Appendix G - Bolstering Service Delivery.docx

Bolstering Service Delivery through a Digital Experience Strategy Procurement Language November 2023

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Commonwealth) is committed to improving digital interactions with Pennsylvanians, individuals, and entities that conduct business with or on behalf of the Commonwealth, (each a “Business Partner”).

Executive Order 2023-08 - Bolstering Service Delivery Through a Digital Experience Strategy calls for the enablement of an online service delivery system that would provide a universal entry way to all Commonwealth programs, services, and resources organized by users’ needs and life experiences rather than agency program areas.

More information about the Executive Order is available at the following location: Executive Order 2023-08 – Bolstering Service Delivery through a Digital Experience Strategy.

Offerors shall acknowledge and conform to the following six design principles and requirements when proposing solutions within bid proposals and/or during product demonstrations in response to Commonwealth procurement solicitations. The selected Offeror shall align its performance and deliverables with these principles and requirements under any contract that may be awarded from the procurement solicitation.

Design Principles and Requirements

1. Delivering a consistent and friendly user experience across all Commonwealth agencies informed by human-centered design principles and user research.

A consistent and friendly user experience will enable Pennsylvanians, individuals, and Business Partners to locate services and conduct business with the Commonwealth, even if they do not know which agency to contact. Pennsylvanians, individuals, and Business Partners will continue to be able to navigate directly to services on agency websites, if they wish.

PA.GOV is the Commonwealth’s single state government destination. By using PA.GOV, Pennsylvanians, individuals and Business Partners will know that they are utilizing official services from the Commonwealth.

The selected Offeror must use the PA.GOV domain for proposed websites and digital services. Refer to ITP-NET005 - Commonwealth External and Internal Domain Name Services (DNS). Offerors shall acknowledge its understanding of and compliance with this requirement in its bid proposal.

Each Offeror’s proposal must include a description of how the Offeror plans to integrate a consistent and friendly user experience, starting with PA.GOV. The selected Offeror shall be able to receive and validate the credentials of a Pennsylvanian, individual or Business Partner that were previously authenticated from an active session.

The Offeror’s solution must integrate with existing PA.GOV and be able to receive and validate credentials among Commonwealth websites, applications, and digital services to allow seamless navigation to and from PA.GOV.

Keystone Login is the Commonwealth’s single login solution. Keystone Login provides a consistent and secure approach to account administration by offering Pennsylvanians, individuals, and in the future, Business Partners, a single online point of access to services offered by multiple Commonwealth agencies or other Business Partners. It is critical that by using Keystone Login any Pennsylvanian or Business Partner can work with any Commonwealth agency or other Business Partner through the Commonwealth’s public facing applications using a single login credential.

The consistent and modern authentication standards available through Keystone Login will increase convenience for Pennsylvanians and Business Partners by simplifying account management and eliminating the need to remember multiple usernames and passwords, while also strengthening the Commonwealth’s security posture.

In addition, Keystone Login provides the capability for a Pennsylvanian or a Business Partner to create a single profile managed by Keystone Login.

The selected Offeror shall register with and utilize Keystone Login.

Applications that utilize Keystone Login can leverage authentication methods through one of the following: (1) via a series of Application Programming Interfaces (“APIs”), (2) as a redirect to the Keystone Login Portal, or (3) a hybrid of both approaches.

A detailed Developer Integration Guide will be provided to the selected Offeror; however, to assist Offerors in preparing their proposals, a summary version of the Developer Integration Guide and Keystone Login Branding Guidelines are available at the following location: http://keystonelogindevelopers.pa.gov.

The summary version of the Developer Integration Guide and Keystone Login Branding Guidelines should be reviewed by the Offerors prior to responding to this solicitation to ensure the Offerors understand the mandatory APIs and services that shall be made available to Pennsylvanians and Business Partners.

The Offerors shall include in bid proposals an acknowledgement that they will utilize Keystone Login for Pennsylvanians. If the Offeror requires any additional information to verify the identification of Pennsylvanians through the authentication process provided by Keystone Login, the Offeror must identify the additional required information the Offeror needs in its bid proposal.

Additionally, the Offeror must commit to utilizing Keystone Login for Business Partners when required by the Commonwealth. The timeframe for implementation of Keystone Login to Business Partners will be mutually agreed upon by the selected Offeror and the Commonwealth and will be documented through the contract change order process of the contract.

2. Incorporating user feedback continuously into digital applications to ensure users’ expectations and needs are better met.

Offerors must develop user-focused requirements that tie back to all personas that will be leveraging the solutions being suggested.

Offerors must include within bid proposals a reporting strategy and specific mechanisms for how the solution would measure its success in meeting the needs of users (e.g., reducing time to complete for end-users by XX%).

When designing any digital interface, a plan for user research and iterative prototype development must be included within bid proposals. The Offeror must plan for written sign-off on a finalized prototype prior to beginning any development work, and such must be acknowledged within bid proposals.

Developed prototypes must be informed not only by design best-practices, but also the feasibility of the back-end technical integrations that would be required to enable the front-end experience, so user feedback is informed by realistic examples. Offerors must outline in bid proposals the design best practices and technical integrations that would enable the front-end experience.

All existing user research completed by the Commonwealth related to this procurement will be provided, if available and permissible by law. If the Offeror does not have the ability to provide user research or prototype development, it must explicitly be called out in the bid proposal so that the Commonwealth can anticipate resources that will be required outside of the scope of the awarded contract.

3. Sharing and integration of data across agencies to glean users’ insights and measure experience, including satisfaction and trust across Commonwealth services.

The universal entry way outlined within the Executive Order will establish capabilities to connect Residents to existing systems of records using a consent-based approach that will enable Residents to view and update their data across agencies and program areas in a seamless fashion using a common technology identity.

An enterprise data management program strategy was established that focuses on democratization of data, efficiency of data transactions, and increasing data quality, availability, integrity, and security measures. The strategy also combines functional and cultural changes to the data habits and literacy of people, establishes standardized data processes, and deploys technologies to ensure optimal practices and business processes are used to collect, create, maintain, and/or disseminate data.

To accomplish the strategy, the Commonwealth is standardizing and deploying the following technology solutions in support of a centralized enterprise data hub.

· Core Resident and Business Profiles (“Golden Records”)

· Universal Identifiers and ID Linkage

· Master Data Management

· Enterprise Messaging and Queuing Services

· Data API / Data Integration Services

· Enterprise Data Catalog

The Offeror shall provide within bid proposals a detailed overview of data available from the proposed solution, along with data format and all methods in which the data can be accessed by Commonwealth solutions and reporting tools (e.g., Enterprise Data Catalog, Power BI).

The Offeror shall also include in the bid proposal how the proposed solution can contribute to the centralized enterprise data hub. This information must include field-level data (e.g., profile/demographics/preferences of users) and outcomes data from the proposed solution (e.g., user logins, user journey history, completed applications).

The data is owned by the Commonwealth and cannot be used by the awarded Offeror without written consent of the Commonwealth.

4. Consolidate or eliminate outdated technologies and systems that are costly or challenging to maintain, insecure, or no longer impactful with the goal of minimizing or preventing the Commonwealth from incurring technical debt.

Offerors must acknowledge within bid proposals if the proposed solution has a roadmap that showcases a progression plan for sustaining, enhancing, and maturing the proposed solution into the future. Offerors must include the roadmap within bid proposals, if available.

Offerors must explain within bid proposals how solution enhancements and/or version releases are handled, and at what cyclical intervals.

Offerors must acknowledge within bid proposals the timeframe (e.g. years, months) the proposed solution has been implemented for other clients or if new and/or emerging technology(ies) is being proposed.

5. Designing digital services that incorporate best practices regarding data exchange, data privacy, security, records management, language translation, and accessibility associated with Commonwealth data, devices, and materials to provide comprehensive protections and manage risk.

Offerors shall acknowledge within bid proposals compliance with the Commonwealth’s electronic information privacy standards. Refer to the Commonwealth Information Technology Policy (ITP) ITP-PRV001 – Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Electronic Information Privacy.

Offerors shall acknowledge within bid proposals compliance with the Commonwealth’s websites, applications, and digital content and services design standards. Refer to the Commonwealth Information Technology Policies (ITPs) ITP-SFT002 – Commonwealth of PA Design Standards, and ITP-SFT009 – Application Development.

Title VI of the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides that “[n]o person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. Title VI applies to all state agencies that receive Federal financial assistance.[footnoteRef:2] [2: 42 U.S.C. § 2000d (1964), “Title VI” includes this statute and its regulations.

Offerors shall demonstrate how they will support the Commonwealth in making vital digital information available to people with limited English proficiency (LEP) with accurate digital language translation in frequently encountered languages.

Offerors must acknowledge within bid proposals and, if requested by the Commonwealth, demonstrate during product demonstration sessions, solution and deliverable compliance with relevant federal, and state laws, regulations, and rules including, but not limited to, the following.

· Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability;

· Section 508 Amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which requires all Federal agencies' electronic and information technology to be accessible to those with disabilities; and

· Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability for entities receiving federal funds.

In addition, Offerors must acknowledge within bid proposals and product demonstration sessions compliance with the revised Section 508 Standards and the current version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which are industry standards. The selected Offeror must provide as a deliverable of the awarded contract quarterly reports that demonstrate compliance with WCAG. Refer to ITP-ACC001 – Information Technology Digital Accessibility Policy for additional information.

6. Follow Commonwealth data source standards to facilitate better connections and access of user data.

The purpose of the citizen and business data models are to standardize and promote common glossary definitions for the data elements and their associated attributes. A common understanding of data entities and elements across the enterprise is an essential first step in developing integrated processes and moving away from ‘silo’ systems, solutions, applications, and digital services.

Offerors must acknowledge within bid proposals and, if requested by the Commonwealth, demonstrate during product demonstration sessions compliance with ITP-INF003 – Data Modeling Standards as well as ITP-INF003’s associated supporting documents.

Offerors must provide within bid proposals the availability of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to add, update, and/or exchange resident, business, and solution/system/application data in real-time with centralized data hubs managed by the Commonwealth.