ProTech 2.0 - Weather Domain - Draft RFP.pdf

D R A F T

U.S. Department of Commerce

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (ProTech)

Weather Domain

Request for Proposal

RFP#: 1305M424R0036

Date: May 17, 2024

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Acquisition and Grants Office

Corporate Services Acquisition Division

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SECTION A: SOLICITATION/CONTRACT FORM

(See attached SF-33*) (*Not included in Draft RFP)

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SECTION B

SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICE/COST

SCHEDULE

ITEM

NO.

SUPPLIES/SERVICES QTY UNIT UNIT

PRICE

AMOUNT

Base Period: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Solution in accordance with the Performance Work Statement contained in Section C.

This Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) is for Commercial - Fixed Price type orders.

Ordering Period: [date to be entered at award] through [date to be entered at award].

1 LOT 0.00 0.00

Base Period: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Solution in accordance with the Performance Work Statement contained in Section C.

This CLIN is for Commercial - Time-and-materials (T&M) type orders.

Ordering Period: [date to be entered at award] through [date to be entered at award].

1 LOT 0.00 0.00

Base Period: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Solution in accordance with the Performance Work Statement contained in Section C.

This CLIN is for Commercial - Labor-Hour (LH) type orders.

Ordering Period: [date to be entered at award] through [date to be entered at award].

1 LOT 0.00 0.00

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Base Period: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Solution in accordance with the Performance Work Statement contained in Section C.

This CLIN is for Non-Commercial Fixed-Price type orders.

Ordering Period: date to be entered at award] through [date to be entered at award].

1 LOT 0.00 0.00

Base Period: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Solution in accordance with the Performance Work Statement contained in Section C.

This CLIN is for Non-Commercial Cost-Reimbursement type orders.

Ordering Period: [date to be entered at award] through [date to be entered at award].

1 LOT 0.00 0.00

Base Period: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Solution in accordance with the Performance Work Statement contained in Section C.

This CLIN is for Non-Commercial T&M type orders.

Ordering Period: [date to be entered at award] through [date to be entered at award].

1 LOT 0.00 0.00

Base Period: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Solution in accordance with the Performance Work Statement contained in Section C.

This CLIN is for Non-Commercial LH type orders.

Ordering Period: [date to be entered at award] through [date to be entered at award].

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Option Period: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Solution in accordance with the Performance Work Statement contained in Section C.

This CLIN is for Commercial - Fixed Price type orders.

Ordering Period: [date to be entered at award] through [date to be entered at award].

1 LOT 0.00 0.00

Option Period: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Solution in accordance with the Performance Work Statement contained in Section C.

This CLIN is for Commercial - T&M type orders.

Ordering Period: [date to be entered at award] through [date to be entered at award].

1 LOT 0.00 0.00

Option Period: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Solution in accordance with the Performance Work Statement contained in Section C.

This CLIN is for Commercial - LH type orders.

Ordering Period: [date to be entered at award] through [date to be entered at award].

1 LOT 0.00 0.00

Option Period: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Solution in accordance with the Performance Work Statement contained in Section C.

This CLIN is for Non-Commercial Fixed-Price type orders.

Ordering Period: date to be entered at award] through [date to be entered at award].

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Option Period: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Solution in accordance with the Performance Work Statement contained in Section C.

This CLIN is for Non-Commercial Cost-Reimbursement type orders.

Ordering Period: [date to be entered at award] through [date to be entered at award].

1 LOT 0.00 0.00

Option Period: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Solution in accordance with the Performance Work Statement contained in Section C.

This CLIN is for Non-Commercial T&M type orders.

Ordering Period: [date to be entered at award] through [date to be entered at award].

1 LOT 0.00 0.00

Option Period: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Solution in accordance with the Performance Work Statement contained in Section C.

This CLIN is for Non-Commercial LH type orders.

Ordering Period: [date to be entered at award] through [date to be entered at award].

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B.1 GENERAL

The Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (ProTech) solution is a suite of multiple-award Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contracts consisting of four Domains: Satellite, Fisheries, Oceans, and Weather. These Domains provide resources in support of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to include its Line and Staff Offices. The ceiling dollar amount for all orders under all ProTech Domains is $8,000,000,000.

Each Domain has its own IDIQ contract with multiple awards. This contract provides professional, scientific, and technical services to the Weather Domain (hereafter “ProTech Weather”) under NAICS code 541330 (Engineering Services) - Exception 3 (Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture).

The scope of work under ProTech Weather is defined in Section C.

B.2 BASE AND OPTION PERIODS

The term of ProTech Weather is a five-year base ordering period and one (1) five-year option ordering period, for a total ordering period of 10 years if all options are exercised. There is no guarantee that the option will be exercised on any or all of the awarded contracts. This is not a multi-year contract as defined in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 17.103.

B.3 CONTRACT TYPE

ProTech Weather is a multiple-award IDIQ contract that allows for task orders to be issued on a Fixed-Price, Cost-Reimbursement, Time-and-Materials (T&M), and/or Labor-Hour (LH) basis.

Task orders may also combine more than one pricing arrangement (e.g., FFP/LH, etc.), although separate contract line item numbers (CLINs) are required for each pricing arrangement.

B.4 TASK ORDER PRICING

ProTech Weather provides the flexibility to determine fair and reasonable pricing tailored to the task order requirement dependent upon level of competition, risk, uncertainties, complexity, urgency, and contract type. The Task Order Contracting Officer (TOCO) has the authority and responsibility to determine cost or price reasonableness for task order requirements, normally not to exceed the contracted ceiling rates. Exceptions where the TOCO has the flexibility to exceed contracted ceiling rates include the following: special security clearances (see https://www.state.gov/security-clearances), sea days (a period of 24 mean solar hours beginning at local mean noon), hazard pay (see https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/wages/hazardpay), and/or other extraordinary circumstances, as determined by the TOCO. In addition, the TOCO has the flexibility to exceed contracted ceiling rates when awarding cost reimbursement task orders.

https://www.state.gov/security-clearances https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/wages/hazardpay

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The labor rates contained in Attachment J-3 are ceiling rates for work taking place in locations within and outside the continental United States. They are not applicable to cost-reimbursement task orders.

Competition at the task order level is expected to establish fair and reasonable pricing for task orders placed for all contract types. For those relatively rare instances when competition does not exist, these ceiling rates will be available for the TOCO to consider and use.

Some task orders may require services that do not correspond to the labor categories included in ProTech Weather. Accordingly, if permitted by the task order solicitation, the contractor may propose appropriate labor categories and labor rates necessary to meet the requirements of the solicitation despite them not being included in ProTech Weather as awarded. Price reasonableness for newly established labor categories must be established by the TOCO as part of their evaluation.

The TOCO must establish an appropriate CLIN structure, and identify both the applicable contract type and clear delineation of work at the task level, for all CLINs in each task order.

B.4.1 Fixed-Price Orders

Fixed-price orders are defined under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 16.2, Fixed-Price Contracts, and other applicable agency-specific regulatory supplements.

B.4.2 Time-and-Materials and Labor-Hour Orders

Time-and-Material (T&M) and Labor Hour (LH) orders are defined under FAR 16.601 and 16.602, respectively, and Commerce Acquisition Manual (CAM) Subpart 1316.1.

The Contractor may provide separate and/or blended loaded hourly labor rates at the task order level for Prime Contractor labor, each Subcontractor/Team Member, and/or each Division, Subsidiary, or Affiliate in accordance with the provisions set forth in FAR 52.216-29, 52.216-30, and/or 52.216-31. The TOCO will identify applicable provision(s) in the task order solicitation and the Contractor shall comply with the provision(s).

B.4.3 Cost-Reimbursement Orders

Cost-Reimbursement orders are defined under FAR Subpart 16.3, Cost-Reimbursement Contracts, and CAM Subpart 1316.1. Cost Reimbursement task orders shall only be used for the acquisition of non-commercial items.

The Contractor shall have and maintain an adequate accounting system that will permit timely development of all necessary cost data in the form required by the proposed contract type. The Contractor may be required to submit a cost proposal with supporting information for each cost element including, but not limited to: direct labor, fringe benefits, overhead, general and administrative expenses, material handling costs, facilities capital cost of money, and other direct

A F T costs, consistent with their cost accounting system, provisional billing rates, and forward pricing rate agreements.

The TOCO will identify requirements for certified cost and pricing data and data other than certified cost and pricing data in the task order solicitation and the Contractor shall comply with the provisions set forth in the task order solicitation.

B.4.4 Other Direct Costs

Other Direct Costs (ODCs) established on a cost-reimbursement basis, including travel costs, shall be pre-approved by the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) at the task order level and be allowable on the task order only if approved as outlined in the task order.

B.4.5 Program Management Costs

Program management support costs encompass support for management, reporting requirements, and related travel and meeting attendance costs associated with the Contractor’s program management staff as it relates to the overall management of the IDIQ contract. Program Management (IDIQ Contract-Level) Support Costs: Contract-level program management support costs shall not be proposed or billed as a direct charge to the ProTech Weather IDIQ contract.

Project Management (Task Order-Level) Support Costs: Contract-level program management support costs are differentiated from individual task order project management support costs.

Task order project management support costs may be proposed and billed against individual task orders for direct support of the effort performed under those task orders.

B.5 COMMERCE ACQUISITION REGULATION (CAR) 1352.216-75 MINIMUM

ANDMAXIMUM CONTRACT AMOUNTS (APR 2010)

During the term of ProTech Weather, the Government will place orders totaling a minimum of $250. The amount of all orders under the ProTech Domains will not exceed $8,000,000,000.

The exercise of the option period does not re-establish the contract minimum.

(End of Clause)

(End of Section B)

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SECTION C

PROTECH 2.0 - WEATHER DOMAIN

DRAFT PERFORMANCEWORK STATEMENT (PWS)

C.1 GENERAL

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is an agency that enriches life through science, service, and stewardship. NOAA’s reach goes from the surface of the sun to the depths of the ocean floor, performing work to keep citizens informed of the changing environment around them, and provide environmental intelligence for the nation.

From daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings, and climate monitoring to fisheries management, coastal restoration, and maintaining marine commerce, NOAA’s products and services support economic vitality and more than one-third of America’s gross domestic product. The people of NOAA use research and tools to provide citizens, planners, emergency managers, and other decision-makers with reliable and timely environmental intelligence.

C.2 OBJECTIVES

The overall objectives of the ProTech program are to:

● Obtain high-quality professional, scientific, and technical services

● Develop an industrial base of partners

● Develop and maintain performance-based contracts

● Contribute to the NOAA mission

Services not covered by the ProTech-Weather Domain scope of work include the following:

● Inherently Governmental functions – see the prohibition at FAR subpart 7.503(a);

● Personal services as defined in FAR subpart 37.104(a);

● Architect and Engineering (A&E) Services subject to the Brooks Act and FAR Subpart 36.6 acquisition procedures;

● Legal services;

● Requirements where the primary objective or the predominance of the work is to obtain information technology (IT) services and

● Requirements for any IT products and services, except where (1) the IT cannot feasibly be separated from the non-IT requirements or (2) when the IT is incidental to contract performance.

○ IT is defined by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum 15-14, Management and Oversight of Federal Information Technology, as: Any services or equipment, or interconnected system(s) or subsystem(s) of equipment, that are used in the automatic acquisition, storage, analysis, evaluation, manipulation, management, movement, control, display, switching, interchange, transmission, or reception of data or information by the agency; where such services or equipment are 'used by an agency' if https://www.acquisition.gov/far/7.503 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/37.104 https://www.congress.gov/92/statute/STATUTE-86/STATUTE-86-Pg1278.pdf https://www.acquisition.gov/far/subpart-36.6 https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/legacy_drupal_files/omb/memoranda/2015/m-15-14.pdf

A F T used by the agency directly or if used by a contractor under a contract with the agency that requires either use of the services or equipment or requires the use of the services or equipment to a significant extent in the performance of a service or the furnishing of a product. If delivering IT products or services, the contractor shall comply with government IT standards, such as those for IT security and requirements for sharing and efficiency at the federal, agency, bureau, and line office levels.

○ IT is incidental to a contract when the IT services or products are neither contract deliverables nor create, modify, operate, or maintain IT used by the government or on its behalf.

C.3 WEATHER DOMAIN SCOPE

The National Weather Service (NWS) mission is to provide weather, water, and climate data, forecasts, warnings, and impact-based decision support services (IDSS) to protect life and property and enhance the national economy. The mission and objectives of this Domain are related to supporting, updating, and planning meteorological, hydrological, and communications capabilities in support of the NWS mission and strategic plan (http://www.nws.noaa.gov/sp/), which is to build a Weather-Ready Nation. Toward achieving the vision of a Weather-Ready Nation, the agency has developed concepts and plans to address the need for NWS services to evolve. With today’s increasingly complex environmental, societal, technological, and economic challenges, NWS must become more agile, open, and flexible to meet society’s changing needs. Our information services must advance from transmitting data in discrete messages to helping core partners understand the spectrum of information we provide so they can make good decisions. This growing demand for IDSS and information usable by emerging and collaborative service sectors requires an innovative service approach that facilitates flexibility and agility across a wide spectrum of users. It also requires NWS to leverage improvements in science and technology more effectively and efficiently.

The services provided under the ProTech Weather Domain primarily support NWS, as well as all other NOAA Line and Staff Offices. This includes, among others, science-based organizations, such as the NWS National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), Meteorological Development Laboratory (MDL), Office of Water Prediction (OWP) and regional centers, OAR laboratories such the Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL), OAR program offices such as the Climate Program Office (CPO) and Weather Program Office (WPO). This furthermore includes programs such as the Hurricane Forecasting Improvement Project (HFIP), Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS), the Observations Portfolio (e.g., Automated Surface Observing Systems (ASOS), Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD), Radar Next), and the Joint Technology Transfer Initiative (JTTI).

NWS data and products form a national information database and infrastructure that other governmental agencies, the private sector, the public, and the global community can use. NWS manages the execution of development programs, provides science and scientific research enabling technology options, prepares solutions, and develops plans to meet service requirements. NWS makes observations and measurements of atmospheric phenomena as required for climatological, hydrologic, meteorological, and oceanographic services. NWS develops and distributes forecasts of weather conditions and warnings of severe storms and other adverse weather conditions. It collects and disseminates weather, water, and climatic https://www.weather.gov/media/wrn/NWS-2023-Strategic-Plan.pdf

A F T information; forecasts river stages and how water resources respond to weather conditions; provides warnings of impending floods; furnishes regular forecasts of seasonal water supply; conducts hydrometeorological studies to inform the planning and engineering design of infrastructure; and participates with other Federal agencies in investigations for overall planning and development for water resources. NWS makes observations and measurements of ocean conditions required by marine interests and develops and distributes forecasts and warnings of waves, tsunamis, sea ice, and other ocean conditions. It develops, disseminates, and improves procedures and techniques for the national meteorological, climatological, hydrologic, and oceanographic service systems measurements and forecasts.

The services provided under ProTech Weather will be conducted in locations worldwide. Area of focus include:

● NWS headquarters located in Silver Spring, MD

● Regional headquarters located in Kansas City, MO; Bohemia, NY; Fort Worth, TX; Salt Lake

City, UT; Anchorage, AK; and Honolulu, HI

● Field sites such as Boulder, CO; Miami, FL; College Park, MD; Norman, OK; Tuscaloosa, AL;

Suitland, MD; and Stennis, MS

Additional information on the NWS is available at http://www.weather.gov/. The Contractor shall furnish personnel, materials, equipment, facilities, travel, and other services to satisfy task order requirements.

The suite of resulting contracts for this Domain is intended to satisfy the need for professional, scientific, and technical services to support the full range of related requirements for weather, water, and climate activities, including developing, collecting, and analyzing decision-support data, executing operations and maintenance functions for non-IT mission-critical systems (e.g., sensors on buoys), and corporate administration and financial management. These services assist NWS decision-makers in adjusting and directing assets to meet their mission-oriented performance goals while minimizing the cost to the American people and focusing on policy, strategic change, long-range planning, and other mission-oriented activities. Other NOAA offices may also use this Domain if their requirements are covered herein. The scope of services under this Domain is described in sections C.3.1, C.3.2, and C.3.3.

Bulleted lists are illustrative examples of elements, and lettered lists are separate elements.

C.3.1 Scientific Services

Successful fulfillment of the NWS mission requires NWS to partner with industry for a wide breadth of physical and social science capabilities. Such science capability spans a wide spectrum from early conceptualization, research, and modeling through development, integration, testing, and validation to processing, analysis and interpretation, prediction, sustainment, and informed strategic outreach.

Representative subjects of the science services include weather observation sensors and systems, environmental phenomena, weather, water, snow, ice and climate prediction, and decision support systems. The following elements identify the specific physical and social science services required by NWS and the programs, projects, or systems to which they are applied.

C.3.1.1 Modeling Services - Services under this element include:

http://www.weather.gov/

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A. Pre-processing - Develop, operate, and maintain pre-processing activities needed for physical environmental modeling. These activities include but are not limited to:

● Observations data ingest;

● Observations data storage and access;

● Quality control of observations.

B. Post-Processing - Develop, operate, and maintain post-processing (e.g., statistical, artificial intelligence) of numerical environmental predictions (i.e., weather, ocean, ice, waves, land, aerosols, etc.), including services such as:

● Developing, generating, and disseminating objective guidance products for a wide variety of environmental elements based on model outputs;

● Downscaling of existing products and providing products for assessments (in contrast to traditional forecast products).

C. External Data - Ingest of externally produced data (e.g., ensemble data generated by partners and to be used in Multi-Model Ensembles (MMEs)).

D. Environmental Component Numerical Prediction Modeling Services - The contractor shall provide services across the lifecycle (development, implementation, execution, or maintenance) for natural environmental components such as:

● Atmosphere;

● Ocean (including coastal processes);

● Ocean surface waves (including wind waves, tides, and tsunamis);

● Cryosphere;

● Atmospheric composition and air quality (ozone, carbon dioxide, aerosols, trace gasses, etc., addressing both incident response and situational and systematic assessments);

● Hydrology, hydraulics and water resources;

● Space weather;

● Ecosystems (such as marine)

E. Algorithms - The contractor shall develop and maintain algorithms as a function of sustaining current NWS observations capabilities, or bringing new capabilities from research to operations/operations to research (R2O/O2R).

C.3.1.2 Advanced Modeling Services - Services under this element include:

A. Exploration and development of emerging capabilities (including Artificial

Intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), or robotic process automation (RPA)) related to the modeling components of 3.1.1, or to emulate a fully coupled Earth system model.

B. Exploration and development of modeling capabilities on advanced computing architectures including cloud or exascale platforms

C.3.1.3 Observation systems - Services under this element include:

A. The contractor shall develop and conduct tests and evaluations of atmospheric and aquatic observation sensors or systems and analyze the performance and measurements using national and international standards. Measurement testing includes Accuracy, Precision / Repeatability, Comparison, and Reliability.

B. The contractor shall support test and integration of observations into operational

A F T systems and processes.

C. The contractor shall support the portfolio management of NWS, NOAA, and other observing systems by providing services such as:

● Impact assessments;

● Cost/benefit analyses;

● Managing risks and opportunities.

C.3.1.4 Data Assimilation (DA) Services - Provide lifecycle services for state-of-the-art data assimilation techniques (including AI, ML, or RPA) to initialize environmental models.

C.3.1.5 Unified Forecast System (UFS) Services1 - Services under the following elements support the continued improvement of the Unified Forecast System.

A. Integration Services - Incorporate the present suite of operational forecast systems to a unified approach across scales that consist of an ensemble-based, coupled, physical modeling system covering component models such as those outlined in element C.3.1.1.

B. Augmentation Services - Augment the UFS with other methods as appropriate (e.g., statistical methods for outlooks at longer time scales).

C. Development Services - Develop appropriate ensemble techniques at all space and time scales as outlined in C.3.1.4.A and B to address and improve forecast accuracy and assess forecast uncertainty.

C.3.1.6 Scientific Techniques for High-Impact Events - Provide lifecycle services for the scientific analysis (including post-processing and visualization) of the high-impact events shown below. Time scales may range from nowcasting2 to climate time scales. Spatial scales may range from regional to global.

A. Severe Weather (e.g., tornadoes, tropical cyclones, thunderstorms, fire weather, extreme precipitation, winter weather) B. Floods, Droughts and Water Supply C. Coastal Processes (e.g., salt and freshwater inundation, waves, rip currents) D. Health-impacting Water and Air Quality Events (e.g., toxic algae blooms, smoke from wildfires)

C.3.1.7 Research - The contractor shall perform research in the fields of:

A. Fundamental model and DA development;

B. Predictability studies;

C. Process studies;

D. Observation Systems Experiments (OSE) or Observation Systems Simulation

Experiments (OSSE);

2 Nowcasting is weather forecasting on a very short term mesoscale period of up to 2 hours, according to the World Meteorological Organization, and up to six hours, according to other authors in the field. This forecast is an extrapolation in time of known weather parameters, including those obtained by means of remote sensing, using techniques that take into account a possible evolution of the air mass. This type of forecast therefore includes details that cannot be solved by numerical weather prediction (NWP) models running over longer forecast periods.

1 https://www.weather.gov/news/210403-ufs https://www.weather.gov/news/210403-ufs

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E. Field studies;

F. Social science impact;

G. Infrastructure.

C.3.1.8 Impact-Based Decision Support Services (IDSS)3

A. IDSS Management System (IMS) - IMS leverages IDSS products and capabilities in one place. Support services required for IMS include:

● Leveraging existing weather products;

● Identifying core and other partners;

● Enhancing the existing database;

● Understanding the thresholds used by partners (metrics);

● System maintenance and improvement;

● Incorporate social science and societal impacts.

B. Outreach -

● The contractor shall collaborate closely with Internal and External partners

(e.g., Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Services, as well as State and local partners), to perform the following types of services:

○ Share Products;

○ Maintain regular meetings with core partners;

○ Provide Training webinars.

C.3.1.9 Analysis Products - Research, develop, maintain, or prepare operational analysis products that provide the most accurate description of the physical environment possible in support of nowcasting, forecasting or verification of model outputs and products.

Preparation of operational analysis products includes the collection, evaluation, and interpretation of meteorological and oceanographic data.

C.3.1.10 Verification and Validation - Develop, operate, and maintain Verification and Validation tools to:

A. Objectively assess the quality and performance of existing and new forecast tools and products or weather observation systems.

B. Monitor the real-time quality of weather and climate forecast systems.

C. Develop and support requirements and process-based metrics to support decision-making.

C.3.1.11 Outreach - The contractor shall develop and maintain collaborative operational research and public-private (including international) partnerships in areas such as:

● Observation systems

● Operations to Research (O2R) and Research to Operations (R2O)

● Codes and standards management

● Documentation

3 https://www.weather.gov/about/idss https://www.weather.gov/about/idss

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● Outreach/community building and data access.

C.3.2 Professional Services (Program and Project Management, Consulting, and Training)

This section details the Professional Services required for this contract. Although Professional Services are differentiated from the Scientific and Engineering Services of Section C.3.1 and C.3.3, NOAA expects that the conduct of the Professional Services will be fully informed by appropriate science or engineering subject matter expertise. Fully Informed Professional Services are Professional services whose quality of products and services strongly depend upon the Contractor’s relevant scientific and technical competency.

Some professional services of this type cannot be feasibly separated from the scientific and technical requirements. An example would be the project management service of producing a proposed project plan, work breakdown structure, and cost estimate for an NWS in-house scientific or technical research or development project. In this case, the quality of the deliverables would be strongly affected by the Contractor’s scientific or engineering knowledge of the particular research or development domain.

C.3.2.1 Project Management - The Contractor shall provide the capability to keep projects within budget, schedule, and scope. Services under this element may include:

● Schedule management;

● Budget management;

● Performance and risk management; and

● Development of project level documents/artifacts (e.g., project charter, work breakdown structure, etc.)

C.3.2.2 Program Management - Services under the following elements support program management services.

A. Strategic Overview - The contractor shall provide program management office

(PMO) functions toward the development of strategic overview and reporting on all programs to senior management and stakeholders;

B. Program Auditing - The contractor shall conduct and report program auditing and health checks on projects and programs;

C. Administrative Support - The contractor shall provide administrative support services, including:

● Researching, maintaining, and preparing materials (i.e., briefing packages, brochures, handouts, and other information materials in various mediums);

● Provide support for councils, committees, boards, working groups, teams, and meetings;

● Duties associated with maintaining normal program operations.

C.3.2.3 Strategic Planning – The contract shall provide strategic planning services such as:

A. Strategic Plans/Roadmaps - Assist with drafting, updating, and maintaining multi-year strategic plans/roadmaps that enable achievement of strategic objectives.

B. Performance Measurement - Review organizational strategies and develop corporate, portfolio, and office level performance measures.

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C. Change Management - Provide Change Management expertise to support the necessary change initiatives to achieve the strategic goals and objectives.

C.3.2.4 Business Re-Engineering Services - Services under the following elements support various consulting and business-related services.

A. Consulting - Provide consulting services using subject matter expertise supporting various projects or programs.

B. Workflows - Develop business process workflows and standard operating procedures documenting current (as-is) processes. Assess and make recommendations for streamlining to-be business processes. Support the implementation and change management actions needed for execution.

C. Automation - Support automating business operations using industry standards and state-of-the-art tools. Services may include design, development, training, and maintenance support.

D. Reporting - Provide support to assess and optimize reporting activities and data visualizations to streamline business operations.

C.3.2.5 Budget and Financial Management - The contractor shall provide budget and financial management services such as:

● Assistance for the formulation and management of multi-year budgets;

● Development of budget strategies;

● Collection and analysis of financial data;

● Cost collection and estimating;

● Development, tracking, and analysis of detailed spending plans;

● Cost tracking and budget execution;

● Assistance with reporting systems/databases that can produce tracking and variance reports.

C.3.2.6 Quality Assurance4/Quality Management5 - The contractor shall plan, develop, implement, monitor, or maintain quality assurance programs or quality management systems6.

6 A quality management system (QMS) is defined as a formalized system that documents processes, procedures, and responsibilities for achieving quality policies and objectives. A QMS helps coordinate and direct an organization’s activities to meet customer and regulatory requirements and improve its effectiveness and efficiency on a continuous basis. ISO 9001:2015, the international standard specifying requirements for quality management systems, is the most prominent approach to quality management systems. While some use the term "QMS" to describe the ISO 9001 standard or the group of documents detailing the QMS, it actually refers to the entirety of the system. The documents only serve to describe the system.

5 Quality Management ensures that an organization, product or service consistently functions well. It has four main components: quality planning, quality assurance, quality control and quality improvement. Quality management is focused not only on product and service quality, but also on the means to achieve it.

4 Quality Assurance is the maintenance of a desired level of quality in a service or product, especially by means of attention to every stage of the process of delivery or production.

https://asq.org/quality-resources/iso-9001

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C.3.2.7 Policy and Governance - The contractor shall develop, implement, analyze, coordinate, assess, report, or execute policies to meet federal and organizational goals and requirements. Examples include:

● Drafting congressional reports and responses for review/approval.

● Developing briefing materials on weather policies for agency representatives, leadership, and the broader community.

● Supporting the planning and execution of partnership activities and meetings.

● Developing and implementing governance structures and associated processes.

C.3.2.8 Human Capital/Workforce Management - The Contractor shall provide the capability to maintain a productive and cost-effective workforce, including services such as:

● Organizational design and staffing studies;

● Cost analyses for current and future mission needs;

● Position management and staff orientation activities;

● Employee experience and culture support.

C.3.2.9 Training - The contractor shall develop, execute, or maintain the following types of training services:

A. Systems Training - Training and seminars on updated operational weather, climate systems, and architecture changes.

B. Business Services Training - Operational business training topics include project management, earned value for performance management, and measurement.

C. Scientific Training - Collaborate with internal, domestic, and international partners to develop training in operational weather and climate forecasting, including educating users of climate information, application of operational numerical prediction guidance, mesoscale meteorology, and global climate regimes and processes.

D. Project and Program Management Training - Providing training to project and program management teams;

E. Organizational/Professional Development - Provide training in subject areas related to career, workforce, or organizational development.

C.3.2.10 Marketing/Outreach Services -Marketing or outreach may include services such as:

● Coordination of public or commercial exhibits, including outreach and engagement mechanisms and materials to educate and improve public understanding and involvement in NOAA’s mission and programs; organize meetings, seminars, and workshops;

● Communication of technical information relating to weather and climate systems or NOAA line office operational systems;

● Develop or maintain marketing/promotional content via websites, social media, or other media;

● Providing research, data collection, and analysis for communication, education, and engagement projects. Provide communication capabilities, feedback mechanisms, and assessment of feedback results.

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C.3.2.11 Acquisition or Grants Services - Acquisition and grants services directly support program offices with their acquisition or grants-related needs, including tasks such as:

● Planning support (i.e., market research, work statement development);

● Drafting required documents/forms for requirement submissions

● Drafting risk management documentation;

● Development of cost estimates for planning purposes;

● Tracking active requirements.

C.3.3 Engineering Services for Systems and Facilities

Provide engineering services for the NOAA enterprise as supported by line offices such as the NWS and the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR). This includes services such as overall systems engineering or for its various components, facilities engineering, and engineering for a specific weather and climate system or collection of weather and climate systems, etc. These services are required for all phases of the program, project and system acquisition, development, and maintenance lifecycle for both existing and future mission systems and facilities. Furthermore, engineering services are required for deployment and logistics support to maintain and improve operational management in support of mission-oriented weather and climate systems. Tasks may pertain to structural, electrical, electronic, mechanical, or building components, weather and climate systems or scientific equipment.

C.3.3.1 Systems Engineering - The Contractor shall provide the following systems engineering and configuration management services in support of mission-oriented weather and climate systems:

A. Track high level (overall system) and lower level (down to the hardware and software component) system requirements and system specifications.

B. Maintain a process for definition of the technical requirements from the set of agreed upon stakeholder expectations.

C. Track functional, performance, interface, training, maintainability, operability, environmental, reliability, and safety requirements across the system, subsystem, and component level.

D. Validate the requirements during the Mission Definition Review (MDR), System Design Review (SDR), Preliminary Design Review (PDR), Critical Design Review

(CDR).

E. Traceability between value driven concepts (i.e. system architectures), requirements, specifications, and quality.

F. Compare tradespaces during concept generation, including sorting and ranking between competing alternatives (i.e., tradespace exploration7).

G. Interface management, including tracking interface definitions and constraints.

H. Verify interface compatibility and operation.

7 Tradespace exploration — sometimes referred to by similar names such as trade space analysis or tradeoff analysis

— is a broad category of decision analysis techniques that generally focus on the comparison of alternatives (potential solutions to the decision) in terms of the way they “trade” different qualities

A F T

I. Traceability between the Verification and Validation testing, requirements, and end user needs.

J. Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) - The contractor shall maintain system reliability and availability for NWS fielded systems.

C.3.3.2 Engineering Consulting - The contractor shall provide subject matter expertise in the field of engineering services for weather and climate systems.

C.3.3.3 Technology Assessments - Provide engineering research and development to evaluate technological methodologies and automated tools (i.e., AI, ML, or RPA).

● Define current and expected system needs;

● Assess and document current and potential uses of technology;

● Preparation for sustainment of functional capability due to:

● Engineering changes;

● Obsolescence of systems;

● Development of new systems.

C.3.3.4 RF Spectrum Management Support - The contractor shall provide system engineering services supporting radio-frequency (RF) management (e.g., the NOAA/NWS RF spectrum initiative and operational systems support). These services include:

A. Supporting NOAA line offices and their internal and external partners and stakeholders participating in domestic and international RF spectrum meeting forums, conferences, and working groups.

B. Conducting RF technical analysis and studies needed to develop recommendations, specification and requirements.

C.3.3.5 Facilities Engineering - (Design, Management, Inspection) A. Facilities Engineering Design - The contractor shall perform facilities engineering design services in accordance with federal policies and standards, such as:

● Office/facility space planning, analysis, and design;

● Recommendations for more efficient space use;

● Provide drawings, studies, and associated documentation and reports.

B. Facilities Engineering Management - The contractor shall perform facilities engineering management services in accordance with federal policies and standards, such as:

● Identification and analysis of current facility space usage;

● Logistical management;

● Land and building acquisition, lease management, real property disposal;

● Construction planning and monitoring (i.e., build, take down);

● Site remediation planning and monitoring;

● Installation, test, and operation of facilities equipment and performance monitoring systems;

● Ergonomic and economic analyses.

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C. Facilities Engineering Inspection - The contractor shall perform facilities engineering inspection services in accordance with federal policies and standards, such as:

● Inspections for structural integrity, power loads and requirements, grounding, lightning protection, and grounds upkeep;

● Safety, environmental, Industrial Hygiene (IH)8, and sustainability management and compliance;

● Construction monitoring.

C.3.3.6 Safety and Environmental Compliance - A. Safety Support - Provide safety technical services in support of NOAA’s mission.

B. Environmental Compliance - The contractor shall provide engineering or technical services for environmental compliance or sustainability, including developing or interpreting national/federal/state/local policies, procedures, or technical reports (such as environmental impact analyses).

C.4 GENERAL DEFINITIONS

Core Partner9: The NWS has defined a classification of its users which it terms “core partners.” This class of users is defined as: Government and non-government entities which are directly involved in the preparation, dissemination and discussions involving weather, water, or climate related National Weather Service information, that supports decision making for routine or episodic, high impact events. These entities have a unique need for increased interaction with NWS personnel for provision of Impact-based Decision Support Services (IDSS) or to facilitate their role in supporting the NWS mission.

Environmental Intelligence: Actionable (i.e., decision-quality) information created by collecting (measuring/observing), compiling, exploiting, analyzing data to characterize the state of the natural environment at a given location or spatial region and time (past, present, future).

Reference:

https://ams.confex.com/ams/96Annual/webprogram/Handout/Paper288243/AMS_Jan2016_HaN CEI_Final.pdf

Impact-based Decision Support Services (IDSS)10: NWS defines IDSS as the provision of relevant information and interpretative services to enable core partners’ decisions when weather, water, or climate has a direct impact on the protection of lives and livelihoods. IDSS may be characterized as either episodic or recurring:

● Episodic IDSS - Provision of information and interpretative services to directly support an event or incident where weather, water, or climate has a direct impact on the protection of

10 https://www.weather.gov/media/coo/IDSS_SDD_V1_0.pdf 9 https://www.weather.gov/media/coo/IDSS_SDD_V1_0.pdf

8 The science and art devoted to the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control of those environmental factors or stresses arising in or from the workplace, which may cause sickness, impaired health and well-being, or significant discomfort among workers or among the citizens of the community.

(https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/training-library_industrial_hygiene.pdf) https://ams.confex.com/ams/96Annual/webprogram/Handout/Paper288243/AMS_Jan2016_Hall_Final.pdf https://ams.confex.com/ams/96Annual/webprogram/Handout/Paper288243/AMS_Jan2016_Hall_Final.pdf https://www.weather.gov/media/coo/IDSS_SDD_V1_0.pdf https://www.weather.gov/media/coo/IDSS_SDD_V1_0.pdf https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/training-library_industrial_hygiene.pdf

A F T lives/livelihoods. Examples include event-related webinars, NWSChat, iNWS, and on-site or remote interaction.

● Recurring IDSS – Provision of ongoing support to a subset of core partners throughout the year to improve partner mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery related to event/incidents where weather, water, or climate has a direct impact on the protection of lives/ livelihoods; or to support routine-high value decisions. Examples include joint training, Integrated Warning Team interactions, pre-event/scenario planning, water use/contingency forecasts and planning, table-top exercises used to plan actions and procedures addressing these events or incidents, after-action reviews, and daily coordination regarding routine high-value decisions such as aviation operations or reservoir releases.

Lifecycle: The term “lifecycle” refers to all the stages of a particular product or service. For example, the lifecycle of a product could be: Requirements development; Research and development (including testing and prototyping); Production; In-service use; Maintenance; and, Disposition. The lifecycle of a service could be: Research; Develop; Test; Validate; Verify; Deploy; and Maintain.

Observing System: One or more sensing elements that directly or indirectly collect biological, physical, chemical, and/or socioeconomic observations of the Earth and space. Sensing elements may be deployed as individual sensors or in constellations and may include instrumentation or manual observations.

Observing system platforms may be mobile or fixed and may be located in atmospheric, freshwater, marine, space, or terrestrial environments.

Reference: NAO 212-16: Policy on NOAA Observing Systems Portfolio Management;

https://www.noaa.gov/organization/administration/nao-212-16-policy-on-noaa-observing-systems -portfolio-management

Research to Operations (R2O): The NOAA process for taking applied research11 results and incorporating them into routinely provided, sustained, mission products and services (a.k.a. “operations”).

Reference:https://www.noaa.gov/organization/administration/nao-216-105b-policy-on-research-a nd-development-transitions

Survey: Depending upon the context in which it is used, this term can have different meanings within NOAA. Some meanings, determinable by context, are: a formal land survey (as required in planning for a new climate monitoring station construction project); a scientific measurements collection and mapping activity (in fulfillment of hydrographic survey objectives); an inspection and assessment of mission

11 Applied research is an original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge. It is, however, directed primarily towards a specific, practical aim or objective. Applied research is undertaken either to determine possible uses for the findings of basic research or to determine new methods or ways of achieving specific and predetermined objectives.

Reference: NOAA Administrative Order (NAO) NAO-216-115, para. 09.b:

https://www.noaa.gov/organization/administration/nao-216-115a-research-and-development-in-no aa https://www.noaa.gov/organization/administration/nao-212-16-policy-on-noaa-observing-systems-portfolio-management https://www.noaa.gov/organization/administration/nao-212-16-policy-on-noaa-observing-systems-portfolio-management https://www.noaa.gov/organization/administration/nao-216-105b-policy-on-research-and-development-transitions https://www.noaa.gov/organization/administration/nao-216-105b-policy-on-research-and-development-transitions https://www.noaa.gov/organization/administration/nao-216-115a-research-and-development-in-noaa https://www.noaa.gov/organization/administration/nao-216-115a-research-and-development-in-noaa

A F T equipment (or other items) activity; a data collection activity for social science and/or economic research purposes (as in an opinion poll).

Stewardship: Stewardship often means either “data stewardship” or “scientific data stewardship”, as determinable by context.

Data Stewardship: Outlined in https://nosc.noaa.gov/EDMC/nao_212-15.php Ref. section 6. As follows: “A subset of Data Management and consists of the application of rigorous analyses and oversight to ensure that data sets meet the needs of users.