R405--Intent to Sole Source Lightcast Survey and Analysis

The Veteran s Administration (VA) Office of Research and Development, Regional Procurement Office East in Pittsburgh, PA intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Lightcast on behalf of the National Artificial Intelligence Institute (NAII) under the VA Research and Development Central Office in Washington D.C. The requirement is to query job posting databases to determine the characteristics of demand for Artificial Intelligence (AI) professionals across industries in the US and benchmark between federal and private sector jobs the different educational and experience requirements. The contractor shall draw from a database of current and historical job postings across the globe to develop a comprehensive, real-time portrait of labor market demand. The Contractor will work with the NAII to produce the quantitative analysis (e.g., Figures and Tables) that would be used to publish an academic paper benchmarking the federal and private sector jobs and specifically for AI. The

analysis shall examine, the differences in educational, experience, and related requirements between the private and public sector, how these differ for AI jobs, how the two sector track each other and what difference exist across space and/or time. Specific tasks to be completed: The contractor shall use an agreed upon definition of the AI workforce to identify job openings requesting skills related to AI. This definition generally classifies jobs based on job titles (e.g., machine learning engineers), skills (e.g., deep learning), and related attributes listed in job openings to identify jobs requiring AI-related expertise. The contractor would work with the NAII to forge a definition that is consistent with the way that the NAII is thinking about AI. The contractor shall provide data enabling the investigation into key questions that include, but are not limited to, the following: How often does the federal government request skills related to artificial intelligence or other emerging and disruptive skill sets? What are the key roles in which the federal government requests artificial intelligence or other emerging and disruptive skill sets? How does the federal government s demand for artificial intelligence or other emerging and disruptive skill sets differ by experience and education levels? How does the federal government s demand for artificial intelligence or other emerging and disruptive skill sets compare against employers in the private sector? The contractor shall use a specific question list from the NAII. The contractor shall leverage data elements to investigate these, or related, questions including the following, broken out by the federal government and by private NAICS 2-digit sectors: Total online job openings for AI-related jobs to gauge demand for AI skills, relative also to non-AI related jobs to normalize for overall growth. Projected growth (as implied by posted wages) and average salary premium by skill to pinpoint additional emerging and disruptive skill sets. Top skills requested by occupation to track demand for other emerging and disruptive skills across different job roles. Average advertised salary by job and skill to assess compensation levels across different roles and skill requirements. Education and experience requirements by job and skill to analyze the education and experience levels typically associated with different roles and skills demanded by employers. In addition to the data elements listed above, the contractor shall provide a high-level summary of key findings and data from its initial analysis of the data in a PPT presentation and document. The contractor shall provide requisite data and analysis in well-formatted flat files. The contractor shall collaborate with representatives from the NAII to design a white paper and, if mutually agreed upon, a jointly authored academic article that communicate key findings and data elements from the analysis; The contractor shall collaborate with the NAII to jointly promote the research via media outlets, social media, websites, conferences, or other mutually agreed upon channels. Our objectives for this contract are to secure a contractor that has (a) the ability to conduct large-scale surveys, (b) survey knowledge to program surveys, (c) access to the most up-to-date survey strategies, and (d) access to a probability-based online panel that includes Veterans. The requirement will take place at the contractor s facility. The sole source is pursuant to FAR 6.302-1 Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals, however; any responsible source who believes it is capable of meeting the requirement may submit a capability statement and supporting documentation to the contracting office no later than Friday, Sept 23, 2022, (10:00 AM, EST). Interest/capability statements may be sent to Michael Haydo at Michael.haydo@va.gov. No telephone responses will be accepted. A determination not to compete the proposed requirement based upon the responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.