Notice of Intent to Award a Sole-Source Contract
Announcement Number: NC-NJ2000-23-01046
Project Title: Annual Renewal-dKart Inspector and Publisher maintenance service subscriptions

The US Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Eastern Acquisition
Division-Norfolk, VA office, Simplified Acquisition Branch intends to negotiate on a sole source basis, under the statutory
authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i), with Lloyds Register Voyage AS for acquisition of the annual renewal of dKart Inspector and Publisher maintenance service subscriptions. The North American Industry Classification Code (NAICS) for this acquisition is 513210, Software Publishers, with a business size standard of $47M.

Sole Source Justification
This particular brand name is essential to the requirement and market research indicates similar products do not meet or cannot be modified to meet agency needs. dKart will allow the National Ocean Service’s Office of Coast Survey’s Marine Chart to accomplish its mission of producing Electronic Navigational Charts that have been validated against the IHO’s S-57 standard prior to releasing the Electronic Navigational Chart (ENC) for use by the maritime public for safe navigation. dKart Inspector software will enable the Marine Chart Division to continue to quality control their ENC suite to the latest IHO standards and this software is required to perform this requirement. An open competition to complete the work would cause intolerable delay to the Marine Chart Division and potentially create a gap during the transition from using dkart Inspector to SevenCs analyzer which may lead to the release of unvalidated ENC’s to the maritime community. The requirement cannot be modified in any manner to increase competition because Lloyd’s Register Voyage AS is the OEM and the source cannot be substituted.

Special Notice
This special notice is not a solicitation for competitive quotes, nor will one be posted on Contract Opportunities. However, if an interested party believes that it is capable of meeting the requirements and be in compliance with the above justification, they may submit substantiating documentation in writing within the open period of this notice. Responses can be sent via e-mail to robin.souza@noaa.gov. Documentation will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to conduct a competitive procurement, based upon response to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice.

All responsible sources may submit a Capability Statement in accordance with the solicitation, which shall be considered by the agency if received on or before 11:00 AM EDT on September 6, 2023. The Capability Statement must contain material in sufficient detail to allow NOAA to determine if the party can meet all of the requirements.

All electronic correspondence shall have the subject line read:
Announcement Number: NC-NJ2000-23-01046
Project Title: Annual Renewal-dKart Inspector and Publisher maintenance service subscriptions

It is the Offeror’s responsibility to ensure that any submission transmitted to the specified Government representative(s) is received prior to the due date specified herein.

Offerors are highly encouraged to contact the Government representative(s) specified above prior to the solicitation’s stated time and date for receipt of offers to ensure the Government has received the submission. Offers received after the date and time specified in this solicitation may be excluded from consideration.

DOC/NOAA Eastern Acquisition Division requires that all contractors doing business with this office be registered with the System for Award Management (SAM). No award can be made to a company not registered in SAM. For additional information and to register in SAM, please access the following web site: www.sam.gov. To register, all contractors must have a Unique Entity Identifier. A Unique Entity Identifier may be acquired free of charge by contacting SAM.gov.

The notice will remain open from 08/22/2023 to 09/06/2023.

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