Appendix 2 - Section C PWS - Draft.docx

19AQMM14R0113

Appendix 2 U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs Office of Consular Systems and Technology

Next Generation Passport Personalization Printers

November 2023

Descriptions/Specifications/Work Statement

PURPOSE OF PROCUREMENT

The U.S. Department of State (DOS or State Department) Consular Affairs (CA) has personalized U.S. passport books since 1998 using color thermal ink-transfer printers. Currently, DOS personalizes electronic passports (e-passports) on passport book printers and has customized Next Generation (NextGen) Passport Personalization Printers as the new solution for printing passport books replacing the existing legacy passport book printers at all CA passport locations and labs. The specialized NextGen Passport Personalization Printers have been uniquely customized to the Department’s requirements of hardware, printer configuration, enhanced security features, steganography software, and software for image enhancement/ personalized masking enhancements for the new passport books.

To enhance security, durability, and quality of future passport books, it is necessary for DOS to continue to provide and support systems with the NextGen Passport Personalization Printers. Personalization Printers support automated laser engraving on a polycarbonate data page, color printing on the endorsement page, embedded chip personalization consistent with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Document 9303 (Machine Readable Travel Documents) for travel documents, and inline automated quality inspection. Specialized Personalization Printer models will continue to include both High-Capacity and Low-Capacity Passport Personalization Printers with the option to acquire additional printers for the CA Enterprise Operations.

The contractor shall provide support for laser engraving Personalization Printers at Domestic Passport Sites, of which the Office of Consular Systems and Technology (CA/CST) and Passport Services Directorate of the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA/PPT) may designate additional sites to meet public issuance demand during the contract period. The contractor shall provide printers that integrate into existing DOS technology environments based on an Interface Control Document (ICD). All Personalization Printers shall incorporate full compatibility with the ICD.

BACKGROUND

The mission of the Department is to shape and sustain a peaceful, prosperous, just, and democratic world and foster conditions for stability and progress for the benefit of the American people and people everywhere. The Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) is charged with protecting and assisting United States (U.S.) citizens abroad, issuing passports to U.S. citizens, and issuing immigrant and non-immigrant visas to foreign nationals according to the laws of the U.S. Government.

The Office of Consular Systems and Technology (CST) is tasked with providing CA’s mission critical information technology (IT) resources to support 300+ Consular locations including approximately 230 overseas posts, 29 domestic Passport agencies, 2 domestic Visa processing centers, and an array of information, book/card print, passport centers, DOS annexes, and Contractor sites. CST supports approximately 10,000 worldwide clients, to include 1,200 CA customers at various locations in the National Capitol Region (NCR).

Within CA/CST, the Service Delivery & Outreach Division (CA/CST/SDO) provides training, deployment, and communication services to all domestic and overseas consular operations, including passport agencies and visa centers which implement cross-cutting functions that have an enterprise-wide impact. The division is organized into two branches: the Deployment Branch and the Training Branch, and two teams: the Special Assistant Team and the Communications Team.

Within CA/CST, the Service Operations Division (CA/CST/SO) provides service operations to ensure effective and efficient delivery of CST IT services – including availability, recoverability, incident and problem management, and proactive management of CA's IT infrastructure. The division is organized into four branches: the System Services & Operations Branch, the Service Desk Branch, and the Application & Database Services Branch and the System Services and Operations Branch.

Within CA/CST, the Production Service Design & Development Division (PSDD) is responsible for developing and maintaining production application software, business intelligence and reporting tools, and web content that support the mission of CA. The division is organized into two branches: the Mission Production Services Branch and the Business Intelligence & Management Services Branch.

Within CA/CST, the New Service Design and Development (NSDD) Division develops and supports application software for Consular users at overseas posts, domestic visa processing centers, headquarters, and for the American public domestically and abroad. The division is focused on the Consular Systems Modernization (CSM) Program to design and implement new technology solutions that align with business needs and advance the Bureau's technical capabilities.

Within CA/CST, the Service Integration & Innovation (SII) Division is responsible for cross‑cutting initiatives aimed at standardizing and improving CA/CST by identifying new technologies to support CA's mission, developing appropriate security engineering standards for the enterprise, ensuring alignment of systems to business goals through enterprise architecture modernization, and identifying ways to improve CA/CST processes to ensure optimal delivery of services.

Within CA/CST, the Service Transition (ST) Division performs cross-cutting services to hand-off IT solutions from delivery team to operation team; ensuring IT solutions meet our customers’ requirements, governance standards, and FISMA regulations. The division is organized into two branches: the Security Branch and the Quality Management Branch.

Within CA/CST, the Service Strategy & Portfolio Management (SSPM) Division provides strategic analysis and standardized governance processes, IT capital planning and investments, acquisition/contracts and budget support to drive strategic investments. The division is organized into two branches: the IT Investment Planning & Financial Management Team and the Contracts & Acquisition Branch.

Categorization of Sites requiring Personalization Printer Installations The contractor shall support all Consular Affairs Domestic Operational Facilities, both Issuance and Non-Issuance sites relating to printer operations.

Domestic Passport Sites – All Issuance Sites and Support Sites

Issuance Sites – All Processing Centers and Agencies

Centers – Arkansas Passport Center (APC), Tucson Passport Center (TPC), and all future processing centers designated to meet public demand during the contract period. Centers require at least two on-site full-time maintenance technicians during all operational shifts. Required full-time and extended hourly support technicians will be determined per location.

Agencies – Current and all future sites to meet public demand during the contract period. Required full-time and extended hourly support technicians will be determined per location.

Support Sites – Non-issuance sites include an IV&V Support Site, Integration Test Center, Software Support Site, and all current and future designated non-issuance Support Sites within the DC area. All Support Sites do require a dedicated full-time maintenance technician, unless otherwise approved by the COR/GTM within the DC metropolitan area, where there is a high and low-capacity printer located.

Passport Services and Its Current Operational Environment CA/PPT issues passports to eligible U.S. citizens and other U.S. nationals. As such, CA manages a system of passport Issuance Sites and Support Sites (see Attachment B, CA Domestic Operational and Test Sites - Place of Delivery & Support). High-capacity NextGen Personalization Printers will be located at the Centers and Support Sites, and low-capacity NextGen Personalization Printers will be located at the Passport Agencies, Passport Centers, and Support Site locations. The Government reserves the right to change the location of printers installed at Issuance Sites based on Government requirements. In addition, the Government will maintain non-issuance personalization printers at other Support Sites for testing and configuration purposes to meet operational requirements to all issuance facilities.

The passport business is highly seasonal with increased requirements during the peak season, which usually begins in January and continues through the early fall. During peak season, NextGen Personalization Printers are used for extended operational periods. The Department is committed to supporting urgent requests for passports. NextGen Personalization Printers are a key element of passport production and must remain operational to satisfy demand.

Passport Issuance System Currently DOS uses a computerized passport issuance system called Travel Document Issuance System (TDIS). This client-server system is based on local area networks (LAN) co-located with passport Agencies, Centers, and Support Sites. Passport issuance systems, although stand-alone at each Issuance Site, are linked together by a Wide Area Network (WAN) to support mutual remote querying and transfer of electronic data.

The passport issuance process can be divided into three major steps:

· Intake Processing: First, high-speed scanners are used to digitally capture the applicant’s photograph and biographic data from the passport application. The applicant’s digitized biometric (applicant’s photograph) and biographic data are assigned an application number. Second, Image Review processing staff verify that the biometric data is consistent with the DOS’s image quality standards.

· Adjudication: Adjudication is the determination of the entitlement of an individual to the issuance of a new, or the renewal of a passport. This decision is made following review of the applicant’s identity and birth evidence and name-check comparisons against relevant databases. A passport cannot be printed in the passport issuance system without adjudicative approval.

After all data entry for a passport is reviewed, it is sent to Adjudication. If adjudicative approval is given, the photo and personal data are sent to TDIS for personalization. TDIS associates the photo and data to the passport number, which is derived from scanning the pre-printed passport number in a blank passport book.

· Final Processing: The data page of the passport is personalized with the applicant’s biographic and biometric per ICAO Document 9303. The applicant’s biographic and biometric data and additional security data are also written to the passport chip per ICAO Document 9303. Data on the chip and data page are quality reviewed. Finally, the corresponding mailing labels and envelopes are prepared, and passports are mailed to citizens or picked up on a will-call basis.

The Passport Document The United States passport book is an international travel document conforming to ICAO Machine Readable Travel Documents specifications. DOS issues this passport requesting that other countries grant travel privileges to the document bearer. The physical design, technical specifications, and high-quality materials incorporated into the passport not only offer assurance to border authorities that it is a genuine official document, but also that it offers the best possible security against counterfeiting, forgery, alteration, and misuse by terrorists, international criminals, drug traffickers and illegal immigrants.

U.S. passports are machine-readable documents that conform to the international standards for such documents as prescribed by ICAO Document 9303. These standards include specifications on the format and size of the document and its data page, the variable and non-variable data in the passport, and the photograph. The standards require the precise printing of variable text data in optical character recognition - B (OCR-B) font in a machine-readable zone, which must be machine-readable at the B-900 near-infrared level of the spectrum.

The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) prints and assembles all blank U.S. electronic passports and delivers them to DOS for issuance.

In March 2006, the U.S. issued its first electronic passport that included an embedded contactless chip. Currently, the U.S. has begun replacing these with a Next Generation Passport. This passport incorporates enhanced security features, laser-engraved personalization data on a polycarbonate data page (on page 2 of the passport) and an inkjet personalized image along with applicable endorsements, including letterscreen++ printing of the bearer (on page 3 of the passport).

SCOPE OF WORK

The Contractor shall provide and support the CA/CST NextGen Passport Personalization Printers at all Domestic Passport Sites, 29 domestic passport Agencies, Passport Centers, non-production environment (NPE) sites and new site locations as required.

The scope will include the following:

· Program Management and Support Services

· Transition Support

· Consumable Materials

· Warranty

· Support Services at Passport Site Locations

· Support Site Location for Labs

· Enhancement Software

· Relocation for Agency Moves (Low Capacity)

· Travel

The scope will include the following optional services:

· Optional Consulting Services

· Personalization Printers

· Shipping with or without storage

· Installation, Integration and Training

· Support Site Locations for Warehouse and Security Augmentation

· Relocation for Agency Moves (High Capacity)

· Decommission of Printers

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND SUPPORT SERVICES

The Contractor shall be responsible for the effective management and administration efforts performed under this contract. The Contractor shall be responsible for ensuring that all work activities are performed in a timely, efficient, and cost-effective manner while maintaining the highest quality and productivity of contract and printer performance. The Contractor shall institute and maintain an effective, efficient, and responsive management organization that shall provide administrative support for all tasks under this contract. The Contractor shall oversee all contracted personnel and subcontracted resources used in the performance of this contract.

The Contractor shall be responsible for program control and management for this effort. In this role, the Contractor will execute activities essential to a successful contract performance. These activities include but are not limited to the following:

A. Resource Management

1. Manage the Contractor’s personnel and staffing (including development, maintenance of staff clearance and evaluation).

2. Maintain and meet all training and certification requirements set by the Government which include, but are not limited to DOS, DS, CA, and CST.

3. Allocate and schedule the Contractor’s resources.

4. Provide a technically proficient and professionally capable staff that is established and maintained throughout the life of this contract.

5. Minimize personnel turnover and motivate individuals to achieve excellent performance.

6. Provide seamless phase-in of Contractor personnel without interruption.

7. Identify all resources used for performance of work under this contract and clearly define their roles.

8. Identify all subcontractor(s) used for performance of work under this contract and effectively manage their work.

9. Support and adhere to all IT policies, guidance, instructions, and direction provided by DOS.

10. On-Boarding

· Visitor Access Request (VARs) forms shall be completed and submitted to Diplomatic Security (DS) for verification of security clearance (required before issuance of badge).

· Ensure training requirements for team members are completed (e.g., annual security training, and as directed/approved by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) or Government Technical Monitor (GTM)).

· Badges are required for OpenNet access.

· CA account access/delete requests

B. Cost Management

1. Ensure all tasks, projects, deliverables stay within the contract budget.

2. Report budget overrun or over burn in a timely manner.

3. Manage travel and other direct costs closely to prevent over burn.

C. Quality Management & Quality Assurance

1. Identify and implement process improvements on a continuous basis to improve both the timeliness and quality of the Contractor’s work products.

2. Manage quality effectively and in accordance with the Contractor’s Quality Control Plan (QCP).

3. Bring to the Government’s attention possible new approaches, ideas, innovations, process improvements, methods, or state of the art technologies to enhance/improve operations.

4. Develop and manage processes to ensure quality across all activities.

D. Risk Management

1. Ensure risks that may impact the Contractor’s performance are identified, assessed, managed, and reported.

2. Resolve issues while minimizing the impact on schedule, scope, and cost of contract.

3. Maintain risk logs.

E. Schedule Management

1. Establish and baseline schedules for all projects as agreed upon with the Government.

2. Establish an Earned Value Management process to manage and track project schedules and costs, and ensure that schedule and cost variances remain within acceptable levels according to the agreed upon Service Level Agreement (SLA).

3. Deliver reliable, effective, and efficient services on time.

4. Resolve problems with minimal disruption to the activities being performed under the contract.

F. Scope Management

1. Implement processes to manage the Contractor’s scope across the SOW including projects.

2. Support and adhere to all IT policies, regulations, guidance, instructions, and direction provided by DOS.

G. Communication Management

1. Coordinate and communicate with stakeholders (Government management and technical resources, Contractors, etc.).

2. Report on task/activity/project/program status.

3. Report on contract performance.

4. Work cooperatively with other Contractors, stakeholders, Government personnel and management.

5. Provide feedback and reporting on performance in all areas of contract performance.

6. Document lessons learned that may enhance or streamline future program activities.

H. Business Relationships and Presentations shall include:

1. Monthly presentation of the Contract Status Report (CSR) as directed by the Government.

2. Demonstrations of systems, releases, patches, or other system related tasks to business units, stakeholders as directed by the COR/GTM.

I. Optional Consultant Services

The Contractor shall schedule, coordinate, and host a Post-Award Orientation/”Project Kick-Off” meeting at the location approved by the Government within ten (10) business days of contract award. The meeting shall provide an introduction between the Contractor and Government personnel who shall be involved with this contract. The meeting shall provide the opportunity to discuss technical, management, and security issues, and travel authorization and reporting procedures. At a minimum, the attendees shall include Key Contractor Personnel, representatives from the directorates, other relevant Government personnel, COR and GTM.

At least three days prior to the Kick-Off Meeting, the Contractor shall provide a Kick-Off Meeting Agenda for review and approval by the CA/CST COR and the CA/CST Government Technical Manager (GTMs) prior to finalizing. The agenda shall include, at a minimum, the following topics/deliverables:

1. Points of Contact (POCs) for all parties.

1. Risks

1. Review of CA/CST’s immediate needs and long-term goals, and approach to achieving CA/CST’s immediate needs and long-term goals.

1. Explain the validation process and how the Contractor will measure success and what metrics will be used to measure success in implementing the approach and plan to achieve the goals of CA/CST.

1. Personnel discussion (i.e., roles, responsibilities, and lines of communication between Contractor and Government).

1. Staffing plan and status.

1. Review the draft Transition-In Plan and outline its transition-in staffing, schedule, activities, milestones, deliverables, and communication plan.

1. DOS IT requirements (OpenNet, Government Furnished IT, etc.)

1. Security discussion and requirements (e.g., building access, badges, Common Access Cards (CACs)).

1. Invoicing requirements.

1. Draft Project Management Plan.

1. Updated Baseline Quality Management Plan (QMP).

1. Earned Value Management (EVM) Plan.

1. The Government will conduct a formal security briefing for the Contractor. The purpose of the briefing will be to bring to the Contractor’s attention the governing documents and directives regarding all security considerations in the staffing of the project, site access, software and hardware functions, document control, and DS procedures.

The Contractor shall provide a Kick-Off Meeting Minutes Report documenting the Kick-Off Meeting discussion and capturing any action items.

C.3.1.2 Program Management Plan (PMP) The Contractor shall develop and maintain a comprehensive PMP describing the technical approach, organizational resources, and management controls to be employed to meet the cost, performance, and schedule requirements throughout contract execution. The PMP shall provide a detailed narrative defining ongoing services to be provided in quantitative and qualitative terms while at the same time providing descriptive instructions on how to achieve/complete specific operational functions. The PMP is a living document and can be changed in response to innovative performance improvements.

The PMP shall detail the roles/responsibilities of the “provider” (Contractor) and the “client” (U.S. Government), clearly defining and describing where (when applicable) one provides a service to another. The PMP should utilize a combination of text and diagrams to clearly illustrate processes. A joint Government and Contractor annual review of the PMP will be conducted 60 to 90 days prior to exercising option periods to determine if the plan remains valid or requires updates. This meeting will be coordinated by the COR. The PMP will be submitted for Government review and comment, followed by a final draft which is subject to approval by the COR.

The Contractor shall base the PMP on Service Strategy and Portfolio Management (SSPM) Program Control Processes/Requirements such as the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and Project Management guidelines. These requirements have been developed to aid CST management to oversee all current and future programs and projects that support CST’s Enterprise Architecture (EA).

At a minimum, the PMP shall address the following:

A. Program Goals B. Program Scope C. Management Strategy D. Assumptions and Dependencies E. Stakeholders F. Security G. Deliverables H. Schedule I. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) J. Risk and Issue Management K. Contractor’s Quality Control Plan (QCP) L. Configuration Management Plan M. Communications Management Plan N. Program Activities Management Plan O. Program Organization Plan (includes Staffing Plan) P. Security Operations Plan Q. Performance Metrics/SLAs R. Compliance with all aspects of Certification and Accreditation (C&A) and Authority to Operate requirements S. Management of Government Property T. Knowledgebase Articles (KBAs) U. Life Cycle Group Coordination and Support

In addition to the above standard PMP requirements, the Contractor’s PMP will also address a capacity management plan for all network and infrastructure services required under this contract. The capacity management plan will be used operationally to ensure proactive management of the IT environment to avoid operational impact from capacity shortages.

C.3.1.3 Weekly Activity Reports (WARs) The Contractor shall submit WARs delivered using a format or media approved by the COR. The first WAR is due NLT 15 business days after the contract is awarded. All subsequent reports should be sent on Wednesday of each week, capturing activities completed the week prior. The WAR must include both performance and transition activities, capturing activities completed the week prior.

These reports shall include, but not be limited to, the following information:

C.3.1.4 Monthly Contract Status Report (CSR) The Contractor shall prepare and submit/present the CSR in a format or media approved by the COR. The first CSR is due NLT 15 days after the first full reporting month. All subsequent reports should be sent NLT 20 days after the last day of each calendar month or the next business day if the 20th falls on a weekend. See Attachment C, CA-CST Contract Status Report Template.

C.3.1.5 Project Management The Contractor shall provide project schedules to be integrated with CA/CST’s Integrated Master Schedule (IMS). IMS aggregates individual schedule inputs from multiple projects to aid sequencing project tasks in an optimal order to meet CA/CST’s overall priorities. The IMS is a vehicle for analysis and management of dependencies between projects, resource utilization, identification of resource constraints, and prioritization of activities across the enterprise.

Note: Management of the CST IMS is not within the scope of this contract. However, submission of project status into the IMS is a requirement and within scope. The Contractor shall maintain and update each project schedule to reflect progress after each COR/GTM status update, review, or milestone change.

CST’s SDLC process and approach for IT project management and execution incorporates SAFe Agile practices. Industry experience has shown these practices, when implemented correctly, produce higher quality products. CA has adopted a SAFe Agile approach for operations, maintenance, and engineering projects, and expects operations of CA/CST services to flow from this approach. The Contractor shall adhere to the CA/CST practices and guidelines accordingly.

C.3.1.6 Earned Value Management (EVM) The Contractor shall employ and report on EVM in the management of this contract. See Section H.13, Earned Value Management, for the EVM requirements.

C.3.1.7 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) The Contractor shall develop and revise SOPs based on best practices, lessons learned, and/or new innovations to include:

C.3.1.8 Individual Subcontracting Performance Report If subcontractors are being used for this effort, a subcontracting report reflecting goals and actual achievements is to be submitted semi-annually during the contract performance for the periods ending March 31 and September 30. A report is also required for the contract within thirty (30) days of completion of each period of performance. Reports are due thirty (30) days after the close of each reporting period unless otherwise directed by the COR/GTM. Reports are required when due, regardless of whether there has been any subcontracting activity since the inception of the contract or the previous reporting period.

TRANSITION

The Contractor shall provide a Transition Plan to the Government that outlines a 180 calendar day transition of services for NextGen Passport Personalization Printers to-or-from the Government or another Contractor, in the event this is required. The Contractor shall support full transition of phase out services in accordance with the approved Transition Plan and Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.237-3, "Continuity of Services." The 180-day transition period applies to both the incoming and outgoing Contractors. The Contractor shall deliver the final Transition Plan no later than 14 business days after the Kick-Off Meeting.

C.3.2.1 Transition-In The Contractor shall develop a Transition-In Plan to describe how it will perform and manage the transition-in activities required to successfully begin the requirements identified.

C. 3.2.2 Transition-Out The Transition-Out period shall commence one hundred eighty (180) calendar days before the end of this contract’s period of performance. This transition may be to a Government entity, another Contractor, or to the incumbent Contractor under a new contract.

The Contractor shall:

A. Assist the Government in planning and implementing a complete transition from this contract to the new Contractor. This shall include formal coordination with Government staff and successor staff and management.

B. Cooperate and negotiate with its successor to develop a comprehensive Transition-Out Plan for phase-out services. This transition-out plan shall include:

1. Coordination with Government representatives

2. Review, evaluation and transition of current support services

3. Transition of historic data, documentation (including processes and other necessary artifacts) to new Contractor system

4. Transfer of hardware warranties and software licenses (if applicable)

5. Transfer of all necessary business and/or technical documentation, including policies and procedures

6. Transfer of compiled and un-compiled source code, to include all versions, maintenance updates and patches

7. Orientation phase and program to introduce Government personnel, programs, and users to the new Contractor's team, tools, methodologies, and business processes

8. Disposition of Contractor purchased Government owned assets, including facilities, equipment, furniture, phone lines, computer equipment, etc.

9. Transfer of Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) and Government Furnished Information (GFI), and GFE inventory management assistance

10. Applicable DOS debriefing and personnel out-processing procedures

11. Roles and responsibilities

12. Current Work Breakdown Structures (WBS):

13. Current in-progress projects including Project Management Plans, Risks, Schedules, Status of required artifacts

14. Turn-in of all Government keys, ID/access cards, and security codes C. Provide sufficient experienced personnel during the transition-out period to ensure that the services required by this contract are maintained at the required level of proficiency while fully supporting transition, knowledge services, and providing artifacts, such as electronic and physical files, to successor Contractors

PERSONALIZATION PRINTERS (OPTIONAL)

C.3.3.1 Passport Personalization Printers with Laser Engraving (Optional) The contractor shall install laser engraving Personalization Printers at Domestic Passport Sites and Support Site locations. The Contractor shall provide printers that integrate into existing DOS technology environments based on the Interface Control Document (ICD). All Personalization Printers shall incorporate full compatibility with the ICD.

The contractor shall provide printing systems described in the following categories:

· High-Capacity Passport Personalization Printers: High-capacity printers shall have the capability to personalize a minimum of 300+ books or more per hour, as measured from the input hopper (first passport book) to the output hopper (last passport book). Throughput of the chip encoding is measured on the chip image (size), and shall be a minimum of 25-35 kilobytes, with the option to expand writing on the chip, as directed and approved by the Government. The printers shall require no electric power other than AC at 60 Hertz. Facility requirements on the Government (e.g. power, specialized HVAC, compressed air, chilled water, etc.) must be detailed in the proposal. The Government will select the area where printers are installed.

· Low-Capacity Passport Personalization Printers: Low-capacity printers shall personalize a minimum of 100+ books per hour as measured from the input hopper (first passport book) to the output hopper (last passport book). Throughput of the chip encoding is measured on the chip image (size), and shall be minimum of 25-35 kilobytes, with the option to expand writing on the chip as directed and approved by the Government. Low-capacity printers shall use the same laser system as high-capacity printers to ensure the personalized printed books are visually indistinguishable from one another. Low-capacity printers shall require no more than 20 Amps from a standard 120 or 220 Volt AC power outlet. The entire printer area for one low-capacity printer, to include the required operational and maintenance area clearances and the input feeder and output hopper shall not exceed 72 inches in height x 120 inches in length x 82 inches in depth. These dimensions are based on current printer set up at Issuance Sites. The Government will not make structural changes to the areas where the printers will be installed. The Government will select the area where printers are installed.

C.3.3.1.1 Personalization Data Personalization Printers shall laser engrave on a polycarbonate data page for personalization from data in the format described in the ICD and as shown in the Sample Test Data_2016.zip file. The zip file will be provided under separate cover by the Contracting Officer via email or DVD as requested.

C.3.3.1.2 Personalization Printer Interface The DOS passport issuance system[footnoteRef:2] will prepare the personalization data[footnoteRef:3]. The contractor shall conform to the ICD including the capability to dynamically manage print jobs, features, and layouts. Full compliance with the final ICD that has been established with CA/CST and CA Passport Services is required. When the DOS current passport issuance system reaches end of life, the contractor shall integrate its passport printing software with the replacement issuance service. [2: A proprietary passport issuance system processes applications for United States passports from the point of receipt of the application through the issuance (or denial) of a passport book or a passport card. ] [3: Interface changes under consideration will be subject to negotiation prior to implementation.]

C.3.3.1.3 Personalization Printer Requirements

The Contractor shall adhere to the following Personalization Printer Requirements:

· Personalization Printer housings shall be secure to prevent unauthorized personnel from accessing printer internals or the passport books loaded within the printers including the input feeder and output hopper.

· Personalization Printers shall include on-board physical security features such as sensors and alert mechanisms on printer doors, input feeders and output hoppers, alerts when passport books are printed outside normal working hours, and digital security measures to prevent unauthorized access of the printer’s Software Development Kit (SDK) are required. Domestic Passport Site management staff will determine normal working hours as the mission requirements dictate in accordance with the specific requirements for that site.

· Personalization Printers shall include logical security measures that will be used with the printer controller to prevent unauthorized personalization of passports, removal of blank passport books, or tampering with the printer.

· Personalization Printers shall include an available high speed color printing technology (e.g. color inkjet printer), in addition to laser engraving, that allows for printing on page 3 of the passport booklet.

· Personalization Printers shall be able to add an endorsement using black ink on page 3 of the passport booklet.

· Personalization Printers shall print passport pages that are compliant with all applicable parts of ICAO Document 9303.

· Personalization Printers shall have the ability to personalize a data page containing an Optically Variable Device (OVD). The Personalization Printer laser shall be able to personalize through a non-metalized OVD, of a type to be specified by the Department at a later date.

· Personalization Printers shall personalize, read, write, and verify the embedded contactless integrated circuits (i.e., in-line personalization of the pre-installed contactless smart chip) no matter the location of the chip IAW ISO/IEC 14443.

· Only DOS approved or provided data shall be written to the chip.

· Personalization Printers shall have the ability to print laser engraved micro text.

· Personalization Printers shall have the ability to print laser variable engraved micro text.

· Personalization Printers shall have the ability to perform personalization functions on a polycarbonate data page that has raised or indented features (such as a tactile surface features).

· Personalization Printers shall have the ability to personalize using the following techniques:

· Multiple Laser Image (MLI) above or sub-surface lenses,

· Changeable Laser Image (CLI) above or sub-surface lenses

· Personalization Printers shall have the ability to read an inventory control number by using a barcode and/or ICC chip reader.

· Personalization Printers shall print all personalization data in the correct place on the data page. The printer may accomplish this by sensing any pre-printed mark or text on the data page, or without sensing a pre-printed mark. Whichever approach is used, the Personalization Printers shall have the ability to print personalization fields anywhere on the data page, relative to pre-printed mark or at any x, y coordinate depending on the approach used. The Personalization Printers shall be able to print registered personalization data. Any restrictions/limitations or requirements for data registration will be communicated to the government in the proposal.

· Personalization Printers shall have the ability to print personalized multiple and custom fonts within a data page. Printers shall be able to vary font types and sizes throughout a text element’s character string.

· Personalization Printers shall have the ability to engrave gray scale images in either positive or negative.

· Personalization Printers shall have the ability to personalize using inkjet technology a visible color photo, as well as text, on the paper page facing the polycarbonate biographical page.

· Personalization Printers shall count books as they begin and end the personalization process. The printer shall maintain separate beginning and ending book counts; beginning counts as books enter the print system and ending counts when the personalized or reject book enters the final hopper.

· If an error is encountered while executing a batch print job or printing a book, the error message shall include the date, time, job identifier and book number. The Contractor may propose additional error log data.

· Personalization Printers shall include an audit log available for electronic audit trail. Printer shall, at minimum, record the following time stamped events in the audit log: 1. User logged on to printer 2. User actions 3. Supervisor actions 4. Quantity of Passport books processed.

· Personalization Printers shall display real-time/immediate personalization progress and errors.

· Personalization Printers shall offer a keypad/passcode or biometric access to system maintenance and troubleshooting features.

· Personalization Printers shall differentiate between passport books containing different numbers of pages (up to 50 pages) prior to personalization and shall require no manual mechanical adjustments when switching between passport books of different page counts.

· Personalization Printers shall have a visual and audio indicator to signal a malfunction with a component.

· For High and Low-Capacity Printers that are installed on OpenNet workstations, the supplied print controller or application shall be compatible with Windows 10 (or most current approved version). Contractor shall upgrade the print controller and chip encoder operating system(s) when requested by the COR/GTM to ensure compliance with DOS regulations and policy. For High-Capacity Printers the applications[footnoteRef:4] shall be compatible with DOS’ server environment and later versions. [4: Print controller and application refers to the software that ingests print jobs from the passport issuance system or print manager and sends information back to the passport issuance system from the printer]

· Personalization Printers shall communicate with DOS passport issuance system to include the following functions:

· Receiving personalization data and print layouts; and

· Providing feedback and control messages to the passport issuance system, including immediate inventory and tracking information of books and consumables.

· Personalization Printers shall have the capability to use the passport book layouts established by the Department. Changes to the layouts may include:

· Set image size, type, and location,

· Set text size, type, font, and location,

· Embed other objects or features, such as variable microprint.

· Personalization Printers and their included software shall comply with all requirements in the ICD, to include ISO/IEC 14443, when reading and writing to the embedded contactless chip.

· Personalization Printers shall be capable of adding additional graphics or other photo printing (other than applicant standard photo).

· Personalization Printers shall perform steganography.

· Personalization Printers shall contain one or more security features (such as an imprint) that prevents previous or subsequent purchasers of the same printer model from personalizing passports in the same manner as the DOS.

· Personalization Printers shall use a common communication interface with passport issuance system.

· Personalization Printers shall use Basic Access Control (BAC) security as described in ICAO Document 9303. Personalization Printers shall have the ability to use Supplemental Access Control (SAC) also described ICAO 9303.

· Personalization Printers shall include secure input feeder (or loader) bins. The input feeder bins shall be secured from unauthorized access.

· Personalization Printers shall provide technology that examines the data page for physical personalization errors and ensures data page entries match the data stored on the embedded contactless chip and in the passport issuance system record. Three quality assurance checks are required: data page to system record, chip contents to system record, and data page to chip (incl. photo).

· Personalization Printers shall have the capability of adding an inline mailing option that includes the creation of a mailing label and stuffing of an envelope.

· Personalization Printers shall have the capability to engrave the back of the data page.

· Personalization Printers shall include implementation of Letterscreen++TM by Jura, and enhancement software that allows contrast improvement and masking.

C.3.3.1.4 Personalization Printer Future Requirements

If directed by the Government:

· Personalization Printers shall have the capability of adding an inline conical laser perforation of an alphanumeric character string through the book.

C.3.3.1.5 Quality of Printed Text and Images (Writing) on data page

Spatial Resolution Spatial resolution is a measure of the ability to discern fine detail in printed material. The spatial resolution for images printed on the data page shall equal or exceed 4 line pairs (8 lines) per millimeter in both the horizontal and vertical directions.

Maximum optical density The maximum optical density is a measure of the blackness of printed text or images. The maximum optical density (or fully black) regions of an image shall have an optical density of at least 1.3 (corresponding to a reflectance of less than 5%), when compared to non-engraved (unprinted) areas of the data page.

Distinguishable levels of gray The number of distinguishable levels of gray provides a measure of the number of distinct tonal levels in an image. The number of distinguishable levels of gray, from fully white to fully black, shall be at least 64.

Accuracy of grayscale rendering (tonal response function) Because the Department of State stores passport photo images in (nonlinear) sRGB color space (with an exponent, or gamma, of approximately 0.45), the input-to-output tonal response function of the passport personalization laser printing systems shall also be nonlinear, equivalent to the inverse of sRGB, with an overall power law gamma of approximately 2.2, and thereby rendering print densities corresponding to those in the originally submitted paper photos from passport applicants.

Color conversion to grayscale sRGB, the color space used by the Department for its storage of passport photos, is a nonlinear monitor space with an effective gamma (i.e., exponent) of about 0.45 for encoding and 2.2 for display. For grayscale printing on a device with a linear response function, the nonlinear sRGB color images must be converted to a linear space and the three color channels combined using weighting factors related to the human visual (photopic) response function.

Positional Accuracy The position of printing shapes must be sufficiently accurate to not cause any visible geometric distortions. For all locations on the data page, any error in the positional accuracy for writing the content of an image shall be smaller than 1 mm.

Spatial uniformity Printed images must be spatially uniform. Reflectance of a printed uniform gray test pattern shall not vary by more than 5 percent over the entire region allocated to the passport photo.

Level of image noise (speckling) Printed image “noise” or speckling in a uniform test pattern shall not be visible to the unaided eye.

Section 508 Accessibility All Electronic and Information (EIT), as defined at FAR 2.101, supplied under this contract, must conform to the Information Technology Accessibility Standards (36 CFR Part 1194). The applicable standards are available at http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/guide/index.htm.

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

· 1194.21 Software applications and operating systems (1194.21): Contractor’s conformance with this requirement is a material term of the contract.

C.3.3.1.6 Document Requirements If the blank passport book meets the following requirements listed below before personalization it shall meet the requirements after the personalization process:

Readability The personalized passport shall meet ICAO requirements for readability and print quality specified in ICAO Document 9303, for the life of the document (10 years). This includes the ability of the printed characters to be readable in the B900 band of the spectrum.

Dimensions The passport book pages will conform to ICAO Document 9303 standards for width and length: 88mm x 125mm, +/- 0.75mm (3.46in x 4.92in +/- 0.03in) including the page hinge.

Durability The completed personalized document, including its personalized data and endorsements, shall be able to withstand rigors of normal use and shall meet the following requirements over the expected ten-year life of the passport:

· Structural Integrity. The document shall be flexible enough to permit reasonable bending of the document and shall be strong enough to resist de-bonding or cracking and brittleness that would cause the data page to become torn or detached from the passport book. Deformation due to normal use (bends, not creases) can be reduced to flatness by the reading device without impairing reader function.

· Durability: The personalized document shall be resistant to chemical effects arising from normal handling and use, except where chemical sensitivity is added for security reasons. The personalized document shall also meet the minimum criteria outlined in ICAO 9303 Technical Report: Durability of Machine Readable Passports Version: 3.2.

· Temperature Stability. The completed, personalized passport shall be stable at operating temperatures from -10C to +50C (14F to 122F) and storage from -35C to +80C (-31F to 176F).

· Humidity. The completed, personalized passport shall remain stable at relative humidity ranging from 5% to 95%, with a maximum wet bulb temperature of +25C (77F). It shall not lose reliability at any humidity range (0%-100%).

· Light Stability. The images in the passport and the printed text shall resist deterioration from exposure to light encountered during normal use.

· Abrasion. The passport pages shall resist casual abrasion encountered in normal use.

C.3.3.1.7 High-Capacity NextGen Passport Personalization Printers

The Contractor shall adhere to the following High-Capacity NextGen Passport Personalization Requirements:

· The printer must include print input feeders and output hoppers.