NOAA Commercial Data Program_ RO Data Buy RFI.pdf

Posting Type: Request for Information on Draft Statement of Work

Posting Date: December 1, 2021

Response Date: December 29, 2021

Title: NOAA Commercial Data Program Radio Occultation Data Buy: 2023 - 2028

Contracting Officer: Maryann Orellana

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) intends to issue one or more Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract(s) for the requirements described in the attached draft Statement of Work (SOW). This is a follow-on to the IDIQ contracts that were awarded in November 2020 (Notice IDs 1332KP21DNEEP002 and 1332KP21DNEEP003). To facilitate this, the Government is requesting that interested parties submit questions and/or comments; the Government does not intend to issue individual responses to submitted questions or comments, but they will be used to inform any changes to the draft document prior to the formal solicitation estimated to be released in FY2022.

This RFI is for informational purposes only; it is not a request for proposals or a solicitation for a contract or grant award and it does not obligate the Government in any way. The Government will not reimburse respondents for any costs associated with responding to this request. This request serves as an opportunity for industry to provide input on all aspects of the draft SOW. Additional questions included below are a continuation of general market research related to the Commercial Data Program (CDP).

Additional Questions

NOAA would like to call to your attention Section 8, Data Rights of the draft SOW. Specifically,

1) Data sharing options 1, 2A, 3A, 4A, and 5A each provide NOAA the right to distribute the contractor's original data to the public, either immediately in the case of option 1, or after a period of time in the case of the others. These options also provide the public with the right to use the contractor's original data, with no restrictions on their use or further distribution. These provisions are substantively the same as those in the previous solicitation. However, consistent with recent changes in U.S. law and policy, and with growing use in the commercial and governmental Earth observation community, NOAA is proposing to use a standard open license to define the public's use rights as opposed to simply stating that the data are available "without restrictions" (only when it has selected a data sharing option that permits sharing with the public).

In addition to greater consistency with law, policy, and community practice, NOAA believes this approach benefits both the contractor and data users. For the contractor, this approach disclaims warranty, limits liability, and with some open licenses, maintains copyright and requires that users provide attribution. For the data user, it provides well-defined and understood use rights in a machine-readable format, eliminating confusion and the need to consult NOAA or the contractor for confirmation that their planned use is permissible.

Consistent with guidance at https://resources.data.gov/open-licenses/, NOAA has proposed two licenses: Creative Commons Zero 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication (CC0 1.0) (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) and the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 https://resources.data.gov/open-licenses/ https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

International (CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

NOAA specifically seeks comment on the use of open data licenses, and these two licenses in particular, to define the public's rights to use the contractor's data when NOAA has selected a data sharing option that permits sharing with the public.

2) Data sharing options 2A, 3A, 4A, and 5A each provide NOAA the right to distribute the contractor's original data to the public 24 hours after collection. This period of time, the same that was indicated in the previous solicitation, was intended to meet NOAA's interest in providing data for research and promoting the transparency and reproducibility of NOAA products, while minimizing the impact to contractors’ business plans. This presumed that for this particular dataset, its greatest commercial value was immediately after collection, and NOAA therefore sought pricing for the public release of such data 24 hours after collection.

NOAA specifically seeks comment on this approach and the precise number of hours after observation time. From potential contractors, is 24 hours appropriate, or could NOAA release data earlier without significant additional impact to your business plans?

Can you describe the impact, if any, to the cost offered to NOAA if these data sharing options provided public access sooner or later than 24 hours after collection? From potential public data users, if you do not have access to these data in near-real-time, would it be beneficial to have access sooner than 24 hours?

3) Data sharing options 2, 2A, 3, and 3A each provide NOAA with the right to immediately distribute the contractor’s original data to specified non-U.S. Government entities. However, those entities are only permitted to use those data for “non-commercial use” (to note, options 2A and 3A lift this use restriction 24 hours after the data were collected). Some of these entities use RO data to create products that are only available for a fee. The non-commercial use restriction prohibits such use.

NOAA specifically seeks comment on the inclusion of the limitation of third party use to “non-commercial use” in these data sharing options. From potential contractors, is this use limitation important, or could it be removed without significant impact to your business plans? Can you describe the impact, if any, to the cost offered to NOAA if this use limitation was removed from these data sharing options?

Submittal Instructions

Responses must be submitted via email to the Contracting Officer Maryann Orellana (maryann.orellana@noaa.gov) and Contract Specialist Suzanna Espinoza (suzanna.espinoza@noaa.gov) no later than 4:00 PM Eastern Time on Tuesday, December 29, 2021.

Responses shall be limited to 15 pages, including supporting appendices, title page(s), tables, graphics, pictures, and figures. A page is defined as an 8.5 by 11 inch area with information contained within an image area of 7 by 9 inches. Type size shall be 12 point proportional font.

Information shall be submitted in Microsoft Word DOCX or Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

Use of Information Received

This RFI does not guarantee that the Government will issue a request for proposal (RFP) or award a https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ mailto:maryann.orellana@noaa.gov mailto:suzanna.espinoza@noaa.gov contract for supplies or services. Proprietary information will be safeguarded in accordance with the applicable government regulations. Any material received will be considered to be public domain unless clearly marked (on each page) as proprietary. The Government shall not be liable for or suffer any consequential damages for proprietary information not properly identified.

Respondents are hereby notified that as part of this evaluation, NOAA intends to share the information obtained from this market research with members of the Interagency Committee for Advancing Weather Services (ICAMS), which comprises representatives from NOAA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the Department of the Interior. ICAMS intends to use this information to foster interagency coordination on approaches to purchasing commercial weather data for operational use within the Federal Weather Enterprise. Respondents are also notified that in the process of evaluation, agencies may use Federally Funded Research and Development Centers and support contractors.

Not responding to this RFI will not preclude an entity from submitting a proposal to any subsequent NOAA solicitations.