Govt Responses to Vendors Initial RFI questions.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 47 KB Posted
- Attached to
- R408--FRAUD PREVENTION SERVICES PROCUREMENT STATUS UPDATE Federal contract opportunity
- Solicitation number
- 36C10D25Q0058
- Issued by
- Department of Veterans Affairs
About this file
This document is a comprehensive set of Government Responses to Vendor Questions for a Request for Information (RFI) related to Fraud, Waste, and Abuse (FWA) Prevention Services for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA). The RFI seeks innovative solutions to identify, mitigate, and eliminate fraud across VA benefit programs, with a focus on leveraging advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning to protect veteran benefits and ensure fiscal stewardship.
Key details include a virtual Industry Day scheduled for June 3, 2025, with RFI responses due by May 19, 2025. The current incumbent is Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., and the contract expires in April 2026. The VA is seeking a contractor to support the Benefits Delivery Protection & Remediation (BDP&R) Directorate in areas such as risk management, data analytics, case investigations, and fraud prevention across multiple VA benefit lines including compensation, education, insurance, and loan guaranty services. The government is particularly interested in solutions that can analyze large data volumes, develop predictive models, support cloud migration to a FedRAMP-compliant environment, and provide continuous improvement in fraud detection and prevention strategies.
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Other files for this federal contract opportunity
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| 36C10D25Q0058 0006.docx | DOCX document | |
| 36C10D25Q0058 0005.docx | DOCX document | |
| 36C10D25Q0058 0004_1.docx | DOCX document | |
| 36C10D25Q0058 0003.docx | DOCX document | |
| BDP and R Industry Day PowerPoint.pptx | PPTX presentation | |
| Fraud Prevention Services Request for Information Industry Day-20250609 1802-1.mp4 | MP4 file | |
| Industry Day Questions and Answers.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| 36C10D25Q0058 0002_1.docx | DOCX document | |
| 36C10D25Q0058_1.docx | DOCX document | |
| FINAL SOO VBA-Fraud Waste Abuse Prevention Services-V2-03-17-2025.docx | DOCX document |
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Text version
Q&A Answered During Ind. Day
| FRAUD, WASTE, AND ABUSE (FWA) PREVENTION SERVICES | ||||
| Vendor Questions and Government's Answers | ||||
| ITEM NUMBER: | INDUSTRY COMMENT/QUESTION: | GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: | SOO Section Number | Comments (If applicable) |
| 1 | Can the government clarify BDP&R’s role in VA’s overall fraud risk governance? | The Government's role in fraud risk governance is currently collaborative - it is not an oversight and compliance role. Instead, it is a partnership for proactive risk management, to include development and enhancement of controls, and measuring effectiveness of controls. | SOO Section 2, page 8 | Answered during Industry Day - Slide 11 #1 |
| 2 | Can the government provide VA’s Fraud Risk Management Strategy and Guidance? The documentation provided focuses on the IT and Cybersecurity components of Fraud Risk Management. | VBA uses the GAO framework and leading practices to guide its risk management strategy. The Government maintains a high level enterprise level risk register with high-level overarching and similar risks/response plans and measures that affect the enterprise, while each LoB and SO maintains granular level risk registers with response plans and measures. | SOO Section 3, Page 8 | Answered during Industry Day - Slide 11 #2 |
| 3 | Can the government describe how confirmed cases of Fraud are being leveraged today to enhance preventative tactics? | The Government is in early stages of building its fraud repository and has not documented/counted all types of fraud. VBA has focused efforts on payment redirection - which impacts Veterans directly. Confirmed fraudulent activity in this space is currently focused on historical factors such as: known bank accounts where payment have been fraudulently redirected, known phone numbers used to call and make fraudulent changes, know IP addresses etc., | SOO Section 5, Page 14 | Answered during Industry Day - Slide 11 #3 |
| 4 | Does BDP&R already directly support VBA Compensation and Pension programs in improper payment mitigation efforts? If not, is BDP&R open to expanding it’s current scope of work to include improper payment prevention at VBA? | Yes, the Government currently supports Compensation, Pension, Insurance Service, Education Service, Veteran Readiness and Employment with improper payment and/or fraud prevention. Our service is not limited to fraud, and we are looking to expand our capabilities to find and prevent more improper payments, identify and help solution operational waste, system and process deficits that lead to waste. | General Question | Answered during Industry Day - Slide 12 #4 |
| 5 | Will the contractor have access to external data feeds to support fraud pattern correlation and risk modeling, or will all detection logic be based on internal VA data? | The Government welcomes for approval, recommended external feeds the vendor deems relevant to execute the mission. | SOO Section 5.5.2, Page 20 | Answered during Industry Day - Slide 12 #5 |
| 6 | Are there existing performance dashboards, fraud KPIs, or risk management systems that the proposed solution must integrate with—or is the contractor expected to design and deliver these analytics from the ground up? | Yes, there are existing performance dashboards that require additional measures and enhancements. | SOO Section 5.5.3, Page 20 | Answered during Industry Day - Slide 12 #6 |
| 7 | Can the Government elaborate on the number and types of VA data sources targeted for integration? | Current state: 3 Oracle Databases; 1 Salesforce Platform and 1 Microsoft Azure Workspace. | SOO Section 5.5.1, Page 19 | Answered during Industry Day - Slide 13 #7 |
| 8 | What are the functions of each of the BDP&R systems that the new vendor will be required to maintain? | Case management, data management and data analysis. | SOO Section 5.4, Page 18 | Answered during Industry Day - Slide 13 #8 |
| 9 | Will the Contractor have access to external data sources (e.g., banking fraud databases, credit bureaus) to enhance fraud investigations, or only internal VA systems? | The Government welcomes for approval, recommended external feeds the vendor deems relevant to execute the mission. | SOO Section 5.3.2, Page 17 | Answered during Industry Day Slide 13 #9 |
| 10 | Does the VA anticipate that AI/ML models will be deployed within its existing cloud infrastructure, or is the contractor expected to host and operate the solution in a secure, VA-compliant enclave (e.g., FedRAMP High, GovCloud)? | Yes- AI/ML models will be deployed into the secure, VA compliant enclave. The contractor will operate within that same enclave. | SOO Section C.5, Page 60 | Answered during Industry Day - Slide 13 #10 |
| 11 | For deliverables related to AI models and data scripts, will the VA require the delivery of source code, or will compiled/executable models be acceptable? | Source code shall be delivered to the Government. | SOO Section 8, Page 36 | Answered during Industry Day Slide 14 #11 |
| 12 | Can you tell us what the current tool is used for Machine Learning in operations today? Is there is a current Dashboard already in use? | All machine learning is coded in Python using standard packages such as scikit-learn with some data preparation being done in R. VBA is open to the use of other packages such as PyTorch and tools that the vendor deems appropriate. | SOO Section 5.5, Page 10 | Answered during Industry Day Slide 14 #12. All machine learning is coded in Python using standard packages such as scikit-learn with some data preparation being done in R. The Government is open to the use of other recommended packages for approval such as PyTorch or other tools, as well as proposed modern cloud-based environments. |
| 13 |
| Has BDP&R identified which FedRamp solution(s) it will use to analyze data? If so, which one(s)? | BDP&R is migrating to the FedRamp approved VA cloud for its future implementations. | ||||
| SOO Section 5.5.3, Page 20 | . FedRamp portion answered on Slide 14 #13 | ||||
| 14 | Can you describe how your data science team collaborates cross-functionally with other departments to improve the accuracy, relevance, and impact of your predictive models? | The Government is in the early stages collaboration with the business lines to conduct analysis (and validation) of data to size and scope risks. BDP&R also works with external stakeholders such as the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), OIT, and the Social Security Administration to share data and to validate results. Additionally, BDP&R works with the VBA Chief AI Officer to ensure best practices and compliance with all regulations regarding AI implementations. | SOO Section 5.5, Page 19 | Answered during Industry Day - Slide 15 #14 | |
| 15 | Can the Government elaborate on the size and composition of stakeholders in scope for FWA Education, Outreach, and Communication efforts? | Current collaboration with multiple federal and other partners to reach the primary stakeholder, the 7 Million Veterans and beneficiaries receiving benefits and services in FY25; The Government is looking to expand its partnerships and support for training and education for over 20K VBA employees across all lines of business and services. | SOO Section 5.6, Page 20 | Answered during Industry Day Slide 15 #15 | |
| 16 | Can the Government elaborate on the technology tools currently employed in support of FWA Education, Outreach, and Communication efforts? Is the Government open to considering new tools to augment or replace existing tools? | Current state: Operating in SharePoint. Yes, open to replacement. | SOO Section 5.6, Page 20 | Answered during Industry Day Slide 15 #16 | |
| 17 | Can the government provide VA’s existing Fraud Risk Governance model key and stakeholders? | The VBA Principal Deputy Under Secretary is the Chair of the Enterprise Risk Council (ERC), the Co-Chair is VBA Chief of Staff. VBA's Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, Office of Financial Management serves as the Chief Risk Officer/Advisor to the Council Chair. Key stakeholders are the VBA Lines of Business (LoB) and Staff Office (SO) responsible for the delivery of benefits and services delivered under the VBA mission, the Senior Executive of each LoB sits on the Enterprise Risk Council and is comprised of the following: Compensation Service; Education Service; Insurance Service; Loan Guaranty Service; Pension and Fiduciary Service; and Veteran Readiness and Employment - and the Staff Offices that provide support to the LoBs: Medical Disability Examination Office (support to Disability Claims)Office of Administrative Review; Outreach, Transition and Economic Development; Strategic Program Management Office. Governance model includes Senior Executives from each LoB and Staff Office, with mandatory designees for each LoB and SO assigned to Risk Management Committee workgroup. | SOO Section 2, page 8 | Answered during Industry Day slide 18 #17 | |
| 18 | Is the government considering starting a centralized Fraud data warehouse to compliment and power the Fraud Center of Excellence? | Yes. | SOO Section 5.5, Page 19 | Answered during Industry Day - Slide 18 #18 | |
| 19 | What are the Government’s expectations regarding the identification of fraud vs. prevention of improper payments due to administrative error or unintentional misrepresentation? Are both equally prioritized under this requirement? | Equally prioritized. | SOO Section 5.3, Page 17 | Answered during Industry Day Slide 19 #19 | |
| 20 | Does the Government maintain a standardized fraud risk framework or scoring methodology that the solution must align with (e.g., OMB A-123 guidance, GAO Fraud Risk Framework), or may respondents propose their own? | While our risk scoring framework does align the GAO framework, and OMB A-123, the Government would welcome to new/additional scoring methodology for consideration for use within VBA. | SOO Section 5.2.2, Page 17 | Answered during Industry Day Slide 19 #20 | |
| 21 | What level of visibility will the contractor have into VBA policy, legislative, or regulatory changes that may affect fraud detection thresholds, scoring logic, or benefits eligibility rules? | The expectation of the Government is to have full visibility. To be effective with risk management activities it will be imperative for the contractor to have high visibility into VBA policy, legislative, and regulatory changes. | SOO Section 5.2.2, Page 17 | Answered during Industry Day Slide 19 #21 | |
| 22 | Will the Government provide access to existing structured and unstructured data sources (e.g., claims forms, scanned records, call transcripts, historical case files) to enable end-to-end ingestion, analysis, and fraud detection workflows? | Yes. | SOO Section 7.11.9, Page 32 | Answered during Industry Day - Slide 20 #22 | |
| 23 | Recommend clarifying whether bundled fraud case data packages must follow a specific federal format or schema. | VBA currently has a template for bundling fraud packages, but is open to enhancements and/or new templates. | SOO Section 5.3.2, Page 17 | Modify question to "Will the Government clarify whether bundled fraud case data packages must follow a specific federal format or schema?" Answered in industry Day Slide 20 #23 | |
| 24 | Will the FWA contractor have the ability to access and analyze VA IT system logs that may contain data indicative of FWA? | Yes. | SOO Section 5.5, Page 19 | Answered during Industry Day Slide 20 #24 | |
| 25 | To what degree are the current reporting systems automated and/or integrated with up and downstream stakeholders, and if this is not currently the case, is this part of a modernization roadmap for the SOW? | The Government currently has very limited integration/automation of reporting for stakeholders. Enhancements, additions, modifications, and/or a complete overhaul of dashboards and visualization is part of the modernization roadmap for the SOW. | SOO Section 5.7. Page 21 | Answered during Industry Day - Slide 20 #25 | |
| 26 | What existing technology tools/solutions are currently being used by BDP&R to identify anomalies in data? | The Government has a catalogue of analytical jobs/scripts and machine learning models to include a neural network that carry out various jobs to identify anomalous data both as a predictor of potentially fraudulent activity and of data quality issues. These are primarily custom coded scripts and models in R and Python. | General Question | Answered during Industry Day Slide 21 #26 | |
| 27 | How is the government considering their current cloud migration strategy in connection to advanced technology approaches that are preferred in the SOO? | The Government seeks to expand its computational platform. | SOO Section 3, Page 9 | Answered during Industry Day - Slide 21 #27 | |
| 28 | What specific challenges or recurring pain points have you faced so far during your AI/ML implementations? | BDP&R's ML/AI implementations have faced the usual pain points that are faced by similar efforts such as sub-par data quality, limitations of compute resources, and lower than expected performance of models. | SOO Section 5.5, Page 19 | Answered during Industry Day - Slide 21 #28 | |
| 29 | For “Risk Monitoring,” what tools or frameworks does VBA currently use, and is the Contractor expected to integrate with or replace them? | GAO Framework/VA/VBA Enterprise Risk Management are the guiding principles. No, this contract does not replace enterprise risk management. | SOO Section 5.2.4, Page 9 | Answered during Industry Day - Slide 21 #29 |
Additional Q&A
| FRAUD, WASTE, AND ABUSE (FWA) PREVENTION SERVICES | ||||
| Vendor Questions and Government's Answers | ||||
| ITEM NUMBER | INDUSTRY QUESTION/COMMENT: | GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: | SOO SECTION NUMBER: | COMMENT (if applicable): |
| 30 | Due to the size and complexity of this opportunity, will the Government make available legacy systems, code, and tools, preferred systems and tools, VBA’s plan for continuity of operations, priorities for data security, and Zero Trust architecture? | Agree this is complex; however, the Government is unable to provide access to legacy systems as these systems contain personally identifiable information. The transition plan will be made available upon award of the contract. | General question | |
| 31 | Other than a PIV card, are there mandatory security requirements required for KP? | The request for proposal will include the mandatory security requirements. At this point in time, no requirement has been identified to have or obtain a Top Security Clearance. | General question | |
| 32 | What is the expected level of on-site vs. remote support? | No regular onsite work is required. | General question | |
| 33 | Are there any preferred labor categories or GSA schedule alignments? | The majority of the work falls under the following: Data Scientists, Data engineer, Python/SQL/R Developer/DevOps Engineer, Technical Writer/Documentation; Data Visualization Specialist; Certified Risk Manager etc. Any proposal should include recommended labor categories that satisfy the professional discipline identified. | General question | |
| 34 | Would the management of the referral intake of cases have to occur in the VA systems? How is this currently managed and would the incoming contractor have to follow similar protocol in terms of data system? | The current case management system is custom built on a Salesforce platform and does not currently support all aspects of BDP&R's work. The government is open to suggestions for improvements and/or migration to other proposed and approved platforms. | SOO Section 5.3 | |
| 35 | Is there any travel besides the initial technical kickoff meeting? | There is no required travel; however, it may be beneficial to have the occasional in-person strategy and planning sessions. This can be coordinated on an as needed basis as the government leadership is geographically dispersed, with the majority located in the Washington DC metro area. | SOO Section 5.1.2 | |
| 36 | Will the Government require that all training content be customized for different VBA user groups (e.g., program officers, fraud investigators, IT staff), or will a single training package suffice across roles? | Some training content will be relevant across the enterprise; however, training must be customized to fit the user groups as needed. | SOO Section 5.5.4 | |
| 37 | Can the work be performed remotely, in addition to, non-government locations? To clarify, remotely and CONUS. | Yes. | SOO Section 7.3 | |
| 38 | Would the Government clarify expectations around real-time risk monitoring versus periodic assessments and whether a risk register is utilized to track identified FWA risks, mitigations, and current status? | The government does have a template for a risk register, and has conducted baseline risk assessments (complete with detailed fraud, waste, and abuse risk registers) for all LoBs that include mitigations and current status. Periodic formal risk assessments will continue to be performed, which include interviews, analysis, and risk response planning. Separate from the periodic risk assessments is a need quickly adjust to address an ad hoc or emergent threat, and there may be a need to address real-time live monitoring of transactions for previously identified risks (solutions). | SOO Section 5.2 | |
| 39 | Will the Government provide additional guidance on acceptable use, transparency, training data requirements, and validation standards for AI/ML models used in fraud detection? | Yes, the government expects the contractor to comply with all statutes, executive orders and official policy, | SOO Section 9 | |
| 40 | Are there preferred analytics platforms or tools (e.g., Python, R, SAS), or is there flexibility for contractors to propose modern cloud-based environments? | The Government is open to the use of other packages and tools that the vendor deems appropriate and submits for approval. | SOO Section 5.5.2 | |
| 41 | Approximately, how much data is currently analyzed today and what’s the target state for this year? |
Over the past years, what are the critical key metrics the BDP&R Directorate communicates to measure fraud prevention and detection that have resonated the most with VA leadership and stakeholders?
Has BDP&R reached a point in its FWA lifecycle to begin reporting a reliable ROI metric based on established benchmarks of data quality. Establishing a credible ROI for FWA prevention programs provides VA with justification to expand FWA programs based on quantifiable results and provides a method of establishing incentive-based contracts that closely link fees to demonstrated performance like a “bounty” model.
| What are top goals and priorities for BDP&R in FY25 and FY26? | Data Summary: BDPR cumulatively analyses billions of rows of tabular data in various databases owned and operated by VHA and VBA including operational claims data, health data, mail data, web traffic logs, etc. BDPR also maintains data with hundreds of thousands of rows documenting all cases of suspected and confirmed fraud. BDPR's target for this year is to improve existing ML models' efficacy and to expand their scope into other areas of opportunity. Reliable ROI has been achieved. Highlights of critical metrics: Protecting Veterans from payment redirect fraud - $ protected; # Veterans protected, success of monitoring scripts/models by %. # Improper payment (employee errors) $ prevented from being paid to wrong account; improper payments # deceased beneficiaries identified, $ found/monthly $. Priorities: Expand capabilities (shift left) to identify more fraud and insert security protocols within the claims processes versus the payment process; identify and prevent errors using real-time transactional data; full migration into Cloud environment with expansion of tools and data sets. | SOO Section 2 | ||
| 42 | What is the current incident case management platform and is it part of a modernization roadmap for a cloud enabled solution? | Salesforce is the current case management platform; the government is open to proposed solutions for approval that may best fit the need. Any migration to the Cloud will integrate the case management solution chosen to satisfy requirements. | SOO Section 5.3 | |
| 43 | Are cloud solutions such as Azure/AWS being leveraged in the current analytical platform, and if not, would you be looking to modernize this either with a complete overhaul or a cloud migration of existing capabilities? | The Government is currently in process of migrating their catalogue to an Azure workspace and plans for could computing in future state. The Government will be seeking continuous improvement and modernization. | SOO Section 5.5 | |
| 44 | What technology tools do VA currently use for incident and case tracking, reporting, and analysis? How is VA’s incident and case tracking system integrated with other VA systems? Is the Government open to new technology to augment or replace the existing incident and case tracking system? | SalesForce is the current tool. The incident tracking system has limited integration. Yes, the Government is open to new technology, augmentation, or complete replacement. | SOO Section 5.3 | |
| 45 | Does VA have current integrations with IT systems from external organizations (e.g., law enforcement, private industry)? If so, can you elaborate on what systems are currently integrated, the types of data that is exchanged, and the technical methods employed by the integrations? | Not at this time. | SOO Section 5.3 | |
| 46 | What is the current technology stack accessible to VBA for generative AI, machine learning and predictive analytics and which of the BDP&R core service areas are they currently operating? | The Government is in the process of migrating to an Azure workspace from which all analytics will be run. Currently, all ML and predictive analytics are run locally with data being pulled from Oracle datasets and a Salesforce platform and code being run in Python and R. There is currently no generative AI implemented within the portfolio. | SOO Section 5 | |
| 47 | What gaps or limitations have surfaced in your current data science architecture and data flow processes that have hindered data integrity, compromised data quality, or made it difficult to extract meaningful insights? | There are multiple contributors to the listed issue, data quality is adversely impacted by legacy systems, migrations of data between systems, and improper data entry into systems. In regards to difficulties with extracting meaningful insights, one of the inhibiters has been limited computing resources; all models and analytics are currently run from local computers as opposed to cloud-based resources which limits the scope and scale of analytics. | SOO Section 5.5 | |
| 48 | Would the government consider an agile contract type of FFP and T&M to address the need to surge efforts (i.e. ad hoc investigative support, Industry and Subject matter Resources for evolving initiatives) | The Government is still gathering research and will finalize the contract type, key personnel, labor categories and costs in the final requirements. | SOO Section 7.1 | |
| 49 | Will the government consider advanced technologies from the private sector to achieve their goals that have limited use cases in the Federal Government sector? | Yes, if there is evidence of good return on investment. | SOO Section 5.3/5.5 | |
| 50 | Please clarify – “VBA BDP&R seeks the support of a Contractor with broad and extensive technical expertise and experience within the Federal Government sector in the areas of FWA to provide research, analysis, development, and implementation of solutions and associated services.” Also stated “…. BDP&R to provide an extra layer of support to the LoBs and SOs in developing and maintaining internal controls over programs, operations, and benefits delivery. BDP&R proactively partners with the business owners ….” Is the scope of this effort to include only recommendations and support to VA LOBs for any core capabilities including technology implementation (SW procurement, design implementation)? Or does the scope of this effort include the actual procurement and implementation of any such technological enhancements and labor to use these tools on FWA cases? | The Government is still in the research phase of its acquisition strategy. The current scope of this effort does not include the actual procurement of and implementation, but that could change after research. Under the current scope, the Government (and contractors') strategy is to be a partner to the VBA lines of business to conduct deep dive analyses of their processes, policies, and systems to identify vulnerabilities, find solutions or to enhance existing controls. If the solution happens to be a technological enhancement, and requires funding, it would become a proposed solution for adoption by the business owner. | SOO Section 4 | |
| 51 | With the intent to require Firm Fixed Price for this effort, would the Government consider including optional T&M tasks within the scope of the PWS to enable flexibility and responsiveness, especially considering emerging technologies, dynamic surge requirements etc.? | The Government is still gathering research and will finalize the contract type, key personnel, labor categories and costs in the final requirements. | SOO Section 7.1 | |
| 52 | Based on VA’s current acquisition strategy to utilize a Statement of Objectives (SOO), will the Government provide additional detail? | The Government is still gathering research and will finalize the contract type, key personnel, labor categories and costs in the final requirements. | General question | |
| 53 | Can the Government provide historical data as to the specific Level of Effort, tools, etc. currently contracted to provide the FWA services performed? | Prospective vendors are free to utilize publicly available means for obtaining further information on the current award. | General question | |
| 54 | The SOO mentions the use of generative AI technologies like Large Language Models and Large Activity Models. To better align with the VA’s goals, we recommend clarifying the intended use cases—such as whether AI will support tasks like drafting documentation or conducting automated case reviews. It would also be helpful to define accuracy expectations and outline any human-in-the-loop processes the VA envisions for overseeing AI-generated outputs. | The Government is interested in evaluating all emerging technologies to combat fraud, waste, and abuse. A hypothetic use case would be the use of an agentic AI in reviewing potentially fraudulent financial transactions. Ultimately, any determination of fraud will be made by a human in the loop process, but the Government would like to leverage AI to refer cases most likely to be fraud so as to maximize the use of human time. | SOO Section 5.5 | |
| 55 | Are there any subscriptions to 3rd party data services (e.g. Lexus Nexus, Experian) that will be available to the vendor as GFI/GFE? | Vendors are encouraged to identify and acquire access to 3rd party data services they deem essential to the successful execution of this contract. While vendors are expected to secure access, the Government may, at its discretion, and subject to availability, provide access through existing subscriptions. | General question | |
| 56 | Under FWA Data Analysis (5.5), would the VA accept enriched threat intelligence or machine learning datasets sourced from IP reputation networks and honeypot sensors, provided they meet federal privacy guidelines? | Yes, if said data is relevant and presents value and opportunity. The Government is interested in evaluating all emerging technologies to combat fraud, waste, and abuse. | SOO Section 5 | |
| 57 | Would VA accept a hybrid approach that uses VPN-secured private cloud access aligned with VAEC security requirements until migration is fully completed? | No Veteran data shall be transmitted or stored outside the VA firewall. | SOO Section 7.12 | |
| 58 | Can contractors propose teaming with specialized communications subcontractors for veteran-facing outreach and content development work? | Yes. | SOO Section 5.6.2 | |
| 59 | Will contractors providing real-time APIs be required to support PIV authentication for machine-to-machine (M2M) transactions, or is human user authentication only applicable? | The Government will require PIV authentication, and is open to review proposed human user authentication scenarios for approval. | SOO Section 7.10 | |
| 60 | Pertaining to this RFI Question: “Please describe any experiences with electronic business process reengineering and integration based on complex multi-level processing rules. Please describe the pricing structures used (e.g., transaction-based; quantity-based; price-banding based on volume; price-banding based on complexity; etc.). How do you ensure fairness and transparency in these pricing structures” – How do these pricing structures relate to the business process reengineering service being presented? | The RFI is part of the Government's research, and vendors were given the opportunity to showcase their innovation related to business process reengineering. The information gathered from the vendor responses, to include their responses to questions about pricing structure, were meant to elicit ideas that can (and may) be incorporated into the final procurement document. The Government is confident this is a fair process. | General question |
Hauser, Mary R.:
| Hauser, Mary R.: | 61 | FWA Research and Development – Is VBA looking for help in establishing a research center or conducting the research? Conducting research is likely best suited for discrete research questions to be addressed within a FFP model. | The Government seeks support in conducting research. | SOO Section 5.4 |
| 62 | Is there a preferred location for contractors? If so, where would that be? | The only restriction is place of performance must be within CONUS. | SOO Section 7.3 | |
| 63 | Which VA sites would be included in this program? | The only restriction is place of performance must be within CONUS. | SOO Section 7.3 | |
| 64 | Does the VA expect contractors to be able to commute to specific VA locations? If so, which locations? | No. | SOO Section 7.3 | |
| 65 | Does the Government currently utilize Large Language Models (LLMs) or Large Activity Models (LAMs) within its operations? If so, could the Government share in what capacity these technologies are used? If not, are there known barriers to their adoption? | Not at this time, but as migration into VA cloud is completed the expectation is to expand analytical capabilities through these avenues. | SOO Section 5 | |
| 66 | Can the government provide an estimate of the number of campaigns, scripts, models, and other initiatives which would require transition under this effort? | The Government has 2 machine learning models and approximately 50 scripts. The Government executed 12 distinct campaigns in FY2024 and is on pace to double that amount for FY2025. The Government has conducts at least 2 formal risk assessment per year for business lines. | SOO Section 5.8 | |
| 67 | Does the Government anticipate travel requirements as a part of this effort? If so, can guidance be provided regarding frequency, location and purpose of travel? | No routine travel. If travel needed, it will be coordinated in advance. | SOO Section 7.4 | |
| 68 | Does the Government have an existing Case Management System? If not, does 5.3.1 include requirements for creation of a Case management System? | Yes. It is on SalesForce platform. | SOO Section 5.3.1 | |
| 69 | The SOO references “Providing ad-hoc investigative support for VBA and the Office of Inspector General (OIG), e.g., Social Security Administration (SSA) Death Match and Connected Case Analysis.” |
| Can the Government provide an estimate of the average number of ad-hoc requests received per month? | An average of ~20/month. The level of effort varies, with some cases requiring extensive research and analyses that may take days/weeks and others can be fulfilled through routine analysis. | SOO Section 5.3.2 | |||
| 70 | Certain key positions are indicated as “on-call.” Can the Government clarify parameters for “on-call” status? | Yes. The Government is still gathering research and will finalize the contract type, key personnel, labor categories (including on-call status) and costs in the final | |||
| procurement document. | SOO Section 6.1.1 | ||||
| 71 | Would VBA please confirm whether there are specific in-house tools in use by VBA for data analytics? If so, would VBA please provide a list of these tools? | The Government is in the process of migrating to an Azure workspace from which all analytics will be run. Currently, all ML and predictive analytics are run locally with data being pulled from Oracle datasets and a Salesforce platform and code being run in Python and R. There is currently no generative AI implemented within the BDP&R portfolio. | SOO Section 5.5 | ||
| 72 | Do you expect the vendor who wins this proposal to maintain the existing analytical solution for FWA? | Yes, but the Government is always open to improvements and looks forward to innovations in the existing analytical solutions. | General question | ||
| 73 | Please clarify whether VA will provide existing ML models and datasets or require contractor development from scratch. | The Government will provide existing and does expect improvements and new models. | SOO Section 5 | ||
| 74 | What are the existing BDP&R systems that the new vendor will be required to maintain? | The vendor will be required to support and maintain case management, data management, and data analysis?] | |||
| 75 | Will the Government provide access to existing structured and unstructured data sources (e.g., claims forms, scanned records, call transcripts, historical case files) to enable end-to-end ingestion, analysis, and fraud detection workflows? | Yes. | Question raised during Industry Day | ||
| 76 | Does the VA anticipate that AI/ML models will be deployed within its existing cloud infrastructure, or is the contractor expected to host and operate the solution in a secure, VA-compliant enclave (e.g., FedRAMP High, GovCloud) | Yes- AI/ML models will be deployed into the secure, VA compliant enclave. The contractor will operate within that same enclave. | Question raised during Industry Day | ||
| 77 | Is there a requirement for integrating automated fraud detection services into existing VBA adjudication or intake platforms, or is BITS permitted to deliver a standalone tool with bi-directional APIs? | The Government is still growing capabilities and is open to ideas for system integration that shows return on investment. The Government is solution agnostic and does not have strict requirements that the vendor integrate with existing software systems/platforms. An API based solution that can pull data from VBA data sources/databases and push data back would be acceptable, assuming adherence to all security requirements and ATO processes. | SOO Section 5 | ||
| 78 | Does the Government maintain a standardized fraud risk framework or scoring methodology that the solution must align with (e.g., OMB A-123 guidance, GAO Fraud Risk Framework), or may respondents propose their own? | While our risk scoring framework does align the GAO framework, and OMB A-123, the Government would welcome to new/additional scoring methodology for consideration for use within VBA. | Question raised during Industry Day | ||
| 79 | What level of visibility will the contractor have into VBA policy, legislative, or regulatory changes that may affect fraud detection thresholds, scoring logic, or benefits eligibility rules? | The expectation of the Government is to have full visibility. To be effective with risk management activities it will be imperative for the contractor to have high visibility into VBA policy, legislative, and regulatory changes. | Question raised during Industry Day | ||
| 80 | Are there existing performance dashboards, fraud KPIs, or risk management systems that the proposed solution must integrate with—or is the contractor expected to design and deliver these analytics from the ground up? | Yes, there are existing performance dashboards, fraud KPIs and risk management systems in place. However, the government is open to innovations or improvements to existing systems. | Question raised during Industry Day | ||
| 81 | What are the Government’s expectations regarding the identification of fraud vs. prevention of improper payments due to administrative error or unintentional misrepresentation? Are both equally prioritized under this requirement? | Equally prioritized. | Question raised during Industry Day | ||
| 82 | Is there a ceiling value or budget range for this contract? | Please use the SOO and responses to the all vendor inquires to give your best estimate for costs of services sought. | General | ||
| 83 | Assuming a contractor can cover all areas of the SOO, is the intent to continue to make this a single-source award? | Yes, that was the original intent; the Government will consider whether it makes sense to break the work into multiple contracts. | General | ||
| 84 | How does the discussion of risk research and solutions differ from the task outlined in Section 5.2.1? | 5.2.1 is outlining the government's formal risk assessment process. Section 5.4.1 is outlining the expectations for how the Research and Development Lab will operate in support of both formal risk assessment activities and inquiries/requests from stakeholders. There is a need for proto typing to prove theories. | SOO Section 5.4.1 | ||
| 85 | Can you clarify how the objective relates to the need for data analytics tools management? | The Government requires technical support to assist in the operation, maintenance, and enhancement of existing scripts, models, and related data processing and analytics pipelines. This includes, but is not limited to, executing and troubleshooting pre-existing scripts, maintaining and updating the codebase (including package dependencies and Technical Resource Manual compliance), producing data visualizations, and updating related documentation. | SOO Section 5.5.3 | ||
| 86 | Is there a requirement for integrating automated fraud detection services into existing VBA adjudication or intake platforms, or are vendors permitted to deliver a standalone tool with bi-directional APIs? | The Government is still growing capabilities and is open to ideas for system integration that shows return on investment. The Government is solution agnostic and does not have strict requirements that the vendor integrate with existing software systems/platforms. An API based solution that can pull data from VBA data sources/databases and push data back would be acceptable, assuming adherence to all security requirements and ATO processes. | SOO Section 5 | ||
| 87 | Will the government's communications strategy support also include the benefit from including a scope for multilingual content and accessibility tailoring, given the diversity of the Veteran population? | The Government will ensure multilingual translation requirements are addressed in the final procurement document . | SOO Section 5.6 | ||
| 88 | Will the government's requirement include intake efficiency metrics (e.g., time from referral receipt to triage) to track and optimize case management performance. | The Government is still in research phase of acquisition and will include more detailed metrics in final procurement document. | SOO Section 5.3.1 | ||
| 89 | Will the government be using fraud-specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), such as, detection rate, false positive rate, investigation turnaround time? | The Government is still in research phase of acquisition and will include more detailed KPIs in the final procurement document. | SOO Section 5.5.4 | ||
| 90 | Will the government clarify whether broad PMO/administrative support is required for this effort. If the intent is to include this scope, we recommend the government creates a separate section in the SOO to address this support. | The Government will clarify to ensure the terms of project management are for expectations of delivery of services for the purposes of this contract. This is not a request for broad PMO support for the Government. | SOO Section 5.1.1 | ||
| 91 | We recommend including a report in the FWA Performance Reporting section for periodic (recommend monthly) delivery of metric status to the government. While metric status may be updated more frequently (potentially real-time), one formal monthly delivery of the metric status as a report will provide a simple method of tying FFP payments to major focus areas of this SOO section. | Recommendation noted. No published response required. | SOO Section 5.7 | ||
| 92 | Will the government clarify tasks that may be required to support 24/7 operations 365 days per year? | The Government is still gathering research and will finalize the contract type, labor categories and costs in the final procurement document. | SOO Section 7.2 | ||
| 93 | Will the government clarify the requisite requirements, artifacts, designs, customizations, and custom-developed code that are required to be delivered, so that offerors can include these in their proposed FFP prices? | The Government is still gathering research and will finalize the contract type, labor categories and costs in the final procurement document . | SOO Section 8.2 | ||
| 94 | Will the government confirm that the focus of SOO 5.5.1 is on data availability and integration, as opposed to management of the intake process for data analytics requests? | Yes, the focus of 5.5.1 is on identification and integration of data. | SOO Section 5.5.1 | ||
| 95 | Will the government clarify whether resumes will be required with proposal submission or at another time; and how much lead time will be provided prior to the need for on-call key personnel? | The Government is still gathering research and will finalize the contract type, labor categories and costs in the final procurement document . | SOO Section 6.1.1 | ||
| 96 | The SOO includes several key labor categories that are not typically essential to the core of the work, will the government be reducing the list of key personnel to core roles (such as Project Manager, Assistant Project Manager, Data Engineer, Data Architect, FWA SME) and removing the on-call/partial roles as key roles. | The Government is still in the research phase of this acquisition. the detailed list of key labor categories was provided to elicit recommendations about contract types/labor categories/pricing etc., and to help close a gap because the current contract does not provide the Government access to on-call support. | SOO Section 6.1.1 | ||
| 97 | Section 7.1 indicates the government contemplates a firm-fixed price effort, while 6.1.1 describes on-call personnel with no mechanism (specification, etc.) to provide a fixed price figure. Given question 12, is it the Government’s intention to determine the final contract type based on industry’s feedback? | Yes. | SOO Section 6.1.1/7.1 | ||
| 98 | The SOO indicates that the contractor solution will be migrated to VA Enterprise Cloud. At that time, will the government be taking over costs associated with cloud data, services, and compute? | Yes, the government is funding the cloud costs and services not required by this contract. | SOO Section 7.11.10 | ||
| 99 | Will the government provide more clearly measurable performance standards to better ensure specificity and measurability. | Yes, the Government will provide more clearly defined performance metrics in the final procurement document . | SOO Section 7.13.2 | ||
| 100 | Will the government consider including |
the introduction of both preventive and detective internal controls as a result of
| identified risks and fraud? | Yes, that is the Government's intent. | SOO Section 5.2 |
| 101 | Will the government remain agnostic on a |
technology solution or set of tools to augment its current fraud prevention analytics and case management platform.
Given the ever-changing technology and procurement landscape, the government will reap the benefit of innovation by remaining flexible in how services and solutions are delivered
| and deployed. | Yes, that is the Government's intent. | General question |
| 102 | Will the government address the prevention of improper payments across each of VBA’s programs, including Compensation, Pension, and Education. Will the requirements focus |
on the real-time identification of improper payments across each payment type to implement mechanisms/controls to prevent (improper) payments from being made to
| Veterans and their beneficiaries. | Yes, that is the Government's intent. | General question | ||
| 103 | RFI Question 10 states that the Government will be migrating from a manual capability to a FedRAMP-compliant cloud environment, will the government clarify whether contractor responsibilities include leading or supporting the migration itself, or if the focus is limited to compliance, sizing, optimization, and ATO support post-migration? Additionally, could the government clarify what is meant by “manual capability” in RFI Question 10—does this refer to on-premises systems, non-automated processes, or legacy platforms not yet transitioned to the cloud? | The Government hopes to be fully migrated into the VA Cloud prior to the award of this contract; however, in the event that does not happen, contractor responsibilities would include supporting migration, testing analytical tools, compliance, sizing optimization etc., "Manual capability" as stated in Q 10, refers to the current state of using government furnished equipment for computation. | SOO Section 7.12 | |
| 104 | Would VA consider a Managed Services approach to this requirement? | Yes, all options are still under consideration. The Government is still in the early phases of research and has not made a final determination; the contracting office will examine the business sponsor's requirements and other factors to determine the best "contract type" to execute. | General question | |
| 105 | Is the government considering that all models, scripts, and tools should be delivered in a version-controlled environment (e.g., GitHub Enterprise) with documentation, test cases, and change logs to avoid risks from undocumented legacy code. | Yes, this is the standardized process intended. VBA is required to house all code in the VA Enterprise GitHub. | SOO Section 5.8 | |
| 106 | The SOO outlines various FWA Prevention Tasks and Services but lacks specific performance metrics or KPIs for success measurement. Can VBA define or suggest baseline expectations for these services? | Yes, the Government will have more detailed baseline expectations with the final procurement document . | SOO Section 5 | |
| 107 | Section 508 compliance is mentioned. Will the Government provide existing compliance documentation for applications that are transitioned in? | Yes. | SOO Section 7.9 | |
| 108 | The Artificial Intelligence section refers to NIST AI RMF 1.0. Is compliance required immediately upon contract award, or is a phased implementation acceptable? | The Government must be compliant. If a phased approach is proposed, it will need to be outlined with dates of deliveries and compliance. | SOO Section 9 | |
| 109 | The PMP is described as a "living document," but no mention is made of required review frequency. Should updates be monthly, quarterly, or as needed with COR approval? | The Government will have more detailed expectations with the final procurement document . | SOO Section 5.1.1 | |
| 110 | In the case investigation support to OIG and SSA, is there a defined data sharing protocol or MOU that governs third-party interactions? | Not at this time. | SOO Section 5.3.2 | |
| 111 | How many fraud cases are identified and referred per year? What is the annual dollar value in cost avoidance as a result of fraud prevention activities? | The Government is unable to provide that information. | General question | |
| 112 | How many total end users will be supported for case management and data analytics activities? | Minimum 40 with projected increase (unknown) to include additional stakeholders for self-service of routine analytics. | General question | |
| 113 | In section A.4, requirement c mentions that the Contractor shall adhere to “Recording, monitoring, and control of passwords and privileges”. Please clarify this requirement. | "Recording, monitoring, and control of passwords and privileges" requires the Contractor to implement and maintain a system that: |
1-Records/documents all user accounts, their access levels, and associated privileges to VA data and systems 2-Monitors account activity and access patterns for security purposes 3- Controls password policies (complexity, expiration, reuse restrictions) and privilege assignments based on least-privilege principles This includes maintaining audit logs of who has access to what data/systems, tracking login attempts and system usage, and ensuring passwords meet VA security standards. The Contractor must demonstrate documented procedures for granting, modifying, and revoking access privileges, especially during employee onboarding and termination. The Contractor should plan for standard identity and access management controls consistent with federal security guidelines.
| SOO Section A.4 | ||||
| 114 | Addendum E. “Sample Federal information TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION REFORM ACT (FITARA) support”--is this addendum referenced in the main SOO? | The information/requirements are noted; the Government will ensure traceability in the final | ||
| procurement document. | Addendum "E" | |||
| 115 | Risk monitoring – Is contractor support for ongoing risk monitoring (i.e., beyond establishing a process for monitoring) an expectation of VBA? If so, this likely won’t fit into a FFP model so it could be worth splitting out separately along with case investigations. | Yes, contractor support shall include the full Lifecyle or risk management, to include risk assessment, solutions, and monitoring effectiveness of solutions/controls. | SOO Section 5.2.4 | |
| 116 | While the current SOO leaves open the possibility for offerors to leverage innovative technology solutions, will the government clarify the mechanisms by which such solutions could be procured. | The RFI is part of the Government's research, the Government will use all information to inform its acquisition strategy. | General question | |
| 117 | The SOO indicates a requirement to transition from manual to a cloud environment. Can the Government provide insight into current barriers to cloud migration? | Prioritization is a factor as numerous offices are transitioning to a Cloud environment, the contractor may be required to assist in the transition. | General question | |
| 118 | Are there incumbent strategies, communication approaches, and plans currently in use that can be made available for Offerors to inform and streamline transition planning? | Relevant information will be provided to the contractor for the transition process. | General question |
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