Online subscription to IEEE papers and standards

1. Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)

An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier.

2. Definition of Requirements

The department of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) through its CanmetENERGY laboratory in Varennes (CE-V) has a requirement for a web-accessible electronic subscription service having access to i) a library of all IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology) publications (articles, papers, conference proceedings) with full-text availability, and ii) a library all IEEE power and energy-related standards with complete full-text access. The service should be accessible 24/7 through searchable and linked access to the latest versions and, for standards, any draft, redline, and historic (archived) versions.

Documents should be available on demand, in printable PDF format. Access to the subscription service will be for a single site, and can be managed through IP (Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device connected to a computer network) filtering.

3. Criteria for Assessment of the Statement of Capabilities

Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that its product/system meets the following requirements:

• Access to a digital online library which:
  • contains all articles, papers, standards, and other documents as specified following, and
  • is accessible and utilizable by all on-site users (CE-V), enabled through IP authentication, and has
  • has a robust database engine searchable by metadata or full text.
• The digital online library must have the ability for users to add to its “online cabinet” the full-text of articles/papers from IEEE and IET journals, magazines, transactions, and conference proceedings, including pre-publication (early access), in electronic (pdf) format. It must allow
  • Complete access to all abstract and citations for IEEE and IET publications,
  • A minimum of 350 full-text article/paper downloads into “online cabinet” per year, with unused allotments carried forward to following years
  • Retention of prior and existing additions to online cabinet (purchases)
  • The sharing of the online cabinet with all on-site users
  • On demand (instantaneous) article/paper access.
• The digital online library must provide access for users to the over 2500 existing papers presently listed within CE-V’s IEEEXplore File Cabinet.
• The digital online library must give access to users all IEEE standards relating to power and energy, including all those covered by the IEEE All Power and Energy Standards subscription. It must make available the approved, redline, draft, and historical (archived) versions of these standards in printable, electronic (pdf) format.

4. Trade Agreements

This procurement is subject to the following trade agreement(s):

North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA);

Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA);

5. Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier

We intend to deal directly with the supplier mentioned in section 11 below as it is the only known supplier that meets the mandatory criteria set out in section 3 above.

Should Canada receive a statement of capabilities from a supplier that contains sufficient information to indicate that it meets the requirements set forth in this ACAN, a competitive process will be triggered with a technical and financial evaluation methodology of the bids proposed by the potential bidders

6. Exception to the Government Contracts Regulations

The following exception(s) to the Government Contracts Regulations is (are) invoked for this procurement under subsection :

6(d) – “only one person is capable of performing the work

The identified provider, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), is the only one able to meet all of the criteria identified in paragraph 3 above.

7. Exclusions and/or Limited Tendering Reasons

The following exclusion(s) and/or limited tendering reasons are invoked under the: 

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): Article 1016, 2, b

Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA): Article 513 b

8. Ownership of Intellectual Property

Ownership of any Foreground Intellectual Property arising out of the proposed contract will vest in the Contractor.

9. Contract Period

The contract period will be from January 27, 2018 to January 26, 2019.

Option for 3 years:

1. from January 27, 2019 to January 26, 2020
2. from January 27, 2020 to January 26, 2021
3. from January 27, 2021 to January 26, 2022

10. Estimated Cost

The estimated value of the firm price is $32,412.62 CAD taxes included.

The estimated value of the optional years price is $148,772.30 CAD taxes included.

For a total estimated value of $ 181,184.92 CAD taxes included.

11. Name and Address of the Proposed Contractor

IEEE

501 Hoes Lane

Piscataway, NJ

USA 

08854

12. Suppliers’ right to submit a statement of capabilities

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services/goods described herein, may submit a Statement of Capabilities in writing, preferably by e-mail, to the contact person identified in this Notice on or before the closing date and time of this Notice. The Statement of Capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

13. Closing Date

The closing date for a submission of a Statement of Capabilities is January 12, 2018 at 14:00 Eastern Standard Time.

14. Contract Authority

Catherine Boilard

1055, rue du PEPS

Quebec QC G1V 4C7, Canada

Telephone: 1-418-648-5654

Email: catherine.boilard@canada.ca