| Statement of Work (Attachment(s) or Internet Link) System APPLICATION & SPECIALIZED SCIENTIFIC SUPPORT
DRAFT STATEMENT OF WORK
OVERVIEW
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Research and Development (ORD), has a requirement for Information Technology (IT) Support services for all of ORDs facilities, including Offices, Laboratories, Research Centers, and Field Installation Offices. (Refer to www.epa.gov/oam for locations.) This IT blanket purchase agreement (BPA) is designed to provide ORD with a system application and specialized scientific support services at any and all of its locations. The contractor may also be required to support other EPA locations.
The contractor shall be responsible for accomplishing the Statement of Work as defined herein and further specified in individual Task Orders issued and amended by the Contracting Officer under this BPA. Consistent with the policies and procedures established and managed by the EPA (which can be located at www.epa.gov/oam) the contractor shall implement, manage, provide and maintain IT services as described herein that are, on a continuing basis, responsive to EPAs users. The contractor shall maintain an awareness of the quality, efficiency, and cost -effectiveness of all services to be provided with a continuing emphasis on devising and developing better methods and/or procedures to enhance the ability of ORD to meet present and future needs of its user community.
Additionally, ORD has a requirement for automated information systems which address both fundamental information needs common to all Offices and Laboratories and those relating to program specific issues in order to support the IT needs of the widespread ORD locations in a cost-effective manner. The specific research areas of each ORD location require computer systems capable of providing a variety of analytical information, as well as raw data and information to the rest of the Agency in support of the ORD and Agency mission.
LOCATIONS
Unless otherwise specified, support and services shall be provided at ORD facilities, including Offices, Laboratories, Research Centers, and Field Installation Offices located throughout the EPA. Locations and additional information can be found at the EPA website: www.epa.gov/oam.
The contractor may be required to provide long-term, on-site IT support staff in any of the ORDs facilities, including Offices, Laboratories, Research Centers and Field Installation Offices. If IT support is required by an ORD location on a long-term basis, the contractor shall be provided forty-five (45) days advance notice before the support must begin. Startup intervals in such cases will be subject to individual negotiations.
TIME OF SERVICE
In general, services shall be routinely provided on all Federal business days from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Local Time of where the services are being performed, or as otherwise specified in individual Task Orders. The contractor may be required to provide services outside these hours on an emergency or extended basis. In the event of an environmental emergency or operational crisis, the Agency may require extended contractor support. Response times will vary with each situation, some requiring contractor response within 4 hours. Subsequent to the initial notification, the Contracting Officer will amend the appropriate Task Order(s) as required.
COMPLIANCE WITH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY GUIDELINES
All contractor work must be in compliance with pertinent Federal and EPA information processing and telecommunications standard and procedural guidelines. The contractor shall also comply with the Federal Information Processing and Standards (FIPS), published by the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST). The contractor shall also comply with EPAs Information Technology Architecture Roadmap and related implementation decisions, and EPA technical and operational standards as issued by its technology services organizations. The contractor shall observe the policies, procedures and formats published as follows:
www.epa.gov/irmpoli8 - Information Management and Information Technology policies that affect contractors performing work through EPA issued contract.
SECURITY CLEARANCE
Contractor personnel may have access to information requiring security clearances. Task Orders will include instructions on the handling of such information and may include contractor certifications as to the protection of such information, as described at Clause H.27.
Scope of Blanket Purchase Agreement
This blanket purchase agreement will enable the Office of Research and Development to obtain contractor system development and administration services through issuance of work requests. The following sections provide the statement of work requirements and services.
Section 1 - Systems Development & Administration
The contractor shall provide technical support for the following:
Systems development and integration
Application administration
Database administration
Systems Development and Integration – The contractor shall develop a new system or application. The contractor shall enhance, modify, or remediate an existing system or application. The contractor shall implement or customize a commercial application. The contractor shall automate the transfer of data from one system to another. The contractor shall develop and integrate software to meet users’ needs which includes but not limited to:
Requirements Gathering which includes identifying the stakeholder requirements that the system will address by utilizing accepted practices for gathering requirements such as interviews and surveys; Document requirements in a standardized, reference-able fashion.
Technical Solution Research which includes identifying commercial solutions or previously developed ORD/Agency systems that address identified requirements and document findings; Identify technical platforms that provide a foundation for the development of a system that addresses identified requirements and document findings
Solution Design which includes defining and documenting the system’s high-level components, logic, tiers, and objects while maximizing the re-use of existing technology and previous development efforts.
Integration Planning which includes assessing and document the technical feasibility and methods for integrating a new or existing system with another including the identification of impacts and constraints; Identify and document the expected triggers for the exchange of data or initiation of system functionality
Prototype/Proof-of-Concept Development which includes rapidly develop system that possesses sufficient functionality or look and feel to confirm that the system will meet requirements or function as expected
System Development – Traditional which includes developing and/or coding system in adherence with its documented design using industry and ORD-approved development life-cycle methods, standards, and principles.
Systems Development – Rapid which includes developing system utilizing a method that accelerates development of specific functionality by limiting design or testing efforts, using coding shortcuts, or foregoing formatting or other aesthetic elements.
System Testing which includes developing functional and performance test plans for a system; Functional and performance testing of a system; Conduct end-user acceptance testing; Document results and provide information to development resources. Testing would include 508 testing, usability testing and stress testing.
System (Production) Deployment which includes configuring the software platforms required by the system in the production environment; Copy and/or install code from the development environment to the production environment.
Bug and Enhancement Management which tracks requests for bug fixes, enhancements, or modifications to an existing system; assess and document the level of effort to address a request; organize and group requests into releases and/or patches.
Application Security which includes researching, analyzing, planning and documenting application security plans, disaster recovery plans, preparation and implementation activities. The contractor may be requires to analyze, provide options, and/or develop and maintain plan(s) related to continuity of operations, contingency planning, disaster recovery, systems security, security certifications and security awareness training.
Application Administration and Support – The contractor shall perform maintenance and administrative tasks for commercial and custom developed systems which includes but not limited to:
Configuring systems or applications using administrative interfaces. Updating reference tables or data in systems or applications. Handling exceptions to standard processes within systems or applications. Administering application and related application and database settings such as preferences, user permissions, and pick list choices. Refreshing and/or updating reference data. Manually updating data or record statuses to handle system exceptions. Providing documentation for support personnel in the installation and configuration of software.
Database Administration & Support – The contractor shall perform maintenance and administrative tasks for databases which includes but not limited to:
Administering database and related operating system settings, such as security, compact/defragment frequency, and linkages to other databases. Writing and running database queries or stored procedures to extract data, modify data, insert data, or delete data. Creating, running, and optimizing queries to view or manipulate data. Manually edit data in tables which includes extracting, modifying, inserting, or deleting specific data stored in databases. Coping or moving databases or related database objects such as tables and queries. Maintaining multiple versions of databases or related database objects
Section 2 – Specialized Scientific Support
Geospatial & Remote Sensing Support – The contractor shall assist in the processing, maintenance, and application of geospatial and remotely sensed data which includes but not limited to:
Maintaining and refining various Geographical Information System (GIS) and remotely sensed data sets, layers, and images. Converting GIS or remotely sensed data and images from one format to another for use with different systems. Overlaying GIS or remotely sensed data and images with other scientific data. Exporting and formating data and images for use in analysis and scientific documentation
Modeling Support – The contractor shall support the execution, maintenance, and optimization of scientific models which includes but not limited to:
Maintaining and refining model data, data relationships, and model logic. Executing models repeatedly with different variables or processing logic. Formatting model output for use in analysis and scientific documentation. Extracting and standardizing model components for re-use.
Visualization Support – The contractor shall support the processes of visually representing scientific knowledge which includes but not limited to:
Representing scientific data graphically or in tabular format for analysis, interpretation, or understanding. Developing visual constructs or frameworks and connect data sources for real-time analysis, interpretation, or understanding. Developing interactive components within visual representations of data for real-time manipulation and navigation of visual representations.
Data Analysis – The contractor shall assist with the analysis of data by applying statistical and logical techniques to describe, summarize, and compare scientific data which includes but not limited to:
Developing statistical models and apply to data sets. Developing descriptive models and apply to data sets. Developing predictive and forecasting models and apply to data sets. Formatting output for use in analysis and scientific documentation.
Section 3 - Business Services
Requirements
The contractor shall provide support for ancillary use-oriented business services that require either specific technical expertise or access to specialized technologies. The categories for these requirements include:
Graphical Design
Printing and Publication
Multimedia Authoring, Editing, & Production
Video and Photography Production
Image Scanning
Report Development
Data Entry
Technical Writing/Editing/Documentation
Technology Transfer & Assessment
Content Management
Technical Training
Graphical Design – The contractor shall develop graphical elements to increase the visual appeal of publications or increase the understanding of publication messages which includes but not limited to:
Managing requests for graphics support. Developing or refining graphic templates for broad use. Applying formatting, styles, and graphics such as images or illustrations to documents, presentations, brochures, posters, or other publications. Editing and refining graphics for use in various publications
Printing and Publication – The contractor shall provide physical production of publications which include but not limited to:
Managing requests for printing or binding services. Printing and binding of documents, presentations, brochures, posters, or other publications. Distribution or delivery of printed materials.
Multimedia Authoring, Editing, & Production – The contractor shall develop multimedia presentations and authoring onto selected media but not limited to:
Developing and editing presentations with varying content types including documents, audio, video, and animations. Developing or editing interactive applications with menus and varying content types including text, audio, video and animations. Compiling and organizing documents and burn onto alternative media for distribution.
Video and Photography Production – The contractor shall provide support for digital ingest and editing of video and photographs which includes but not limited to:
Transferring or converting video from one format to another (i.e. Photographs to digital format, etc.). Editing video and image files.
Image Scanning – The contractor shall scan hardcopy and softcopy documents for digital use which includes but not limited to:
Scanning hardcopy and softcopy documents or images for conversion to electronic format. Indexing or assigning metadata or keywords to scanned documents, digital document or images. Forwarding digital files or load into document or content management systems.
Report Development – The contractor shall create and maintain reports used internally for business management purposes which includes but not limited to:
Retrieving data from systems or other sources, compile data, and update data for reporting purposes. Developing and maintaining report templates. Grouping and summarizing data or information into reports. Maintaining report distribution lists. Distributing reports to appropriate audience.
Data Entry/Spreadsheet Support – Manual entry and maintenance of data in systems, databases, and spreadsheets.
Technical Writing/Editing/Documentation – The contractor shall convey various aspects of science and research related activities to inform or assist other individuals or groups which includes but not limited to:
Documenting scientific processes. Documenting outcomes of scientific processes. Editing technical or scientific documents.
Technology Transfer & Assessment – The contractor shall distribute information, tools, and technology within the Agency which includes but not limited to:
Technology Transfer and Assessment which includes developing and/or identifying appropriate methods and mechanisms for the distribution of Agency-created information, tools, and technology. Implementing methods and mechanisms for the distribution of Agency-created tools, information, and technology.
Content Management – The contractor shall add and maintain content in web, file, or document management systems which includes but not limited to:
Managing the organization and structure of content on web sites, file systems, or in other systems such as document management systems. Developing and maintaining taxonomies and metadata for content. Managing and updating content on web sites, file systems, or in other systems such as document management systems.
Technical Training – The contractor shall train users on the use of technologies which includes but not limited to:
Developing, editing, and/or updating course curriculum or training related documents. Perform training to users. Maintaining catalog and calendar for course offerings. Coordinating other vendor-provided training services. Maintaining self-study course offerings
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