Attachment 1 Performance Work Statement.pdf

Performance Work Statement (PWS) for the Deployment of a

Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) and Program Support Services for NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement

Version 1.2

October 28, 2020

NOAA NMFS OLE Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) Performance Work Statement (PWS)

Table of Contents

Section 1. PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

1.0 Introduction 3

2.0 Scope of Work 3

2.1 Making Changes to the PWS 3

3.0 Performance Details 3

3.1 Performance Period 3

3.2 Place of Performance 3

4.0 Tasks and Deliverables 4

5.0 Background 4

6.0 Objectives 4

7.0 Administrative Support 4

8.0 General Requirements 5

8.1 VMS Communication Services 5

8.2 U.S. VMS-Related Materials and Services 6

8.3 Satellite Surveillance Software and Systems Integration 8

8.4 Application Hosting 14

8.5 Software Support and Maintenance 16

8.6 Transition: Design, Development, Deployment, and Testing 17

9.0 Specific Mandatory Tasks and Associated Deliverables 17

9.1 Task 1: Project Management 18

9.2 Task 2: Licensing 20

9.3 Task 3: System Design, Configuration, and Construction 20

9.4 Task 4: System Delivery 22

9.5 Task 5: System Implementation 23

9.6 Task 6: Organizational Change Management (OCM) 24

9.7 Task 7: Training 24

9.8 Task 8: System Support 26

9.9 Task 9: NOAA NMFS VMS Evaluation and Project Closeout 27

10.0 Deliverable(s) Schedule 27

11.0 Performance Metrics 28

Appendix A - Customized Division Reports 30

Appendix B - Trip Generation (Northeast Enforcement Division) 38

Appendix C - Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) 44

Appendix D - Topsail Power Down Processing 45

Appendix E – Change Control 46

Section 1.

1.0 Introduction

The Contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, tools, materials, supervision, and other items and non-personal services necessary to perform the required services as defined in this Performance Work Statement (PWS) except as specified in section 2 as government-furnished property and services at the designated sites.

The contractor shall perform all work and services to the standards defined within this PWS.

2.0 Scope of Work

This statement of work encompasses the following scope:

1. VMS Communication Services (see Requirements 8.1)

2. VMS-related materials and services (see Requirements 8.2);

3. Satellite surveillance software and systems integration (see Requirements 8.3); and

4. Application Hosting (see Requirements 8.4).

5. Satellite surveillance software support and maintenance (see Requirements 8.5)

2.1 Making Changes to the PWS

Any change to this PWS shall be authorized and approved only through a modification executed by the Contracting Officer (CO). Costs incurred by the Contractor through the actions of parties other than the CO shall be borne by the Contractor.

3.0 Performance Details

3.1 Performance Period

The period of performance for this effort shall be for a base period of one year from the date of award and one (1) twelve (12) month option period. It is anticipated that a transition period of up to six (6) months will occur during the one year, base period of performance (reference paragraph 8.6 for information pertaining to the transition period).

3.2 Place of Performance

The work for this contract shall take place at NOAA headquarters, regional offices and the Contractor facility.

Travel

Travel and per diem, if required, shall be reimbursed in accordance with NOAA Travel Regulations. Each contractor invoice must include copies of all receipts that support the travel costs claimed in the invoice. Travel must be pre-approved by the COR. Local travel within a 50-mile radius from the contractor’s facility is considered the cost of doing business and will not be reimbursed. This includes travel, subsistence, and associated labor charges for travel time. Travel performed for personal convenience and daily travel to and from work at the contractor’s facility will not be reimbursed. Travel, subsistence, and associated labor charges for travel time for travel beyond a 50-mile radius of the contractor’s facility are authorized on a case-by-case basis and must be pre-approved by the CO.

Based on government approval, contractor may be required to travel to regional offices to conduct in-person interviews/meetings to gather requirements and/or provide training.

4.0 Tasks and Deliverables

The contractor shall provide all tasks and deliverables described within this document. All deliverables shall be submitted to the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) in accordance with Section 10.0 Deliverable Schedule and meet the standards set forth in the Section 11.0 Performance Metrics. Unless otherwise stipulated, written deliverables shall be phrased in layperson language. Statistical and other technical terminology shall not be used without providing a glossary of terms. Written deliverables shall be submitted in soft copy using Microsoft Office compatible products (version 2010 or later). All correspondence, submittals, and deliverables shall include Contract/Task Order Number, Contractor Name, and Deliverable Name. Deliverables shall be furnished to the COR and NOAA designee(s).

5.0 Background

The Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) is a satellite and cellular surveillance system which is primarily used to monitor the location and activities of commercial fishing vessels in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and international regional fisheries management organization (RFMO) areas. VMS supports law enforcement initiatives, for regulatory and statutory violation prevention, and for other fishery data-collection purposes. Data from VMS is used as evidence in the prosecution of many environmental laws and regulations including regional fishing quotas, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSFCMA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), to name a few.

The system employs satellite and cellular-based communications from Enhanced Mobile Transceiver Units (EMTU), which are on-board transceiver devices that certain vessels are required to carry. The VMS program monitors over 4,000 vessels 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. This number of vessels will increase during the contract period; potentially up to 7,000 vessels.

The NMFS OLE employs software to receive, store, and provide to users (via embedded graphical map display, graphical text display or via export to common external data and GIS software formats) the location and electronic reports of those commercial fishing vessels that are required by laws and/or regulations to install and operate an EMTU on board their vessel. The software is used by OLE staff, the United States Coast Guard, State enforcement agencies, and other fisheries-related personnel, totaling over 2,000 users.

In December 2020, the OLE VMS Program began to receive and import world-wide Automatic Identification System (AIS) data in addition to data from VMS-equipped vessels.

6.0 Objectives

The government is seeking a contractor to provide system integration services to coordinate all products and services to support the OLE VMS program, to include: application services for timely and accurately displayed vessel positions and messages; VMS satellite communications services; VMS software support services; MTU hardware and software needs of the VMS Program, integration with other external, NOAA-maintained databases, and Type Approval Testing services. The VMS program will support the day-to-day vessel monitoring activities of law enforcement personnel, NOAA NMFS OCIO, US Coast Guard; Joint Enforcement Agreement State partners (JEA), NMFS General Counsel, NMFS Science Centers and NMFS Regional Offices, to support both enforcement/compliance needs as well as data collection/management/scientific needs.

7.0 Administrative Support

7.1 The Contractor shall function as the single point of contact for all technical and administrative interfaces relating to the definition and accomplishment of the work described in this PWS.

7.2 The Contractor shall attend meetings related to the topics addressed in this PWS as requested by the Government. A summary of the meetings shall be provided within (1) business day of the meeting.

7.3 The Contractor shall prepare briefings and white papers. The NOAA VMS Program Management Analyst shall also be prepared to accept, follow-up, and address actions upon the CO’s request.

7.4 The Contractor shall provide planning, coordination, and operations support for this task to NOAA NMFS OLE headquarters and regional offices. The Contractor shall perform all work in coordination with the NOAA VMS Program Management Analyst.

7.5 The Contractor shall establish and maintain effective communication and coordination with the COR on project status.

8.0 General Requirements

● 8.1 VMS Communication Services

Satellite and cellular communications accuracy and delivery of messages to include position reports, polling requests, electronic forms and e-mails shall be provided in strict compliance with 50 CFR 600.1500 – 600.1518, and in such a manner as to ensure that all VMS vendors are able to comply with those sections, the Government’s interpretation of such, any applicable section(s) of federal Fishery Management Plan(s), and any regulations subsequent to or that otherwise supersede current regulations.

Note: VMS vendors are the companies who have received and hold a type-approval from OLE to operate within the U.S. vessel monitoring system. Vendors will subcontract with the Contractor, and so will also be addressed as subcontractors in applicable circumstances.

A. OLE-Owned EMTUs and EMTU Test Unit Communication Support Services

1. OLE requires secure communication services for all OLE-owned EMTUs and test units throughout the period of performance to which this PWS applies. This support includes:

a. All electronic forms and email messaging services (when caused or required by the government, not to include email messaging to/from government owned units in the Pacific Islands Region).

b. All polling requests and position reporting services.

Communication support services shall be charged by the Contractor to OLE on a monthly basis. Currently, there are approximately 270 OLE-owned units, and they primarily report position information once per hour.

B. Vessel Owner-Operated EMTUs Communication Support Services

1. Throughout the period of performance, OLE will require communication services to and from vessel owner-operated EMTUs. This support includes:

a. Email and polling messages from OLE to onboard owner-operated EMTU.

b. Electronic forms, position report and e-mail messages from the onboard owner-operated EMTU to OLE.

2. Additional VMS position reports that are Government-initiated and above the regular reporting frequency (regular frequency is the regulatory requirement for the fishery/permit, and is the responsibility of the vessel owner), include:

a. Any OLE-initiated polling and position-rate increases in excess of the regular reporting frequency.

3. Communication support services shall be charged on a monthly basis as follows:

a. Charged to OLE: Government-initiated position reports and e-mail messages.

b. Charged to owner: Owner-initiated electronic forms, regular position reports and e-mail messages.

c. All fleet-wide messages (i.e., messages requested by OLE to be sent to multiple vessels), and Government-initiated position report requests will be requested by OLE through the electronic ticket (work order) system, and are payable only when billed by the associated, unique Work ID number.

d. As otherwise directed on a case-by-case basis for new or special billing requirements.

● 8.2 U.S. VMS-Related Materials and Services.

Regulations governing VMS will be amended, modified and or augmented by Congress on a periodic basis. The VMS Program must comply with all regulations, which may necessitate various forms of modifications and upgrades to EMTUs’ hardware, firmware and/or software; each of which may impact regulated communication, reporting, polling services, and procedures. NOAA requires by this PWS, support in the coordination, facilitation and logistical implementation and compliance of EMTUs within the VMS Program at all times.

Support may involve coordination of the EMTU type-approved vendor or manufacturer, type-approved communication service provider and / or the VMS surveillance software provider. All support services are initiated, and carried through to execution via the Work Order Process detailed in this section.

A. VMS Technical Support and Materials.

Technical support may include, but is not limited to:

1. Resolution to work requests that are within the scope of this PWS.

2. EMTU Test Units.

a. Coordinate, facilitate, and provide logistical means (installation, communications service support, etc.) to enable testing.

3. Existing Type-Approved EMTU software maintenance, modifications and upgrades.

a. Coordinate, facilitate, etc., with EMTU vendors to ensure execution of software, hardware and firmware modifications necessary to ensure that the VMS Program and all of its components are in compliance and compatible with all applicable Regulations, within the timeframe, and price of the Work Order, as quoted and negotiated by the parties.

b. No billable work will commence until the Contractor receives written confirmation from OLE that the quote has been accepted, and that work should commence.

c. If the effort required to bring a work request to full completion will require more than $2,000 worth of Contractor’s work, then the Contractor will not commence billable work without notice to OLE of the estimated costs, or without written approval from OLE to begin the work.

d. In the event of an OLE required software upgrade for a fleet, the Contractor will coordinate the work of all VMS-participating vendors, and ensure that upgrades are fully implemented by the OLE-established due date.

4. Twenty four hours per day, 7 days per week troubleshooting and other support related, but not limited, to the following:

a. EMTU manufacturer software, hardware, firmware.

b. Communication failures and concerns.

c. Data issues and concerns including quality, delivery and accuracy.

d. Vessel registration, tracking, visibility vessel tracking data reporting console.

e. Requests for vessel/owner/operator identification and information.

f. Unit, communications and system status and health.

g. Other VMS support, troubleshooting and information as requested by OLE.

h. Restoration of service following scheduled maintenance.

5. Hardware and materials

a. EMTUs

b. Cabling

c. Other materials and services necessary for the proper installation and operation of

EMTUs

d. Associated shipping costs

B. Adequate documentation, responses and response times.

1. OLE’s service and work requests (“work orders”) will be delivered to the Contractor by an electronic ticketing system (currently, iSupport), and each request will be assigned a unique ID number.

a. Contractor and subcontractors will, within five days of the execution of this Contract, supply OLE with their customer service contact information, including names, telephone numbers, email addresses.

b. Contractor and subcontractors shall work diligently with the OLE Program Support staff to resolve work orders.

2. The Contractor is ultimately responsible for all work orders assigned to the VMS vendors who serve as their subcontractors.

a. The Contractor will ensure that OLE is promptly notified at least 7 calendar days in advance of all planned maintenance events, including VMS vendor and associated mobile communications services, that may cause a service disruption, and within 15 minutes of any unscheduled event that has caused a service disruption. The Contractor is expected to monitor all such scheduled and unscheduled events, ensure that Contractor-required services are restored, and communicate updates to OLE.

Responses, communications and all substantive information relating to a particular work order shall be communicated and/or documented in the electronic ticketing system.

3. No billable work will commence until the work requested has been issued through the electronic ticket system, by OLE Program Support Staff, and assigned a unique ID number.

4. Required response times vary by level of exigency.

a. The required response time for a work order is the maximum time allowed for the Contractor to respond to OLE via the electronic ticket system or, if it can be shown to be necessary, by telephone. The time will begin tolling from the time indicated on the time-stamp of the initial notification email sent from the electronic ticketing system or from the time of telephone notification, which includes the time that a telephone message was left for the Contractor.

b. The level of exigency will be indicated in the work order and the associated response times will be as follows:

Level of exigency Response Time

Received between 7:00 am to 11:00 pm Eastern Time Monday to Friday, excluding U.S. Federal holidays.

Received at any other time (i.e.

weeknights, weekends, U.S.

Federal holidays)

Emergency 2 hours 4 hours

High 10 hours 24 hours

Medium 24 hours 72 hours on weekends and holidays 24 hours on weekdays

Low 72 hours 72 hours

5. The Contractor will respond with the following:

● Recommended resolution;

● Plan to reach a resolution; Notice that a real and concentrated effort to resolve the work request is underway; Resolution ETA;

6. The Contractor will respond with the following:

The Contractor will provide immediate and continual support and work effort for all Emergency work orders, and all system outages and crashes, until such time as the system and its components are properly functioning and the work order is brought to full and complete resolution.

7. OLE shall provide all training required to operate in the electronic ticketing system.

C. Expert Witness testimony and litigation support.

1. On rare occasions, the Contractor may be requested to provide expert witness testimony and litigation support relating to the VMS Program as required by OLE, its investigators, General Counsel, an Administrative Law Judge or any Court of Law. NOAA will pay the approved cost of travel for any necessary Contractor employee to assist in any Federal administrative or judicial proceeding.

D. Type-approval testing and documentation.

1. Type approval testing includes communications coverage testing, hardware durability and other physical testing, software and firmware testing, and integrity testing to ensure that the product cannot be spoofed or manipulated to produce inaccurate or false data or location information.

a. Type approval testing will be requested through the electronic ticket system and work order process.

b. A written analysis and recommendation will accompany each type-approval testing effort.

c. Each written analysis will include a matrix listing each type approval specification and its testing results.

E. Simple analyses.

1. On occasion, the VMS Program will require the contractor to perform analyses of global communications coverage, compilation of their sub-vendors’ capabilities, or other information gathering tasks.

8.3 Satellite and Cellular Surveillance Software and Systems Integration

The Contractor shall provide satellite and cellular surveillance software to monitor all U.S. fishing vessels required to participate in the VMS Program, for use by over 2,500 users, and that adequately facilitates industry compliance with federal VMS requirements. Vessel position and other message data from the current system (vTrack) must be migrated to the proposed system.

8.3.1 Specific Software Requirements:

Basic

● Product must be browser-based without the use of supporting software or platforms.

● Product must not have a client computer software requirement.

● Licensing mechanism must support a growing number of users (currently at approximately 2,500 and projected to grow at 5% annually), and concurrent use must not be a licensing factor.

● The system must maintain adequate performance1 with an average of 50 users during OLE’s business hours.

● Product must be able to support communications protocols from multiple satellite and cellular communication providers. Must be compatible with replication process within the applicable relational database system

● A user indicator when the system is processing information.

● Receive and transmit information

● Mobile Solution o The product will be securely accessible from iOS and Android mobile devices as well as web browsers such as Chrome and Firefox.

● Support and maintain a trip generator (See Appendix B).

● The product must be capable of integration with authorized NOAA databases and servers.

Features

● Mapping o Detailed and comprehensive embedded global map coverage.

o Boundaries including Exclusive Economic Zones, NAFO, and U.S. territorial and state waters.

o Capability of entering NMFS statistical areas, and U.S. Coast Guard areas-of-responsibility.

o Position and associated data (vessel name, date, time latitude, longitude, other attributes) should be able to be easily exported and viewed in:

▪ Other mapping software, for example, Google Earth (.kml) and ArcGIS (.shp or “shape file”), .gpx.

▪ Excel and text format, including the export of ‘raw’ data o NOAA electronic chart (Electronic Navigation Charts and Raster Navigation Charts) overlays with legends as an available mapping interface.

o Scale information displayed at each zoom level.

o Able to determine distance from point to point in nautical miles, meters, yards and/or feet.

o City and port designations.

o Turn on and off a latitude/longitude grid overlay.

o Zoom in; Zoom out, Pan o Zoom and pan without re-downloading data o Grid display on/off for latitude and longitude o Capability to display position and cursor in decimal degree or degree-minutes format

1 This specifically includes end-user, desktop performance at OLE’s primary operating locations in Silver Spring, MD, Gloucester, MA, St. Petersburg, FL, Seattle, WA, Juneau, AK, and Honolulu, HI, and includes contractor design, implementation and/or management of the VMS database (data warehouse), in coordination with OLE and NMFS, and other work necessary to optimize end-user operational utility.

● Area shape files and geofences o Must have the capability to automatically increase reporting rate within a geofenced area (when compatible with the service provider).

o Enter or upload new areas in shape file or coordinate format.

o Allow for no fewer than six (6) customized colors for areas or groups of areas.

o Area title on/off display and capability to move the title with cursor o Capability to enter multi-polygons o Capability to enter lines and to select one or more lines for display o Capability to group areas by fishery for easier selection by user o Capability to add regulatory citation and effective dates for each area in a description field o Capability to include the user name and date when entering, editing or removing areas.

● Electronic forms

● The system must be capable of receiving and parsing different types and formats of electronic forms (eforms) sent by vessel operators, via EMTU software, to OLE. The parsed data reports are needed by GUI users and the data must be available to be queried and to be used in custom reports. It is the responsibility of the VMS’ subcontractors to provide forms in accordance with 50 CFR §600.1506 “Electronic Forms”. The VMS contractor is responsible for accepting, delivering, and properly parsing the forms data into the system; then, reports requirements for that data must be met.

● Capability to alert users of forms that fail to be parsed.

● Capability to allow users to query forms by type, vessel, permit, documentation number and date.

● Must be capable of displaying the following mapping layers:

o Location o Track o Positions o Sightings o Ellipses2

Graphical User Interface (GUI)

● Display position points and track lines of vessels.

● Output position data in Microsoft Excel format.

● Map and display position data to at least the same level of precision as required for type-approved

EMTUs.

● Capability to save customized menu options.

● The last known position of a vessel is visually evident.

● Overlay maps

● Identify whether display is in UTC or user’s local time.

● Provide for user viewing of up to five (5) divisional scenarios.

● Display additional information in a “bubble” by clicking, opening or hovering over a data point. Capability to display and move labels while maintaining clear associations with VMS position reports at any zoom level. Additional information to include:

o Vessel name

2 an ellipse around two consecutive vessel position reports that represents the area conceptually reachable by the vessel between the time of the first position and the time of the second position at a specified speed (often, the vessel’s estimated average speed).

o Position in latitude/longitude o Time of position report, in local or UTC time o Calculated average course and speed at position o Course and speed if provided by the EMTU o Coast Guard Documentation or State Registration o NMFS Federal Permit data, if available o Declaration, if available o Sector Membership, if available o Position status (as provided by the E-MTU) o Capability for user to select yes/no and date(s) to NMFS observer deployed

● User selected labels o User should be able to label any given position point with the information “bubble” o User should be able to add free text to the label o User should be able to save the labeled image and to print the labeled image.

● User must be able to search by:

o Vessel Name o USCG Documentation or State Registration Number o Static and dynamic Vessel Groups o Area(s) o Speed (0, <3, 3-6, >6 knots) o Transceiver Status o Age (e.g. “not older than” etc.)

o Permit number/ID and Type o VMS Vendor o Declared Activity o Column Headers o Keyword search using wildcard (%)

● The following actions must be available to high-level users:

o Immediate Position Update o Change Reporting Rate o Change Logging Rate o Request Log Download o Send Message (VMS Technician level and above) o Trip Generation start/stop and threshold parameters

● User-defined color choices

● Help Menu to include user and administrator manuals, and other OLE documents which may be added by authorized OLE personnel

● Capability for users to customize their menu options by group.

Messages

● Receive, process, display, query and store vessel position reports.

● Receive, process, display, query and store electronic forms messages including activity declarations, catch, hail, pre-landing and other reports.

● Send e-mail messages to vessels, including automated trip start/trip end notification emails, automated messages when a vessel enters a geofenced area, user-initiated emails, and provide system notification when received at the vessel.

● Receive and send pre-formatted North Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) messages to the

Secretariat, and receive/store acknowledgments.

● Receive, respond to and store Canadian Herring Transshipment vessel messages.

● Maintain a log of all messages received and sent, and allow for authorized user message queries.

Reports and Data Queries

● Provide for built-in and customized divisional reports (See Appendix A as an example), and data queries, to be added as needed.

● Capability to save customized queries.

● Export reports to .pdf, .doc, Google Sheets, or .xls format.

● Provide a log or documenting mechanism, by vessel, for documenting incoming or outgoing NMFS correspondence/contact. Authorized users should be able to query and view message correspondence in date order by individual vessel.

● Non-Reporting (silent vessel) list which allows for region-specific data entry.

● Vendor unit activations and deactivations by vessel.

● Position ‘flyer’ report (flyers are erroneous GPS position reports that result in a data point outside the reasonable scope of possibility).

● Allow for the identification of vessels based on SE Permit related dynamic group, e.g. vessels are or are not positioning, and/or do or do not have a Powerdown exemption.

● Reports currently required (this list may be expanded as regulations change):

o Vessel information customized by Division o SED Report examples include: Commercial Declarations, Gulf, HMS, S Atlantic, Caribbean; IFQ pre-landings, non-IFQ pre-landings, HMS Set Report, For Hire declaration, For Hire logbook) o Silent Vessels o FMC Out o NED and NWD View Declarations o Hourly position data flow analysis (by date/vendor/fishery) o Master Data Report o Active flag status o Missing data episodes o NED eforms by individual eform o Selected NED ‘Topsail’ reports o Division Population reports o Vessels on NMFS-authorized VMS Power Down, including capability for users to enter Letter of

Exemption information and run queries o AIS Positions from Unknown Vessels o AIS reports to support the North Atlantic Right Whale speed restrictions in seasonal management areas (SMA) Vessel Federal Permits, Vessel Trip Reports/Logbooks and Dealer Reports through user queries of external NOAA databases System interoperability

● Ingest data from other NMFS systems or databases, if needed

● Ingest data from third party systems or databases, if needed and reasonable

● Integrate regional industry group membership (e.g., NED groundfish sector/common pool, etc.)

databases, as required

● Run and manage a trip generation program (refer to Appendix B).

● Must have the ability to add other communications mechanisms

● Must have the capability to show data from other systems, including AIS data, on the map, if needed and reasonable.

● Share reports and/or data with approved external databases and servers.

● Capable of receiving SE Permit Data and creating dynamic permit vessel groups from that data (one vessel may have more than one SE permit and be part of more than one dynamic permit vessel group).

This permit data changes daily. The dynamic permit vessel groups must change too.

● Capable of receiving data from Fishery Information Networks, and create VMS logs and/or alerts based on that data.

Security

● Must support secure transfer of data from the Land Earth Stations / Gateways

● Must support secure, authorized discrete forwarding of data to third party systems (e.g. to NAFO VMS.).

Administration

● Must have multiple user roles with customized rights/access to parts of the system

● Customer must be able to create new user roles, as needed (with or without contractor/subcontractor assistance)

● The following administrative tasks must be accessible and managed or modified by local users or local administrator personnel, without contractor/subcontractor assistance:

o Change password o Polling vessels (single or group), including increased reporting/polling rates on a case by case basis o Creating and administering email and text alerts o Managing VMS logs o Manual position entry and labeling for registered VMS vessel as well as other vessels or objects

(e.g., non-VMS vessels or foreign-flagged vessels, fixed fishing gear, etc.)

o Managing vessel data and documentation o Manage individuals’ data o Registering vessels in the system o Maintaining an inbox (data received from e.g. LES) o Receiving and displaying positions (complete list of all position reports received) o Maintaining an outbox (data sent to other systems) o User management and documentation o Subscriber alert management o Creating and administering alert subscriptions o Determining VMS Status (e.g. log files) o Data configuration within the application (general setup parameters; restricted areas; vessel groups; vessel permit3 data; vessel types; gear types; motor types; activity types and species) o Must be able to modify transceiver reporting intervals (when compatible with the service provider) o Creating areas o Entering VMS email addresses and vessel owner secondary (internet) addresses.

● System must keep an error log accessible to administrator-users.

o Erroneous data, flyers, incomplete reports, or otherwise erred data must be stored and

3. The permit filter must be configured by the VMS software provider to provide accurate and complete permit data to users in every region, specifically including vessels which may have multiple alpha-numeric permits accessible.

Alerts

● The system must be able to provide user-defined text or email alerts for the following:

o Unit Status (when received by the system)

▪ Power On

▪ Power Off

▪ Power Fail

▪ Antenna Block

▪ Antenna Disconnect

▪ Failed to send position report

▪ And other Unit Status indicators sent from the EMTUs o Speed

▪ Stationary

▪ Low

▪ High

▪ Above Maximum Speed o Area

▪ Zone Entry

▪ Zone Exit

▪ Within Zone o Activity Declaration o Trip Generator stop and start o New eForm received

● Filters for the following conditions must be available:

o Date o Vessel o Group o Area o Permit3

Support Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO)

● Module for entering catch report data (daily, entry, exit) and other report data (e.g. observer reports, etc.)

and automatically transmitting that data in required format to the Secretariat, NAFO.

● See specification in Appendix C

8.4 Application Hosting

The current VMS application is operated out of government owned datacenter facilities with geographical redundancies in the East coast (Washington Metropolitan area) and West Coast (Seattle). NOAA OLE’s existing three-tier architecture includes technologies such as Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle Database Enterprise Edition and IBM Cognos Business Intelligence.

Contractor shall propose two alternatives for hosting the system:

Alternative 1 –Contractor installs and maintains the application in NOAA Fisheries owned and operated data centers.

Alternative 2 – Contractor installs and maintains the application in GSA FedRamp approved datacenters in the continental United States.

The following business requirements must be met for both alternatives:

8.4.1 Solution must have a development, test and production tier with access limited to appropriately credentialed users.

● 8.4.2 Solution must be highly available with load balancing capability across at least two locations.

8.4.3 Solution must allow transactional failover to alternate site within one hour of triggering event.

● 8.4.4 Capability to perform maintenance and/or upgrade on one site without disruption of production service.

● 8.4.5 Proactive monitoring of system availability and performance including notification to NOAA of any performance degradation. Performance degradation includes failure or delay in data load from Satellite providers as well as end-user application performance degradation.

Capability to notify administrators when position data load is delayed beyond a configurable threshold. For example, if 300 positions are expected per hour from a satellite provider and only 200 positions are reported, an administrator should be alerted.

● 8.4.6 Ability to perform reporting and data mining/analysis without impacting production data upload and application end-user system performance.

● 8.4.7 Minimal latency due to system performance (unrelated to NOAA network capacity).

● 8.4.8 Any changes to system shall follow NMFS OCIO change control process (see attached Appendix D).

● 8.4.9 All software must be compliant with applicable NIST IT security standards as well as NOAA and NMFS IT security guidelines which can be found on the NMFS and NOAA IT Security web sites(https://sites.google.com/a/noaa.gov/noaa-itsc/). Proposals shall detail how the contractor will comply with Homeland Security Presidential Directive – 12 (HSPD-12) requirements.

● 8.4.10 Securely support data exchange efforts between VMS and other NOAA and non-NOAA entities.

● 8.4.11 All software must be free of known software vulnerabilities and scanned for vulnerabilities and malware by the vendor on a regular basis.

● 8.4.12 Furnish appropriate IT security artifacts required by NMFS IT security for including the VMS as part of the NOAA4010 FISMA system.

● 8.4.13 Service must be available 24x7x365 except for periodic (monthly) scheduled outages.

● 8.4.14 24x7x365 support for the software and troubleshooting.

● 8.4.15 Training of NOAA personnel on the technical administration of the system/software.

● 8.4.16 System operational availability shall meet or exceed 99.9% per month.

● 8.4.17 System shall be maintained to be compliant with relevant National Archives and Records Administration records retention schedules.

8.5 Software Support and Maintenance

1. For each year of this contract, OLE shall receive maintenance and support agreement for the satellite surveillance software.

2. Conduct annual on-site training with NOAA VMS PMs in a location in the CONUS determined by

NOAA.

3. In addition to the yearly support and maintenance agreement, Contractor shall also provide for the satellite surveillance software:

a. Troubleshooting including monitoring and alerts to OLE regarding system outage, performance degradation, and any breach of data delivery thresholds;

b. Error corrections (and associated documentation);

c. Software updates and enhancements (and associated documentation);

d. Systems integration;

e. General technical support;

f. 24/7/365 availability;

g. Technical and training documentation;

h. Initial and recurring, remote training on the software, as required by OLE; and

i. All related work requests shall be processed pursuant to the process and requirements outlined in section: B. Adequate documentation, responses and response times.

j. Annual meeting with NMFS OLE VMS user group in Silver Spring, MD or another mutually agreed upon CONUS location.

k. Up to quarterly (four times per year) virtual meetings with the NMFS OLE VMS user group, and up to quarterly separate virtual meetings with each of the five NMFS OLE Divisions.

8.6 Transition: Design, Development, Deployment, and Testing

In addition to configuration of the application, transition efforts include a rollout/product launch plan including training, outreach and support to ensure successful adoption of the new solution by all NOAA NMFS OLE stakeholders including 2500 VMS users, which are composed of sworn NMFS OLE agents, officers, US Coast Guard, State partners (JEA), NMFS General counsel, NMFS Science Centers and NMFS Sustainable Fisheries.

Configuration, rollout, training and testing is not to exceed 8 months.

The VMS system will be implemented in four (4) or more phases, not to exceed eight (8) months, using an iterative implementation approach that delivers functionality rapidly.

Component/Phase 1 consists of the following: the configuration and implementation of an out of the box (OOTB) commercial off the shelf (COTs) vessel monitoring system product. The first objective is to provide the ability for OLE staff to perform monitoring vessels based on their user-roles.

Component/Phase 2 consists of the following: the configuration and implementation of an end-user-optimized database environment into which OLE’s historical data may be migrated and most efficiently and effectively accessed by various users. This may include separation of active and / or recent data from older data and / or separation by user groups (enforcement, science, etc.), or other methods that will result in adequate operational performance at mission-critical end-user nodes.

Component/Phase 3 consists of the following: configure a Days at Sea trip generator component, enable NAFO communication, configuring components for the collection and parsing of pre-landings, hail-outs, declarations, production of pre-defined and ad hoc report and the integration between NOAA NMFS OLE Vessel Monitoring System and other systems from a single user interface.

Component/Phase 4 consists of the following: operation, testing and troubleshooting of a fully integrated and configured Vessel Monitoring System for a three month testing period.

9.0 Specific Mandatory Tasks and Associated Deliverables

1. In order to efficiently clarify OLE’s requests for service, software-upgrades and other technical requests that are ultimately performed by the type-approved subcontractor/vendors, OLE needs to have direct communications with the subcontractor/vendors while including and/or copying the Contractor on the communications.

a. OLE will only contact the subcontractor-vendor(s) regarding an existing work request with an assigned ID number, and only to clarify technical specifications of the work request.

b. OLE will include Contractor on all written communication.

2. The type-approved VMS vendors currently include the following:

● FW Telematics

● McMurdoSkyMate

● Woods Hole Group

● Network Innovations

● AddValue

● Nautic Alert

● Faria

3. The Contractor will secure contracts with all vendors who are currently type approved and those that become type-approved through the duration of this contract.

(Type-approved vendors may be added or removed from the VMS Program in which case, accommodations may be necessary and Contractor will take all actions necessary to fully integrate new vendors and to facilitate the exit of retiring ones).

4. A consolidated monthly invoice that includes all services provided during the 30 days immediately preceding the end of the billing cycle.

5. All costs should be delineated out by vendor.

6. The following costs should be further delineated and identified in each vendor section of each monthly bill:

a. Costs for OLE work requests.

i. All costs for work requests should identify the work request’s assigned ID number. No work request costs will be paid unless the unique ID number is identified.

ii. Fleet wide messages should be identified and billed by assigned ID number as detailed here, and not under the regular communications costs.

7. Communications costs. Communications costs should be grouped by:

a. Type of communication (regular position reporting, manual polling, email, etc.)

b. Fleet wide messages should be identified and billed by assigned ID number, and not under the monthly communications bills (see section B.4).

8. Progress/Compliance

a. OLE requires the following from the contractor in order to monitor progress and ensure compliance:

● Monthly Progress Report

● Progress meetings to be called by OLE

● Progress meetings to include management personnel for particular vendors and other

NMFS personnel, as needed.

9. Transmittal/Delivery/Accessibility

For each deliverable that may be put into document form, the contractor will provide a .pdf electronic version.

9.1 Task 1: Project Management

The contractor is responsible for the ongoing planning, monitoring, controlling, and reporting of project performance across tasks within the scope of this PWS. The contractor will provide effective project management for all of the contracted services and product delivery. The contractor shall provide sufficient project management services to:

− Ensure that all deliverables are produced according to the contract schedule.

− Respond to reasonable inquiries about project status and risks in a timely manner.

− Identify issues, risks, and alternative solutions and notify the NOAA NMFS Project Manager with sufficient time for the NOAA team to effectively address these matters.

The contractor shall hold a Project Kick-Off Meeting with the NOAA Project Manager (PM) and appropriate project stakeholders, contract personnel, and subject matter experts. The contractor shall schedule the Kick-Off Meeting to be held within five (5) business days after contract award or as agreed upon between the NOAA team and contractor.

9.1.1 Prepare Project Management Plan

The contractor is required to develop a detailed project management plan based on this PWS. The project management plan should reflect best practices in project management applied to the unique needs of the NOAA NMFS VMS project. The project management plan must include but, is not limited to the following elements:

● Project organization, including structure, roles, responsibilities, and human resource management.

● Project work breakdown structure and schedule, fully loaded with dependencies and resource requirements.

● Approach to managing scope, budget, and schedule.

● Approach to ensuring effective project communication.

● Approach for identifying, evaluating, tracking, and resolving issues and risks; including roles, responsibilities, escalation process, and tools for reporting issues and risks to the NOAA project manager.

● Approach to configuration management for reviewing, accepting, and maintaining version control on all project deliverables.

9.1.2 Produce a Written Monthly Status Report

Monthly Status Reports shall be submitted to the NOAA PM on the 16th of each month. They shall communicate status updates, including but not limited to project cost to date, variance to plan, schedule, and risk monitoring.

Note: The vendor is required to use the NOAA Work Orders (WO) system, and no support or troubleshooting services or purchases are billable to NOAA (excludes eligible satellite communications costs) unless there is a valid WO number associated with the cost. The relevant WO numbers must be included in each invoice to NOAA.

The status report should comprise the following:

o Updated project work plan, schedule, staff plan, and budget.

o Report of project status and performance against all plans.

o Progress against the project work plan completed in the reporting period.

o Variance in schedule between actual and planned activities.

o Planned activities for the subsequent reporting period.

o Report of issues and issue resolution efforts and progress.

o Report of risks and risk mitigation efforts and progress.

The contractor will maintain a project collaboration site (project portal) on NOAA’s Google sites domain. The contractor shall post all relevant project materials such as; project plans, test results, requirement traceability report, gap analysis, code reviews, etc. to the project portal.

9.1.3 Conduct Bi-Monthly Status Meeting

In conjunction with monthly status reports, the contractor will be required to attend regularly scheduled meetings with the NOAA OLE project team. NOAA has established a Vessel Monitoring System Steering Committee to serve as the advisory group to work with the contractor on this project. The contractor will be required to provide an in-person updates to the NOAA PM regarding the status of the project.

Task 1 Deliverable(s):

Deliverable Name Due

9.1.3A Kick-Off Meeting 10 business days from date of award

9.1.3.B Kick-Off Meeting Minutes 2 business days from date of Kick-Off Meeting

9.1.3.C Project Management Plan 20 business days from date of award

9.1.3.D Prepare Monthly Status Reports 16th of each month during the Period of Performance

9.2 Task 2: Licensing

The contractor shall propose a commercial off-the-shelf (COTs) VMS product configured to meet the requirements listed in Section 8.3.

Task 2 Deliverables(s):

Deliverable Name Due

9.2.0.A Software licensing (Production) (FFP); for development, testing and production

To Be Determined

9.2.0.B Install Software in the Development environment To Be Determined

9.2.0.C Install Software in the Test environment To Be Determined

9.2.0.D Install Software in the Production environment To Be Determined

9.3 Task 3: System Design, Configuration, and Construction

Requirements in this category include all activities necessary to develop, assemble, and otherwise prepare the proposed VMS system for implementation. The nature of the proposed system may determine to some degree the activities necessary to complete this phase of work. However, it is anticipated that these activities will include, at a minimum:

9.3.1 Prepare NOAA NMFS VMS Design, Configuration, and Construction Plan

The contractor will be required to submit its plan for assembling the proposed components into a single system for deployment to NOAA NMFS OLE. The schedule and resources required for system design, configuration, and construction should be reflected in the project management plan. This plan must include, at a minimum:

1. Approach to design, configuration, and configuration/construction.

2. Design, configuration, and configuration/construction schedule.

3. Resources required from all participants (NOAA staff and contractor staff) for each step in configuration/construction.

9.3.2 Conduct Requirements Gap Analysis

The contractor must (working with a representative group of subject matter experts [“SMEs”] selected by the NOAA team) conduct and complete business and technical analysis to determine the gaps between the needs of NOAA and what the proposed COTS system(s) provide. Major gaps that are identified must be accompanied by a plan for resolving each gap through system configuration, additional development, or additional component incorporation. This analysis must result in a detailed inventory of system customizations or other modifications required, to meet the needs of the NOAA NMFS OLE.

9.3.3 3 Track Requirements to Implementation

Contractor will collect, validate, and document detailed system and business requirements needed to configure the vessel monitoring system.

The contractor must provide a mechanism for tracking adherence to the requirements identified in this document as well as additional requirements identified in gap analysis and system design activities. This mechanism must support NOAA change management process, system testing and user acceptance testing. The contractor must populate, maintain, and provide the NOAA team with access on demand to this tool and the information it maintains.

Contractor shall collect requirements from the following roles of users listed below:

● NMFS OLE Project Manager

● NMFS OCIO Infrastructure Manager

● NMFS OCIO Database Administrator

● NMFS OLE Executive Leadership (1)

● NMFS OLE VMS Program Manager (5)

● NMFS OLE VMS Technician (5)

● NMFS OLE Assistant Director (aka “SAC”) NMFS OLE VMS OCIO Helpdesk staff (1)

● Information Technology Security

9.3.4 Design a NOAA VMS for NOAA fisheries vessel monitoring activities

The contractor must provide functional and technical design documentation for the NOAA VMS along with the libraries, tools, and facilities to maintain this documentation. All documentation must follow the NOAA NMFS Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) configuration management process and Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC). The documentation artifacts should include but, are not limited to:

● Detailed Business Requirements

●…