JA Data Commons Redacted.pdf

Veterans Health Administration Data Commons Control Number VA-21-00020277 the full potential of the substantial investment in collecting and providing VA Data for research, VA needs to expand data access to many qualified researchers within and outside of the VA who can yield scientific value from the data. Thus, VA has identified U of C the key resource with the necessary expertise and technology to, access and conduct research on VA Data in a secure environment by a broader and larger group of researchers. In addition, VA must maintain sufficient access control processes and infrastructure to ensure that data access is limited to approved researchers.

The contractor shall ensure that the system is fully developed, is end-user friendly, as well as consistent and supportive of the VHA and Office of Information Technology regulatory framework needed to securely transfer, store, and use VA data within the VA Data Commons. The contractor shall ensure the final product meets VA technical requirements and supports software applications necessary to conduct common research functions within the VA Data Commons.

4. Statutory Authority: The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(3) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-3 (a)(2)(ii) entitled, "To establish or maintain an essential engineering, research, or development capability to be provided by an educational or other nonprofit institution or a federally funded research and development center."

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: Based on the current limitations of VA to fulfill its mission within its current infrastructure, VA must partner with U of C's Center for Translational Data Science to meet the requirements stated above. U of C has designed, developed, and operates many similar Data Commons with other Government entities including the National Institute of Health.

Further, U of C operates a Commons Services Operations Center (CSOC) to manage the operations of multiple Data Commons on both private and public clouds, including the security and compliance related procedures and controls. Additionally, although the VHA Gen-3 Data Commons is built on open source software, it includes custom software and security services required to operate the platform proprietary to U of C. This proprietary software product is custom designed to deliver and meet the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA)/Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FEDRAMP) security required by VHA's data security specifications. This instance of the Gen3 software integrated with this proprietary operating platform is the only one available that can provide the required Gen3 performance and security enhancements.

The Gen3 platform is essential as it is responsible for providing and managing the most common functions of a research community. U of C's solution is proprietary, and they have no resellers, nor do they allow other vendors to provide access or support for their Data Commons solution.