1_Statement_of_Objectives.pdf

Strategic Capital Program Support

Statement of Objectives (SOO)

Purpose:

This statement of objectives addresses the research and developmental needs of the Division of International Conservation (DIC, the Division), International Affairs, USFWS. The focus will be on strategy development, program prototyping, and the implementation plan for strategic realignment of the Division. The Division seeks four specific outcomes from this project:

- Further clarifying the vision (north star) for the USFWS DIC, as informed by leadership and staff perspectives

- Creating and implementing an actionable division transformation roadmap as the office improves its operational maturity;

- Galvanizing stakeholder buy-in and enthusiasm for the office’s strategy and program implementation direction; and

- Deploying prototypes to improve the Division’s business processes, increasing transparency and enhancing the divisions activities, including grants monitoring and tracking of conservation impacts.

Evaluate the success of prototypes and develop steps towards full deployment.

Background:

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's International Affairs Program (IA) coordinates domestic and international efforts to protect, restore, and enhance the world’s diverse wildlife and their habitats with a focus on species of international concern, including domestic species that extend beyond our borders or are traded internationally. Within IA, The Division of International Conservation (DIC) delivers financial assistance programs that support international conservation projects with measurable conservation results for species and their habitats. DIC pursues an evidence-based approach, publishing strategic geographical and thematic priorities and application guidelines in Notice of Funding Opportunities.

DIC is accountable to congress and the American public in delivering conservation outcomes through appropriated funds. In order to be most effective at showcasing how appropriated funds are being used to drive international conservation outcomes, DIC must utilize internal systems which demonstrate cost/benefit analyses for grants of small, medium and large sizes, as well as systems which aggregate data to show the overall impact of DIC grants across the globe and justify year-to-year change in our grants program management.

DIC therefore is seeking a contractor with expertise in developing these internal systems, including, but not limited to, theory of change modeling, developing and deploying machine learning AI tools capable of aggregating data, and creating communication tools which clearly articulate the value of DIC to the American public.

Performance Details:

The period of performance will be twelve (12) months, approximately March 1, 2023 – February 29, 2024.

The primary operating location will be virtual with minimal in-person support within the National Capital Region.

Objective This effort involves utilizing a technology enabled platform to facilitate the strategy development, prototyping various capital tools, and structuring an implementation plan for their integration. This includes the following objectives:

● Clarify the vision for DIC, as informed by user needs and data management market research

● Create an actionable product roadmap and program management design plan

● Galvanize stakeholder maps, buy-in and enthusiasm for the office’s strategy, and program implementation plan

● Utilize a technology-based platform to create a scalable prototyping and implementation tool that improves business processes.

Milestones:

There are three major milestones the contractor shall abide by:

● Phase 1 (Months 1-3): Contractor shall deliver a clear theory of change strategy and an operational maturity matrix for DIC. As a part of this, the contractor shall produce clear, easily understood Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for DIC, benchmarking these indicators and forecasting growth for key activities enhancing the divisions activities, including grants monitoring and tracking of conservation impacts.

● Phase 2 (Months 4-8): Models to enhance these KPIs shall be produced and tested.

This includes both technical modeling and management modeling.

These models will be used to evaluate multiple factors in improving DIC’s business practices, including, but not limited to data acquisition strategies, modernization of existing technologies with updated data fields, business process reimagination that results a higher likelihood to achieve outcomes described in the aforementioned theory of change, and the development of new technologies utilizing AI and other systems.

The contractor shall be responsible for the conception, development, and testing of numerous models that will result in firm data outlining the advantages of the models and how these models could work synergistically together. The contractor shall prepare an AI readiness assessment, and an assessment of other business processes and management models for DIC leadership to compare and consider.

● Phase 3 (Months 9-12): At this stage, the contractor shall have a fully developed understanding of models and options. In Phase 3, DIC will select from the models outlined in Phase 2, and the contractor shall be responsible for creating prototypes that implement the models above.

Through this prototyping process, the contractor shall be able to clearly articulate what will be necessary to fully operationalize the prototypes as well as the required management and operations to maintain these systems. DIC should leave with high confidence in committing further resources to the complete development of prototypes, and have a rich understanding of whether AI will drive towards better outcomes than non-AI solutions.

Scope & Criteria - Proposals Evaluated for Best Value:

- Contractors applying must have experience with algorithm testing, backed by data science and modeling, and experience communicating these outcomes to clients.

- The Contractor shall provide access to additional experts, tools, and techniques to include but not limited to, human-centered design support, service design support, artificial intelligence interaction design support, data analytics support, data engineering support, and data visualization support.

- Contractors applying must be able to provide DIC with any number of models that are identified and requested by DIC for prioritization and testing. This includes any number of draft AI models. DIC requires complete transparency into each model, with full access to the data being used. All data and models must be open source and non-proprietary. For each AI model, a 1-page summary explaining the AI in plain language must be provided.

- While DIC will explore all models, the use of AI solutions is the preferred approach unless it is proven that other recommendations, including modifying existing technology, result in better business outcomes for DIC. The vendor is expected to assess the feasibility of AI solutions and have concrete explanations as to what the optimal outcomes are based on their AI readiness analysis.

- The Contractor shall provide access to experts on a part-time basis; including a senior financial policy strategy advisor and a data strategy analyst.

- The contractor shall provide access to a managed platform with sufficient data capacity to prototype data sets, at least two (2) dedicated sprints per month of development, and continued support of prototypes through the duration of the contract. Data derived from the prototyped data sets shall be delivered to DIC.

- For Contractor weighting, a vendor’s ability to demonstrate technical capabilities with

AI will exceed the weighting of management capabilities, which are broadly found from numerous services.

Constraints

No specific constraints are required for this effort