IDIQ SOW - revised.docx

IDIQ STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW)

Text Retrieval Conference (TREC), Text Retrieval Conference Video Retrieval Evaluation (TRECVID) and Text Analysis Conference (TAC) Contractor Support Services

I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Information Technology Laboratory's (ITL) Information Access Division's Retrieval Group works with industry, academia, and other government agencies to promote the use of more effective and efficient techniques for manipulating information not specifically structured for automatic use--especially the browsing, searching, and presentation of that information. Accurate evaluation of the capabilities of current information access systems is a prerequisite to improving the systems' capabilities. Human-created annotations are essential to the evaluation of information systems. Examples of these annotations include identification of documents that are relevant to a searcher's need, hand-written summaries of documents and sets of documents, and answers to questions. These annotations are fundamental to comparing the performance of automatic information systems, and to understanding differences within the range of performance that people achieve at the same tasks.

The evaluation of search systems is performed within a series of workshops known as The Text Retrieval Conference (TREC). TREC requires the building of reference material for use in evaluation. This reference material includes a set of test questions plus judgments on whether text extracts answer the questions.

The Text Retrieval Conference Video Retrieval Evaluation (TRECVID) extends this paradigm to the evaluation of systems that use multimedia queries to research large collections of digital videos.

For the Text Analysis Conference (TAC), researchers are developing natural language understanding systems that will help a person automatically summarize, extract or identify key facts, pieces of knowledge, sentiment, beliefs, and other information present in a document or a set of documents.

In an effort to fulfill ITL’s mission, NIST requires Contractor support to create judgments, view short video clips to determine if the clips contain the requested video material, to write summaries of Contractor selected documents, and to assess the summary content and the readability/linguistic quality of Contractor written summaries.

The TREC, TRECVID, and TAC conferences are held yearly at NIST at the conclusion of the tasks.

II. PURPOSE

The purpose of this contract is to create the judgments, model summaries, model answers and short summaries, and other such annotations that are used to evaluate automatic natural language and video processing systems.

III. TYPE OF CONTRACT

The base contract will be an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) type Contract.

All task orders issued against the base IDIQ contract shall be firm- fixed price.

IV. SCOPE OF WORK

All work to be performed under the contract shall be within the parameters set forth herein and within the parameters set forth in each task order issued against the IDIQ contract. There may be more than one task occurring at the same time. Specific tasks will change as TREC, TRECVID and TAC evolve. Specific tasks will be defined in individual task orders.

The TREC, TRECVID, and TAC work to be performed under this contract shall include, but is not limited to the following:

· Creating initial topic statements;

· Creating refined topic statements and relevance assessments;

· Creating queries (a short sentence that identifies a video uniquely);

· Creating descriptions of videos;

· Making judgments of whether a given segment of video contains a given feature (e.g. person; place, thing or event) or meets the information need specified in a topic (information request);

· Making annotations of the presence of entities or other linguistic structures in text;

· Creating usable topics with topic statements;

· Selecting newswire articles for each usable topic;

· Writing summaries for each usable topic and making assessments on the quality of the automatic and manual summaries;

· Reviewing topics, queries, descriptions, assessments, or annotations created within the task, for purposes of quality control

V. DELIVERABLES

The deliverables for individual task orders will be specified in the respective task order.

VI. INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE OF DELIVERABLES

The Contractor deliverables within each task order will be inspected by the Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) or Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) to determine their acceptability.

Deliverables will be accepted if they meet the requirements set forth within each task order.

Specific performance standards and acceptance criteria for inspection and acceptance will be defined and included within each task order.

VII. PAYMENT SCHEDULE

A payment schedule will be included within each task order.

Tasks will not be paid by hour, but by deliverables completed. For that reason, each payment schedule shall be based on deliverables.

VIII. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

The reporting requirements for individual task orders will be specified in their respective task order.

IX. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The period of performance for the resultant IDIQ contract shall be for a period of 5 years.

The period of performance for each task order will be defined within each respective task order.

X. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Work performed under the resultant IDIQ contract may require Contractor personnel to work on-site at the NIST Gaithersburg, MD campus, and at the Contractor's/off-site facility, or telework location(s)remotely. The place of performance will be specified in each individual task order.

The following shall apply to on-site work at the NIST Gaithersburg, MD campus:

· Regular business hours are Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time with the exception of Federal holidays or other official closures. The Contractor shall not be allowed to work on-site at NIST outside of the aforementioned core hours unless specifically stated in the task order.

· In the event of facility closures, Contractor personnel shall not perform on-site services unless otherwise approved by the Contracting Officer

· A listing of Federal holidays may be found at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/snow-dismissal- procedures/federal-holidays/

· All Contractor personnel must comply with the NIST safety prevention regulations. Such regulations include, but are not limited to, general safety and fire prevention.

· Contractor personnel shall wear a visible visitor’s or security badge ID when working on-site at NIST. The badge will be provided by NIST. The Contractor shall immediately report any lost or stolen badges to the COR. Upon termination/resignation of the Contractor’s services under this contract, the badges and vehicle pass shall be relinquished to the COR.

· Contractor personnel shall identify themselves as a “Contractor” in all e-mails, telephone communication, meetings, and conferences.

· All Contractor personnel must register their vehicles in accordance with NIST Security requirements to gain access onto the NIST campus.

· Contractor personnel shall not use Government facilities or Government property in connection with conducting activities not associated with requirements under a given task order.

· At any time during the performance of this contract, any Contractor personnel whose actions (e.g. intoxication, debilitation resulting from drug use, insubordination, theft) result in clear disruption to the work force will be immediate removed by the Contracting Officer.

XI. GOVERNMENT-FURNISHED PROPERTY, DATA, AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INFORMATION

All property, data, and information provided by the Government in the performance of each task order remains the property of the Government and shall be surrendered to the Government upon completion or termination of each task order. Likewise, all deliverables generated under each task order remain the property of the Government.

As defined in the individual task orders, the Government will provide use of the necessary NIST facilities, office equipment, computer, phone, e-mail, and web access required for performance of each task order at the NIST campus. The Contractor is responsible for providing its own equipment for personnel that will not be working on-site at NIST.

Telephones, facsimile machines, copiers, and computer equipment are authorized for transaction of official Government business only and shall not be used for personal business. Personal long-distance calls are not authorized. Telephones, facsimile machines, and computer equipment are subject to communications security monitoring at all times.

Space used by Contractor personnel in performance of any task order may be used for other purposes during the hours that the Contractor is not on-site. Clothing and personal items cannot be secured by the Government during the Contractor’s absence. The Government will not incur any liability for theft, damage to, or loss of the Contractor’s personal items.

For each applicable task order, Contractor personnel will be given a tutorial on how to use the computer system.

XII. PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY

Specific tasks will change as TREC, TRECVID and TAC evolve. The Performance Requirements Summary for each task order will be defined in individual task orders, as applicable. However, the following is a sample of Performance Requirements Summaries for given task orders under this contract.

Standard Monitoring Method

topic(s) per hour.

100% inspection by TPOC/COR.

not.

inspection by TPOC/COR.

for the topic.

inspection by TPOC/COR.

inspection by TPOC/COR.

average.

100% inspection by TPOC/COR.

for the topic.

100% inspection by TPOC/COR.

Contractor personnel shall write summaries at an average rate of X topic(s) per hour.

100% inspection by TPOC/COR.

hour.

100% inspection by TPOC/COR.

XIII. RISK ASSESSMENT

The Contractor personnel shall have access to the DOC/NIST local area network and basic office applications. All work to be performed under this contract is considered to be IT Low Risk.

XIV. SECTION 508 ACCESSIBILITY

All work-performed shall be in accordance with the following. All Electronic and Information Technology (EIT), as defined by Federal Acquisition Regulation 2.101 (FAR 2.101), supplied under this Project Order and all subsequent project orders, must conform to the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards (36 CFR Part 1194).

The applicable standards are available at https://www.access-board.gov/ict/ . Please also reference CAR clause 1352.239-71.

The following standards have been determined to be applicable to the work under this contract:

XV. CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall be responsible for employing technically qualified personnel to perform the work specified in this SOW. The Contractor shall maintain the personnel, organization, and administrative control necessary to ensure that the work delivered meets task order requirements. Personnel assigned to, or utilized by, the Contractor in performance of work shall be fully capable of performing the contemplated functions of the respective labor categories in an efficient, reliable, and professional manner.

Individual task orders issued under the IDIQ contract may contain contractor key personnel requirements. The contractor’s personnel under a given task order shall fall within the labor categories proposed and agreed upon by the contractor and Government, incorporated into the IDIQ contract.

All Contractor personnel working under task orders issued under this IDIQ contract shall have experience in intelligence analysis. This experience shall include work for the intelligence community such as the Department of Defense, National Security Administration, Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and others gathering intelligence by examining large amounts of data from various sources. Each Contractor personnel shall have experience using a web based graphical user interface.

As identified below, the Contractor shall assign a Supervisor/Program Manager as key personnel at the base IDIQ contract level for managing all tasks issued under the IDIQ contract. The Contractor’s Supervisor/Program Manager may or may not be one of the key personnel performing the tasks identified in task orders issued under the IDIQ contract. The Supervisor/Program Manager shall be responsible for managing the work across all task orders. The Supervisor/Program Manager will be designated as key personnel at the base IDIQ contract level.

Base IDIQ Contract Key Personnel:

At the IDIQ contract level, the contractor shall identify and provide a key personnel candidate for the following position. The key personnel will be identified in the resultant IDIQ contract and shall be subject to the terms and conditions of clause 1352.237-75 Key Personnel. The following position is the ONLY contractor key personnel position required at the base IDIQ contract level:

1. Supervisor / Program Manager – [Key Personnel on IDIQ base contract]

Description of Duties: Responsible for managing the work across all task orders issued under the IDIQ contract.

Minimum Qualifications: All Contractor personnel working under task orders issued under this IDIQ contract shall have experience in intelligence analysis. This experience shall include work for the intelligence community such as the Department of Defense, National Security Administration, Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and others gathering intelligence by examining large amounts of data from various sources. Each Contractor personnel shall have experience using a web based graphical user interface.

Required IDIQ Labor Categories:

The following labor categories are categories that must be made available under the base IDIQ contract, at a minimum.

RFQ Provisional Language: Per the Instructions to Offerors section of the RFQ, offerors must propose the following labor categories, for the base IDIQ contract (using, at minimum, the description of duties and minimum qualifications shown below for each labor category) in their Technical Volume, and propose ceiling fully burdened hourly labor rates for each labor category for each year of the IDIQ contract in their Business Volume. Offerors must propose a “Schedule of IDIQ Labor Categories,” complete with a description of duties and minimum qualifications, that includes the following labor categories in their Technical Volume.

Note that the “Supervisor/Program Manager” is the only position listed below that also requires an actual candidate to be proposed as key personnel for the IDIQ contract itself. The Government is NOT requesting that Offerors propose actual candidates for the remaining IDIQ labor categories for the IDIQ contract itself. See Instructions to Offerors section of the RFQ for requirements for proposing actual candidates for key personnel positions for each Task Order included in the RFQ.

Supervisor / Program Manager

Description of Duties: Responsible for managing the work across all task orders issued under the IDIQ contract.

Minimum Qualifications: All Contractor personnel working under task orders issued under this IDIQ contract shall have experience in intelligence analysis. This experience shall include work for the intelligence community such as the Department of Defense, National Security Administration, Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and others gathering intelligence by examining large amounts of data from various sources. Each Contractor personnel shall have experience using a web based graphical user interface.

Assessor

Level I:

Description of Duties: Responsible for performing IR research support as described in individual task orders.

Minimum Qualifications: All Contractor personnel working under task orders issued under this IDIQ contract shall have experience in intelligence analysis. This experience shall include work for the intelligence community such as the Department of Defense, National Security Administration, Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and others gathering intelligence by examining large amounts of data from various sources. Each Contractor personnel shall have experience using a web based graphical user interface.

Level II:

Description of Duties: Responsible for performing IR research support as described in individual task orders, and assistance to new Assessors.

Minimum Qualifications: All Contractor personnel working under task orders issued under this IDIQ contract shall have experience in intelligence analysis. This experience shall include work for the intelligence community such as the Department of Defense, National Security Administration, Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and others gathering intelligence by examining large amounts of data from various sources. Each Contractor personnel shall have experience using a web based graphical user interface.

XVI. NIST VISITOR AND CONTRACTOR PROTOCOLS FOR MITIGATING COVID-19 EXPOSURE

The Contractor shall review and adhere to the requirements of Attachment I titled NIST Visitor and Contractor Protocols for Mitigating COVID-19 Exposure on NIST Campuses. Contractor personnel performing work in NIST workspaces, must provide all information required by Attachment I, in advance of and throughout the period of performance of the purchase order.

While working on the NIST campus, the Contracting Officer's Representative and/or Technical Point of Contact will ensure that Contractor personnel comply with the requirements in place to mitigate COVID-19 exposure.

The Government reserves the right to require that Contractor personnel attend a 1-2-hour training session dedicated to COVID-19 protocols.

Attachment I titled NIST Visitor and Contractor Protocols for Mitigating COVID-19 Exposure on NIST Campuses, is hereby incorporated and made a part of the contract. This document is subject to change and must be monitored by the Contractor via the following NIST websites: https://www.nist.gov and/or https://www.nist.gov/about-nist/visit/nist-visitor-andcontractorprotocolsmitigating-covid-19-exposurenist-campuses