FY21 SOW Cloud Computing Indexes.pdf

Statement of Work For construction of price deflators for Private Fixed Investment in Software

I. Introduction/Background

Since the introduction of business and government expenditures for computer software as capital formation into the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA’s), 20 years ago, both software development and computing infrastructure have changed dramatically. Nearly ubiquitous internet access, the widespread use of mobile devices, the advent of cloud computing, the availability of software-as-a service, and other innovations have fundamentally altered information and communication technology (ICT).

Over the past two decades, the nature of ICT has changed in fundamental ways. At the dawn of the 21st century, internet use was limited, the iPhone had yet to be launched, and cloud computing, as it’s known today, was not yet available. The transformation of ICT away from focus on basic accounting, finance, human resource, and office tasks to a capability providing digital automation of consumer activities and business processes, near real time information availability, and high-speed search has occurred over a remarkably brief period.

Today’s ICT capability – for consumers, small businesses, and enterprises – is rapidly moving to extensive use of a cloud computing infrastructure that includes computing, storage, massive bandwidth, and low latency user access; the ingestion of vast quantities of structured and unstructured data; the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence to anticipate choice and provide recommended actions; and delivery on mobile, hand-held devices.

II. Statement of Objectives

BEA wishes to establish a 5-year BPA to acquire industry subject matter expert with unique industry knowledge and expertise to advise Bureau of Economic Analysis on alternative methods to improve price measures in the following:

Custom and Own-Account Software Price Index and Software Development Prices and Spending

Conduct a series of interviews with scholars working in economic statistics measurement and with practitioners engaged in software development and measurement. For each set of interviews, an interview guide will be prepared and a summary with the most important insights will be developed. In addition, relevant insights from the existing economic statistics measurement literature will be included.

A critical element for improving and/or replacing BEA’s software price index will be new data sources.

In particular, the pricing of software, the pricing of custom labor services, and the use of internal labor services require new data. With such data, an experimental price index will be developed. Interviews with economic statisticians in various agencies will be conducted. The price index will be documented, and estimates prepared over a relevant time period.

Cloud Data Center Measurement

Conduct a series of interviews with scholars working in economic statistics measurement and practitioners engaged in data center design and operations. The implied hypothesis of data center server tiers will be tested and revised as necessary. For each set of interviews, an interview guide will be prepared and a summary with the most important insights will be developed. In addition, relevant insights from the existing economic statistics measurement literature will be included.

Estimates of data center cloud server spending requires new data. There are several issues to be addressed, including the need to create spending estimates by data center server tier. As is the case with the custom and own-account software, the use of internal labor services for design, development and support will also need to be included. Finally, an estimate of contracted labor for manufacturing and assembly will also be required.

With such data, spending estimates will be developed. Interviews with scholars working in the field, industry participants, and economic statisticians in various agencies will be conducted. Spending estimates will be documented, and estimates prepared over a relevant time period.

Overall:

• Identify key challenges associated with measuring Custom and Own-Account Software Price Index and Software Development Prices and Spending and Cloud Data Center Measurement and areas that should be addressed in order to produce high-quality statistics.

• Propose recommendations on key statistics to address user community interests beyond what is currently being considered.

• Provide programming and technical assistance for processing of data.

• Co-author technical papers with BEA employees describing methodologies.

• Develop presentations related to Custom and Own-Account Software Price Index and Software

Development Prices and Spending and Cloud Data Center Measurement for BEA.

III. Scope of Work National and Industry economic accounts, including national income and product accounts, personal income and outlays accounts, national income and product accounts, corporate profits accounts, government current receipts and expenditures, fixed assets accounts, supplemental estimates, and production and innovation accounts, input-output accounts, GPD by industry accounts, integrated industry-level production accounts, territorial GDP, and satellite accounts, including innovation accounts, travel and tourism, and arts and cultural production.

Research related to BEA’s economic accounts, that supports the development of new and alternate measures of economic activity and the improvement of methodologies and estimation techniques.

CLIN 002 – New Estimation Methodologies and Research

The Contractor shall provide expert consultation related to the economic accounts:

4.2.1. Perform work related to the economic accounts, including research and analysis, to improve the measurement of the accounts and to increase BEA's knowledge of the impact of various economic conditions underlying the accounts.

4.2.2. Evaluate proposed methodological changes to estimation of the accounts.

4.2.3. Evaluate new methodologies to ensure that the statistical and accounting framework is properly and consistently defined, that the concepts are well-specified, and that measures resulting from new approaches are consistently integrated within the larger account.

4.2.4. Research and develop new methodologies that further extend the economic accounts to better account for specific trends in the economy.

4.2.5. Raise the visibility of BEA statistics in the wider economics community, including the support of researchers who use BEA microdata.

CLIN 004 – Document Methodologies

The Contractor shall complete deliverables:

4.4.1. Draft documentation of methodologies related to the accounts for external publication or for internal purposes.

4.4.2. Collaborate with selected employees to modify the layout of the existing methodology documentation and to enhance existing content.

4.4.3. Consult on or write draft portions of the methodology documentation and submit to staff for review and comment.

4.4.4. Provide expert advice to resolve complex reporting issues as referred by staff, including documenting or assisting with the documentation of the data issue and the resolution.

CLIN 005 – Estimation and/or Statistical Work The Contractor shall produce estimates and statistics following current or new methodologies for the standard set of accounts or for specific projects.

4.5.1. Perform estimation work on any of the various economic accounts to be consistent with the current or possibly revised presentation of BEA’s accounts.

4.5.2. Develop and estimate quality-adjusted price indexes, especially for products that are undergoing rapid changes in technology.

4.5.3. Analyze how data gaps and inconsistencies in the source data used for estimation may contribute to the statistical discrepancy.

4.5.4. Analyze some of the problems in the application chain-type index numbers, especially for non-standard economic aggregates.

4.5.5. Analyze alternative approaches to developing estimates with the objective of reducing or minimizing subsequent revisions.

4.5.6. Analyze problems in implementing the international guidelines for national accounts, with recommendations of priorities and steps needed for improved implementation.

IV. Period of Performance The period of performance is for a duration of five years for the life of the BPA with base year from date of award for 12 months following 4 option years.

V. Contracting Officer’s Representative