26RE021_ATTCH10_PWS_041326.pdf

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

Department of War Education Activity

4800 Mark Center Drive

Alexandria, VA 22350

05 Feb 26 1

DEPARTMENT OF WAR EDUCATION ACTIVITY (DoWEA)

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

FOR

SCHOOL INFORMATION CENTER MATERIALS JOBBER

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Agency

The Department of War Education Activity (DoWEA) is one of only two federally operated school systems.

DoWEA plans, directs, coordinates, and manages prekindergarten through grade 12 educational programs in

161 fully accredited schools that serve approximately 66,000 children of active-duty military and DoD civilian families. Our curriculum, resources and student achievement scores on standardized assessments compare favorably to those of high-performing US public school systems.

Operating as a field activity of the Office of the Secretary of War (Personnel and Readiness), DoWEA is overseen by a director located at our headquarters in Alexandria, VA. DoWEA’s schools are organized into three geographic areas: Americas, Europe, and Pacific. In the Americas, DoWEA operates 50 schools located in seven states, Puerto

Rico, and Cuba. In Europe and the Middle East, DoWEA operates 64 schools located in Germany, England, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Turkey, Bahrain, and Italy. In the Pacific, DoWEA operates 46 schools located in

Korea, Japan (mainland and Okinawa), and Guam. DoWEA also operates a fully accredited virtual high school with teaching hubs in the Americas, Europe, and Pacific.

1.2 Background

1.2.1 Every DoWEA school has a school library information center with unique materials collection needs based on curriculum requirements and student ages/grade-levels. The current contract is expiring and must, per Federal regulations, be recompeted.

1.2.2 School information center material orders depend on individual school needs and the availability of funds which are primarily generated by the schools, districts, and regions.

1.3 Scope

DoWEA requires customizable information center materials selection and acquisition services (book jobber) that ensure the collection needs of each school are met and the materials that our information centers require.

DoWEA expects to award one contract for a 5-year base period.

2 REQUIREMENTS (OBJECTIVES)

2.1 Objective 1, School Information Center Materials Jobber

The objective is to provide school information centers systemwide with a Contractor-hosted eBook platform, customizable information center materials selection and acquisition services, and print and digital information center materials.

The tasks listed below help the Contractor understand the requirements but are not exhaustive.

The Contractor shall develop a complete solution using a performance-based approach.

2.1.1 Task 1, Material Selection and Acquisition—The Contractor shall:

2.1.1.1 Provide customizable information center materials selection and acquisition services (book jobber) to include invoicing to ensure the collection needs of each school are met. Information center materials include the following:

1) Books: Trade, professional, reference, paperback, library-bound, and Contractor-bound.

2) eBooks: Viewed on-screen or on portable devices.

3) Audiobooks: Heard via a computer, portable device, or self-contained listening device.

4) Multimedia: Mixed media sets.

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5) Interactive Digital Resources: Fixed-content digital media, including interactive e-book collections, animated picture book collections, and curriculum-aligned digital modules

/collections that do not function as dynamic, daily-updated research databases.

6) Labeling: Printed barcodes, labels, and label covers.

2.1.1.2 Provide an eBook platform that interfaces with MackinVision and can authenticate through either Google login.

2.1.2 Task 2, Materials Selection and Acquisition Tool —The Contractor shall provide a cloud-based selection and acquisition tool to manage online ordering of DoWEA school information center materials that is accessible 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year (except during scheduled downtimes).

The proposed solution shall be user-friendly and include the following nine features:

2.1.2.1 Updating: The proposed solution’s database, which the selection and acquisition tool accesses, shall be updated daily.

2.1.2.2 Search Function: The proposed solution includes a customizable web interface for each school that allows school-level information specialists to search for materials by title, author, subject, keyword, series, publisher, ISBN/LCCN, copyright date, publication date, Lexile level, reading incentive programs, professional association award-winning lists, and DoWEA-provided subject area bibliographies. Retrieved item results shall include the list price, guaranteed discount price, bibliographic information, book summaries, and reviewing sources. Note: Retrieved item results may include book cover images, table of contents, excerpts, a title match against current collection, look inside the book features, and reviews printed with or linked to the search result.

2.1.2.3 Selection Lists: The proposed solution shall include a method to allow school-level library information specialists to make selections from the search results, establish a do-not-exceed dollar amount for each list, identify priority levels for purchase of selected items (Priority 1, 2, or Choice A, B, ), save the selections in a list, update the saved list with new selections, create and save multiple selection lists, and submit the saved lists to the DoWEA ordering official.

The saved lists shall include selections, list prices, guaranteed discount prices, publication date, processing costs, and shipping costs. Saved lists shall be stored for the duration of the contract. Upon termination of the contract, the saved lists shall be destroyed according to

Government regulations.

2.1.2.4 Approval Process: The proposed solution shall include a two-level approval process which requires the school-level information specialist to submit a draft order to an above-school-level ordering official for approval.

▪ School-level staff draft orders and submit them to the region ordering official.

▪ The three ordering officials of the Americas, Europe, and Pacific regions are the only

DoWEA staff authorized to make a purchase.

▪ Copies of the submitted orders shall be saved for the duration of the contract.

2.1.2.5 Identification of Cost and Discount Level: The proposed solution shall provide the guaranteed discount level for materials identified by listing the guaranteed and discount price(s) beside the item title within the web-selection tool.

2.1.2.6 Calculation of Flexible and Volume Order Discounts: The proposed solution shall provide a mechanism to apply flexible and/or volume discounts to the ordered materials.

▪ Volume orders are defined as multiple copies of the same item type and item title

(multiple copies of the same book title, multiple copies of the same title, etc. for all items identified in PWS 2.1.1.1.

▪ The ordering official shall be able to determine the flexible and volume discounts prior to submitting an order.

2.1.2.7 Quotation Service: The proposed solution shall include a mechanism for DoWEA ordering officials to submit a list of items to the Contractor as a request for quotation and then to access the quoted list via the selection and acquisition tool. Processing and shipping costs shall be included with each quotation. The proposed solution shall provide price quotations within five days of the request. Note: Only Region and HQ ordering officials may request a quotation.

All other quotation requests shall be routed to the contracting officer’s representative (COR).

2.1.2.8 Bulk Orders: The proposed solution shall include a means to create bulk orders in which items from the same order may be distributed to multiple schools. Bulk orders may include multiple

05 Feb 26 3 copies of the same title in which one copy is shipped to each school or collections of different titles are shipped to a specific group of schools.

2.1.2.9 Collection Analysis Services: The proposed solution shall:

1) Include a customized collection analysis service for each school information center that identifies statistics on each current library collection (number of items organized by

Dewey, age of items, duplicate titles, missing titles in a series, and existing reading incentive program titles).

2) Include a notification feature to indicate when an existing title has been selected for a new/ duplicate purchase.

3) Provide the following for new school information center collections:

▪ Opening day collection recommendations grouped by each PK-12 grade or by grade bands.

▪ Analysis showing the content gaps of a new school’s collection after it receives content collections from closing school(s).

▪ Analysis showing how best to distribute the collection of a closing school(s) to fill the content gaps of the content collections of an existing school(s).

2.1.3 Task 3, MARC Records—The Contractor shall provide MARC records for all items. Deliver MARC records to DoWEA via a file transfer protocol (FTP) site or web-based download to the three regions:

Americas, Europe, and Pacific. Maintain backups of the MARC for the life of the contract. Apply

MARC record specifications provided by the COR systemwide. Modify MARC record specifications only after receipt of written approval from the COR. The MARC record shall meet the following five requirements:

1) Be compatible with MackinVision integrated library system.

2) Include the Sears or Library of Congress Subject Headings [Children’s Subject Headings].

3) Include the site-specific “location code” in the bibliographic (bib) record. Note: Location codes will be provided by DoWEA.

4) Incorporate K-12 school reading levels, Lexile levels, and commercial reading program information into the 521 and 526 note fields [reading grade level, reading age level, Lexile level, Accelerated Reader, Reading Counts, etc.].

5) Incorporate an 856-tag holding a bibliographic-level eBook URL, allowing for the direct opening of the eBook.

▪ The eBook MARC records shall not overlay existing bibliographic records of the print version MARC record of the same title.

▪ Barcode ranges shall be designated by site and shall be maintained by the Contractor.

▪ Note: If the eBook is a subscription, a searchable expiration date shall be included in the

MARC record.

2.1.4 Task 4, Pre-Processing Services: The Contractor shall provide pre-processing services including barcode labels, spine labels, property stamps, date slips, book jackets, book covers, reading incentive programs, security system detection, and radio-frequency-identification (RFID) tags based on DoWEA specifications provided. Modifications to these specifications shall be made only upon written request from the COR. Note: DoWEA will provide the (1) call numbers and labeling specifications, (2) reading incentive program labels, (3) theft detection labels, (4) property stamps, and (5) RFID tag specifications, all of which may vary based on school need.

2.1.5 Task 5, Expenditure Reports: The Contractor shall provide a report twice a year that includes the

(1) dollar amount spent per school, (2) number of books, ebooks and other materials ordered per school and/or DoWEA region and district, (3) average order shipping time, and (4) order fill-rate at intervals established by DoWEA. The first report shall include data from July through December and is due in the third week of January each year. The second report shall include data from January through June and is due the third week of July each year.

2.1.6 Task 6, Virtual Professional Learning—The Contractor shall provide DoWEA information center staff two 2-hour synchronous webinars on the use of the Web-based Selection and Acquisition System each year during the life of the contract. Note: The Government will determine the exact dates, times, and topics of the webinars in consultation with the Contractor post-award.

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2.1.6.1 Conduct synchronous webinars on the DOD-approved synchronous technologies such as MS

Teams or Google Meet—not Zoom—provided by the Contractor.

2.1.6.2 Deliver each webinar three times during the school hours of our schools in the Americas, Europe, and Pacific. See PWS 3.4.2 for the school hours of each region.

2.2 Objective 2, General Requirements

2.2.1 Task 1, Technical Support: The Contractor shall provide industry-standard technical support for its digital resources for the life of the contract via telephone or email within one business day from the initial contact to include but not limited to assisting with service problems, product setup, upgrades, and troubleshooting.

2.2.2 Task 2, Third-Party Programs, Software, and Applications: The Contractor shall ensure its own and its subcontractors’ (third-party) programs, software, and applications meet—at a minimum—the same technical requirements as the Contractor must meet, such as single sign on (SSO) and Federal Risk and

Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) Level 2, etc. On a case-by-case basis, DoWEA may honor requests to waive the FedRAMP Level 2 requirement. See Technical Exhibit #1, 1.1, Software and Cloud Security Requirements, for additional information.

2.2.3 Task 3, Delivery of Print and Digital Resources: The Contractor shall ship all print/physical materials according to the latest version of DoWEA’s shipping guide, which may be found at https://webapps.DoWEA.edu/dodaac/DoWEA_Shipping_Guide.pdf. Unless specified otherwise in the shipping guide, ship materials to the Americas by commercial carrier or USPS and to Europe and the

Pacific only by commercial carrier. Delivery orders use door-to-door addresses. Provide, upon shipment of materials, a digital shipment notification that includes the following:

▪ Contract number and delivery order number

▪ Contract line item number (CLIN) indicating materials and quantities being shipped

▪ Destination and date of shipment

▪ Shipping carrier name and the tracking number of each shipment

▪ Estimated date of arrival of shipment and, if applicable, shipping slip

2.2.4 Meetings: Attend virtual meetings at no additional cost to the Government and provide the medium through which each meeting occurs, record each meeting’s minutes. Submit the draft minutes to the COR within two business days of the event and finalize the minutes two business days after receipt of written feedback from the COR. Note: Costs associated with attending any face-to-face meetings shall be handled/ paid for as stated in the contract.

2.2.4.1 Post-Award Conference: Participate in a video- or teleconference with the COR five business days after award IAW FAR 42.302(a)(3).

2.2.4.2 IT Meeting: Convene a video- or teleconference with DoWEA Information Technology staff ten business days after award, per Technical Exhibit #1.

2.2.4.3 Other Post-Award Meetings: Meet with the Contracting Officer (KO), COR, and/or other Agency personnel, as appropriate, to review Contractor performance, as required by DoWEA. The KO may discuss the Agency’s view of Contractor performance, and the Contractor shall apprise the

Agency of any problems being experienced. The Contractor shall take appropriate action to resolve any outstanding issues the Agency raises.

2.3 Performance Standards and Acceptable Quality Levels (Objectives 1 and 2)

2.3.1 Performance Standard: Tasks shall be completed by the required completion date.

2.3.2 Acceptable Quality Level: See PWS Section 7, Performance Requirement Summary (PRS).

3 CONSTRAINTS

3.1 Place of Performance: Work shall be performed at the Contractor’s facilities.

3.2 Privacy—The Contractor shall:

3.2.1 User Accounts: Require, wherever applicable, that individual accounts possess unique usernames and passwords that do not require personally identifiable information (PII) to access online content, i.e., first & last name and any other unique personal information.

3.2.2 Contractor Personnel

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▪ Ensure personnel assigned to this contract take proper precautions to protect information from disclosure. Collect and/or store all agency-owned or agency-controlled PII in accordance with the relevant requirements of the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C, which may be found at the following URL:

http://www.archives.gov/about/laws/privacy-act-1974.html.

▪ All Contractor personnel that have access or may potentially have access to DoWEA data in any form shall be US citizens, including any third-party penetration (PEN)/security testers.

3.2.3 Privacy Training: Ensure Contractor staff who have access to DoWEA’s student, teacher and/or staff personally identifiable information successfully complete the DoD Privacy Act/Personally Identifiable

Information (PA/PII) training before gaining access to the data and yearly thereafter. Provide copies of the certificates of completion to the COR which can be audited at any time by the Chief Information

Security Officer (CISO) or his/her designee.

3.2.4 Privacy Verification: Provide the COR written verification of compliance with the Privacy requirements

(listed above) 120 calendar days prior to the expiration of each year’s contract option period or annually, as required. Note: After reviewing the Contractor’s verification, DoWEA reserves the right to ask for further verification data in order for DoWEA to comply with DoD’s evolving privacy mandates.

3.3 Liaison and Alternate Liaison—The Contractor shall:

3.3.1 Provide a liaison and alternate liaison to be responsible for the performance of work. Their names shall be designated in writing to the Contracting Officer. They shall have full authority to act for the

Contractor on all contract matters relating to the daily operation of this contract. Each shall have at least one year of experience working in a similar role.

3.3.2 Notify the COR in writing regarding any change in either the liaison’s role ten business days in advance of the change If the liaison or liaison alternate is changed post-award, the replacement shall meet or exceed the qualifications and experience of the person assigned upon contract award.

3.4 Holidays and Hours of Operation

3.4.1 The liaison or alternate liaison shall be available during the hours of 9AM to 3PM Eastern Standard

Time (EST), except for Federal holidays and Federal government closures/shutdowns. The following list shows recognized Federal holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday, Presidents

Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving

Day, and Christmas Day.

3.4.2 Although there are different time zones within Europe and the Pacific and different hours for specific schools throughout DoWEA, the normal business hours for the regions roughly correspond to the following: Americas, 0700-1500 EST; Europe, 1300-2100 EST; and Pacific, 2000-0400 EST. there are different time zones within Europe and the Pacific and different hours for specific schools throughout

DoWEA, the normal business hours for the regions roughly correspond to the following: Americas, 0700-1500 EST; Europe, 0200-1000 EST; and Pacific, 2000-0400 EST.

3.5 Availability: The Contractor shall make all resources available for the life of the contract.

3.6 Nondiscrimination: The Contractor shall provide resources free of bias regarding race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or disability.

3.7 Section 508 Compliance—The Contractor shall:

3.7.1 Background: Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of

1998 (P.L. 105-220) requires Federal agencies that develop, procure, maintain, or use information and communication technology (ICT) to endure they are accessible to people with disabilities. Federal employees and members of the public who have disabilities must have access to and use of information/data that is comparable to people without disabilities.

3.7.2 Requirement: Ensure that products, platforms, and services delivered as part of this work statement that are ICT or contain ICT conform to the Revised 508 Standards, 36 C.F.R. § 1194.1 & Apps. A, C & D which are located at the following URL: https://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/communications-and-it/about-the-ict-refresh/final-rule/text-of-the-standards-and-guidelines.

3.7.3 ARS: See the attached ICT Accessibility Requirements Statement (ARS). All functional performance criteria apply when using an alternative design or technology that achieves substantially equivalent or greater accessibility and usability by individuals with disabilities, than would be provided by conformance to one or more of the requirements in Chapters 4-6 of the Revised 508 Standards or when Chapters 4-6 do not address one or more functions of ICT. Note the guidance in the table below:

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Applicable

Requirements Directions

Software Features and

Components

Applies to all WCAG Level AA Success Criteria, 502 Interoperability with

Assistive Technology, and 503 Applications.

Hardware Features and

Components All requirements apply.

Support Services and

Documentation All requirements apply.

Outputs/Deliverables Ensures that outputs/deliverables do not adversely affect accessibility features of the existing EIT technologies.

3.8 Optical Character Resolution (OCR): The Contractor shall provide, upon request, two digital OCR copies of print materials in one or more of the following five formats: Digital Accessible Information System/National

Instructional Materials; Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) with cascading style sheet; HyperText Markup

Language (HTML); Portable Document Format (PDF, unlocked, embedded fonts, single page); and Rich Text

Format (RTF)/Word document.

3.9 Sharable Content Object Reference Model® (SCORM®) Compliance: Provide digital modules, if included among the proposed solution, that are SCORM®-compliant. Note: The Department of War Instruction

(DoDI) 1322.26 mandates that modules comply with the latest possible version of SCORM®, per https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/132226_dodi_2017.pdf?ver=2017-10-

05-073235-400.

3.10 Data & Data Rights: All data developed from any work awarded under this contract is and shall remain the property of the Government. The Contractor shall ensure that digital rights to all visual materials embedded in the resources will be given so that DoWEA for DoWEA’s internal use only may use resources without incurring copyright costs or infringing on copyright laws. All data developed from any work awarded under this contract is and shall remain the property of the Government.

3.11 Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI): The Contractor (including any subcontractor) personnel performing work under this contract may receive, have access to, or participate in the development of, proprietary or

Privacy Act information (e.g., personal information, education, etc.) may create a current or subsequent OCI as defined in FAR Subpart 9.5. Whenever the Contractor becomes aware that such access or participation may result in actual or potential OCI, the Contractor shall (1) immediately notify the Contracting Officer

(KO) in writing and (2) promptly submit a plan to the KO to avoid or mitigate any such OCI. Note: The KO will unilaterally determine if the Contractor’s plan is acceptable. If the KO determines the plan cannot satisfactorily avoid or mitigate an OCI, s/he may implement other remedies to include prohibiting the Contractor’s further participation in contracted requirements.

4 GOVERNMENT-FURNISHED INFORMATION / RESOURCES

None

5 CONTRACT DELIVERABLES

Milestone/Deliverable Format PWS Planned

Frequency

Submit

To

Objective 1, School Information Center Materials Jobber

Task 1, Materials Selection and Acquisition Digital 2.1.1

Ongoing three business days after receipt of the initial delivery order

COR

Task 2, Materials Selection and Acquisition Tool Digital 2.1.2

Task 3, MARC Records Digital 2.1.3

Task 4, Pre-Processing Services Digital 2.1.4

Task 5, Expenditure Reports Digital 2.1.5

Task 6, Virtual Professional

Learning Digital 2.1.6

The dates, times, exact topics and format determined in consultation with Contractor ten business days after receipt of the initial delivery order

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Milestone/Deliverable Format PWS Planned

Frequency

Submit

To

Objective 2, General Requirements

Task 1, Technical Support Digital 2.2.1 Ongoing after receipt of initial delivery order COR or

Requestor

Task 2, Third-Party Programs, Software, and Applications Digital 2.2.3 Ongoing COR/IT

Task 3, Delivery of Print and

Digital Resources Digital 2.2.4

After receipt of delivery order:

Digital: Ongoing access in three business days

Print: Delivery to US sites in 30 business days and overseas sites in 45 business days

COR

Constraints

User Accounts Digital 3.2.1 Ongoing after receipt of initial delivery order COR

Privacy Training Digital 3.2.3 Three days after receipt of a written request COR

Privacy Verification Digital 3.2.4 120 calendar days prior to end of contract year COR

6 ACRONYMS and DEFINITIONS

PA/PII Privacy Act/Personally Identifiable Information

QASP Quality Assessment Surveillance Plan

SCORM® Shareable Content Object Reference Model®

Contracting Officer (KO): Only individuals with the expressed authority to obligate (bind) the Government by means of entering, administering, and terminating contracts within the limits of the authority delegated via the KO’s warrant.

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR): Qualified and trained Government employee, nominated by the requiring activity (RA) and appointed in writing by a KO primarily to perform specific technical or administrative functions on a specific contract(s); serves as the ‘eyes and ears’ of a KO to assure the Government’s best interests are protected via the terms and conditions of the contract(s). Appointed. CORs do not have the authority to obligate

(bind) the Government.

Contractor: Supplier or vendor contracted to provide specific supplies or services to the Government—may also be referred to as “the prime”.

Deliverable: Usually physically delivered items but may include such items as digital documents/reports.

Performance Requirements Summary (PRS): Tabular listing of performance objectives and standards.

Performance Work Statement (PWS): Statement of work for performance-based acquisitions describing the required results in clear, specific, and objective terms with measurable outcomes.

7 PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENT SUMMARY and QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE PLAN

7.1 Performance Requirement Summary (PRS)

Performance

Objective

Performance

Standard Acceptable Quality Level

Method of

Surveillance Inspector

Objective 1, School Information Center Materials Jobber

Task 1, Materials

Selection and

Acquisition, PWS

2.1.1

Completed in required timeline

The proposed eBook platform functions as described and has no more than one unscheduled downtime per semester.

Normal usage and customer complaints

COR &

customers

Task 2, Materials

Selection and

Acquisition Tool, PWS 2.1.2

Completed in required timeline

The tool functions as described and has no more than one unscheduled downtime per semester.

Normal usage and customer complaints

COR &

customers

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Performance

Objective

Performance

Standard Acceptable Quality Level

Method of

Surveillance Inspector

Task 3, MARC

Records

PWS 2.1.3

Completed in required timeline

99 percent of the MARC records provided are correct. The

Contractor will correct the remaining 1% in three business days.

Normal usage and customer complaints

COR &

customers

Task 4, Pre-Processing

Services, PWS 2.1.4

Completed in required timeline

99 percent of the pre-processing services are correct. The

Contractor will correct the remaining 1% in three business days.

Normal usage and customer complaints

COR &

customers

Task 5, Expenditure

Reports, PWS 2.1.5

Completed in required timeline

Reports are 100 percent accurate except for possible errors in grammar/formatting.

Normal usage and customer complaints

COR &

customers

Task 6, Virtual

Professional Learning, PWS 2.1.6

Completed in required timeline

At least 90 percent of participants rate the presentations as satisfactory or better.

Normal usage and customer complaints

COR &

customers

Objective 2, General Requirements

Task 1, Technical

Support, PWS 2.2.1

Completed in required timeline

Acknowledge receipt of request within two hours. Resolve 90% of requests in one business day.

Resolve the remaining 10% in five business days.

Normal usage of digital resources and customer complaints

COR &

customers

Task 2, Third-Party

Programs, Software, and Applications, PWS 2.2.3

Completed in required timeline

100% PWS-compliant Initial and random inspections

IT

Task 3, Delivery of

Print and Digital

Resources (PWS 2.2.3)

Completed in required timeline

Digital: Ongoing access

24/7/365, except for scheduled downtimes and one unscheduled downtime per semester.

Print: 95% of resources received on time and undamaged. The remaining 5% received ten business days after due date.

Normal ordering of resources

COR &

customers

Constraints

User Accounts, PWS 3.2.1

Completed in required timeline

100% PWS-compliant

Normal usage and customer complaints

COR &

customers

Privacy Training, PWS 3.2.3

Completed in required timeline

No more than one certificate per year sent to the COR more than three business days from the date of the COR’s request for it.

Receipt of a copy of the certificate

COR &

PII

Specialist

Privacy Verification

PWS 3.2.4

Completed in required timeline

Submitted 120 calendar days prior to the end of each contract year.

Written verification of compliance

COR &

PII

Specialist

7.2 Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP): The Government utilizes this document to monitor Contractor performance. The QASP is a living document and can be changed at any time during the life of the contract.

As such, the Government reserves the right to unilaterally edit it at its own discretion.

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Technical Exhibit #1 - TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall comply with the applicable technical requirements detailed below.

1.1 Software and Cloud Security Requirements—The Contractor shall:

1.1.1 Ensure all online resources, cloud-based services and instructional software meet Department of War

(DoD) and DoWEA cybersecurity requirements as defined below. Note: Software, cloud services and associated websites are rigorously tested to ensure no security risks are posed to DoWEA infrastructure and its users.

1.1.2 Complete the Cloud Services questionnaire that was submitted as part of the proposal submission and provide copies of and/or access to any software listed in the proposed solution.

1.1.3 Ensure its content accessible from the web is compatible with the following browser platforms: Google

Chrome, and Edge. Ensure that any applicable STIGs are implemented.

1.1.4 Provide a plan of actions and milestones (POA&M) to mitigate any cybersecurity findings resulting from non-compliant and/or vulnerable components in 30 calendar days of written notification from DoWEA.

1.1.5 Be able to meet Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) Level 2 standards for all proposed software/digital resources and ensure that any third-party resources that are part of its proposed solution also meet the FedRAMP Level 2 standard. For more information on FedRAMP, see the following URL: www.fedramp.gov. Participate, if required, in interviews and deep system architecture inspections.

▪ Per DoD policy for cloud-based services, DoWEA conducts a supplemental series of validations, which closely mirror the FedRAMP Internet Cloud vetting processes. Contractor participation/cooperation is normally required to complete this process.

▪ On a case-by-case basis, DoWEA may honor requests to waive the FedRAMP Level 2 requirement.

1.2 System Requirements—The Contractor shall:

1.2.1 Provide, per Section 1.1 (above), any software installed and/or accessed in or by a DoWEA system, network whether stand-alone or web-based, is compatible with the standards cited herein.

1.2.2 Provide minimum desktop/server system technical specifications, reference architectures, networking specifications and diagrams, and applicable systems configuration documentation for the proposed solution.

1.2.3 Provide software that is compatible with the following minimum baseline:

Specifications Minimum

Memory 4 GB

Hard Drive 100 GB

Processor Intel® Core™ i5-8365U Processor 8th Generation (up to 4.1GHz, 6MB cache) equivalent or better (Must show benchmark/passmark scores)

Video Graphics Integrated Intel HD Graphics 620 (1920x1080) equivalent or better

Operating System Windows 11

Browser Environment Chrome, Edge, Edge Chromium

1.2.4 Provide software that is completely functional on a standard DoWEA desktop without the need or requirement for administrative-level user rights and/or permissions or the requirement to use or insert external media to execute the software.

1.2.5 Provide software that does not require modifications to folder permissions while executing.

1.2.6 Provide, if applicable, software packages that support unattended installation methods used by enterprise software packaging and deployment systems.

▪ DoWEA currently distributes software packages via Microsoft’s System Center Configuration Manager

(SCCM) and Microsoft Intune.

▪ All older 16-bit software are automatically denied.

1.3 Data Management Requirements—The Contractor shall:

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1.3.1 Provide a mechanism for batch administration and automation of routine data management tasks via flat file import, or representational state transfer (REST) based web service application programming interfaces

(APIs). The mechanism shall provision and manage data objects within the Contractor’s system, including but not limited to organizational structures, student accounts, staff accounts, courses, and class rosters.

1.3.2 Provide all necessary documentation and assets to facilitate batch administration and automation of routine data management tasks, including but not limited to roster template files (i.e., comma separated value templates); data element/field definitions documentation; data interchange formats and schemas (XML/

JSON); and/or data dictionaries for the purpose of mapping organizational student information system

(SIS) data to the Contractor’s required input formats.

1.3.3 Provide a single point of contact to support DoWEA in performing the required data integration activities within the Contractor’s system.

1.3.4 Configure DoWEA enterprise within its system and/or databases as the appropriate organizational entity

(i.e., region, district, school) upon a request in writing from the contracting officer’s representative (COR).

Note: DoWEA’s organization hierarchy consists of the following: one system, three regions, nine districts, 62 communities, and 161 schools, including the K-12 virtual school programs.

1.3.5 Participate in a technical meeting with DoWEA within ten business days after award for the purposes of preparing for onboarding of new services and initial configuration of administrator-level accounts.

1.3.6 Ensure the transfer of any Sensitive, Confidential data including but not limited to PII data be transferred in a secure means meeting any requirements set by DoWEA’s Chief Information Security Officer

(CISO).

1.4 DoWEA Software License Keys: The Contractor shall provide (1) license keys and electronic downloads for software required under this Contract to the COR and (2) software directly to DoWEA schools, districts, or regions only if explicitly required to do so in the contract or in writing by the COR.

1.5 Cybersecurity Supporting Elements/Requirements and Scalability—The Contractor shall:

1.5.1 Comply with the same Federal law and DoD policies and guidance to which DoWEA is subject that include but are not limited to the cybersecurity requirements defined in the following documents:

▪ DoD Directive (DoDD) 8500.01E, Information Assurance, be found at the following URL:

https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/850001_2014.pdf.

▪ DoD Security Technical Implementation Guidance (STIG), which may be found at the following

URL: https://public.cyber.mil/stigs/downloads/.

▪ DoD Risk Management Framework (DODRMF) per DoD Instruction 8510.01, which may be found at https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/851001p.pdf?ver=2019-02-

26-101520-3004.5.2.

1.5.2 Provide security patches/upgrades to include third-party applications in response to public-released security vulnerabilities associated with its software solution. Provide a POA&M for any security vulnerabilities within five business days of discovery. Software upgrades/patches shall be included in the licensing cost and be performed at the least disruptive times as determined by DoWEA in writing. Note: Any exception to this requirement must be approved in advance and in writing by DoWEA’s Chief Information Officer

(CIO) or designated official.

1.5.3 Protect DoWEA data against all cyberattacks, notifying DoWEA within 72 hours of an identified and confirmed breach/intrusion.

1.5.4 Perform security incident investigations upon identification of an event or at the request of DoWEA.

1.5.5 Address all information assurance vulnerability messages (IAVM) in the defined timelines to include IA vulnerability alerts (IAVA), IA vulnerability bulletins (IAVB), and technical advisories (TA).

1.5.6 User passwords must not be readable by anyone having access to the system.

1.5.7 Ensure any portion of its solution that involves Internet access by DoWEA students complies with the relevant requirements of the Children's Internet Protection Act, Public Law 106-554, § 1(a)(4) [Div. B, Title XVII, § 1701], Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 2763, 2763A-335. All Contractor personnel that have access or may potentially have access to DoWEA data in any form shall be US citizens. Note: If its solution does not involve Internet access by DoWEA students, please ensure the following are included:

1) Maintaining system security IAW the latest versions of the (1) DoD Cloud Computing Security

Requirements Guide, (2) Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and (3) Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA).

2) Providing a solution robust enough to serve the needs of a large community of learners dispersed across the world using a variety of bandwidths and scalable to meet future growth, both in terms of

05 Feb 26 11 instruction and the number of users. In addition, provided solutions shall be applicable to the digital learning environment of the DoWEA Virtual School.

3) Ensuring Contractor staff who have access to DoWEA’s student, teacher and/or staff personally identifiable information take the DoD Privacy Act/Personally Identifiable Information (PA and PPI/PII) training before gaining access to the data and yearly thereafter. Provide copies of the certificates to the COR which can be audited at any time by the CISO or his/her designee.

1.6 Program and System Integration—The Contractor’s solution shall:

1.6.1 Provide Single Sign-On (SSO) Capabilities / Platform which (1) integrates with an Industry Standard SSO login solution. (ClassLink, Google, Azure, etc.); (2) supports Oauth 2.0, Security Assertions Markup

Language (SAML) for integration with Azure, or Google; and (3) authenticates using Azure Active Directory

(AD) or Google AD. Authenticates using Azure Active Directory (AD) or Google AD.

1.6.2. Support industry-standard data rostering standards via ClassLink and standard data formats such as

OneRoster.

1.6.3. Ensure that data storage, handling, and security meet the following minimum standards:

1) DoWEA’s information and data shall be secured in data center located in the United States.

2) The system, including its server(s) and network devices, shall be in an environmentally controlled and secure facility under controlled circumstances (e.g., using authorized personnel access lists, ID cards, entry logs, etc.).

3) All Contractor personnel that have access or may potentially have access to DoWEA data in any form shall be US citizens, including any third-party penetration (PEN)/security testers.

4) All data transit shall be secured with Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption.

5) All data at rest shall be secured with Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)-256 encryption.

1.6.4 Ensure that data integration includes the following:

1) Automated industry standard form of data integration using Representational State Transfer Application

Program Interface (RESTful API), Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI), or Secure File Transfer

Protocol (SFTP) data sets (ClassLink, OneRoster, etc.).

2) Encryption of DoWEA’s data at rest to include unique encryption keys for each customer on systems hosting multiple customers.

3) Notification of DoWEA in writing within 72 hours of any changes made to corporate policies for data protection.

4) Use of only masked student data in a non-production environment.

5) Integration scheduling that meets DoWEA’s required timeframes.

6) Provision of fully automated data uploads per Agency schedule(s) and Agency requirements.

7) Support of SFTP capabilities using a single set of login credentials.

8) Provision of a single data set of DoWEA information. Note: The Contractor’s solution shall support

DoWEA at all levels: school, community, district, region, and HQ.

9) Maintenance of a backup and restore plan for DoWEA data in the event of a disaster.

10) Provision of detailed feedback of what caused errors if an integration transmission results in errors.

1.6.5 System Features—The system shall:

1) Allow user accounts to be created automatically based on a file provided by DoWEA either nightly or on another pre-determined scheduled feed.

2) Allow DoWEA to be able to choose the format of user login identification, e.g., an email address, and be able to create manual accounts, if needed.

3) Require the user—for manually created accounts—to reset the password on the user’s initial login or, upon request, a password reset.