RFQ) nor a guarantee that one will ever be issued by the Government; furthermore, it does not commit the Government to contract for any services described herein. Do not submit a Quote/Proposal. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is not, at this time, seeking proposals or quotes, and therefore will not accept, review, or evaluate unsolicited proposals or quotes received in response hereto. This notice is not to be construed as a commitment on the part of the Government to award a contract/order, nor does the Government intend to pay for any information submitted because of this request. The Government does not reimburse respondents for any costs associated with the submission of the information being requested, or reimburse expenses incurred for responses to this RFI. The information provided may be used by VA in developing its acquisition strategy and Performance Work Statement (PWS). Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP/RFQ, if issued. Any information submitted by respondents to this RFI is strictly voluntary; however, any information received shall become the property of the Government and will not be returned to the respondent. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary, restricted, or competition sensitive information contained in their response. This is a request for information and does not obligate the Government in any way, nor does it commit the Government to any specific course of action. Possible Requirement: Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) seeks to maximize innovation and automation solutions supporting Language Translation Services. VBA envisions an enhanced experience and mission accomplishment through a Language Translation managed process. Pursuant to that vision, VBA is planning to acquire a partner Contractor who has the capability to deliver rapid implementation and aggressive automation, while preserving government oversight and accountability of the processes to ensure that our Veterans and their dependents receive services in the most efficient manner possible.  This RFI is being issued to solicit industry input on the viability of a Language Translation process requirement in the attached business needs statement, as well as, to obtain associated data to help inform and shape a potential acquisition. The proposed contracted service will: Provide a Contractor developed software connection or other solution (e.g., API, SFTP, other similar solution) to receive or retrieve letters from the Centralized Benefits Communications Management (CBCM) or the Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS) Control documents received/retrieved from CBCM or VBMS Include a managed utility/application type software language translation service that can provide customization and integration services to meet translation requirements and system interface with VBMS and/or CBCM Translate and upload both the original English version letter and the Spanish translated version letter as a PDF maintaining all the original formatting Translate letters to the La Real Academia Española standard with no more than 5% error Transmit original English version and Spanish translated letters back to VBMS/CBCM within five (5) calendar days following receipt of source letter for printing and mailing Responses: Please submit the below requested information by 5:00 pm EST on July 18, 2022, via email only to Vernon.Quilici@va.gov The e-mail subject line shall be Language Translation Services [Insert Business Name]. VA reserves the right to not respond to any, all, or select responses or materials submitted. All VA current requirements identified herein are subject to change at any time. If you experience any problems or have any questions concerning this announcement, please contact Vernon Quilici, via email. VA appreciates your time and anticipated response. As part of your RFI response, please provide the following information: GENERAL Include the following identification information: Company Name Unique Entity Identifier Number under which the company is registered in SAM Confirmation of registration in VetBiz.gov if claiming SDVOSB/VOSB Company Address Point Of Contact Name Telephone Number Email Address NAICS Codes What experience does your organization have at providing similar services of size and scope to other Federal agencies and/or industry. For Federal awards provide contract number and agency points of contacts. ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FROM THE GOVERNMENT Is your company s solution based on Artificial Intelligence software, translation software, human translation, or a combination of software and human translation? Is your company s solution customizable to meet changing needs of the VBA i.e., formatting and templating? How would your company s solution verify that translation and readability is correct? Would your company s solution have an internal quality control and assurance check? Does your company s solution offer flexibility to add languages other than Spanish? Can your company handle increased volumes if needed? Do you have staffing to support your solution? How long would it take for your company to integrate your solution, and start translating correspondence? What would be some of the obstacles that your company would anticipate implementing your solution? What risks do you anticipate with this solution? Would your solution be able to real time data on production stats such as number received, number translated, number pending translation that VBA could access? Which NAICS codes would best cover these types of services? VENDOR RESPONSE The vendor response shall address their company s approach to satisfy the objectives, constraints, and requirements described within this RFI and attached below, Business Needs Statement. INSTRUCTIONS FOR RESPONDING TO THIS RFI Interested parties are directed to respond to this RFI in Microsoft Word for Office or compatible format and shall not exceed twenty (20) pages plus a cover page. A page is defined as each face of an 8.5 x 11 sheet with information contained within a one-inch margin on all sides. Font type shall be Times Roman 12 point unless provided in table format. Tables can utilize Times Roman 10 point. Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information. POST RFI REVIEW PHASE VA envisions that once RFI responses are reviewed, responders may be invited to provide a face-to-face or telephonic meeting(s) with VA personnel to answer additional questions with respect to the response given. The intent of face-to-face or telephonic meeting(s) would be further clarification of potential capability. VA retains sole discretion of whether any post RFI meeting(s) are warranted, and which industry partners may be invited to provide additional market research information. Request for Information Business Needs Statement Spanish Language Translation Services June 6, 2022 Background: The fundamental mission of the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) is to provide Veterans, service members, and their families the benefits they have earned through their military service to the United States. VBA accomplishes its mission by delivering client-centered, personalized services that help Veterans readjust to civilian life and enhance their well-being.  VBA continues to optimize the Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS), a paperless claims processing system that greatly reduces the time required to establish, develop, decide, and pay claims. The system replaces what was once a largely manual and paper-based process that had inherent bottlenecks and inefficiencies that led to processing delays and errors. Ongoing development of and continued enhancements to VBMS support VBA s progression towards an automated (or computer-assisted) processing environment.  VBA initiated the Centralized Benefits Communication Management (CBCM) effort in January 2018 to receive documents from VBMS and prepare them for printing. In September 2021, VBA initiated its own contract for the printing and mailing effort. Referred to as CBCM Printing and Mailing Services (CBCM PMS) this contract streamlined the printing, labeling/filling envelopes, and mailing process by providing a seamless end to end correspondence capability through a single vendor. In alignment with fundamental mission of VBA we have identified the need for some of our correspondence letters to be translated from English to Spanish to assist some of our Veterans in the claims process. VBA is exploring the concept of Language Translation Services (LTS) to provide translation of VBMS English version letters into geographically spoken language. For this RFI, VBA will be requesting Spanish. Business Need: VBA would require the Contractor to facilitate and support connecting to either CBCM or VBMS interface thru an API, SFTP, or other solution. CBCM/VBMS functionality includes receiving letters generated through VBMS package manager and providing the translation services for those identified letters. The work would also include:   Downloading VBMS/CBCM letters for translation from English to Spanish   Converting/packaging multiple downloaded documents into a single piece of translated correspondence with coversheet  Performing translation services into correspondence for native speaking Veterans/claimants Uploading both the original English PDF version and the Spanish translated PDF version letters back into VBMS /CBCM maintaining the original formatting VBA anticipates a firm fixed price contract for Language Translation Service with a base period of 12 months with 4 additional 12 month option periods if exercised. VBA would require the work to be done at the contractor facility within the Continental United States. Refer to the table below for estimated volumes.   Table 1. Language Translation Services Daily/Yearly Volume Projections  Electronic  Source  Service   Type  Base Period  Letters  per Day/Year  OY1 Letters   Per Day/Year   OY2 Letters   Per Day/Year   OY3 Letters   Per Day/Year  OY4 Letters   Per Day/Year   CBCM  Download/Translate/Upload letters 500/132,000 525/138,600 550/145,200 575/151,800 600/158,400     Ground Rules and Assumptions:  Assumes 500 letters per day Assumes 10 pages per letter Assumes 22 days worked per month  Assumes 264 workdays a year  Monthly and yearly projection assumes 11 federal holidays and weekends