NIHDA201800270_-_SOW_BRAIN_website.docx

STATEMENT OF WORK (SERVICES)

(SOW)

GENERAL INFORMATION

Title of Project:

Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative Alliance Web Content Support Services

Statement of Need, Purpose, and/or Objective:

The purpose of this requirement is to procure multi-media content to populate the new BRAIN Initiative Alliance website (www.braininitiative.org), which is managed by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). Content could include written articles and videos, as well as interactive illustrations, infographics, blog posts, and/or podcasts on research and resources stemming from BRAIN Initiative funding. Messaging for use in social media to help direct users to the main content on the BIA website will be requested.

Background Information:

To build greater awareness about the opportunities, progress, and potential of the BRAIN Initiative®, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) seeks to create and disseminate a wide range of exciting multi-media content about BRAIN on the BRAIN Initiative Alliance (BIA) website (www.braininitiative.org), which is managed by NINDS. Dissemination of information on research and programs funded through the BRAIN Initiative® is integral to the continued growth of the Initiative and must be accessible to the tax payers supporting the effort. NIH would like to leverage an established web platform and communications infrastructure to provide the broad neuroscience-minded community with rapid, compelling, scientifically accurate, and accessible information about BRAIN discoveries, while cross promoting the new BRAIN Initiative Alliance website on an existing and successful website, with a health-science focus. Thus, the BRAIN content created through this contract would be disseminated simultaneously on two websites that would link to each other, vastly enhancing their reach and impact.

Period of Performance:

The required period of performance is a one year base period with the up to two additional one-year option periods.

SCOPE OF WORK

General Requirements:

Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities not otherwise provided by the Government as needed to perform the requirements detailed below.

Specific Requirements:

The Contractor shall provide highly polished content on a regular, rolling basis to populate the BIA site: www.braininitiative.org. Each content piece is considered a deliverable of the awarded contract. The Contractor must also have the ability to cross-promote content created under this contract and the BIA website via their own, health-science-focused website. The Contractor must be able to provide analytics regarding traffic at their website and at BIA content published therein.

The Government anticipates that the type of content will vary across the period of performance, and that some content types might require more time for completion. With the exception of the first month of the period of performance, at least one piece of content should be completed each month. Examples of content could include:

· written articles (~1000-1500 words each)

· shorter written pieces (~500 words each)

· messaging for use on social media platforms (ex. Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

· infographic pieces

· video, multi-media pieces

· Interactive web feature/program

Additionally, the Contractor will need to use the requirements, guidelines for content, approval of content ideas, and approval of content pieces to develop a workflow document for tracking each piece of content. This workflow document should include sections to clearly identify the steps in the decision-making process for any piece of content created, the point(s) of contact, tracking for clarifying questions/feedback on a given piece of content, estimated cost for a given piece of content, tracking for final review and approval of a given piece of content, date of content completion, and date of invoice submission. The Contractor may choose to include additional sections in this workflow document.

The following guidelines will apply to content:

Required components:

· Reference one BIA member

· Reference a connection to BRAIN (e.g., research) dated after the April 2013 launch

· The overall theme of the piece is clarified with at least one concrete example that is accessible to a lay audience

· Written text pieces will include at least one piece of visual content (e.g., image, movie clip, audio)

Strongly desired components:

· Representation from women and underrepresented minorities where possible (e.g., lead on project, quoted in the interview)

· Clarifying that at least one specific example in the content piece is BRAIN-related

· The Contractor is encouraged to create pieces that follow the guidelines of the Plain Writing Act of 2010: https://www.plainlanguage.gov/guidelines/ unless otherwise instructed by the Government.

Preferred components:

· Connects to/builds on other pieces (e.g., a series of posted content on complementary topics)

· References two or more BIA members or BRAIN Initiative participants

NIH will be responsible for posting this content on the BIA website. The contractor will be responsible for generating a method for tagging BRAIN-related content on their independently owned and managed site (e.g., hashtags, keywords, taxonomy), thus directing visitors to the BRAIN content within their site’s overall copy. The contractor will also concurrently promote the BIA site by providing the website URL (www.braininitiative.org) on their independently owned and managed site.

The following guidelines will apply to generating content ideas:

1. Both BIA members and the contractor can submit content ideas to the BIA Editorial Board. The BIA Editorial Board will approve ideas/concepts, and the COR will communicate these ideas/concepts to the contractor.

2. When approved ideas are not generated by the contractor, the contractor is encouraged to follow up with the BIA point of contact for that concept to ask any clarifying questions for selected ideas, before and during creation. Note that the contractor must include the COR in all correspondence.

3. The contractor’s editorial board, should one exist, may indicate that certain content ideas should be pursued over others (with explanation), but the BIA retains the right to request that a given content idea is created regardless. In such instances, the contractor is not required to publish the completed content on their web platform.

4. The contractor must provide the Government with a cost estimate prior to the creation of each piece of content. Should a piece be pursued, the contractor must update the Government immediately if/when there are any changes to the cost estimate.

The following guidelines will apply to final approval of content pieces:

1. After discussion of content ideas/concepts with the BIA Editorial Board and contractor, the COR will give the contractor approval to pursue development/completion of each content piece.

2. The contractor is responsible for full editing and quality assurance checks of each piece and must indicate if/when they are requesting feedback on drafted content (with additional changes anticipated), or if they are providing the final version for approval.

3. All completed content must be approved by the BIA Editorial Board. If a completed piece is not approved by the BIA Editorial Board it wil not be published to the BIA website, but the contractor may choose to publish the content on their own site without associating it to the Government or BIA.

a. If the BIA Editorial Board and/or Government does not approve content because the contractor creates a piece that disregards the criteria outlined in the contract, Statement of Work, then the services may be considered non-conforming.

4. A separate line item on the contract invoice must be created for each piece of completed content, in accordance with Government guidance on invoicing and the reporting requirements delineated in the awarded contract.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

The Government will be responsible for providing the vendor with initial input and clarifications for content, obtaining content approval from NIH and other BIA members (including the BIA Editorial Board), and posting the approved, completed content on the BIA website.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

In addition to any written activities identified in the project requirements, the Contractor shall provide the following report to the Government at the interval specified:

1. Monthly Report

The Contractor shall submit a monthly report, via email, to the Government Contracting Officer’s Representative and Program Manager on the fifth (5) business day following the end of each month, or other regularly occurring date as decided by the contractor and Government. An updated version of the Contractor-created workflow document should be included in the monthly report.

The Monthly Report shall include a summary of all contract-related activities performed, status updates for ongoing activities, and a listing of major accomplishments, major risks, or concerns identified during effort performance. The Report shall also detail the level of effort expended on each item included, as well as the overall labor hour expenditure for the reporting period. Additionally, for content that is also displayed on the Contractor’s website, analytics on user views/use must be provided.

In addition, the Monthly Report shall include a summary of invoicing and payment records to date, as well as contract funds remaining. Individual invoices for newly approved content pieces should be included at this time.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Travel:

No travel is authorized or allowable under this requirement.

Key Personnel:

Senior Editor: Responsible for final editing and signing off on drafted content from contracted writers before submitting to BIA Editorial Board. Can be a member of the Contractor’s Editorial Board, should one exist.

Minimum Qualifications: Six years experience in science writing and editing.

Editor: Responsible for editing generated content pieces for accessibility, cohesion, and flow, as well as ensuring proofreading and quality assurance of materials. This includes confirmation that content is supported across platforms (ex. BIA website and Contractor website; associated messaging for social media).

Minimum Qualifications: Four years experience in science writing and editing.

Science Writer: Responsible for researching and generating content pieces. This would also include interviews with relevant BRAIN PIs or BIA members.

Minimum Qualifications: Two years experience in science writing.

Web Developer: Responsible for adapting content pieces to the website, particularly in cases where interactive portions/visual media are used. This person should have an understanding of WordPress (www.wordpress.com), which is the platform for the BIA website where completed content will be posted.

Minimum Qualifications: Three years experience in web development.

Media/Graphics Designer: Responsible for developing and drafting relevant images/illustrations/media to accompany written pieces. This person should have an understanding of WordPress (www.wordpress.com), which is the platform for the BIA website where completed content will be posted.

Minimum Qualifications: Two years experience in media/graphic design.

Information System Security Plan:

The government is managing the BIA WordPress platform. The ISSP is not required to be provided by the contractor.

Data Rights:

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke shall have unlimited rights to and ownership of all deliverables provided under this procurement including reports, analyses, recommendations and all other deliverables. In addition, it includes any additional deliverables required by contract change. The definition of “unlimited rights” is contained in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 27.401, “Definitions.” FAR clauses 52.227-14, Rights in Data-General (MAY 2014), and 52.227-17 Rights in Data—Special Works (DEC 2007) shall be incorporated into any resulting award by reference.

Section 508—Electronic and Information Technology Standards:

This language is applicable to Statements of Work (SOW) or Performance Work Statements (PWS) generated by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that require a contractor or consultant to (1) produce content in any format that could be placed on a Department-owned or Department-funded Website; or (2) write, create or produce any communications materials intended for public or internal use; to include reports, documents, charts, posters, presentations (such as Microsoft PowerPoint) or video material that could be placed on a Department-owned or Department-funded Website.

Each piece of content is considered a deliverable and all deliverables must meet Section 508 accessibility requirements.

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d) requires Federal agencies to purchase electronic and information technologies (EIT) that meet specific accessibility standards. This law helps to ensure that federal employees with disabilities have access to, and use of, the information and data they need to do their jobs. Furthermore, this law ensures that members of the public with disabilities have the ability to access government information and services.

There are three regulations addressing the requirements detailed in Section 508. The Section 508 technical and functional standards are codified at 36 CFR Part 1194 and may be accessed through the Access Board’s Website at http://www.access-board.gov. The second regulation issued to implement Section 508 is the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). FAR Part 39.2 requires that agency acquisitions of Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) comply with the Access Board’s standards. The entire FAR is found at Chapter 1 of the Code of Federal Register (CFR) Title 48, located at http://www.acquisition.gov. The FAR rule implementing Section 508 can be found at http://www.section508.gov. The third applicable regulation is the HHS Acquisition Regulation (HHSAR).

Publications and Publicity:

HSSAR 352.227-70 Publications and Publicity.

Confidentiality of Information:

The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) shall protect information that is deemed sensitive from unauthorized disclosure to persons, organizations or subcontractors who do not have a need to know the information. Information which, either alone or when compared with other reasonably-available information, is deemed sensitive or proprietary by HHS shall be protected as instructed in accordance with the magnitude of the loss or harm that could result from inadvertent or deliberate disclosure, alteration, or destruction of the data. This language also applies to all subcontractors that are performing under this contract.

FAR Part 11—Describing Agency Needs