Transcription Services (Set-Aside for Aboriginal Suppliers)

This requirement is set aside for Aboriginal suppliers in accordance with the government Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business.  The bidder must certify in its bid that he or she is an Aboriginal business or joint venture as defined within the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business.
For the bid to be considered compliant, the bidder must submit at the time of bid closing, the completed and duly signed “Certification Requirement” and “Owner/Employee Certification” form included herein as part of the tender document.
DIAND intends to award up to one (1) competitively awarded contract as a result of this proposal call.
Under companion solicitation 20-13-0001 DIAND intends to award up to two (2) competitively awarded contracts.
In the event the required number of awards is not attained as a result of solicitation 20-13-0001, DIAND reserves the right to award up to two (2) additional contract pursuant to this process, for a total of three (3) contracts overall. 

 Background and Objective
The Indian Residential Schools Adjudication Secretariat (IRSAS) provides support to independent adjudicators located in regions across Canada who hear claims of sexual abuse or serious physical abuse under the Independent Assessment Process (IAP). The IRSAS is responsible for recording hearings and providing a complete record of the hearings to adjudicators to enable them to render decisions. IRSAS requires transcription services for approximately 4500 hearings to be held in a number of locations across Canada each year.

The Indian Residential Schools Adjudication Secretariat requires reliable, accurate, timely, and cost-effective transcription services for the recording of IAP hearings on Indian Residential School claims across the country.  The transcripts will assist in providing accurate and timely transcript information to adjudicators and claimants and in the maintenance of an archival file for each hearing.  It is necessary to enter into a procurement strategy that is consistent with departmental goals and objectives. A longer term contract is required because the number of cases and the time to resolve them have increased over initial estimates. 

The work is limited to transcribing IAP hearings in the language of the hearing from an audio file to a Microsoft Word document and to Portable Document Format, protecting and saving the file, sending the electronic file to IRSAS through a secure internet site, printing the document, certifying the document and returning a printed transcript to IRSAS.   

The majority of hearings are in English with a small number required in French.  Therefore, the contractor must have the capability to transcribe a hearing in French when required.  

Audio files and transcribed documents will be transferred between IRSAS and the Transcription company through IRSAS’s secure password protected internet site. The Transcription company will forward a printed copy of the transcription by courier as well as the electronic .pdf and MS Word version through the secure site. Access to the secure site will be granted by the IRSAS and user names and passwords would be assigned and maintained by the IRSAS. 
 
Scope of Work
Specific Services Required
IRSAS needs experienced and reliable contractors in the business of transcribing court documents who can produce the documents in an accurate, timely, cost-effective and reliable basis to meet our processing requirements and deadlines.  The contractor must have the capability to transcribe from a variety of digital media file types.

The Contractor shall provide the following services:
Provide clear, accurate and verbatim transcripts of hearings; meet deadlines for the completion and delivery of transcripts; and ensure the security of transcripts. It is estimated that 4,500 hearings will generate 375,000 pages of transcripts consisting of 320,000 Regular pages, 53,500 Urgent pages and 1500 Emergency pages in both official languages.

Tasks to be performed:
Listed below are the tasks to be performed which include:  a detailed description of what is to be accomplished, the methodology to be used, sequence and schedule of the work, duration of the project, the manner in which documents must be presented and other details as follows: 

Receives audio recording identified by file number and hearing type (Claimant Hearing, File Discussion, Submissions, Person of Interest Hearing, Witness Hearing, Questioning of Expert, Legal Fees, etc) from IRSAS.
Transcribes the hearings verbatim in the language of the hearing (English or French) from the digital audio file to a *.doc and *.pdf file document.
Records the cover page in the format provided (claimant name, file number, and hearing type). 
Where the audio recording is inaudible, the contractor will contact IRSAS on the same day it is received to request an additional audio recording of the hearing.
The file number and hearing type is recorded on the hardcopy, the electronic file, and invoices sent to IRSAS
The contractor will keep electronic copies of transcripts for IRSAS for a period of six (6) months but not for any other parties
For privacy, only the hearing number and model and type will appear on the invoice sent to IRSAS
As a minimum Quality Assurance requirement, the Contractor is responsible for performing or having performed all inspections and tests necessary to substantiate that the services and/or materiel provided conform to the specifications and requirements of this SOW and any tasking issued. The schedule of deliverables shall be in accordance with the priorities established by the TA.  Quality control will be maintained by a review of the transcript by the TA to determine whether the transcript is accurate and if deadlines are met.  The TA will provide notice to contractor where improvements are required.  The TA will make note of missed deadlines where transcripts have been identified as urgent, standard, and archival.

Constraints
Timeline for Deliverables
Turnaround and deadline requirements are effective from the date the source audio file is available to download from the secure internet site to the date the contractor uploads the completed transcription file to the secure intranet site, inclusive. Each day is counted from 12:00 AM Central standard time to 11:59 PM Central standard time.
Transcripts for emergency orders will be completed by the contractor and sent to IRSAS within 2 business 	days, including the dates of upload
Transcripts for urgent orders will be completed by the contractor and sent to IRSAS within 4 business days, 	including the dates of upload
Transcripts for standard orders will be completed by the contractor and sent to IRSAS within 6 business 	days, including the dates of upload
Transcripts for archival orders will be completed by the contractor and sent to IRSAS within 16 business 	days, including the dates of upload.

Penalties
Failure to meet deadlines will result in penalties as follows:
Emergency- Deduction of   20% of firm cost per page
Urgent	- Deduction of   15% of firm cost per page
Standard- Deduction of   10% of firm cost per page
Archival - Deduction of   5%   of firm cost per page

Deliverable(s) to be provided:

Receipt of digital audio files
Transcriptions of recordings in the required format and in the language of the recording.  Recordings are in English and French with the majority of recordings in the English language.  
Completed transcripts to the TA within deadlines identified.

Work Location 
All services will be performed at the Contractor’s and/or sub-contractor’s own place of business or offices and the Contractors and/or sub-contractor’s must provide adequate work space and office equipment to ensure the uninterrupted flow of contracted services at no additional cost to the Crown. 

MANDATORY CRITERIA
Criterion	Description
M-1	The bidder must provide a company profile showing the size of the company (number of employees), the number of years the company has been in the transcription business and the experience the company has in transcription services.

The bidder must demonstrate that they have been in business for a minimum of five (5) years from the date of issuance of the RFP, providing services as defined in the Statement of Work.

In the case of a joint venture, at least one member of the joint venture must meet the minimum five (5) years requirement. 
M-2	The bidder must demonstrate a minimum of one (1) year of experience with court reporting or transcription for judicial bodies or tribunals.
M-3	The bidder must submit curriculum vitae (CV) of all proposed personnel. 
M-4	The bidder must demonstrate that proposed personnel each have at least two (2) years of experience in transcription during the last five years.
M-5	The bidder must provide a description of how they propose to produce 100,000 to 130,000 pages of transcripts per year and their quality assurance methodology. 
M-6	The bidder must certify they have sufficient capacity to produce approximately 10,000 pages in English and 350 pages in French per month.
M-7	The bidder must provide three (3) project summaries that describe the bidder’s experience in transcription services.
M-8	The bidder must submit one (1) sample of a French transcript and two (2) sample of an English transcript. Each sample must consist of a minimum of 2000 words.
BASIS OF SELECTION

To be declare responsible, a bid must:
Comply with all requirements of the bid solicitation
1.	Meet the mandatory technical evaluation criteria; and
2.	Obtain the required minimum pass-mark in the rated criteria
3.	Bids not meeting 1, 2 or 3 will be declared non-responsive.  Neither the responsive bid that receives 	the highest number of points nor the one that proposed the lowest price will necessarily be 	accepted.  
4.	DIAND intends to award one (1) contract as a result of this solicitation to the Bidders 	representing Best Value, as determined in accordance with the Selection and Evaluation Criteria of 	the RFP.
5.	Best value is defined as the lowest cost per point.

This procurement is set-side subject to the provisions of the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business (PSAB).