A17 A1 PWS - FOIA CMS 022223 Amd 01.docx

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

FOIA Case Management System and Support Services Dated: 02/14/2023 Updated: 02/22/2023 (Changes are in red text)

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. BACKGROUND

The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB, the Agency) FOIA Branch has a requirement for a FOIA Case Management System and Support Services Solution (“Solution”).

The following Performance Work Statement (PWS) is intended to describe work to be performed. NLRB will contract to provide the public and NLRB users with the next generation NLRB FOIA case management software system. The system shall:

· manage request submissions

· provide efficient workflows and request tracking

· manage billing

· provide effective document management

· produce required and ad-hoc reporting

· provide communications tracking and management while delivering user-friendly access to requests and records

· be accessible, stable, state of the art, cost efficient, financially sustainable, and an easy-to-use service for both the public and NLRB users

The NLRB FOIA Branch (NFB) is responsible for implementing the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. § 552) (FOIA, the Act). The FOIA allows any person to obtain access to federal agency records, or portions of them, from agencies including the NLRB. The FOIA allows agencies to withhold information from release only if disclosure would harm an interest protected by one of nine exemptions.

The Act identifies response time periods; agency records subject to disclosure; outlines disclosure procedures; and specifies nine exemptions that protect information from release.

The NFB’s mission is to lead the Agency’s response to requests in a defensible and timely manner. The NFB receives and processes FOIA requests through a centralized structure; and conducts tracking, analysis, and reporting of NLRB’s FOIA processing.

In 2017, NLRB migrated to FOIAonline - a multi-agency, Software as a Service (SaaS) web-based software application operated by EPA - to allow the public to submit FOIA requests; track request processing; communicate with agency staff; search other requests; access released responsive documents; and file appeals.

Since that time, FOIAonline has been NLRB’s workflow case management system and records repository. FOIAonline allows NLRB users to receive and store requests; assign requests for processing; record processing steps and processing decisions; communicate with requesters; manage records including records release; generate metrics; and create ad hoc, quarterly, and annual reports.

In November 2021, EPA announced its intention to shut down FOIAonline at the end of calendar year 2023. By September 30, 2023, the system will be deprecated, and FOIAonline will no longer receive new requests or process existing requests. During the last three months of calendar year 2023, its operations will be limited to preparing fiscal year 2023 annual FOIA reports.

NLRB intends to replace FOIAOnline through this procurement process, allowing for sufficient overlap to complete all onboarding, migration, and approval processes to avoid any significant disruption in services for the NFB.

1.2. OBJECTIVES

The NLRB is seeking to procure tools, documentation, and services necessary to improve the management and processing of FOIA requests. Under the scope of this requirement, the contractor shall provide:

· FOIA Software & Case Management technology solution(s)

· FOIA Software implementation support

· FOIA data migration from FOIAOnline & integration support

· FOIA Software training support

· FOIA Software operations & maintenance support

· FOIA Software ongoing help desk support Moreover, the software provided by the Contractor shall:

· Be intuitive

· Be efficient, minimizing or eliminating the need for duplication of effort and workarounds

· Enable the NLRB to comply with all applicable requirements of the law

· Have timely customer support that satisfactorily resolves material issues as they arise

· Allow for a seamless migration of the existing (FOIAOnline) database

· Be a comprehensive package containing multiple features, including: the capability to provide the public access to released record sets; correspondence creation and preservation; document management and review; and reporting capabilities

· Be a fully managed, Software as a Service implementation, supporting evolving FOIA workflows and processes

· Be fully supported by a Contractor-provided Help Desk, providing timely resolution of reported issues to ensure professional and positive end-user experience, and elevating unresolved issues to appropriate personnel

1.3. SCOPE

The scope of this contract includes the implementation and maintenance of a modern FOIA solution that satisfies the following technical requirements in two areas. (1) the FOIA management and e-discovery system, including underlying data storage, supporting NLRB staff FOIA operations via modern web interface, and (2) the public facing web portal.

The Solution shall comply with and enable NLRB to efficiently implement all applicable laws, regulations, and NLRB policies, including those pertaining to confidentiality requirements, non-disclosure requirements, confidential business information requirements, continuous service improvement requirements, staffing requirements, program management requirements, and include an appropriate phase-in plan and/or a phase-out plan.

The Solution shall provide acceptable phase-in staging, including access to the system for security review and evaluation, data migration, and training & helpdesk support services for NLRB users, prior to full operation commencing on June 30, 2023, and ongoing helpdesk support services for both NLRB and public users for the duration of the contract.

2. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

This section describes the general requirements for this effort. The following sub-sections provide details of various considerations.

Any reference within this PWS which refer to the Solution’s ability, capability, etc., shall be interpreted to mean that such features are built-in or otherwise included within the Contractor’s response. Any citation or reference provided may be superseded by subsequent publications. In such an event, the latest publication shall prevail and take the place of the reference herein.

2.1. NON-PERSONAL SERVICES

The services and performance required under this contract are determined to be not inherently governmental. The contractor shall not perform or give the appearance of performing inherently governmental functions as described in FAR Part 2 and Subpart 7.5. The Government shall neither supervise contractor employees nor control the method by which the contractor performs the required tasks. All contractor personnel shall identify themselves as contracted support personnel in all forms of communication with all entities with whom the NLRB has business dealings. It shall be the responsibility of the contractor to manage its employees and to guard against any actions that are of the nature of personal services or give the perception of personal services. If the contractor believes that any actions constitute, or are perceived to constitute personal services, it shall be the contractor's responsibility to notify the Contracting Officer immediately.

2.2. BUSINESS RELATIONS

The contractor shall successfully integrate and coordinate all activity needed to execute the requirements specified herein. The contractor shall manage the timeliness, completeness, and quality of the contract deliverables. The contractor shall provide corrective action plans, proposal submittals, timely identification of issues, and effective management of all contractor personnel (including subcontractors). The contractor shall seek to ensure customer satisfaction and professional and ethical behavior of all contractor personnel.

2.3. CONTRACT MANAGEMENT

The contractor shall establish clear organizational lines of authority and responsibility to ensure effective management of the resources assigned to this requirement.

2.4. CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION

The contractor shall establish processes and assign appropriate resources to effectively administer this contract. The contractor shall respond to Government requests for contractual actions in a timely fashion. The contractor shall have a single point of contact between the Government and Contractor personnel assigned to support this contract.

2.5. SUBCONTRACT MANAGEMENT

The contractor shall be responsible for any subcontract management necessary to integrate work performed on this requirement and shall be responsible and accountable for subcontractor performance on this requirement. The prime contractor will manage work distribution to ensure there are no Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) considerations. Contractors may add subcontractors to their team after notification to the Contracting Officer or Contracting Officer Representative (COR).

2.6. CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL, DISCIPLINES, AND SPECIALTIES

The contractor shall accomplish the assigned work by employing and utilizing qualified personnel with appropriate combinations of education, training, and experience. The contractor shall match personnel skills to the work or task with a minimum of under/over employment of resources. The Contractor shall provide the necessary resources and infrastructure to manage, perform, and administer the contract.

2.7. LOCATION AND HOURS OF WORK

The necessary services will be performed and provided at Contractor designated locations. The Solution will be accessed by NLRB staff from various NLRB offices and via telework, from within the NLRB VPN only, and by the public via the public internet.

Interactions between NLRB personnel and Contractor personnel can be anticipated to occur virtually as necessary, including training.

Normal workdays are Monday through Friday except US Federal Holidays. Workers typically work eight (8) hours per day, 40 hours per week. Flextime workers start not earlier than 0600 and not later than 0900. Core hours of work are from 0900 to 1500 daily. All support personnel are expected to be available during core hours.

3. PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS

3.1. The Solution shall constitute of a full, stand-alone FOIA request processing tool, handling all aspects and needs for same, from intake to record delivery, and include billing and payment handling.

3.2. The Solution shall meet all of NLRB’s objectives as stated in 1.2.

3.3. The Solution shall include and be integrated with an industry acknowledged e-Discovery software solution (“E-Solution”) that is widely used in the legal community and that has recently become popular in the FOIA community for processing FOIA/Privacy Act (PA) requests.

3.4. NLRB prefers that the E-Solution support legal business processes, including:

3.4.1. Legal Hold

3.4.2. Collect

3.4.3. Early Case Assessment

3.4.4. Processing

3.4.5. Review & Production

3.4.6. Analytics

3.4.7. Assisted Review

3.5. The E-Solution shall support FOIA/PA business processes, including:

3.5.1. End-to-End Case Management

3.5.2. Request Processing

3.5.3. Record De-duplication

3.5.4. Record Line-by-Line Reviews

3.5.5. Review & Production

3.5.6. Automatic Record Redactions

3.5.7. Analytics

3.5.8. Assisted Reviews

3.5.9. Processing Reports

3.5.10. Appeal and Litigation Support, including relating appeals to the original request

3.6. The E-Solution shall provide true integration to marketplace applications where different add-on solutions can also be subscribed to, interfaced with and customer built.

3.7. The Solution shall satisfy all applicable business requirements of the NLRB’s FOIA and PA programs, including: the Freedom of Information Act; the Government in the Sunshine Act; NLRB’s system of records notices; Government-wide systems of records notices; Guidance from The White House, United States DOJ, Office of Personnel Management, and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB); other applicable regulations and directives; and all amendments to same.

3.8. The Solution shall accommodate both manual and automated receipt and delivery of FOIA requests. Automated receipt of FOIA requests shall be provided via a secure online portal from both the NLRB public website (nlrb.gov), and the National FOIA Portal (foia.gov), and such requests shall be automatically delivered and integrated into the Solution.

3.9. The Solution shall accommodate FOIA, PA, and hybrid FOIA/PA requests.

3.10. The Solution shall accommodate both initial requests, and appeals.

3.11. The Solution shall maintain separate FOIA Case files for the NLRB FOIA Branch, which handles FOIA requests for the Agency’s records, and the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), which handle FOIA requests specific to the OIG.

3.12. The Solution shall maintain FOIA appeal records for the NLRB Division of Legal Counsel, which handles appeals for both NLRB FOIA Branch and the OIG.

3.13. NLRB prefers that the Solution have a FOIA public portal that guides FOIA requesters through a series of questions required to register their request and to perfect and track a request for identifiable records. NLRB prefers that the software also ask a series of short questions to determine if the request is made under the PA and/or FOIA and then, using separate “tracks,” route PA requests to the FOIA technician with separate PA tracking and pure FOIA or hybrid FOIA/PA requests with FOIA tracking.

3.14. The Solution shall automatically incorporate all requests for data into the FOIA tool and notify the FOIA Technician when a new request has been submitted. It shall also notify the technician if the requester has filed a prior request and link the prior request to the current request automatically (subject to verification by the FOIA Technician) based on personally identifiable information provided by the requester.

3.15. The Solution shall automatically and uniquely number each new FOIA request and shall create different tracking numbers based on the type of request (such as FOIA or appeal), and by office (such as NLRB or OIG).

3.16. All data entered by the requester shall be validated for accuracy and completeness (e.g., valid address, first name, last name etc.). Further, NLRB prefers that the software should direct requesters to relevant responsive records that are currently available in the Public Reading Room or otherwise that have been previously disclosed, including tracking information for any prior disclosures. NLRB prefers that the software should use artificial intelligence to search and retrieve such responsive records, if any, with an acceptable error rate (e.g., below 20%). Over time, this error rate should decrease as the software is fine-tuned and additional records are added.

3.17. The intake solution shall allow the FOIA Technician to manually enter/create a new request and edit submitted request information.

3.18. The Solution shall include robust administrative tools or capabilities for tracking assignments and workflow.

3.19. On occasion, referral or consultation requests are received or sent by the FOIA/PA Group. The software shall provide for a separate “tracking” path for consultations and referrals with additional data fields being provided for the source of the request, external agency case number, date received by the NLRB FOIA/PA Group, and/or sent to the external agency by the FOIA/PA group.

3.20. The Solution shall maintain and indicate the source of the request, whether originating in the Solution, or originating in the National FOIA Portal.

3.21. NLRB prefers that the Solution maintain and indicate whether a request is entered by the requester or manually entered by FOIA staff.

3.22. The Solution shall automate the comprehensive collection and use of an Administrative Record (or similar mechanism) that shall include request activity, processing and determinations, as well as other information deemed relevant by NLRB FOIA staff, related to each individual FOIA request, including any subsequent administrative appeal or lawsuit.

3.23. The Solution shall allow the manual addition of entries to any Administrative Record.

3.24. NLRB prefers that the Solution be capable of producing a Vaughn Index. This business process requires true integration for the exporting and downloading of relevant documentation to such platforms as KCura Relativity, Veritas eDP/Clearwell or other legal review platforms.

3.25. The Solution shall automate all the FOIA Public Reading Room requirements, as set forth in either the amendments to the FOIA or DOJ Office of Information Policy guidelines. Using an online “Public Access” website or portal feature, the public shall have the ability to search and retrieve/download pre-approved response packages.

3.26. The Solution shall automatically publish responsive records that meet configurable criteria to the Reading Room, as well as allow the FOIA/PA Group staff to easily import, publish, and/or remove records from the Reading Room.

3.27. The Solution shall be able to automatically flag records that have been requested and released three or more times so that such records can, if applicable, be posted in the Public Reading Room or otherwise be made publicly available in accordance with the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016.

3.28. The Solution shall support and track the receipt, review, assignment, routing, processing, and delivery of FOIA, PA, hybrid FOIA/PA requests, and appeals, throughout the processing of same.

3.29. The Solution shall provide for collaborative, real-time review and redactions, and shall also provide a mechanism for the selection of all applicable FOIA or PA exemption codes, with the selected codes conspicuously displayed adjacent to or as an overlay to each redaction that is made on the processed records. Redactions shall be both translucent (for internal review only) and opaque upon release to the requester. All selected exemption codes shall be viewable both internally to staff as well as to the requester. Redactions shall display in different colors to distinguish the redactor, until release, at which time, the redaction shall appear as black with a white text overlay.

3.30. NLRB prefers that the Solution automatically, for redactions made in one place within a set of responsive records to a given request, apply those same redactions, as applicable, to all documents within the responsive record set. For example, if a particular name is redacted once, that same name should be redacted throughout the responsive record set for that request.

3.31. The Solution shall employ artificial intelligence or smart technology equivalent capabilities to automatically perform searches for similar prior FOIA Requests.

3.32. The Solution shall employ artificial intelligence or smart technology equivalent capabilities to automatically redact and de-duplicate records and identify email threading.

3.33. The Solution shall allow manual assignment and routing and allow optional automatic assignment and routing of requests and responses.

3.34. The Solution shall accommodate assigning a single request to multiple FOIA processors and reviewers for simultaneous/shared handling.

3.35. The Solution shall accommodate various roles (such as processor, reviewer, administrator, supervisor, assigner, admin. professionals, etc.) within the system, which shall control and restrict access to various records, functionality, settings, reports, etc., within the system.

3.36. The Solution shall have an option to automatically prepare an e-mail/letter acknowledging receipt of the request.

3.37. The Solution shall ensure that any emails shall be created within Outlook or shall be sent securely via SMTP using modern authentication, and the sender email address shall originate from nlrb.gov (i.e., foia@nlrb.gov).

3.38. The Solution shall send final Disclosure Determination and responsive records to the requester, via email, including a link to download the responsive records.

3.39. The Solution shall deliver all responses to the requester in a secure, encrypted manner, ensuring that the response is only viewable by authorized recipient(s).

3.40. The Solution shall offer flexible and customizable routing options. For instance, the ability to route requests through multiple workflow paths; to facilitate splitting requests through different workflow paths; and the ability to decline and reroute a request.

3.41. The Solution shall support the routing and assignment of requests into processing categories (e.g., sensitive, media, expedited, etc.). The routing capability shall accommodate the appeals process.

3.42. The Solution shall support time-constrained tasks such as decisions on requests for expedited decision, and fee waiver requests, including providing count-down clocks for processing such tasks.

3.43. The workflow capability shall support the review of potentially responsive records with NLRB staff (i.e., not just licensed users of the Solution), within the system, in a secure environment.

3.44. NLRB prefers that the Solution have the ability for NLRB staff (i.e., not just licensed users of the Solution), to upload/add potentially responsive records within the system, in a secure environment, for subsequent review and decision of responsiveness by FOIA staff.

3.45. Related to 3.44, NLRB prefers that the Solution have the ability to automatically send reminder emails to NLRB staff that have been requested to add records but have not responded to that request within a timely manner.

3.46. The NLRB has a regulatory obligation to respond to FOIA requests within 20 business days. There are, however, extenuating circumstances which impact or alter the 20-day clock. In addition to initiating the 20-day response cycle, the solution shall be able to suspend or extend the 20-day clock. Extensions may be required based on the location or high volume of records potentially responsive to a request. Also, there are limitations on the number of extension days (e.g., no more than 10 business days). Suspensions may be required to get further clarification from the requester, or until an agreement to pay has been received from the requester. The Solution shall support these requirements.

3.47. The Solution shall include a tracking and monitoring feature, so that at any given time, staff can see who is assigned to process the request, how long have they have had it, what the status of a request is, and how many days are left before the deadline. In addition to submitting an online request, requesters shall also be able to track the status of their own request, online.

3.48. The Solution shall allow for the tracking of the status of pre-disclosure notices to submitters of information to the NLRB, that are sent pursuant to Executive Order 12600, including: the date the first notice was sent to the requester; whether or not any comments or objections were made by the submitter and, if so, when received; the date and disposition of, and reply to, the submitter’s comments and objections; and all costs and expenses incurred.

3.49. The Solution shall include an automated “tickler” or alert feature that would support status and deadline tracking. Examples include, but are not limited to, sending e-mail reminders, flagging or color-coding requests, and sending escalation alerts to managers.

3.50. Upon receipt of a request, the Solution shall provide the ability to search the FOIA request database for similar requests that were received and processed, and to retrieve any prior response packages, and to reuse all, or a portion, of any relevant response package.

3.51. The Solution shall automatically identify and notify when a responsive record has been previously identified as being potentially responsive in any request (related or unrelated), whether released or not, allowing the FOIA staff to leverage previous work product and ensure consistency across responses, and allow manual searches for same.

3.52. The Solution shall provide the ability to search for previous requests or redactions using any combination of plain language, keywords, metadata, and other identifiers.

3.53. The Solution shall allow the identification of first-party requests vs third party requests.

3.54. The Solution shall support the uploading, internal storage, and search of requests/responses consisting of a variety of native file types and formats, including but not limited to:

3.54.1. Microsoft Office Files (including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc.)

3.54.2. Adobe .pdf files

3.54.3. E-mails (including .msg, .pst, etc.)

3.54.4. Graphics (including .jpeg, .jpg, .gif, .vsd, .tif, .png, .bmp etc.)

3.54.5. Audio recordings (including .wav, .mp3, etc.)

3.54.6. Video recordings (including .mp4, .mpg, .mov, .avi, .wmv, etc.)

3.54.7. Miscellaneous (including ascii, .csv, .xml, .html, .txt, .odt, etc.)

3.55. The Solution shall provide for importing, redacting, and storing these file types, as identified in 3.54. NLRB prefers that this requirement applies to 3.54.5 and 3.54.6 as well as all other supported file types and formats.

3.56. The Solution shall provide for the ability to “drag and drop” correspondence and records, in native format, into the request file.

3.57. The Solution shall accommodate or facilitate bulk uploading of records easily.

3.58. The Solution shall have both the ability and the capacity to retain original native file formats of records as well as the redacted versions.

3.59. The Solution shall allow for exporting responses, if appropriate.

3.60. The Solution shall provide secure, digital storage of responses and requests. Current FOIA response files can be quite large, with responses potentially containing 1000+ e-mails or several hundreds of pages of documents, or both.

3.61. Records located and retrieved in response to earlier FOIA requests shall be fully searchable based on their text, and not simply their assigned file folder names.

3.62. NLRB prefers that tags/terms may be applied to records as well when uploaded into the FOIA software database, and be searchable by such tag/terms, both manually and automatically by artificial intelligence.

3.63. The Solution shall provide the capability to run an OCR process on PDF files which do not already contain an OCR layer, to make them machine-readable.

3.64. The Solution shall ensure that NLRB can safely and securely redact documents with the confidence that redacted information will not be visible or recoverable after redaction under any circumstance (including by security researchers or “bad actors”).

3.64.1. During the redaction process, however, the Solution shall allow for collaboration and shall allow NLRB staff to view redacted text as well as to determine who redacted what, what exemptions were applied, and what additional information was associated with the redacting of the document (i.e., notes/comments).

3.64.2. The Solution shall be able to globally search and redact an entire document

3.64.3. The Solution shall allow the user to redact irregular items (size, shape) and various file types (including images). NLRB prefers that this capability also applies to audio and video files.

3.65. The Solution shall conspicuously identify and record each person who makes redaction and disclosure recommendations or determinations.

3.66. The Solution shall permit manual redaction of any size and shape.

3.67. The Solution shall allow for disclosure reviews by one or more persons, both contemporaneously and serially.

3.68. The Solution shall allow for independent and different reviews of the same record using discrete review layers or other comparable technology for each reviewer and also allow for subsequent reviews of the same record.

3.69. The Solution shall have the ability to search for and recognize PII (personally identifiable information) such as dates of birth, social security numbers, bank account numbers and signatures, and other sensitive information, and to allow for the automatic search and redaction of such information.

3.70. NLRB prefers that the Solution shall support the production of response packages, by providing automatic pagination or Bates stamping, and providing alert mechanisms to prevent the accidental release of documents.

3.71. The Solution shall support de-duplication—elimination of redundant records—to narrow large record sets to only responsive material, creating efficiencies and ensuring consistency of record redaction.

3.72. As part of de-duplication support, the Solution shall enable identification of email threading in multiple emails, so they can be reviewed as a single coherent discussion, rather than multiple conversations.

3.73. As part of email threading analysis, the Solution shall automatically organize and identify the most inclusive and responsive, as well as the last responsive emails.

3.74. The Solution shall track costs incurred, and payment received; and generate an electronic and, optionally, paper invoice. Invoices shall include an Invoice Number, the FOIA Log Number, the name, email and/or physical address of the requester, a breakdown of the cost by Unit(s) of time and level of employee, (i.e., executive/professional/clerical), and the total costs.

3.75. The Solution shall allow for the input of time spent and other associated costs, which shall be included in the invoice. For example, duplication costs, search hours, review hours, etc.

3.76. The Solution shall be able to easily modify and waive fees.

3.77. The Solution shall include automated options for importing and exporting of invoice data, including payments received, in standardized formats, such as .csv, .xml, .json, .xls.

3.78. The Solution shall link prior requests and include information on outstanding invoice balances.

3.79. The Solution shall automatically generate the mandatory DOJ Annual FOIA Report, as amended from time to time, including any amendments as required by DOJ, and in the required reporting formats (including, but not limited to PDF, XML, Raw Data).

3.80. The Solution shall have the ability to generate ad hoc reports, based on any data or metadata in the system, including, but not limited to:

3.80.1. DOJ Annual FOIA Report

3.80.2. The relevant system data to support the external narrative generation of the Chief FOIA Officer Report

3.80.3. Quarterly DOJ FOIA reports

3.80.4. Delinquent Invoices Report

3.80.5. Paid Invoices Report

3.80.6. Monthly Report of Received FOIAs

3.80.7. NLRB prefers that this includes Exemptions Claimed Report (e.g. “Vaughn Index”)

3.80.8. Detailed internal action reports with comprehensive audit logs of every action taken involving all data associated with each request

3.80.9. FOIA Log

3.80.10. User docket and activity report, detailing status of requests assigned to them

3.80.11. Report detailing number of pages uploaded, and number of pages released per request

3.80.12. On-demand report of records exceeding retention schedule

3.80.13. Record status report (e.g., deleted, active, expired (meaning exceeds retention schedule, but not yet deleted))

3.81. The Solution shall support all relevant requirements and guidelines as specified in DOJ Handbook for Agency Annual FOIA Reports 2022, and as updated from time-to-time.

3.82. NLRB prefers that the Solution facilitate the automated filing of required DOJ Reports (through foia.gov), after such reports have been manually reviewed, system data updated as necessary, and such reports have been approved for final release to DOJ.

3.83. The Solution shall automatically track, record, compile and be able to create reports reflecting all final disclosure recommendations or determinations made, including instances of applicable exemptions applied.

3.84. The Solution shall track instances of Glomar responses and the exemption(s) applied in such responses.

3.85. The Solution shall support all data requirements of the Chief FOIA Officer’s report, as amended from time to time.

3.86. The Solution shall calculate and report final dispositions of each request, on a per category basis (e.g., full grant, partial grant, denial in full, no records, etc.) including all exemptions that were cited and other aggregate data from all requests.

3.87. The Solution shall include a set of standard letters, such as acknowledgement of requests, and allow NLRB to create new standard letters and edit existing standard letters. Standard form letters shall allow customized information to be added as needed. The procedure for creating customized letters shall utilize a set of letter template texts. NLRB prefers that the Solution hierarchically organize and index hundreds of separately grouped categories of modular text from which discrete modules may be selected and assembled as “building blocks” to compose complete letters. NLRB prefers that the software also incorporate all of the text modules within the software itself rather than by selecting from text from an extrinsic product (such as MS Word). Both the template text modules and an index to the modules shall also be readily accessible to FOIA staff for configuration and modification purposes.

3.88. The Solution shall allow the generation (and optional automatic delivery via email) of standard letters, as described in 3.87, at various points in the processing cycle (including, but not limited to, intake, stopping the clock for clarification/fees, interim response, no records responses, full release, partial release, etc.)

3.89. The Solution shall permit users to easily search and retrieve all correspondence sent in response to FOIA or PA requests using artificial intelligence and/or tags/terms with a low rate of error.

3.90. The correspondence feature of the Solution shall allow users to create correspondence by automatically importing the requester’s address, case number, fee agreement amount, and request narrative data, recorded for each request, as well as the signature block in the salutation for each user.

3.91. The Solution shall permit users to copy, move, delete, and amend case files, as needed.

3.92. The Solution shall provide the ability to track or denote frequently requested records.

3.93. The Solution shall provide the ability for NLRB FOIA users to search across requester name, organization, key words, etc.

3.94. The Solution shall provide the ability for the public (through the public portal) to search publicly available requests, by requester name, organization, key words, request number, etc.

3.95. The Solution shall support the ability to configure the system by adding custom fields, which shall become part of the searchable data. Examples of this would include NLRB Case Number, and Case Name. These custom fields shall support potentially large field lengths (500 chars, for example).

3.96. The Solution shall include a means for, and optionally require, affirmation or certification of identity, pursuant to 28 USC § 1746 to avoid wrongful disclosure of an individual’s records.

3.97. The Solution shall track & manage all FOIA payments for expenses incurred, including for search, review, photocopies, and administrative costs, as well as for delinquencies.

3.98. The Solution shall provide a secure records management solution that enables NLRB personnel to easily store, search, retrieve, and dispose of records in a cost efficient and effective manner.

3.99. The Solution shall provide a web-based interface and provide all functionality of the Solution via that interface.

3.100. The Solution shall allow NLRB staff to identify and track when a request is perfected.

3.101. The Solution shall have the ability to compress or reduce the file size for delivery to the requester for voluminous requests.

3.102. NLRB prefers that the Solution have the ability, when redacting, to perform side-by-side comparisons of past disclosure determinations, as well as side-by-side comparisons of multiple pages within the same record set.

3.103. The Solution shall support the ability to sort/order the responsive records by various criteria (such as date order, bates stamp, record type, etc.), as well as to manually order the records as desired (such as drag-and-drop ordering).

3.104. The Solution shall maintain a unique/distinct copy of any record/document for each distinct request, even if that record/document is a duplicate from another request, or otherwise ensure that changes made to a document for one request do not propagate to other requests that may contain the same document.

3.105. NLRB prefers that the Solution automatically notify designated NLRB staff when a duplicate (or substantively similar) request is received.

3.106. (removed)

4. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

This section describes the special requirements for this effort. The following sub-sections provide details of various considerations on this effort.

4.1. KEY PERSONNEL

The Contractor shall provide qualified personnel to perform all requirements specified in this PWS.

4.1.1. Program Manager

The Contractor shall provide a Program Manager (PM) who shall be responsible for all Contractor work performed under this project. The PM shall have a Bachelor’s degree, though a graduate degree is preferred along with five or more years of experience managing FOIA programs, a FOIA IT solution contract, or a combination of both. The PM will be designated as key personnel for this project. The PM shall be a single point of contact for the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and the Oversight Manager (OM). During any absence of the PM, only one alternate shall have full authority to act for the contractor on all matters relating to work performed under this requirement.

4.1.2. PM Qualifications:

4.1.2.1. Demonstrated experience as a Project Manager using Agile, including but not limited to, proactively offering new ideas, innovations, suggestions, and advice to the client to enhance and improve client’s training functions.

4.1.2.2. Experience and knowledge that is sufficient for maintaining FOIA records, commercial litigation appeals process, and preparing reports and deliverables as required.

4.1.2.3. Experience indicating strong problem-solving and organizational skills, as well as demonstrated customer service, teamwork, and interpersonal skills.

4.1.2.4. Experience in managing training delivery for a FOIA solution.

4.1.2.5. Strong written and verbal communication skills.

During the first 90 calendar days of performance, the Contractor shall make no substitutions of key personnel without the approval of the Contracting Officer, unless illness, death, or termination of employment necessitates the substitution. The Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer as soon as possible after the occurrence of any of these events and provide the information required below.

After the initial 90 calendar day period, the Contractor may propose a substitution. The Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer in writing of any proposed substitution at least thirty (30) days in advance of the proposed substitution. The Contractor shall provide a detailed explanation of the circumstances necessitating the proposed substitutions, complete resumes for the proposed substitutes, and any additional information requested by the Contracting Officer. The Contractor shall, prior to making any substitution permanent, demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Contracting Officer, that the qualifications of the proposed substitute personnel is equal to or better than the qualifications of the personnel originally identified for the position. The Contracting Officer will notify the Contractor within 15 calendar days after receipt of all required information of the decision on proposed substitutions.

4.2. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED MATERIALS

NLRB will provide information, material, and forms unique to the Government for supporting the project. All NLRB unique information related to this requirement, which is necessary for Contractor performance, will be made available to the Contractor. The COR will be the point of contact for identification of any required information to be supplied by the NLRB.

4.3. QUALITY CONTROL PLAN

The Contractor shall prepare and adhere to a Quality Control Plan (QCP). The QCP shall document how the Contractor will meet and comply with the quality standards specified in the PWS. At a minimum, the QCP must include a self-inspection plan, an internal staffing plan, and an outline of the procedures that the Contractor will use to maintain quality, timeliness, responsiveness, customer satisfaction, and any other requirements set forth in this PWS.

4.4. DOCUMENTATION

Documents, data files, reports, correspondence, and all other documents and writings, together with any charts, graphs, tables, illustrations, photographs, images, and other illustrative, explanatory, historical documents related thereto or independent thereof, regardless of the medium (or media) by which they were produced, preserved, stored, or created in connection with or for purpose(s) of work performed under this PWS and contract, are property of the Government and shall be delivered to the COR promptly, upon request.

The Contractor agrees to assume responsibility for protecting the confidentiality of Government records, which is not considered public information. Each Contractor or employee of the Contractor to whom information may be made available or disclosed shall be notified in writing by the Contractor that such information may be disclosed only for purposes and to the extent authorized herein. The Contractor shall not release any information related to this contract to the public, media or other unauthorized persons or organizations unless the government has conducted the appropriate security review and granted written approval (e.g. posting information to a public website).

4.5. TRANSITION

The Contractor shall follow the proposed transition plan and keep the Government fully informed of status throughout the transition period. Throughout the phase-in/phase-out periods, it is essential that attention be given to minimize interruptions or delays to work in progress that would impact the mission. The Contractor shall plan for the transfer of work control, delineating the method for processing and assigning tasks during the phase-in/phase-out periods.

4.5.1. Phase-in

The Contractor shall submit a detailed phase-in plan to include start-up activities that may be required to transition to full operational capability upon conclusion of the transition period.

The Contractor shall:

4.5.1.1. Provide a detailed transition methodology in logical sequence to ensure a smooth transition of all tasks/subtasks of the contract without interruption or degradation of service levels

4.5.1.2. Provide a timeline for completion

4.5.1.3. Identify associated risks and issues and risk mitigation strategies

4.5.1.4. Provide a simple, fast, secure, and cost-effective way to migrate large-scale data transfers.

4.5.1.5. Migrate/import all existing FOIA requests and prior-year’s FOIA data, metadata, documents, etc., from the current legacy system (FOIAOnline) to the new FOIA Solution prior to system go-live.

4.5.1.6. Migrate/import all existing user data from the current legacy system to the new FOIA Solution prior to system go-live.

4.5.2. Phase-out

The Contractor shall provide a phase-out plan no later than sixty (60) days prior to expiration of this contract. The Contractor shall maintain complete documentation that is totally assessable to the designated Government representatives via a web portal or some other portal as the Government directs. The Contractor shall overlap with incoming Contractor during transition for a nominal period of 30 days and will work with Government personnel and the incoming contractor to transfer knowledge, information and documentation for all projects and tasks related to this contract. The type of information and documentation to be transferred includes but is not limited to:

4.5.2.1. The Contractor shall provide a simple, fast, secure, and cost-effective way to migrate large-scale data transfers out of the Solution upon contract expiration or termination.

4.5.2.2. Upon contract expiration or termination, the Contractor shall export the NLRB data from the Solution and shall make available to the NLRB all NLRB data contained in the Solution.

4.5.2.3. The data shall be exported from the Solution in a commonly used, secure, machine-readable format.

4.5.2.4. The Contractor shall maintain all NLRB data contained in the Solution for six months (period of retention can be negotiated) after contract expiration or termination and then, after that retention period, securely delete/purge the data from the Solution.

Note: All automated data files related to NLRB’s use of the Solution, in the possession of the contractor, are the property of the Government and shall be turned over to the CO or the COR at the completion or termination of the contract. Additionally, all records related to the execution of the current contract shall be returned to the Government as electronic copies that are readable and accessible by the Government.

4.6. TECHNICAL

4.6.1. The Solution shall be compatible with NLRB’s technical environment and comply with NLRB and industry standards, polices and best practices.

4.6.2. The Solution shall be FedRAMP certified as Software as a Service (SaaS) with a FIPS-199 categorization as Moderate (or greater), hosted within the continental USA, and provide geographic fail-over.

4.6.3. The Solution shall support multiple access roles, separation of duties, and auditing of data changes.

4.6.4. Contractor shall assist, if/as needed, with making technical configuration changes to the Solution. Examples include, but are not limited to:

4.6.4.1. Making technical changes to comply with NLRB architecture

4.6.4.2. Identifying application administration account requirements

4.6.4.3. Performing configuration, tuning, and capacity planning

4.6.4.4. Working with the Security Application Assessment Team

4.6.4.5. Clarifying database tables, fields, and dependencies; identifying the impact of importing data into the Solution (if applicable)

4.6.4.6. Working with the Performance and Monitoring Team to identify processes, services, and other triggers

4.6.4.7. Recommending other technical improvements or configurations

4.6.5. The Contractor shall assist, if/as needed, with making business configuration changes to the Solution. Examples include, but are not limited to:

4.6.5.1. Customizing reports, correspondence letters, and e-mails

4.6.5.2. Setting up user access & roles

4.6.5.3. Developing routing workflows

4.6.5.4. Populating software tables and drop-down menus

4.6.5.5. Setting up triggers and alerts

4.6.5.6. Incorporating business rules

4.6.5.7. Customizing audit trails

4.6.5.8. Customizing metrics captured & reported

4.6.5.9. Tuning and configuration of Artificial Intelligence functionality

4.6.6. NLRB prefers that all items in 4.6.5 be fully configurable by NLRB technical staff, and not require developer/contractor assistance.

4.6.7. The Contractor shall identify performance goals for the Solution, conduct proactive performance tuning, and provide performance metrics of the Solution.

4.6.8. The NLRB projects that 30 users of the FOIA Solution will process approximately 2000 FOIA requests annually. These numbers are estimates and subject to change.

4.6.9. The Contractor is responsible for acquiring and maintaining all necessary or approved licenses and meeting the terms & conditions of any such licenses required for this Solution.

4.6.10. The Contractor is responsible for awareness, monitoring, and compliance with NIST SP800-53r5 section 3.20, Supply Chain Risk Management, including identifying detailed supply chain of all open-source, or additional software or libraries used in the Solution, including the product name, Contractor name, license model, country of origin, and current version.

4.6.11. The Contractor is responsible for mitigating any known vulnerabilities in the Solution, including dependent libraries or other included software, pursuant to and in compliance with FedRAMP control RA-5d.

4.6.12. NLRB prefers that the Solution be browser agnostic and shall work with a variety of browsers, including mobile browsers and mobile devices.

4.6.13. Browser support shall include but not be limited to the following browsers:

4.6.13.1. Google Chrome latest version

4.6.13.2. Edge (Chromium) latest version (Currently NLRB preferred)

4.6.14. The Solution shall be in full compliance with Executive Order 14028.

4.6.15. The Contractor shall provide details of their business licensing model. The Contractor is responsible for acquiring and maintaining all necessary or approved licenses, and meeting the terms & conditions of any such licenses required for this Solution

4.7. SECURITY

4.7.1. The Solution shall fully support transparent, seamless single sign-on (SSO), and not require NLRB users to sign-in to the application separately.

4.7.2. (removed)

4.7.3. The Contractor shall be responsible for working closely with, and providing assistance and experiential benefit to, the NLRB in obtaining the needed FedRAMP ATO for operating the Solution. Materials should be available on the FedRAMP repository on OMB MAX for the OCIO IS team to further support this effort.

4.7.4. The Contractor shall deliver a Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP)-Moderate Authorized Software as a Service (SaaS) solution and shall maintain its FedRAMP status in good standing.

4.7.5. The Contractor shall take all actions necessary to obtain an Authority to Operate (ATO) from the NLRB CIO. This includes, but is not limited to, working with the NLRB OCIO in reviewing and completing security documentation, and providing necessary documents not found in the FedRAMP package.

4.7.6. The Contractor shall update existing documentation and complete additional documentation required to maintain the ATO.

4.7.7. The Contractor shall address findings from Third Party Assessment Organization (3PAO) security assessments and NLRB-conducted security assessments on a timely basis.

4.7.8. The Contractor shall generate and maintain a Plan of Action & Milestones (POA&M) to reflect any findings discovered in security assessments.

4.7.9. The Contractor shall include the NLRB in…