Here is the bureaucracy of bidding on US DOD's CTTSO TSWG BAA 02-Q-4655 for FY 2002 issued under FAR as published in CBD for anti-terrorism measures in compliance with PL. You first need to register with BIDS run by USD for AT&L. You also need to register with CCR at DLIS website administered by DLA due to the new DFARS. To get the confidential TPIN/MPIN from CCR, you need a DUNS Number from D&B, a CAGE or NCAGE Code from DND Canada, as well as a TIN/EIN/SSN from IRS which converts Form SS-4 into Form 8109-B, NAICS and SIC and PSC and FSC. You must renew CCR registration annually by updating TPP via WWW. In addition, you may have to fill out DD/DPSA Form 2345 from U.S./Canada Joint Certification Office to obtain military critical data in GFI and/or GFM.
Moreover, the BIDS registration is overwhelmed, as seen in the response below. I submitted my form 2001-10-30, but have not received my BIDS account yet. What's more, my CCR registration is stuck in an infinite loop: "DUNS Number 251101788 is currently in CCR, and must be updated via Confirmation Number." Calling +1-888-227-2423 as instructed results in a message: "The number you have dialled cannot be reached from your calling area." For assistance, I should go to an SBA office to get information about contacting PTAC.
It is a nightmare just to submit the PDF file of a 1-page SQC of my invention on "R-410 CBRN Countermeasure" with SOW and ROM cost and schedule, which may be subject to USC FOIA.
Uncle Sam is certainly NOT my favourite uncle!
Thank you very much for your attention.
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
AT&L | Acquisition, Technology and Logistics
BAA | Broad Agency Announcement
BIDS | BAA Information Delivery System
CAGE | Commercial and Government Entity
CBD | Commerce Business Daily
CBRN | Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear
CCR | Central Contractor Registration
CTTSO | Combating Terrorism Technology Support Office
D&B | Dun & Bradstreet
DD | Defense Development
DFAR | Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation
DFARS | Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement
DLA | Defense Logistics Agency
DLIS | Defense Logistics Information Service
DND | Department of National Defence
DOD | Department of Defense
DPSA | Defense Production Sharing Agreements
DUNS | Data Universal Numbering System
EIN | Employer Identification Number
FOIA | Freedom of Information Act
FSC | Federal Supply Classification
FY | Fiscal Year
GFI | Government Furnished Information
GFM | Government Furnished Material
IRS | Internal Revenue Service
MPIN | Marketing Partner Identification Number
NAICS | North American Industry Classification System
NCAGE | NATO Commercial and Government Entity
PDF | Portable Document Format
PL | Public Law
PSC | Product Service Codes
PTAC | Procurement Technical Assistance Center
ROM | Rough Order of Magnitude
SBA | Small Business Administration
SIC | Standard Industrial Classification
SOW | Statement of Work
SQC | Summary Quad Chart (viewgraph)
SSN | Social Security Number
TIN | Tax Identification Number
TPIN | Trading Partner Identification Number
TPP | Trading Partner Profile
TSWG | Technical Support Working Group
US | United States
USC | United States Code
USD | Under Secretary of Defense
WWW | World Wide Web
To whom it may concern
On 2001-10-27, I launched a battle to penetrate heavily defended positions in the U.S. government bureaucracy.
It took 11 days for the TSWG to yield a username and a password:
2001-11-07 | "Your new BIDS User Account has been created."
The subsequent campaign led to a congratulatory note from the DLA, 24 days after the battle started:
2001-11-20 | "Congratulations on your successful CCR registration!"
It took a total of 31 days for the DLA to finally surrender a TPIN:
2001-11-27 | "Your confidential TPIN Number is XXXXXXXX."
Thus, I was eventually able to electronically submit PDF files of 1-page SQC for 2 inventions at the BIDS website:
"Crash Survivor" (R-110: Physical Security)
"Germ Buster" (R-410: Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Countermeasures)
Finally, the IRS conceded a TIN/EIN number:
2001-12-10 | "We assigned you an Employer Identification Number (EIN)."
To win the BAA war, I will have to endure months of wait and then capture the Phase II requirement (12-page White Paper), followed by the Phase III requirement (500-KB Full Proposal)...
