The ICE Office of Acquisition Management (OAQ), Information Technology Division (ITD), Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) Branch is issuing this sources sought notice as a means of conducting additional market research to identify interested parties to support the requirement for the Imaged Document and Exemplars Library (IDEAL) 2.0 Operations and Maintenance (O&M) and Enhancement Services. These services are in support of the HSI Forensic Laboratory (FL) in Washington, DC. Responses to this sources sought notice shall be provided by July 15, 2025, 8AM ET, utilizing the attached Microsoft Forms link (reference: IDEAL 2.0 Market Research July 2025). Any additional attachments shall be sent via email to Tonya Fells, Contract Specialist, at [email protected], and Trisha Goldsberry, Contracting Officer, at [email protected]. Please be advised that the Government has the absolute discretion whether or not to answer any question(s) that it receives, and the Government is not obligated to answer any question(s). The Government intends to only provide answers to questions that help industry better understand the Government's requirements.

The Government is not seeking alternate solutions to the use of IDEAL 2.0, rather the Government is seeking potential contractors to support the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) and Enhancements as detailed in the attached Performance Work Statement (PWS). HSI-FL owns the technical rights and source code for the IDEAL 2.0. 

The Government seeks to determine if the IDEAL 2.0 requirement can be procured commercially on a competitive basis via a multiple award schedule (MAS) / governmentwide acquisition contract (GWAC) task order, if any current contract vehicle contains a sufficient number of capable and interested contractors to perform the requirement, or via open market (i.e. SAM.gov).

Based on the responses to this notice, this requirement may be set-aside for small businesses or procured through full and open competition. If this requirement is set-aside for small businesses, only Small Business Administration (SBA) Certified Small Business Program Participants will be considered. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding their submissions.

Contractors may submit additional/supplemental information in response to this notice. Attachments are restricted to five (5) pages (8-1/2” x 11” utilizing 1” margins) utilizing Times New Roman or Ariel 12-point font. Information shall be restricted to information supporting your response to this notice, such as demonstration/experience of capabilities, feedback, additional questions, or if additional space is required to respond to questions on the form. If providing additional information to a specific question, the Contractor shall identify the number of the question the response is in reference to. The following do not count against the five (5) page limitation: Cover Page, Introduction/Company Overview (limited to one page), List of Acronyms, or Appendices.

Attachments: Draft-IDEAL_2.0_PWS_O&M-Enhancements(FY25)

FORMS LINK: IDEAL 2.0 Market Research July 2025