SOW_CCH_Website_Maint.pdf

AG-F430-S-17-0003

STATEMENT OF WORK

Website maintenance for the USDA Caribbean Climate Hub

1. DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/WORK STATEMENT

The USDA Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry (Institute), headquartered in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, is a research and technology transfer institute that is dedicated to advancing tropical forestry on insular, national, and international levels, and developing and exchanging knowledge critical to sustaining benefits of tropical forests and grasslands. The

Institute has been in continuous operation since its inception as the Tropical Forest Experiment

Station in 1939.

The International Institute of Tropical Forestry houses the USDA Caribbean Climate Hub at the

Institute headquarters in in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico. The mission of the Climate Hub is to deliver science-based knowledge and practical information to a wide range of stakeholders in forestry and agriculture. A key component of information delivery includes intelligent web development and functionality. The USDA Caribbean Climate Hub web site is expected to deliver effective communication, ease of use by administrators and information users, and give us the ability to monitor effectiveness and respond by modifying front or back end design and functionality.

Summary: This project will build on the existing USDA Caribbean Climate Hub website and be maintained at a publically accessible web domain. The primary objective of the contract is to monitor, manage and maintain, on a monthly basis, the servers in use by: the Caribbean Climate

Hub website, interactive maps and databases. The objective of the work is to maintain and improve the functionality of the existing site.

2. BACKGROUND

The Institute is a unit of the Forest Service within the US Department of Agriculture. The

Institute includes representation and functions within the Forest Service Deputy Areas of

Research and Development, State and Private Forestry, International Cooperation and

Administration, and serves as the headquarters for the USDA Caribbean Climate Hub. Institute personnel include scientists, technicians, program managers, and administrative personnel.

Members of the broader Institute community span a wide range of knowledge and skills, including natural and social scientists, natural resource managers, education outreach and technology transfer specialists, technicians, as well as contracted professionals, students and volunteers. Together these people engage with an equally diverse network of external collaborators from the public, private, and non-profit sectors, in order to implement programs and carry out the Institute mission

The influence of the Institute stretches throughout Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, to people and organizations across the United States, and internationally to people and organizations in Latin

America and around the globe. Institute science integrates long-term scientific studies with applied investigation, quantitative modeling, and landscape analysis to better understand tropical forest systems and the effects of human-induced pressures, predict future scenarios, devise effective management and governance strategies, and promote sustainable natural resources stewardship.

The Institute Headquarters has 50,000 square feet of modern, state-of-the-art facilities that are secure, functional, accessible, and that service the scientific community of the Institute and its collaborators. The Headquarters complex houses the Institute’s Headquarters building, a Forest

Service National Library, a chemistry laboratory, a Geographic Information Systems and Remote

Sensing Laboratory, a technology transfer conference center, and a multipurpose building that houses a dormitory, a gym, general storage area, office space, and lunch area.

3. SCOPE OF WORK

Service includes maintenance of a web site that has complex functions - some of which are unique to the organization and require integration of web design and programming skills, maintaining interactive maps and associated geospatial datasets, and monitoring, processing and responding to a diverse set of end users. The services needed are a site that communicates news items, shares documents, has readability and ease of use, and has a recognizable look and continuity among the many aspects of the web. The primary task is to provide monthly recurring services required include: Downtime response, daily backups, software updates, health monitoring, service monitoring, twenty-four hours/seven days a week support, database monitoring, server optimization, server hardening, and enhanced security.

Specific tasks include:

1. Ensure existing website features are functioning properly, including maps, databases, resource uploading/downloading and forms

2. Ensure maintenance and backups to web, database, and geospatial data servers.

3. Maintain English and Spanish versions of sites.

4. Ensure page and content templates are functioning optimally.

5. Test site on multiple devices/browsers to see if there are issues on particular platform.

6. Provide maintenance to email site member accounts – control Spam.

7. Ensure that notifications are working properly.

8. Developing new geospatial mapping functionality.

5. KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

The contractor will need familiarity and at least 10 years’ experience in the following areas:

geoinformatics, web technologies, spatial data infrastructure (SDI), scientist data management and publishing, and environmental management and conservation. Skills needed include Custom

Software Design & Development, Custom Web Application Design & Development, and

Custom Database Design, Development & Management. Expertise in Wordpress, fluency in

English and Spanish and knowledge of both web development and geospatial data management are critical.

6. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE (BASE AND OPTIONS)

Period of Performance (PoP) is contingent upon award date (estimate 15 May 2017). It is the

Government’s intention to award a Base Year with Four Option Years

a) The period of performance of Base Period of this contract begins on 15 May 2017 and ends on 14 Apr 2018 (contingent upon award date).

b) Pursuant to clause 52.217-9, Option to Extend the Term of the Contract, in the event that the Contracting Officer exercises an option, the period of performance for each option period shall be as follows (contingent upon award date):

a. Option Period I: 15 May 2018 – 14 Apr 2019

b. Option Period II: 15 May 2019 – 14 Apr 2020

c. Option Period III: 15 May 2020 – 14 Apr 2021

d. Option Period IV: 15 May 2021 – 14 Apr 2022

c) The exercise of any options is subject to the availability of funding and the continuing needs of the Government.

7. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

The contractor will work remotely, no facilities provided.