PWS Digital CX Modernization and User Engagement Support Draft.pdf

PWS - Digital CX Modernization and User Engagement Support November 2023 27

Performance Work Statement (PWS) Digital Customer Experience (CX) Modernization and User Engagement Support

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/ National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS)

1. Background

The National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) provides timely access to global environmental data from satellites and other sources to promote, protect, and enhance the Nation’s economy, security, environment, and quality of life. Through the Web, we convey and amplify our core mission stories letting the public, stakeholders, and partners know how we are working for them to provide information and resources to understand and predict changes in climate, weather, oceans and coasts. It is our obligation to use our websites and social media channels to present timely information and data to the public. As part of policies for the Federal Government, which includes the IDEA Act, NESDIS is modernizing our web presence to improve the Customer Experience (CX) to offer more services and information to a variety of audiences (both technical and non-technical).

As technology continues to rapidly change, it is critical that NESDIS keep up with digital trends and federal web strategies, including mandates to accelerate efforts to make government information available to Americans anytime, anywhere, and on any device as well as improving upon CX and introducing plain language models. For a reference list of Federal policies, please see Appendix A

2. Vision

Refined and robust CX, improved search capabilities, enhanced performance, clean interfaces that align with human-centered design practices with the goal of an omnichannel experience for our customers. It is the long-term goal of NESDIS Websites to ensure our web presence is up-to-date, trusted, responsive, easy to navigate where visitors can easily find NESDIS office information as well as environmental data and insights through a connected, omnichannel service experience that will eventually include AI-driven and human support services.

3. Objective NESDIS requires professional advisory, analysis, and research services in support of our CX web modernization efforts. Successful execution of the tasks listed below are expected to lead to minimal disruptions in our web presence. In addition, the Contractor shall perform research, https://digital.gov/resources/21st-century-integrated-digital-experience-act/ analysis, testing, recommendations, developing, implementing and maintaining services to address the modernization effort.

The Contractor shall provide recurring efforts to modernize our web presence. These professional services include, but are not limited to:

Top Priorities

● Maintain existing websites (with both Content Management Systems [CMS] and non- CMS platforms)

● Provide expertise in Drupal websites to include migration experience

● Provide objective strategic advice and execution in modernizing our web presence with emphasis on CX

● Research, analyze and recommends with implementation on Search Engine

Optimization (SEO) improvements

● Formulate and execute web content transition and migration plans

● Provide services to build new services and sites that align with Federal Policies and

NOAA policies (See Appendix A)

● Provide end-to-end website services to include planning, discovery, analysis, requirements recommendations, development, testing, execution and maintenance that align with Federal Policies and NOAA policies (See Appendix A)

● Research, analysis, and testing to ensure the compatibility and interoperability of planned or in development with existing NESDIS offices

● Web and Digital Design services that are based on industry best practices, human-centered design, and WCAG 2.1

● Setup and maintenance of AWS secure hosting platform for hosting CMS/Drupal that meets agency requirements (See Appendix B for Security Requirements)

● Provide real-time support during milestone events (i.e. new satellite launches, new product launches)

● Support for traditional coupled Drupal as well as headless and decoupled architecture

● Improvements for native site search, advanced search integration, and federated search

(experience with Elastic Stack is preferred)

● Leverage REST APIs to support integration of video streaming services, NOAA ArcGIS

Online, etc., and integrate new services such as Tableau

● Continuous Monitoring for environment and Site Health to include logging, notifications/alerts; summaries provided in a dashboard

● Work with Federal leads on continually measuring user experience and performance against benchmarks and make approved modifications as needed.

● Provide expertise on best practices for integration (i.e. API integrations)

Secondary Priorities

● Research, analyze and recommend strategy of an omnichannel web experience

● Research, analyze and recommend content improvements (to include but not limited to adding more plain language)

● Write new content that include both scientific content as well as plain language

● Provide integrated content quality measurements to help ensure all content follows plain language and good Web writing practices (e.g., word limits on landing pages).

● Support of Development activities currently in the Dev environment

● Other tasks and responsibilities as assigned

4. Specific Requirements and Tasks The Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) will work with the Task Monitor (TM) and contractor pursuant to the scope of the PWS to meet mission requirements. See below for a list of deliverables associated with each task. If any updates are needed to the scope of the PWS, the Contracting Officer (CO) will work with the COR.

Any and all source code, models, prototypes, programming, language, licensure, enterprise-wide rights, software, Contract Data Requirement Lists (CDRLs), manuals, training documents, and other similar products and related data developed, modified, or created under the PWS shall be exclusively at the United States (U.S.) Government's expense. Per CAR 1352.227-70, all of these items must be delivered to the U.S. Government with unlimited rights. As such, the Government may use, modify, reproduce, release, perform, display, or disclose the source code in whole or in part, in any manner and for any purpose whatsoever, and it may authorize others to do so.

Program level deliverables are outlined in section 6.0 (Deliverables Report/Requirements).

Task level deliverables are described in the tasks below. Task level deliverables will be assigned to the vendor by the Task Monitor with a target completion date. Many of the task level deliverables are simple ‘Meeting Reports’ which capture meeting discussions and action items. meeting reports do not have specific format.

The contractor shall facilitate a kickoff meeting with the NESDIS project team at the NOAA Silver Spring Metro Campus, including the development team. This will include introductions, a review of the overall goals of the project, discussion of work completed to date by the Web Council, and discussion of work needed for the Release Planning and Prioritized Backlog, develop the release plans that make up the high-level implementation schedule and create a prioritized Product Backlog/Gap Analysis based on existing work done to date, NESDIS requirements, and Agile best practices.

The work to be performed under this task order is further explained under the following task areas:

Task Title Section Reference

1 Web Maintenance and Support 4.1

2 Web Hosting and Support 4.2

3 Writing, Editing, SEO, Design, and other Professional Support Services

4.3

4 NESDIS Web Design, Development, and Modernization Support

4.4

5 Develop a change management plan including internal stakeholder engagement, and content migration strategy.

4.5

6 Strategic Planning and Analysis for an Omnichannel website

4.6

4.1. Task 1: Web Operations and Maintenance (FFP)

The government is seeking a qualified contractor to lead an effort to modernize the NESDIS web presence by continuing the implementation of the new responsive web design and Drupal versions 8-10 content management system. The initial task scope will be limited to cover Drupal development and Drupal PaaS hosting for the NESDIS website, NCEI websites, and Drupal development support for new NESDIS websites.

4.1.1. Maintain websites and Migration support

4.1.1.1. Contractor shall address maintenance items, security updates, bug fixes, etc. as well as working with the site owner to add and update content types to accommodate new content groups and adjusting the taxonomy, relationships, breadcrumbs, and other connecting features to ensure new items do not adversely affect legacy formatting, modules, etc.;

4.1.1.2. The contractor shall provide ongoing drupal development and integration support for the websites and related assets;

4.1.1.3. Provide support and recommendations for a multisite Drupal instance

4.1.1.4. Aid in the investigation and application of new Drupal modules to meet site needs, troubleshoot existing modules, and create custom modules if requirements cannot be met or security concerns are to great for a community created or commercial module;

4.1.1.5. Aid in the integration of non Drupal applications within the NESDIS.NOAA.gov site without the burden of maintaining content within the Drupal databases;

4.1.1.6. Assess NESDIS.NOAA.GOV current setup and confirmation and make recommendations for improvements to include headless or decoupled architecture.

4.1.1.7. The contractor will evaluate the existing site and related analytics from launch and provide a list of recommendations and improvements to apply to the site.

4.1.1.8. Integration of NESDIS corporate, program, and scientific content will be evaluated and recommendations gathered to improve the usability and findability of content including recommendations for improvements to be applied specifically to the office and program unit content. (More details in Task 3)

4.1.1.9. Connectivity of mission content will be evaluated for effectiveness and recommendations made to improve content integration out to NESDIS’ line office organizations.

4.2. Task 2: Web Hosting and Support (FFP)

The government is seeking a qualified contractor to continue to support continuous improvements to the NESDIS web presence. The initial task scope will be limited to cover Drupal PaaS hosting for NESDIS and NCEI websites.

4.2.1. Setup a secure hosting platform within AWS

4.2.1.1. Contractor to work within an AWS environment that the contractor will configure and set up to support Drupal website migrations into the environment. The AWS environment will provide a FedRamp Approved Drupal PaaS hosting platform for development, testing, and production environments including:

a. Contractor serves as primary web developer to move the existing NESDIS website and other Drupal websites (as determined) into the Drupal Cloud PaaS Hosting solution.

Tasks include installation, configuration of modules, development of necessary back-end and front-end services and testing, and maintenance. (See Diagram 1).

b. Contractor is responsible for a continuous integration environment including drag-and-drop deployment of tagged code, files, databases from code repositories to dev, test, product environments. Support for additional environments as needed for development branches.

c. Contractor shall set up a system with high availability and redundancy to ensure uptime.

d. Solution should offer a Low code/no code feature.

4.2.2. Contractor shall set up a content delivery network (CDN) - a system of distributed servers (network) that deliver pages and other web content to a user, based on the geographic locations of the user, the origin of the webpage and the content delivery server. (See Diagram 1) CDN shall support:

4.2.2.1. Redirects on the Edge

4.2.2.2. Multi-origin configurations

4.2.3. Solution(s) will ensure separation of codebases and environments (Dev, Staging, Prod as well as separate environments based on program office) so there are no cross impacts.

4.2.4. The contractor shall train designated NESDIS staff who will be working within the websites in the use of low-code tools in the PaaS.

4.2.5. Solution will support the option for a dedicated Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) and support for a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection for future service integrations.

4.2.6. Contractor serves as system administrator and operational support subject matter expert. Contractor shall assist with configuring and implementing necessary Drupal servers/instances within the Cloud.

Troubleshoots internal and external issues at the direction of NESDIS.

4.2.7. Work with the NESDIS infrastructure and hosting teams to ensure timely updates are applied to servers as needed.

4.2.8. Liaise with the NESDIS infrastructure and hosting teams to ensure development, staging and production environments are accessible and work in tandem as anticipated and required by the site owner;

4.2.9. Contractor will ensure change management documentation is defined and adhered to through the contract period.

4.2.10. Contractor shall provide 24/7 support as needed in support of critical events/milestones (i.e. launch of a new satellite requires the website to be up with a large increase in traffic on the website) and will be available if website goes down both during business hours and off hours.

Diagram 1: Current NESDIS.NOAA.GOV website architecture.

4.3. Task 3: Writing, Editing, SEO, Design, and other

Professional Support Services (T&M)

The objective of this task is to obtain professional services on a Time and Materials basis to support NESDIS’ web digital media efforts in preparation and support of adding to the web content management platform as part of our web modernization effort.

4.3.1. To support NESDIS’ communication and outreach efforts, NESDIS requires the services of professional contract staff to support web content development and implementation; reorganizing and migrating web content in preparation for the web modernization effort; drafting, editing, and proofing web content; determining and implementing a solution for handling thousands of publications and documents on the web

4.3.2. The Contractor shall assist content teams in assessing web analytics, ACSI results, develop web content inventories, and top task analysis to identify content changes necessary for the migration to the new web information architecture.

4.3.3. The Contractor shall provide writing, proofreading, and editing services for websites in accordance with the GPO-Style Manual and Style and

Brand Guides. The Contractor personnel shall have exceptional writing skills and the ability to translate scientific information into plain language as well as organize and structure digital content for optimal usability.

4.3.4. The contractor shall develop web content that:

4.3.4.1. Follow user-centered, responsive design best practices to accommodate the increasing number of customers using mobile devices.

4.3.4.2. Follow human-centered design best practices, compliant, accessible, and follow search engine optimization techniques.

4.3.4.3. Following evergreen content best practices.

4.3.4.4. Are tested for usability, information architecture, SEO, and search functions to ensure that web products delivered under this contract are verified to allow users to easily find the information they want.

4.3.5. The Contractor shall assist with web graphics and other supporting web services as needed.

4.3.6. Expand the existing Web Style Guide

4.3.7. Provide CX analyses and assessments - top tasks analyses, user experience measurements, usability tests, SEO audits

4.3.8. Continually measure user experience and performance against benchmarks and make modifications as needed.

4.3.9. Make recommendations for increasing performance and measuring user experience

4.3.10. Conduct usability testing and user testing as determined

4.3.11. Contractor serves as primary User Experience Analyst to assess web metrics. Contractor shall complete analysis identified in the Gap Analysis.

4.3.12. The Contractor shall serve as a Scrum Master and/or Project Manager ensuring adherence to Agile and Scrum best practices and NOAA/NESDIS standards. The contractor shall provide comprehensive project management services to initiate, plan, execute, manage, monitor, and coordinate the Agile development project.

4.3.13. The contractor shall work closely with the NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory (VizLab) on web content and strategy development.

4.3.14. Contractor will be expected to coordinate with experts and other specialists at NESDIS, NOAA (and partner organizations) to ensure that content is accurate. Content should conform to plain language standards and be written in a style appropriate to the content/format.

4.4. Task 4: NESDIS Web Design, Development, and

Modernization Support (T&M)

To evaluate improvements made to the user experience for visitors to NESDIS.NOAA.GOV and associated sites and to elaborate on them based on data and experience with the site design over the past two years. In addition, the project will produce an all encompassing NOAA and NESDIS Style Guide for on-line, cross organizational communication elements, and related materials.

Any website that is developed, modernized, enhanced, maintained, or otherwise delivered as a result of this contract shall be in compliance with the website standards of the Technology Transformation Services of the General Services Administration at https://designsystem.digital.gov/website-standards/.

The U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) shall be adopted incrementally over the life of the requirement and the contractor shall prioritize implementation to align with the priorities identified within the Performance Work Statement.

4.4.1. The contractor shall develop web applications that:

4.4.1.1. Are responsive and scalable

4.4.1.2. Follow user-centered, responsive design best practices to accommodate the increasing number of customers using mobile devices.

4.4.1.3. Are visually appealing, accessible, and follow search engine optimization techniques.

4.4.1.4. Are tested for usability, information architecture, SEO, and search functions to ensure that web products delivered under this contract are verified to allow users to easily find the information they want.

4.4.1.5. Follow 508 Compliance and WCAG 2.1 standards

4.4.1.6. Are secure.

4.4.2. Adopt mobile-friendly responsive web designs validated by usability test results.

4.4.3. Improve our customer satisfaction engagement (update and add analytics tools for tracking)

4.4.4. Improve CX on existing websites to meet Federal guidelines (see Appendix A)

4.4.5. Evaluate existing websites as determined

4.4.6. Work towards headless or decoupled CMS solutions in existing traditional

CMS solutions.

4.4.7. Support in strategy and execution of migration to Drupal 10 and beyond.

https://designsystem.digital.gov/website-standards/

4.4.8. Execute the agreed upon migration to newer versions of Drupal as determined (currently sites range from Drupal 8-10);

4.4.9. The contractor shall write custom code and develop modules in support of specific NESDIS web page and web application needs.

4.4.10. The contractor shall work with NESDIS staff to develop pages and applications to allow viewing, discovery, visualization, and download of satellite imagery and other environmental data and imagery. Web mapping and satellite imagery viewing will be an important emphasis of the development work.

4.4.11. Contractor shall be knowledgeable about AI technologies and integration and configuration of AI services (e.g. Chatbots, machine learning, natural language processing, knowledge graphs, digital twin)

4.4.12. Contractor shall be knowledgeable of GIS and related tools (e.g. ESRI, ArcGis, Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) products and standards, Google EarthEngine, Climate Engine)

4.4.13. Contractor shall be knowledgeable on complex integrations with data management and API solutions

4.4.14. Contractor serves as primary web designer to develop and customize themes, any necessary sub-themes and additional custom Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) as directed.

4.4.15. Develop and maintain a human-centered design style guide

4.4.16. Contractor shall be knowledgeable of omnichannel web experiences and make recommendations to assist with the strategy of implementation

4.5. Task 5: Develop a change management plan

including internal stakeholder engagement, and content migration strategy. (T&M)

Background: NESDIS will be evaluating the content across a collection of websites currently managed by divisions within NESDIS. NESDIS needs to develop an inventory of existing sites and create a change management plan for consolidating them under identified Drupal instances.

4.5.1. The contractor shall develop a change management plan including training, internal stakeholder engagement, content migration strategy, and support to ensure successful adoption of the new solution by NESDIS stakeholders.

4.5.1.1. The contractor shall develop an overall transition plan for NESDIS and NCEI websites to transition to the new environment.

4.5.1.2. The contractor shall inventory the existing NESDIS.NOAA.GOV website and scope the level of effort to migrate them to a new Drupal AWS hosting environment.

4.5.1.3. The contractor shall develop a Communication Strategy to coordinate to meet with individual NESDIS divisions and review inventory, document specific needs, and work with the division stakeholders to develop a transition plan.

4.5.1.4. The contractor shall follow the agreed upon content migration strategy to ensure that necessary content and features in the current website are available in the new system, and are presented in a way that adheres to the information architecture, pattern libraries, and style guides developed by the modernization project.

4.5.1.5. The contractor shall review existing websites as identified by the Task Monitor to determine feasibility to migrate aspects (i.e.

content, graphics) into Drupal

4.5.1.6. Plans shall follow agile development methodologies

4.6. Task 6: Strategic Planning and Analysis for an

Omnichannel website (T&M)

Background: NESDIS would like to improve our overall CX in regards to end-to-end customer experience with NESDIS data and information. In order to achieve our desired CX experience we are planning to build an omnichannel experience which would integrate information and content from across a collection of websites, data and services. NESDIS needs expertise in analysis, discovery, and best practices for a new omnichannel CX website.

4.6.1. The contractor shall conduct initial research and complete analysis of the commercial sector, government, and industry best practices to include a make/buy analysis and comparative analysis of omnichannel services (both in early stages and complete experiences) as well as successful modernization of CX.

4.6.2. The contractor shall work with the Project Lead and identified SME resources to plan through and analyze integrations necessary to make a phased omnichannel experience.

4.6.3. The contractor shall make recommendations based on industry standards and best practices for delivering an omnichannel experience and improve/modernize CX practices.

4.6.4. The contractor will work with the Project Lead to finalize initial phased requirements and help define specifications.

4.6.5. The contractor will be knowledgeable in science and technology writing and the ability to deliver and edit content in plain language as well as make recommendations for a style guide for writing plain language and scientific information for the web presence.

4.6.6. The contractor will include headless CMS in the planning as well as assess multi site capabilities.

4.6.7. The contractor shall work closely with the Project Lead to develop a Website Discovery Plan (i.e.Creative Brief, Project Brief), for the website design and future needs to establish an omnichannel experience. The contractor shall include transition and change management recommendations in the Website Discovery Plan. The contractor shall include information architecture (how the website is laid out to include navigation), personas, style guide, user journey mapping, user analysis, and value chain mapping, sitemap, human-centered design recommendations, system diagram(s), integration mapping, and wireframes as part of the Website Discovery Plan.

4.6.8. The contractor will conduct an analysis of existing content and make recommendations for new content for both scientific writing and plain language.

4.6.9. The contractor will work with Project Lead to develop a Communication Strategy on the phased approach.

4.6.10. The contractor will work with the Project Lead and SMEs to execute the Website Discovery Plan.

4.6.11. The contractor will write test plans and conduct testing to include (but not limited to) usability, accessibility, and end user testing.

4.6.12. The contractor will support continuous improvements and continuous integrations in ongoing strategy and planning.

4.6.13. All documentation will be maintained through designated Government hosted tools and systems.

5. Transition Support

Transition-In Plan: If applicable, the Contractor shall facilitate the accomplishment of a seamless transition from the incumbent to the contractor. Transition-In services shall begin on the effective date of the award and shall be complete on the date which is targeted to be fourteen

(14) days after the effective date when the contractor will assume full responsibility for Tasks.

5.1. The Government will setup a kickoff meeting for transition of operations

5.2. The Contractor will lead the transition and report out to the Government lead on a weekly basis.

5.3. The Contractor will work with the incumbent on a transition plan and shall ensure that active participation occurs in all transition activities. Transition plan should include:

5.3.1. Transfer of technical, program, and project management documentation (to be maintained and hosted within NESDIS)

5.3.2. Status of ongoing activities

5.3.3. Schedules and milestones in progress

5.3.4. Identify actions required from the Government

Transition-Out Plan: If a new Contractor is selected for Task Order (TO) award, the current Contractor provides a Transition Out Plan detailing how transition will occur from the current Contractor staff to the new Contractor staff at the beginning of the TO without interruption or degradation in any services. This includes transfer of existing deliverables, processes, and any needed shadowing of personnel.

6. Protection of Information

Contractor access to proprietary information is required under this PWS. Contractor employees shall safeguard this information against unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized modification, or dissemination in accordance with the pertinent laws and regulations governing the confidentiality of privileged information. The contractor shall ensure that all contractor personnel having access to business or procurement sensitive information sign a NOAA Non-Disclosure Agreement.

7. Initial Deliverable(s) Schedule Deliverable Name Due

7.1. Kick-Off Meeting 7 days from date of

award

7.2. Kick-Off Meeting Minutes 5 business days from

date of Kick-Off Meeting

7.3. Project Management Strategy 10 business days from

date of Kick-Off Meeting

7.4. Monthly Status Meeting 15th of each month

7.5. Transition plan, Gap Analysis report, existing

Backlog, Detailed Cost Estimate

20 days from Award

7.6.

Develop user experience reports including findings, top tasks, and using Google Analytics, DigitalGov Search Analytics, and ForeSee data

Report on overall task analysis findings and ranked recommendations.

Written usability test plan.

Quality control plan.

Configuration management plan.

Cadence and service delivery model

30 days from Award

7.7.

Initial project plans review and recommendations for the Website Discovery Plan

30 days from Award

7.8.

Review of existing NESDIS.NOAA.GOV, page schematics and completed content models, quality control plan, backlog of work, and recommendations for CX and SEO improvements

45 days from Award

7.9.

Written usability test plan for NESDIS websites.

60 days from Award

7.10.

NESDIS Omnichannel Website Discovery Plan

90 days from Award

7.11.

Written report of usability testing findings and recommendations.

90 days from Award

8. Performance Metrics The Contractor shall monitor performance against the established schedule, deliverables, risks, and resource support outlined in the approved PMP. The Contractor shall report any deviations in the bi-weekly Status Report.

At a minimum, the following metrics shall be included:

PERFORMANCE

OBJECTIVE

PERFORMANCE

STANDARD

ACCEPTABLE

PERFORMANCE

STANDARD

SURVEILLANCE

METHOD

Contractor Project Management

The bi-weekly Status Report shall be turned in punctually to the COR, clearly articulate all outstanding issues and problems to NESDIS, and give an accurate summary of the work completed during the reporting period.

Two (2) or less instances or observations where significant errors or omissions were identified. This Report shall be delivered on time 100% of the time.

100% Inspection of Deliverables

Write Once, Run Everywhere Development Approach

The contractor shall adopt a technology approach that allows the NOAA to own and maintain only one code base for the website.

The website is 95% functional on iOS and Android devices with a single code base.

100% Inspection of Responsive Design Checker

Agile Development The contractor shall adhere to an Agile development philosophy, allowing for incremental releases of functionality prioritized by the NESDIS Project Lead every two (2) weeks or determined cadence.

The contractor will consistently deliver the NESDIS-approved functionality every two weeks or other agreed upon intervals.

100% Inspection of Deliverables

Schedule Adherence

The contractor shall maintain perfect schedule adherence with respect to provision of project deliverables or shall notify the COR of an anticipated schedule overrun three (3) business days in advance of the associated milestone or deliverable date.

The contractor shall maintain perfect schedule adherence or provide the COR with notice of a schedule overrun within the pre-defined period of three (3) business days.

100% Inspection of Deliverables

Documentation The contractor shall maintain complete documentation of all project deliverables on a project collaboration site provided by NOAA.

All project deliverables will be documented and accessible on a project collaboration site provided by

NOAA.

100% Inspection of Deliverables

Compatibility The finalized website(s) will be 100% functional on NESDIS/NOAA network and mobile devices.

The website is fully functional

NOAA/NESDIS

environment mobile devices.

100% Inspection of Deliverables

9. Travel and Other Direct Costs (ODCs) Travel shall comply with government travel rules per the contract. Travel shall be reviewed and approved by the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) in writing prior to actual travel. All information concerning travel is provided for informational purposes only and reflects the originators’ understanding of the Government’s need for support for the NOAA program. This information is subject to any technical, schedule, and programmatic changes the Government may determine are required to support its needs.

During PWS performance, the Government may authorize the contractor to purchase other equipment or licenses, as necessary to perform the PWS. All GFE in the contractor’s possession shall be returned to the Government as is, within 30 days of PWS completion. This information is subject to any technical, schedule, and programmatic changes the Government may determine are required to support its needs. All ODC must be reviewed and approved by COR prior to procurement.

10. Technical Requirements and Security Standards

10.1. Technical Requirements

10.1.1. Ability to meet our desired goal for availability is 99.9%+ uptime with the goal of zero public downtime

10.1.2. Designed for redundancy such as multi-region redundancy.

10.1.3. Must have the latest release of Drupal PaaS, CDN and WAF, with option for a dedicated Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) and support for a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection

10.1.4. Support for new and existing internally and externally managed Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines for dynamic web updates and deployments via remote git repo; support includes security scanning of code and content. CI/CD pipeline best practices.

10.1.5. Support in planning cadence for deployments and following security guidelines

10.1.6. Alignment to existing COOP plans to support patching and continuity of operations should a site or data center go down

10.1.7. Separation of codebases per website with dev and production environments (with the option for multisite codebases).

10.2. Coding Standards and Requirements

Tasks and deliverables as part of this contract shall adhere to the following Web development standards and best practices:

10.2.1. Use the existing Web Style Guide as a starting point for any design work

10.2.2. Drupal coding standards

10.2.3. Section 508 accessibility requirements, specifically WCAG 2.1 AA

10.2.4. DOC, NOAA, NESDIS Web Policies including metadata standards such as the Data Governance Committee (DGC) Metadata Handbook and privacy guidelines as outlined in the NOAA Privacy Policy.

10.2.5. Simplicity and Efficiency: Code shall be written clearly and concisely and shall adhere to current W3C Web standards (HTML 5, CSS, WCAG 2.0 AA). Code shall also minimize server load and optimize data/file connections.

10.2.6. Readability: Code written as part of this contract will be owned by NOAA. As such, others must be able to read the code provided by the Contractor with minimal effort. Code shall be well commented, consistent, follow coding conventions, and shall use intuitively-named variables.

10.2.7. Modular/Extensible: Code written as part of this contract must be reusable and modifiable. There shall be no hard-coded assumptions. There will be no use of hacks or workarounds unless approved by the NOAA.

10.2.8. Configuration management and CI/CD pipeline processes must be followed

10.2.9. Documented: The contractor shall deliver accurate and detailed documentation.

10.2.10. Implementation coded for SEO optimization and best practices.

https://www.drupal.org/coding-standards https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/ https://www.osec.doc.gov/webresources/doc_web_policies_best_practices.htm http://home.nmfs.noaa.gov/organization/hq/ocio/it_management/policy/web/index.html https://nosc.noaa.gov/EDMC/index.php https://www.noaa.gov/protecting-your-privacy

10.2.11. NESDIS requires support of two factor authentication using Common Access Card (CAC) for privileged and non-privileged access. In cases where the contractor cannot meet the 2FA requirement (non-privileged only) they can with the approval of NESDIS implement password usage.

Password usage must comply with the DOC Rules of Behavior for Non- Privileged Users section 3.2.

10.2.12. Support of 2FA with Common Access Card (CAC) preferred.

10.2.13. Websites will adhere to the HTTPS-Only Federal

requirement and be protected with an SSL implementation that complies with Federal requirements and NMFS OCIO IT Security Team Guidance.

10.2.14. Develop a knowledge base for developers and content managers within a designated tool (e.g. Confluence, Google Site)

10.2.15. APIs developed under this contract shall follow the RESTful JSON architectural style. Any APIs developed shall include the following activities:

10.2.15.1. Assist in the definition of requirements for the API.

10.2.15.2. Implement, test, and assist in the deployment of the API.

10.2.15.3. Perform knowledge transfer with Fisheries personnel on how the

API was implemented (via code review, etc…).

10.2.15.4. Contribute to best practices developer guidelines for APIs.

10.2.15.5. Develop analytics capability to track API usage; Test API output.

10.2.15.6. Create a visual presentation of API output.

10.2.15.7. Demo API functionality to stakeholders.

10.2.15.8. Within the website that promotes the API, along with supporting documentation for utilizing the API, including the following:

a. Overview.

b. Description and Lists of Query Fields.

c. Sample queries with explanations.

11. Security Standards There are multiple FISMA boundaries that host NESDIS websites. The systems supported under this task are rated FISMA Moderate.

11.1. FedRAMP PaaS Required: The contractor will provide a FedRAMP Moderate platform as a service (PaaS) Drupal hosting service. The contractor will provide their FedRAMP package to the Government and be prepared to discuss with the Government, as needed.

11.2. Support of Government FISMA Security Processes: The contractor will provide artifacts requested by the Government in a timely manner in support of the system(s)’ FISMA 800-53 Security Control Assessment process. Timely is https://connection.commerce.gov/sites/default/files/media/files/2023/rules_of_behavior_for_non-privileged_users_v1.0.pdf https://connection.commerce.gov/sites/default/files/media/files/2023/rules_of_behavior_for_non-privileged_users_v1.0.pdf https://https.cio.gov/guide/ https://https.cio.gov/guide/ defined as three (3) business days. Extensions can be requested with justification subject to Government approval.

11.3. Employee screening: The suitability or risk level for this work has been determined to be Moderate. As such, the contractor must pre-screen their employees to eliminate anyone who does not meet the criteria outlined in 48 CFR 1337.110–70 (b), CAR 1352.237-70 - Security Processing Requirements— Moderate Risk Contracts (APR 2010).

11.4. Identity, Credential, and Access Management (ICAM): The Government requires two factor authentication (2FA) using Common Access Card (CAC) for privileged and non-privileged access. Privileged access includes access to the administrative console, the ability to add code into the application, and other advanced administrative functions. Note that other business functions hosted by NOAA (e.g. Jira and Confluence, Smartsheet) that support the program require CAC 2FA access.

11.5. Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity: The Contractor must meet the requirements in Executive Order (EO) 14028 - "Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity" (issued May 12, 2021) or provide an analysis of alternatives that must be approved by the Government for any requirements in the EO for which exceptions are sought.

11.6. Secure Coding and Deployment Practices: As part of their configuration management and CI/CD processes, code must be scanned prior to adding it to the application. This includes custom code developed by the contractor or the Government and any add-ins or auxiliary code received from external sources.

11.7. Securing Application Programming Interfaces (API): API interfaces must be implemented with least privilege practices, and preferably in a zero-trust framework. APIs must also be scanned for vulnerabilities prior to deployment. All input into APIs must be validated upon receipt.

11.8. Web Application Vulnerability Scanning: The contractor will deploy a dynamic web vulnerability scanner that continuously scans to maintain application security. Results from that scanning will be made available in real-time to the NOAA FISMA system owner (SO) and information system security officer (ISSO) via a dashboard and customizable alerts. Reports and other artifacts from the system will be provided to NOAA in support of security control assessments.

11.9. Encryption: Federal encryption standards apply. Only HTTPS access will be allowed. All data must be encrypted at rest.

11.10. Cyber Security Incidents: All Cyber Security incidents are required to be reported to the NOAA Incident response team as soon as possible. They must be reported within 24hrs of discovery. Notification can be done via a ticket submission at https://nirra.csp.noaa.gov/RSAarcher/apps/ArcherApp/Home.aspx or by contacting the NOAA Computer Incident Response Team (N-CIRT) via phone at 301-713-9111. The contractor’s team must make themselves available to Government staff during the resolution process to support. This process may occur outside of normal business hours.

https://nirra.csp.noaa.gov/RSAarcher/apps/ArcherApp/Home.aspx

11.11. Security information and event management and log management: Logs must be centrally gathered and analyzed using a tool such as ArcSight, AWS Cloud Watch, or equivalent. If requested, the vendor must send logs to NOAA’s ArcSight endpoint for analysis by NOAA’s security operations center.

11.12. Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB): The contractor must implement NOAA’s CASB unless technically impossible.

11.13. IPv6 Capability: The contractor must ensure hardware and software are IPv6 capable, specifically to comply with the OMB issued memorandum (M-21-07) “Completing the Transition to Internet Protocol Version 6 (1Pv6).” In support of the Federal transition to IPv6, the application must be running on IPv6 by September 30, 2025.

12. Initial Staff Plan The Government is seeking industry solutions to lead, plan and execute NESDIS’ aspiration to provide a truly integrated digital understanding of our earth environment that can evolve quickly to meet changing user expectations by leveraging our own capabilities and partnerships, the contractor shall propose the labor categories and skill mix they deem are the best fit and most appropriate to accomplish these tasks.

Vendors are permitted to propose an alternative labor category mix and/or quantity. The vendor should provide a rationale for an alternative labor category mix and/or full-time quantity, if proposed. The Government will have an optional CLIN for additional FTEs in each period of performance of the contract for any unexpected surge support that may be needed.

13. Personnel Qualifications and Recommended Labor Categories

The contractor shall possess the necessary training, qualifications, experience, and clearances to accomplish all tasks identified in this PWS. Minimal tradeoffs between education, experience or skills may be accepted on a case by case basis.

13.1. Analytical Services - Level 1

This position is preferred to have a Bachelor’s degree required in Digital Marketing, Digital Strategist, Communications, Technical writing, or related field, or equivalent experience/certification. Minimum of 2 years of relevant work experience required in SEO, digital marketing, local search, and/or content management. CRM tool knowledge and must be familiar with Google Analytics. An understanding and experience executing direct response techniques from a database and creative perspective. Strong written and verbal communication skills, including copyediting, science/technical/ business writing.

13.2. Engineering Services - Level 1

These positions require at least 2+ years of experience working in Drupal and responsive website development. 2+ years experience working with integrations and APIs. Experience working with site performance in dealing with Big Data. Experience in Javascript, Bootstrap, jQuery, Backbone.js, Ember.js, D3, PHP, Angular, React.js, HTML, CSS as well as integration of consuming RESTful APIs. This position requires the ability to be able to communicate and work both independently and with the team. Excellent time-management skills, along with demonstrated ability to juggle multiple projects.

14. Engineering Services - Level 2 These positions require at least 4+ years of experience working in Drupal and responsive website development. BS in CS, CIS, MIS encouraged. 2+ years experience working with integrations and APIs. Experience with planning, experience working with Big Data, technical architecture, SaSS, PaaS, Git, Docker, DevOps, Drupal Multisite, traditional/headless/decoupled CMS, and CI/CD. Experience in Javascript, Bootstrap, jQuery, Backbone.js, Ember.js, D3, PHP, Angular, React.js, HTML, CSS as well as integration of consuming RESTful APIs. Knowledge of Open Science and Open Data. This position requires the ability to be able to communicate and work both independently and with the team. Position requires leadership and management expertise for leading technical staff as well as strong problem solving abilities. Excellent time-management skills, along with demonstrated ability to juggle multiple projects.

15. Program Operations Services - Level 1 These positions are preferred to have a BS or BA in Communications, English, Technical Writing, Digital Strategist, Data Science, or related fields with emphasis on ability to understand, edit, and write in both science and technical writing as well as being able to interpret complex content into plain language content. Experience with project management, agile methodologies and IT web application development management.. Excellent time-management skills, along with demonstrated ability to juggle multiple projects. Experience using SmartSheet or comparable project management tools.

Understanding and experience writing with Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Understanding of storytelling and digital marketing strategy. Understanding of and familiarity with multichannel and omnichannel communications campaigns. Knowledge of FAIR and CARE principles is a plus. Excellent communication skills, written and verbal, and strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to communicate needs and expectations. Excellent time-management skills, along with demonstrated ability to juggle multiple projects. Proficiency in Google Tools, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. Knowledge of AP Style and ability to learn and uphold style guides.

16. Scientific Information Services - Level 1 These positions require minimum BS/BA degree or equivalent experience. 3+ years of experience in digital visual design to include graphic and web. Experience in data strategy, CX Strategist, data science and related fields. Experience with responsive design, working with industry best practices, human-centered design practices, 508 compliance and WCAG 2.1 (AA) experience, familiarity with visual design software and programs. Experience working in a team environment as well as independently. Experience with Federal Design standards including the IDEA act and CX modernization. Experience in working with omnichannel digital experiences.

Experience working in Drupal and Content Management Systems (CMS). Experience in Javascript, Bootstrap, jQuery, Backbone.js, Ember.js, D3, PHP, Angular, React.js, HTML, CSS.

Strong written and verbal communication skills. Familiarity with creating views and templates in full-stack frameworks. Ability to transition ideas and thoughts into dynamic visual representations. Quality assurance experience to include both automated and manual testing.

17. Scientific Information Services - Level 2 This position requires 3+ years of experience working with science, data science, and technology related text, data, information and digital content. Bachelor's Degree in related field as well as applicable experience. Proven experience as a Business Analyst, Data Analyst, Data Scientist, CX Strategist, or similar role. Experience working with websites and applications to lead Discovery efforts. Strong analytical skills and proficiency in data analysis tools (e.g., Excel, PowerBI, Tableau, SQL). Strong problem-solving and critical-thinking abilities. Familiarity with business process modeling and technical documentation.Excellent analytical skills with the ability to draw conclusions and provide specific recommendations. Excellent communication skills (written/verbal), organization, and interpersonal skills. Ability to aggregate and organize large quantities of data from multiple sources. Knowledge of CX modernization and omnichannel experiences is a plus. Ability to work with a team as well as independently. Ability to design, construct, analyze, and explain analytics models that are insightful, yet simple and transferrable. Able to recognize and identify trends and drivers, and distill insightful, yet simple and transferrable. Able to recognize and identify trends and drivers, and distill them into insightful analysis.

18. Period of Performance The period of performance shall be for one (1) Base Year of 12 months and four (4) 12-month option years. The Period of Performance reads as follows:

● Base Year: Date of award through one year after.

● Option Year I: 12-month period beginning the day after the Base Year Ends

● Option Year II: 12-month period beginning the day after Option Year I Ends

● Option Year III: 12-month period beginning the day after Option Year II Ends

● Option Year IV: 12-month period beginning the day after Option Year III Ends

The Government reserves the right to extend the term of this contract at the prices set forth in Section B in accordance with the terms and conditions contained in clause 52.217-9 entitled, “Option to Extend the Term of the Contact”.

19. Contractor Personnel It is the responsibility of the contractor to propose qualified contractor personnel to perform all requirements specified in the PWS.

19.1. Qualified Personnel

The Contractor shall provide qualified personnel to perform all requirements specified in this PWS. The Program Manager, see section 9.0 below, shall be available to the COR and/or TM via telephone between the hours of 8:00AM and 5:00PM EST, Monday through Friday, and shall respond to a request for discussion or resolution of technical problems within eight (8) hours of notification.

19.2. Employee Identification

The following paragraphs can be included in the PWS as appropriate for contractor employees visiting government facilities and/or working on-site at government facilities.

19.2.1. Contractor employees visiting Government facilities shall wear an identification badge that, at a minimum, displays the Contractor name, the employee’s photo, name, and badge expiration date. Visiting Contractor employees shall comply with all Government escort rules and requirements.