PWS DRAFT Mobile App Testing and Content Writing.docx

Mobile Application Testing

<VA-21-00070577>

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Veterans Health Administration National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Mental Health Mobile Applications Clinical Testing and Content Writing Support

Date: 7/28/2021

<VA-21-00070577>

PWS Version Number: 1.1

Contents

BACKGROUND

The National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Dissemination and Training Division (NCPTSD), part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), is responsible for creating training and educational products to support evidence-based care of Veterans with PTSD and related problems. PTSD is very common among Veterans and has a significant impact on Veterans’ quality of life. Most Veterans with PTSD do not access evidence-based treatments for PTSD, and many Veterans are either unable or choose not to access available mental health services of any kind. Lack of available services, distance from clinics, and stigma associated with mental health care are just a few of the barriers to providing care for Veterans and those living with a Veteran with PTSD. NCPTSD has developed mobile phone applications to overcome these and other barriers to care. The apps are designed to assist Veterans and their family members with understanding PTSD and related problems, tracking their improvement over time, obtaining support and resources, and managing symptoms using a variety of brief tools.

NCPTSD has developed a variety of mobile applications in the past nine years, including, most notably, the multi-award winning PTSD Coach (Winner of the Advancements in Accessibility Award from the Federal Communications Commission 2011 and Winner of the President’s Innovation Award from the American Telemedicine Association 2012). NCPTSD currently maintains a portfolio of 33 native, publicly available apps (e.g., PTSD Coach, CBT-i Coach, Mindfulness Coach, PE Coach, Stay Quit Coach), that have been downloaded from the App Store and Play Store by over three million Veterans and others. The portfolio currently consists of 20 native (i.e. Swift and Objective-C) iOS apps and 13 native (i.e. Java) Android apps. Each mobile app aims to address specific implementation challenges faced by Veterans and their family members in receiving education, training, and treatment.

The Dissemination and Training Division of NCPTSD has also been charged with 1) ensuring that NCPTSD mobile apps are capable of supporting scientific research and 2) capable of responding to the needs of Veterans, VA providers, and other stakeholders. To meet this charge, NCPTSD has a multi-phase coordinated research program to study the usability, efficacy, and implementation of these applications and works directly with Mental Health Services in VA Central Office to ensure that products are aligned with the mission to enhance and optimize mental health care for Veterans.

This contract action is part of a set of activities designed to maintain, redesign, test, and upgrade existing mobile apps previously built for NCPTSD, in order to provide reliable, high-quality mental health service to Veterans, their families, health care providers, and others. The specific work assignments will be determined throughout the period of performance, as Apple’s successive updates to iOS and Google’s successive updates to Android introduce new bugs and performance problems to the apps over the year, and as NCPTSD staff consider and develop possible new features.

APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS

In the performance of the tasks associated with this Performance Work Statement, the Contractor shall comply with the following:

1. 44 U.S.C. § 3541-3549, “Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) of 2002”

2. “Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014”

3. Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) Publication 140-2, “Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules”

4. FIPS Pub 199. “Standards for Security Categorization of Federal Information and Information Systems,” February 2004

5. FIPS Pub 200, “Minimum Security Requirements for Federal Information and Information Systems,” March 2006

6. FIPS Pub 201-2, “Personal Identity Verification of Federal Employees and Contractors,” August 2013

7. 10 U.S.C. § 2224, "Defense Information Assurance Program"

8. 5 U.S.C. § 552a, as amended, “The Privacy Act of 1974”

9. Public Law 109-461, Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006, Title IX, Information Security Matters

10. 42 U.S.C. § 2000d “Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964”

11. VA Directive 0710, “Personnel Security and Suitability Program,” June 4, 2010, https://www.va.gov/vapubs/index.cfm

12. VA Handbook 0710, “Personnel Security and Suitability Program,” May 2, 2016, https://www.va.gov/vapubs/index.cfm

13. VA Directive and Handbook 6102, “Internet/Intranet Services,” August 5, 2019

14. 36 C.F.R. Part 1194 “Information and Communication Technology Standards and Guidelines,” January 18, 2017

15. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-130, “Managing Federal Information as a Strategic Resource,” July 28, 2016

16. 32 C.F.R. Part 199, “Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS)”

17. NIST SP 800-66 Rev. 1, “An Introductory Resource Guide for Implementing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule,” October 2008

18. Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. § 794d), as amended, January 18, 2017

19. Homeland Security Presidential Directive (12) (HSPD-12), August 27, 2004

20. VA Directive 6500, “VA Cybersecurity Program,” February 24, 2021 VA Handbook 6500, “Risk Management Framework for VA Information Systems VA Information Security Program,” February 24, 2021

21. VA Handbook 6500.2, “Management of Breaches Involving Sensitive Personal Information (SPI),” March 12, 2019

22. VA Handbook 6500.5, “Incorporating Security and Privacy into the System Development Lifecycle,” March 22, 2010

23. VA Handbook 6500.6, “Contract Security,” March 12, 2010

24. VA Handbook 6500.8, “Information System Contingency Planning,” April 6, 2011

25. VA Handbook 6500.10, “Mobile Device Security Policy,” February 15, 2018

26. VA Handbook 6500.11, “VA Firewall Configuration,” August 22, 2017

27. OIT Process Asset Library (PAL), https://www.va.gov/process/ . Reference Process Maps at https://www.va.gov/process/maps.asp and Artifact templates at https://www.va.gov/process/artifacts.asp

28. One-VA Technical Reference Model (TRM) (reference at https://www.va.gov/trm/TRMHomePage.aspx)

29. VA Directive 6508, “Implementation of Privacy Threshold Analysis and Privacy Impact Assessment,” October 15, 2014

30. VA Handbook 6508.1, “Procedures for Privacy Threshold Analysis and Privacy Impact Assessment,” July 30, 2015

31. VA Handbook 6510, “VA Identity and Access Management,” January 15, 2016

32. VA Directive and Handbook 6513, “Secure External Connections,” October 12, 2017

33. VA Directive 6300, “Records and Information Management,” September 21, 2018

34. VA Handbook, 6300.1, “Records Management Procedures,“ March 24, 2010

35. NIST SP 800-37 Rev 2, “Risk Management Framework for Information Systems and Organizations: A System Life Cycle Approach for Security and Privacy,” December 2018

36. NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, “Security and Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations,” September 23, 2020 (includes updates as of 12/10/2020)

37. VA Directive 0735, “Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) Program,” October 26, 2015

38. VA Handbook 0735, “Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) Program,” March 24, 2014

39. OMB Memorandum 05-24, “Implementation of Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 12 – Policy for a Common Identification Standard for Federal Employees and Contractors,” August 5, 2005

40. OMB Memorandum M-19-17, “Enabling Mission Delivery Through Improved Identity, Credential, and Access Management,” May 21, 2019

41. OMB Memorandum, “Guidance for Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 12 Implementation,” May 23, 2008

42. Federal Identity, Credential, and Access Management (FICAM) Roadmap and Implementation Guidance, December 2, 2011, (NOTE: Part A of the FICAM Roadmap and Implementation Guidance, v2.0, was replaced in 2015 with an updated Architecture (https://arch.idmanagement.gov/#what-is-the-ficam-architecture)

43. NIST SP 800-116 Rev 1, “Guidelines for the Use of Personal Identity Verification (PIV) Credentials in Facility Access,“ June 2018

44. NIST SP 800-63-3, 800-63A, 800-63B, 800-63C, “Digital Identity Guidelines,” updated March 02, 2020

45. NIST SP 800-157, “Guidelines for Derived PIV Credentials,” December 2014

46. NIST SP 800-164, “Guidelines on Hardware-Rooted Security in Mobile Devices (Draft),” October 2012

47. Draft National Institute of Standards and Technology Interagency Report (NISTIR) 7981, “Mobile, PIV, and Authentication,” March 2014

48. VA Memorandum, VAIQ #7100147, “Continued Implementation of Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12),” April 29, 2011 (reference https://www.voa.va.gov/documentlistpublic.aspx?NodeID=514)

49. IAM Identity Management Business Requirements Guidance document, May 2013, (reference Enterprise Architecture Section, PIV/IAM (reference https://www.voa.va.gov/documentlistpublic.aspx?NodeID=514)

50. VA Memorandum “Personal Identity Verification (PIV) Logical Access Policy Clarification,” July 17, 2019, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=4896

51. Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) 3.0 Core Guidance Documents, https://www.cisa.gov/publication/tic-30-core-guidance-documents

52. OMB Memorandum M-19-26, “Update to the Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) Initiative,” September 12, 2019

53. OMB Memorandum M-08-23, “Securing the Federal Government’s Domain Name System Infrastructure,” August 22, 2008

54. Sections 524 and 525 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, (Public Law 110–140), December 19, 2007

55. Section 104 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, (Public Law 109–58), August 8, 2005

56. Executive Order 13834, “Efficient Federal Operations,” dated May 17, 2018

57. Executive Order 13221, “Energy-Efficient Standby Power Devices,” August 2, 2001

58. VA Directive 0058, “VA Green Purchasing Program,” July 19, 2013

59. VA Handbook 0058, “VA Green Purchasing Program,” July 19, 2013

60. Office of Information Security (OIS) VAIQ #7424808 Memorandum, “Remote Access,” January 15, 2014, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentListPublic.aspx?NodeId=28

61. Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996, 40 U.S.C. §11101 and §11103

62. “Veteran Focused Integration Process (VIP) Guide 4.0,” January 2021, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=4371

63. VA Memorandum “Proper Use of Email and Other Messaging Services,” January 2, 2018, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentListPublic.aspx?NodeId=28

64. “DevSecOps Product Line Management Playbook” version 2.0, May 2021, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=4946

65. NIST SP 500-267B Revision 1, “USGv6 Profile,” November 2020

66. OMB Memorandum M-21-07, “Completing the Transition to Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6),” November 19, 2020

67. Social Security Number (SSN) Fraud Prevention Act of 2017

68. Section 240 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) 2018, March 23, 2018

SCOPE OF WORK

The Contractor shall provide native mobile app (iOS and Android) testing and content writing for mobile apps and public health education materials to support NCPTSD mobile apps for PTSD. This includes include functional testing, user experience testing, and ensuring the apps are clinically sound and current. The Contractor shall also generate clinical content for the mobile apps.

Contractor personnel directly involved with application testing and clinical content services shall have completed a doctoral degree in clinical psychology from an APA-accredited program, have clinical experience in working with Veterans with PTSD, conducting behavioral research, have expertise in science and evidence-based recommendations for the treatment of PTSD, and clinical experience in delivering mobile interventions to Veterans with PTSD.

PERFORMANCE DETAILS

PERFORMANCE PERIOD

The PoP shall be 12 months from date of award, with four 12-month option periods.

work at the Government site shall not take place on Federal holidays or weekends unless directed by the Contracting Officer (CO). If required, the CO may designate the Contractor to work during holidays and weekends.

There are eleven (11) Federal holidays set by law (USC Title 5 Section 6103) that VA follows:

Under current definitions, four are set by date:

If any of the above falls on a Saturday, then Friday shall be observed as a holiday. Similarly, if one falls on a Sunday, then Monday shall be observed as a holiday.

The other six are set by a day of the week and month:

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Tasks under this PWS shall be performed at Contractor facilities. The Contractor shall identify the Contractor’s place of performance in their proposal submission.

TRAVEL

The Government anticipates travel under this effort to perform the tasks associated with the effort, as well as to attend program-related meetings or conferences throughout the period of performance. Include all estimated travel costs in your firm-fixed price line items. These costs will not be directly reimbursed by the Government. The Contractor shall be required to attend meetings in-person quarterly, in San Francisco, CA. The total estimated number of trips in support of the program related meetings for this effort is four per year. Anticipated location is San Francisco, CA, estimated at one day in duration for one person.

SPECIFIC TASKS AND DELIVERABLES

The Contractor shall perform the following:

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

CONTRACTOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN

The Contractor shall deliver a Contractor Project Management Plan (CPMP) that lays out the Contractor’s approach, timeline, and tools to be used in execution of the contract. The CPMP should take the form of both a narrative and graphic format that displays the schedule, milestones, risks, and resource support. The CPMP shall also include how the Contractor shall coordinate and execute planned, routine, and ad hoc data collection reporting requests as identified within the PWS. The initial baseline CPMP shall be concurred upon and updated in accordance with Section B of the contract. The Contractor shall update and maintain the VA PM approved CPMP throughout the PoP.

Deliverable:

A. Contractor Project Management Plan

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall provide the COR with Monthly Progress Reports in electronic form in Microsoft Word and Project formats. The report shall include detailed instructions/explanations for each required data element, to ensure that data is accurate and consistent. These reports shall reflect data as of the last day of the preceding Month.

The Monthly Progress Reports shall cover all work completed during the reporting period and work planned for the subsequent reporting period. The report shall also identify any problems that arose and a description of how the problems were resolved. If problems have not been completely resolved, the Contractor shall provide an explanation including their plan and timeframe for resolving the issue. The report shall also include an itemized list of all Information and Communication Technology (ICT) deliverables and their current Section 508 conformance status. The Contractor shall monitor performance against the CPMP and report any deviations. It is expected that the Contractor will keep in communication with VA accordingly so that issues that arise are transparent to both parties to prevent escalation of outstanding issues.

The Contractor shall attend weekly meetings to brief VA on the status of each task and deliverable defined within this PWS and to review ongoing needs across the mobile apps portfolio. The Contractor briefing shall include a detailed review of the current work breakdown structure and Gantt chart; the projected schedule; risk mitigation status; and the Contractor’s planned actions for recovering from any schedule slippage.

Deliverable:

A. Monthly Progress Report

TECHNICAL KICKOFF MEETING

The Contractor shall hold a technical kickoff meeting within 10 days after contract award. The Contractor shall present, for review and approval by the Government, the details of the intended approach, work plan, and overall project management approach. The Contractor shall specify dates, locations (can be virtual), agenda (shall be provided to all attendees at least five calendar days prior to the meeting), and meeting minutes (shall be provided to all attendees within three calendar days after the meeting). The Contractor shall invite the Contracting Officer (CO), Contract Specialist (CS), Contractor Officer’s Representative (COR), and VA PM.

MOBILE APPLICATION SOFTWARE TESTING AND CONTENT WRITING

The Contractor shall provide native mobile app testing, user experience testing, and content writing for mobile apps and public health education materials to support NCPTSD mobile apps for PTSD.

MOBILE APPLICATION TESTING

The Contractor shall provide testing of NCPTSD mobile apps for PTSD to improve user experience and provide clinical judgement to ensure safety, suggest additional content to improve the apps and keep the content up to date. The amount and type of testing will vary widely on a per-project basis at NCPTSD’s discretion, with testing ranging from focused testing of a specific app section or feature to comprehensive user experience testing or complete testing of a mobile app. NCPTSD anticipates the Contractor shall test one mobile app at a given time, but may be required to test two apps concurrently.

The Contractor shall coordinate with NCPTSD for testing timelines for the apps. The Contractor shall report on all active and planned mobile app testing projects in the Monthly Progress Report and during weekly mobile app briefings.

Quality control of delivered mobile app testing shall be led and performed by the Contractor. All readily available specifications and documentation will be provided to the Contractor for use in testing, but the Contractor should be able to implement these tasks without any further documentation. The Contractor shall download required mobile apps to be tested from VA’s repository, currently Vertical. An issue tracking system administered by NCPTSD, currently GitHub, shall be used to track quality control issues and monitor progress. The Contractor shall test NCPTSD native mobile apps for PTSD.

Testing shall include:

1. Testing of mobile apps on multiple Android and iOS devices to ensure the app works as intended and displays correctly on the device screen. For device testing, the Contractor shall test the mobile apps using actual devices (i.e., not simulators), particularly devices that are most widely used in the general population, that include multiple Android screen sizes (both phones and tablets) and multiple iOS screen sizes (both phones and tablets). At a minimum, the Contractor shall test using two Android phone devices that have different screen sizes and one Android tablet device and two iOS phone devices that have different screen sizes and one iOS tablet device.

2. Ensuring mobile app content and features match NCPTSD technical specifications. The Contractor shall be responsible for comparing technical specifications against their implementation in a mobile app, ensuring that a) all content matches between the specifications and the app and b) the app is resilient to complex user interactions without crashing, stalling, or losing data.

3. Reviewing material for consistency with current PTSD treatment guidelines (i.e., https://www.healthquality.va.gov/guidelines/MH/ptsd/) and the most up-to-date scientific literature on PTSD education, treatment, and clinical care.

4. Ensuring clinical safety (i.e., appropriateness to the clinical care of Veterans with PTSD) and confidentiality.

5. Ensuring consistency with Apple iOS human interface guidelines, Android design guidelines, and recently released NCPTSD mobile apps.

6. Optimizing user experience, which at a minimum shall include reviewing wireframes and app sequences to identify potential dead-ends (i.e., views that cannot be easily navigated out of, user-entered information that cannot be changed or edited, etc.) or ways of interacting with the apps that are likely to be confusing for different types of Veterans using the app; offering suggestions for simplifying user interaction elements and alternative flows; identifying additional clinical content that could assist Veterans in making better use of the apps.

7. Testing for Section 508 accessibility compliance.

8. Conducting comprehensive testing of research versions of apps by visiting and recording all screens within the app and checking that data transmitted from research versions of apps (i.e., timestamps, buttons tapped, user-entered data) match testing records (i.e., data transmitted in JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format should match testing records of which app screens were visited, dates and times for when each screen was visited, and any data entered by the tester while testing the app).

9. Veteran-focused user experience testing. Testing shall include focused (i.e., testing one section or feature of an app) and general (i.e., testing every feature and section of the app) testing of mobile apps using specific user personas (e.g., repeat survey-taker, skeptical user, long-term user, etc.). The Contractor shall also conduct user experience interviews with target users, employing established user experience (UX) research principles. The Contractor shall incorporate results of user experience interviews into recommendations for cost-effective design changes that could improve users’ experiences with the app.

For device testing, the contractor shall use actual devices that include multiple Android screen sizes and tablets and multiple iOS screen sizes and tablets. The contractor shall be responsible for comparing technical specifications against their implementation in a mobile app, ensuring that all content matches between the specifications and the app and the app is resilient to complex user interactions without crashing, stalling, or losing data. The contractor shall compare JSON generated from research-enabled versions of mobile apps with expected values (e.g., screen names, test scores, etc.). The amount and type of testing will vary widely on a per-project basis at NCPTSD’s discretion, with testing ranging from focused testing of a specific app section or feature to comprehensive user experience testing or complete testing of a mobile app. The contractor shall also be responsible for developing a timeline for testing across apps and coordinating all testing timelines with NCPTSD.

The Contractor shall provide a Weekly Testing Report that summarizes the testing performed during the week and the progress made on the issues reported in the issue tracking system. In addition, any recommended user experience improvements and suggested clinical content shall be included in the Weekly Testing Report.

Final deliverables of each testing project shall include the delivery of all testing documentation and reports as described above. Before any work begins on a testing project, the Contractor shall produce time estimates of the number of hours that will be needed for the work to be performed and shall obtain the approval of NCPTSD for the expenditure of hours.

Deliverable:

A. Testing Documentation and Reports B. Weekly Testing Report

MOBILE APPLICATION USER EXPERIENCE TESTING

The Contractor shall perform Mobile Applications testing to include focused and general testing of mobile apps using specific user personas (e.g., repeat survey-taker, skeptical user, long-term user, etc.). The contractor shall also conduct user experience interviews with target users, employing established UX research principles. The contractor shall incorporate results of user experience interviews into recommendations for cost-effective design changes that could improve users’ experiences with the app.

CONTENT FOR MOBILE APPLICATIONS

The Contractor shall provide content writing support services for mobile apps and public health education materials to support NCPTSD mobile apps for PTSD, based on the best available scientific evidence, current VA norms and standards for the clinical care of Veterans with PTSD, expert knowledge of VA care for PTSD, current clinical guidelines for the treatment of PTSD, and familiarity with common terms and expressions used by Veterans. NCPTSD mobile apps for PTSD need to be kept up to date with, for example, the newest treatment, educational materials, and available clinical science. The Contractor shall be responsible for writing up-to date content to be used in publicly released mobile apps for mental health and supporting handouts and patient education materials.

The contractor shall write public health education materials capable of being included in NCPTSD mobile apps, such as brief psychoeducational topics specific to PTSD treatment and recovery (see PTSD Coach, PTSD Family Coach apps for examples). The contractor shall provide written outlines and wireframes for detailed tools and other app features requested by NCPTSD. The contractor shall create flyers and other web-based promotional materials to support appropriate implementation of VA mobile apps across VA treatment settings. The contractor shall be required to demonstrate familiarity with the best available scientific evidence for treatment of PTSD while also writing content that can be quickly and easily read and is optimized for delivery on a mobile device or tablet. The contractor shall be able to write content that is accessible to the widest possible range of reading levels, with brief content that is accessible to reading levels of 6th grade and below and more detailed content accessible to those with slightly higher reading levels. The contractor shall be responsible for writing content to be used in publicly-released mobile applications for mental health and supporting handouts and patient education materials.

Quality control of delivered mobile app testing shall be led and performed by the Contractor. All readily available specifications and documentation will be provided to the Contractor for use in testing, but the Contractor should be able to implement these deliverables without any further documentation. An issue tracking system administered by NCPTSD shall be used to track quality control issues and monitor progress. Use of NCPTSD GitHub is required for source code and audio/visual asset delivery and issue tracking.

This task is anticipated to take approximately 960 hours in the base year and approximately 960 hours in each option period. The Contractor shall report on all active and planned mobile app testing projects in the Monthly Progress Report and during weekly mobile app briefings.

Deliverable:

A. Weekly Content Report

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

ENTERPRISE AND IT FRAMEWORK

VA TECHNICAL REFERENCE MODEL

The Contractor shall support the VA enterprise management framework. In association with the framework, the Contractor shall comply with OIT Technical Reference Model (VA TRM). The VA TRM is one component within the overall Enterprise Architecture (EA) that establishes a common vocabulary and structure for describing the information technology used to develop, operate, and maintain enterprise applications. Moreover, the VA TRM, which includes the Standards Profile and Product List, serves as a technology roadmap and tool for supporting OIT. Architecture & Engineering Services (AES) has overall responsibility for the VA TRM.

FEDERAL IDENTITY, CREDENTIAL, AND ACCESS MANAGEMENT (FICAM)

The Contractor shall ensure Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) product(s), software configuration and customization, and/or new software are Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card-enabled by accepting HSPD-12 PIV credentials using VA Enterprise Technical Architecture (ETA), https://www.ea.oit.va.gov/EAOIT/VA_EA/Enterprise_Technical_Architecture.asp, and VA Identity and Access Management (IAM) approved enterprise design and integration patterns, https://www.oit.va.gov/library/recurring/edp/index.cfm. The Contractor shall ensure all Contractor delivered applications and systems comply with the VA Identity, Credential, and Access Management policies and guidelines set forth in VA Handbook 6510 VA Identity and Access Management, VA Handbook 0735 Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) Program, and align with the Federal Identity, Credential, and Access Management Roadmap and Implementation Guidance v2.0.

The Contractor shall ensure all Contractor delivered applications and systems provide user authentication services compliant with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-63-3, VA Handbook 6500 Appendix F, “VA System Security Controls”, and VA IAM enterprise requirements for direct, assertion based authentication, and/or trust based authentication, as determined by the design and integration patterns. Direct authentication at a minimum must include Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) based authentication supportive of PIV card and/or Common Access Card (CAC), as determined by the business need.

The Contractor shall ensure all Contractor delivered applications and systems conform to the specific Identity and Access Management PIV requirements set forth in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memoranda M-05-24, M-19-17, and NIST Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 201-2. OMB Memoranda M-05-24 and M-19-17 can be found at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/memoranda/2005/m05-24.pdf, and https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/M-19-17.pdf respectively. Contractor delivered applications and systems shall be on the FIPS 201-2 Approved Product List (APL). If the Contractor delivered application and system is not on the APL, the Contractor shall be responsible for taking the application and system through the FIPS 201 Evaluation Program.

The Contractor shall ensure all Contractor delivered applications and systems support:

1. Automated provisioning and are able to use enterprise provisioning service.

2. Interfacing with VA’s Master Person Index (MPI) to provision identity attributes, if the solution relies on VA user identities. MPI is the authoritative source for VA user identity data.

3. The VA defined unique identity (Secure Identifier [SEC ID] / Integrated Control Number [ICN]).

4. Multiple authenticators for a given identity and authenticators at every Authenticator Assurance Level (AAL) appropriate for the solution.

5. Identity proofing for each Identity Assurance Level (IAL) appropriate for the solution.

6. Federation for each Federation Assurance Level (FAL) appropriate for the solution, if applicable.

7. Two-factor authentication (2FA) through an applicable design pattern as outlined in VA Enterprise Design Patterns.

8. A Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) implementation if the solution relies on assertion-based authentication. Additional assertion implementations, besides the required SAML assertion, may be provided as long as they are compliant with NIST SP 800-63-3 guidelines.

9. Authentication/account binding based on trusted Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) headers if the solution relies on Trust based authentication.

10. Role Based Access Control.

11. Auditing and reporting capabilities.

12. Compliance with VIEWS 00155984, PIV Logical Access Policy Clarification https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=4896.

The required Assurance Levels for this specific effort are Identity Assurance Level 3, Authenticator Assurance Level 3, and Federation Assurance Level 3.

INTERNET PROTOCOL VERSION 6 (IPV6)

The Contractor solution shall support Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) based upon the memo issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on November 19, 2020 (https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/M-21-07.pdf). IPv6 technology, in accordance with the USGv6 Program (https://www.nist.gov/programs-projects/usgv6-program/usgv6-revision-1), NIST Special Publication (SP) 500-267B Revision 1 “USGv6 Profile” (https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.500-267Br1), and NIST SP 800-119 “Guidelines for the Secure Deployment of IPv6” (https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-119), compliance shall be included in all IT infrastructures, application designs, application development, operational systems and sub-systems, and their integration. In addition to the above requirements, all devices shall support native IPv6 and dual stack (IPv6 / IPv4) connectivity without additional memory or other resources being provided by the Government, so that they can function in a mixed environment. All public/external facing servers and services (e.g. web, email, DNS, ISP services, etc.) shall support native IPv6 and dual stack (IPv6 / IPv4) users and all internal infrastructure and applications shall communicate using native IPv6 and dual stack (IPv6 / IPv4) operations.

TRUSTED INTERNET CONNECTION (TIC)

The Contractor solution shall meet the requirements outlined in Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-19-26, “Update to the Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) Initiative“ (https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/M-19-26.pdf), VA Directive 6513 “Secure External Connections”, and shall comply with the TIC 3.0 Core Guidance Documents, including all Volumes and TIC Use Cases, found at the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) (https://www.cisa.gov/publication/tic-30-core-guidance-documents). Any deviations must be approved by the VA TIC 3.0 Working Group at vaoisesatic30team@va.gov.

STANDARD COMPUTER CONFIGURATION

The Contractor IT end user solution that is developed for use on standard VA computers shall be compatible with and be supported on the standard VA operating system, currently Windows 10 (64bit), Edge (Chromium based), and 365 Apps for enterprise. Applications delivered to VA and intended to be deployed to Windows 10 workstations shall be delivered as a signed .msi package with switches for silent and unattended installation and updates shall be delivered in signed .msp file formats for easy deployment using Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (CM) VA’s current desktop application deployment tool. Signing of the software code shall be through a vendor provided certificate that is trusted by VA using a code signing authority such as Verizon/Cybertrust or Symantec/VeriSign. The Contractor shall also ensure and certify that their solution functions as expected when used from a standard VA computer, with non-admin, standard user rights that have been configured using the United States Government Configuration Baseline (USGCB) and Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Secure Technical Implementation Guide (STIG) specific to the particular client operating system being used.

VETERAN FOCUSED INTEGRATION PROCESS (VIP) AND PRODUCT LINE MANAGEMENT (PLM)

The Contractor shall support VA efforts IAW the updated Veteran Focused Integration Process (VIP) and Product Line Management (PLM). The major focus of the new VIP is on Governance and Reporting and is less prescriptive, with a focus on outcomes and continuous delivery of value. Product Line Management (PLM) is a framework that focuses on delivering functional products that provide the highest priority work to customers while delivering simplified, reliable, and practical solutions to the business, medical staff, and our Veterans. The VIP Guide is a companion guide to the PLM Playbook and can be found at: https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=4371 and the PLM Playbook can be found at https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=4946. The PLM Playbook pivots from project-centric to product-centric delivery and contains descriptive practices that focuses on outcomes. The PLM Playbook contains a set of “plays” that implement Development, Security, and Operations (DevSecOps) principles and processes such as automated development, continuous integration/continuous delivery, and release on demand. The PLM Playbook details how product lines implement Lean-Agile principles, methods, practices, and techniques through levels of maturity. VIP and PLM are the authoritative processes that IT projects must follow to ensure development and delivery of IT products.

PROCESS ASSET LIBRARY (PAL)

The Contractor shall perform their duties consistent with the processes defined in the OIT Process Asset Library (PAL). The PAL scope includes the full spectrum of OIT functions and activities, such as VIP project management, operations, service delivery, communications, acquisition, and resource management. PAL serves as an authoritative and informative repository of searchable processes, activities or tasks, roles, artifacts, tools and applicable standards and guides to assist the OIT workforce, Government and Contractor personnel. The Contractor shall follow the PAL processes to ensure compliance with policies and regulations and to meet VA quality standards. The PAL includes the contractor onboarding process consistent with Section 6.2.2 and can be found at https://www.va.gov/PROCESS/artifacts/maps/process_CONB_ext.pdf. The main PAL can be accessed at www.va.gov/process.

AUTHORITATIVE DATA SOURCES

The VA Enterprise Architecture Repository (VEAR) is one component within the overall EA that establishes the common framework for data taxonomy for describing the data architecture used to develop, operate, and maintain enterprise applications. The Contractor shall comply with the department’s Authoritative Data Source (ADS) requirement that VA systems, services, and processes throughout the enterprise shall access VA data solely through official VA ADSs where applicable, see below. The Information Classes which compose each ADS are located in the VEAR, in the Data & Information domain. The Contractor shall ensure that all delivered applications and system solutions support:

1. Interfacing with VA’s Master Person Index (MPI) (formerly the Master Veteran Index (MVI)) to provision identity attributes, if the solution relies on VA user identities. MPI is the authoritative source for VA user identity data.

2. Interfacing with Capital Asset Inventory (CAI) to conduct real property record management actions, if the solution relies on real property records data. CAI is the authoritative source for VA real property record management data.

3. Interfacing with electronic Contract Management System (eCMS) for access to contract, contract line item, purchase requisition, offering vendor and vendor, and solicitation information above the micro-purchase threshold, if the solution relies on procurement data. ECMS is the authoritative source for VA procurement actions data.

4. Interfacing with HRSmart Human Resources Information System to conduct personnel action processing, on-boarding, benefits management, and compensation management, if the solution relies on personnel data. HRSmart is the authoritative source for VA personnel information data.

5. Interfacing with Vet360 to access personal contact information, if the solution relies on VA Veteran personal contact information data. Vet360 is the authoritative source for VA Veteran Personal Contact Data.

6. Interfacing with VA/Department of Defense (DoD) Identity Repository (VADIR) for determining eligibility for VA benefits under Title 38, if the solution relies on qualifying active duty military service data. VADIR is the authoritative source for Qualifying Active Duty military service in VA.

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER (SSN) REDUCTION

The Contractor solution shall support the Social Security Number (SSN) Fraud Prevention Act (FPA) of 2017 which prohibits the inclusion of SSNs on any document sent by mail. The Contractor support shall also be performed in accordance with Section 240 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) 2018, enacted March 23, 2018, which mandates VA to discontinue using SSNs to identify individuals in all VA information systems as the Primary Identifier. The Contractor shall ensure that any new IT solution discontinues the use of SSN as the Primary Identifier to replace the SSN with the ICN in all VA information systems for all individuals. The Contractor shall ensure that all Contractor delivered applications and systems integrate with the VA Master Person Index (MPI) for identity traits to include the use of the ICN as the Primary Identifier. The Contractor solution may only use a Social Security Number to identify an individual in an information system if and only if the use of such number is required to obtain information VA requires from an information system that is not under the jurisdiction of VA.

SECURITY AND PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS

The Assessment and Authorization (A&A) requirements do not apply and a Security Accreditation Package is not required.

All VA sensitive information shall be protected at all times in accordance with local security field office System Security Plans (SSP's) and Authority to Operate (ATO)'s for all systems/LAN's accessed while performing the tasks detailed in this PWS.

a. A prohibition on unauthorized disclosure: "Information made available to the Contractor or subcontractor by VA for the performance or administration of this contract or information developed by the Contractor in performance or administration of the contract shall be used only for those purposes and shall not be used in any other way without the prior written agreement of the VA." See VA handbook 6500.6, Appendix C, paragraph 3.a.

b. A requirement for data breach notification: Upon discovery of any known or suspected security/privacy incidents, or any unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, including that contained in system(s) to which the Contractor/subcontractor has access, the Contractor/subcontractor shall immediately and simultaneously notify the COR, the designated ISO, and Privacy Officer for the contract. The term "security incident" means an event that has, or could have, resulted in unauthorized access to, loss or damage to VA assets, or sensitive information, or an action that breaches VA security procedures. See VA Handbook 6500.6, Appendix C, paragraph 6.a.

c. A requirement to pay liquidated damages in the event of a data breach: "In the event of a data breach or privacy incident involving SPI the Contractor processes or maintains under this contract, the Contractor shall be liable to VA for liquidated damages for a specified amount per affected individual to cover the cost of providing credit protection services to those individuals." See VA handbook 6500.6, Appendix C, paragraph 7.a., 7.d.

d. A requirement for annual security/privacy awareness training: "Before being granted access to VA information or information systems, all Contractor employees and subcontractor employees requiring such access shall complete on an annual basis either: (i) the VA security/privacy awareness training (contains VA security/privacy requirements) within 1 week of the initiation of the contract, or (ii) security awareness training provided or arranged by the Contractor that conforms to VA's security/privacy requirements as delineated in the hard copy of the VA security awareness training provided to the Contractor. If the Contractor provides their own training that conforms to VA's requirements, they will provide the COR or CO, a yearly report (due annually on the date of the contract initiation) stating that all applicable employees involved in theVA's contract have received their annual security/privacy training that meets VA's requirements and the total number of employees trained. See VA Handbook 6500.6, Appendix C, paragraph 9.

e. A requirement to sign VA's Rules of Behavior: "Before being granted access to VA information or information systems, all Contractor employees and subcontractor employees requiring such access shall sign on annual basis an acknowledgement that they have read, understand, and agree to abide by VA's Contractor Rules of Behavior which is attached to this contract." See VA Handbook 6500.6, Appendix C, paragraph 9, Appendix D. Note: If a medical device vendor anticipates that the services under the contract will be performed by 10 or more individuals, the Contractor Rules of Behavior may be signed by the vendor's designated representative. The contract must reflect by signing the Rules of Behavior on behalf of the vendor that the designated representative agrees to ensure that all such individuals review and understand the Contractor Rules of Behavior when accessing VA's information and information systems.

POSITION/TASK RISK DESIGNATION LEVEL(S)

In accordance with VA Handbook 0710, Personnel Security and Suitability Program, the position sensitivity and the level of background investigation commensurate with the required level of access for the following tasks within the PWS are:

Position Sensitivity and Background Investigation Requirements by Task

The Tasks identified above and the resulting Position Sensitivity and Background Investigation requirements identify, in effect, the Background Investigation requirements for Contractor individuals, based upon the tasks the particular Contractor individual will be working. The submitted Contractor Staff Roster must indicate the required Background Investigation Level for each Contractor individual based upon the tasks the Contractor individual will be working, in accordance with their submitted proposal.

CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL SECURITY REQUIREMENTS

Contractor Responsibilities:

1. The Contractor shall prescreen all personnel requiring access to the computer systems to ensure they maintain the appropriate Background Investigation, and are able to read, write, speak, and understand the English language.

Within 3 business days after award, the Contractor shall provide a roster of Contractor and Subcontractor employees to the COR to begin their background investigations in accordance with the PAL template artifact. The Contractor Staff Roster shall contain the Contractor’s Full Name, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, individual background investigation level requirement (based upon Section 6.2 Tasks), etc. The Contractor shall submit full Social Security Numbers either within the Contractor Staff Roster or under separate cover to the COR. The Contractor Staff Roster shall be updated and provided to VA within 1 day of any changes in employee status, training certification completion status, Background Investigation level status, additions/removal of employees, etc. throughout the Period of Performance. The Contractor Staff Roster shall remain a historical document indicating all past information and the Contractor shall indicate in the Comment field, employees no longer supporting this contract. The preferred method to send the Contractor Staff Roster or Social Security Number is by encrypted e-mail. If unable to send encrypted e-mail, other methods which comply with FIPS 140-2 are to encrypt the file, use a secure fax, or use a traceable mail service.

1. The Contractor should coordinate with the location of the nearest VA fingerprinting office through the COR. Only electronic fingerprints are authorized. The Contractor shall bring their completed Security and Investigations Center (SIC) Fingerprint request form with them (see paragraph d.4. below) when getting fingerprints taken.

b. The Contractor shall ensure the following required forms are submitted to the COR within 5 days after contract award:

1) Optional Form 306

2) Self-Certification of Continuous Service

3) VA Form 0710

4) Completed SIC Fingerprint Request Form The Contractor personnel shall submit all required information related to their background investigations (completion of the investigation documents (SF85, SF85P, or SF 86) utilizing the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) Electronic Questionnaire for Investigations Processing (e-QIP) after receiving an email notification from the Security and Investigation Center (SIC).

The Contractor employee shall certify and release the e-QIP document, print, and sign the…