PWS-STRMix Software License and Maintenance_FY26.docx

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

STRmix-United States Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory

Part 1

General Information

1. GENERAL: This is a non-personal services contract to provide maintenance and support for the STRmix software used by the United States Criminal Investigation Laboratory (USACIL). This PWS describes the services required by the vendor to provide maintenance and support of the STRmix software. The salient characteristics of the primary deliverable (the STRmix maintenance and support services) are described in this document. The Government shall not exercise any supervision or control over the contract service providers performing the services herein. Such contract service providers shall be accountable solely to the Contractor who, in turn is responsible to the Government.

1.1 Description of Services/Introduction: The contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, transportation, tools, materials, supervision, and other items and non-personal services necessary to perform required maintenance and support for the STRmix implementation at the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory (USACIL). The contractor shall perform to the standards in this contract.

1.2 Background: The USACIL DNA sections is utilizing STRmix software in the deconvolution and statistical analysis of DNA profiles. The STRmix software utilizes a fully continuous interpretation model utilizing Markov-Chain Monte Carlo based sampling and a mathematical biological model to provided weighted genotype combinations for single source and mixture DNA profiles. The STRmix software also provides a likelihood ratio (LR) for each locus and the overall profile. The STRmix software frequently has new versions with enhanced capabilities and features. It is anticipated that many questions on the software to include technical troubleshooting will occur at the USACIL. The ability to receive the new version of the software and to remotely reach back to the developers of the software for inquiries is critical to the continued success of the STRmix software in USACIL DNA casework. The STRmix software continues to serve the USACIL well and meet our requirements for a state-of-the-art forensic statistical software and should continue to meet our needs for at least the next five years.

1.3 Objectives: The objective is to extend the current maintenance and support agreement for one base year and four consecutive option years. The USACIL also seeks to leverage the capabilities of the vendor’s development and maintenance team to provide support and timely updates based on needs of the USACIL and the requisite security standards of the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Army. STRmix is a proprietary product that can only be supported by NicheVison Forensics LLC. A sole source letter from NicheVision Forensics LLC is included in the requirements documentation that accompanies this PWS.

1.4 Scope: Services include support and maintenance of the 84 stand-alone STRmix software licenses. The service includes all new point and major version releases as well as expert resolution of general STRmix Scientific support questions. Scientific support includes troubleshooting, case specific queries, general email queries and advice, but excludes validation, platform upgrade or version upgrade support.

1.5 Period of Performance: The Period of Performance reads as follows:

Base Year: 01 April 2026 to 31 March 2027

1.6 General Information

1.6.1 Quality Control: The contractor shall develop and maintain an effective quality control program to ensure services are performed in accordance with this PWS. The contractor shall develop and implement procedures to identify, prevent, and ensure non-recurrence of defective services. The contractor shall also follow all current USACIL Quality Manual, QAS and FQS/ISO requirements. The contractor’s quality control program is the means by which he assures himself that his work complies with the requirement of the contract.

1.6.2 Quality Assurance: The government shall evaluate the contractor’s performance under this contract in accordance with the USACIL Quality Manual, QAS and FQS/ISO requirements. This plan is primarily focused on what the Government must do to ensure that the contractor has performed in accordance with the performance standards. It defines how the performance standards will be applied, the frequency of surveillance, and the minimum acceptable defect rate(s).

1.6.3 Recognized Holidays: The contractor is not required to perform services on holidays.

Independence Day

1.6.4 Hours of Operation: The contractor is responsible for conducting business, between the hours of 0800-1700 Monday thru Friday except Federal holidays or when the Government facility is closed due to local or national emergencies, administrative closings, or similar Government directed facility closings. For other than firm fixed price contracts, the contractor will not be reimbursed when the government facility is closed for the above reasons. The Contractor must at all times maintain an adequate workforce for the uninterrupted performance of all tasks defined within this PWS when the Government facility is not closed for the above reasons. When hiring personnel, the Contractor shall keep in mind that the stability and continuity of the workforce are essential.

1.6.5 Place of Performance: The work to be performed under this contract will be performed remotely at the vendor facilities.

1.6.6 Type of Contract: The government will award a firm fixed price.

1.6.7 Security Requirements: Contractor personnel performing work under this contract must have a secret level of clearance at time of the proposal submission and must maintain the level of security required for the life of the contract. The security requirements are in accordance with the attached AT OPSEC.

1.6.7.1 Antiterrorism and Operational Security:

1.6.7.1.b Access and General Protection/Security Policy and Procedures. Contractor and all associated subcontractor employees shall provide all information required for background checks to meet installation access requirements to be accomplished by installation Provost Marshal Office, Director of Emergency Services or Security Office. Contractor workforce must comply with all personal identity verification requirements (FAR clause 52.204‐9, Personal Identity Verification of Contractor Personnel) as directed by DOD, HQDA and/or local policy. In addition to the changes otherwise authorized by the changes clause of this contract, should the Force Protection Condition (FPCON) at any individual facility or installation change, the Government may require changes in contractor security matters or processes.

1.6.7.1.c Access to a DoD Facility or Installation. Contractor and all associated sub‐contractor employees shall comply with adjudication standards and procedures using the National Crime Information Center Interstate Identification Index (NCIC‐III) and Terrorist Screening Database (Army Directive 2014‐05/AR 190‐13), applicable installation, facility and area commander installation/facility access and local security policies and procedures provided by government representative.

1.6.7.1.d iWATCH Training. The contractor and all associated sub‐contractors shall brief all employees on the local iWATCH Army program (training standards provided by the requiring activity ATO). This local developed training will be used to inform employees of the types of behavior to watch for and instruct employees to report suspicious activity to the COR. This training shall be completed within calendar days of contract award and within calendar days of new employees commencing performance with the results reported to the COR NLT calendar days after contract award.

1.6.7.1.e OPSEC Training. Per AR 530‐1, Operations Security, the contractor employees must complete Level I OPSEC Awareness training. New employees must be trained within 30 calendar days of their reporting for duty and annually thereafter.

1.6.7.1.f Threat Awareness Reporting Program. For all contractors with security clearances. Per AR 381-12 Threat Awareness and Reporting Program (TARP), contractor employees must receive annual TARP training by a CI agent or other trainer as specified in 2-4b.

1.6.7.2 Key Control: N/A

1.6.8 Lock Combinations: N/A

1.6.9 Post Award Conference/Periodic Progress Meetings: N/A.

1.6.10 Contracting Officer Representative (COR): The (COR) will be identified by separate letter. The COR monitors all technical aspects of the contract and assists in contract administration. The COR is authorized to perform the following functions: assure that the Contractor performs the technical requirements of the contract, perform inspections necessary in connection with contract performance, maintain written and oral communications with the Contractor concerning technical aspects of the contract, issue written interpretations of technical requirements, including Government drawings, designs, specifications, monitor Contractor's performance and notifies both the Contracting Officer and Contractor of any deficiencies, coordinate availability of government furnished property, and provide site entry of Contractor personnel. A letter of designation issued to the COR, a copy of which is sent to the Contractor, states the responsibilities and limitations of the COR, especially with regard to changes in cost or price, estimates or changes in delivery dates. The COR is not authorized to change any of the terms and conditions of the resulting order.

1.6.11 Key Personnel: N/A

1.6.12 Identification of Contractor Employees: Contractor employees will be required to display issued visitor identification while within the building.

1.6.13 Contractor Travel: The contractor shall bear all labor and travel costs for engineers and any other costs which may be associated with required maintenance visits, onsite visits to service, repair, replace or upgrade hardware, software and install new applications.

1.6.14 Other Direct Costs: N/A

1.6.15 Data Rights: Data rights will be covered under the terms of the contract.

1.6.16 Organizational Conflict of Interest: N/A

1.6.17 PHASE IN /PHASE OUT PERIOD: N/A

1.6.18 Safety: Contractors will be expected to conform to the USACIL requirements for employee safety including, but not limited to, OSHA, post fire safety requirements, general laboratory safety protocols, etc. when performing on-site services.

1.6.19 Training: N/A

PART 2

DEFINITIONS & ACRONYMS

2. DEFINITIONS AND ACRONYMS:

2.1. DEFINITIONS:

2.1.1 ASCLD-LAB. American Society of Criminal Laboratory Directors- Laboratory Accreditation Board. The certifying board under which the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory maintains certification.

2.1.2 CONTRACT ADMINISTRATOR. The official Government representative delegated authority by the Contracting Officer to administer a contract. This individual is normally a member of the appropriate Contracting/Procurement career field and advises on all technical contractual matters.

2.1.3. CONTRACTOR. A supplier or vendor awarded a contract to provide specific supplies or service to the government. The term used in this contract refers to the prime.

2.1.4. CONTRACTING OFFICER. A person with authority to enter into, administer, and or terminate contracts, and make related determinations and findings on behalf of the government. Note: The only individual who can legally bind the government.

2.1.5. CONTRACTING OFFICER'S REPRESENTATIVE (COR). An employee of the U.S. Government appointed by the contracting officer to administer the contract. Such appointment shall be in writing and shall state the scope of authority and limitations. This individual has authority to provide technical direction to the Contractor as long as that direction is within the scope of the contract, does not constitute a change, and has no funding implications. This individual does NOT have authority to change the terms and conditions of the contract.

2.1.6. DEFECTIVE SERVICE. A service output that does not meet the standard of performance associated with the Performance Work Statement.

2.1.7. DELIVERABLE. Anything that can be physically delivered but may include non-manufactured things such as meeting minutes or reports.

2.1.8 Government-Furnished Property (GFP) or Government Property (GP). Property in the position of, or directly acquired by, the Government and subsequently made available to the Contractor.

2.1.9 ISO. International Organization for Standardization. Certifying body under which the laboratory has certification.

2.1.10 KEY PERSONNEL. Contractor personnel that are evaluated in a source selection process and that may be required to be used in the performance of a contract by the Key Personnel listed in the PWS. When key personnel are used as an evaluation factor in best value procurement, an offer can be rejected if it does not have a firm commitment from the persons that are listed in the proposal.

2.1.11 NIST. National Institute of Standards and Technology.

2.1.12 PHYSICAL SECURITY. Actions that prevent the loss or damage of Government property.

2.1.13 QUALITY ASSURANCE. The government procedures to verify that services being performed by the Contractor are performed according to acceptable standards.

2.1.14 QUALITY ASSURANCE Surveillance Plan (QASP). An organized written document specifying the surveillance methodology to be used for surveillance of contractor performance.

2.1.15 QUALITY CONTROL. All necessary measures taken by the Contractor to assure that the quality of an end product or service shall meet contract requirements.

2.1.16 SUBCONTRACTOR. One that enters into a contract with a prime contractor. The Government does not have privity of contract with the subcontractor.

2.1.17 WORK DAY. The number of hours per day the Contractor provides services in accordance with the contract.

2.1.18 WORK WEEK. Monday through Friday, unless specified otherwise.

2.2. ACRONYMS:

PART 3

GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY, EQUIPMENT, AND SERVICES

3. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED ITEMS AND SERVICES:

3.1. Services: It is anticipated that the majority of work performed will be conducted at the contractor site. If the contractor has to perform work on site then the Government will provide the necessary personnel and services in performance of the tasks outlined in this PWS.

3.2 Facilities: It is anticipated that the majority of work performed will be conducted at the contractor site. If the contractor has to perform work on site then the Government will provide the necessary workspace and facilities support for the contractor staff in performance of the tasks outlined in the PWS.

3.3 Utilities: It is anticipated that the majority of work performed will be conducted at the contractor site. If the contractor has to perform work on site then the Government will provide all utilities in the facilities the contractors use in performance of tasks outlined in this PWS. The Contractor shall instruct employees in utilities conservation practices. The contractor shall be responsible for operating under conditions that preclude the waste of utilities.

3.4 Equipment: It is anticipated that the majority of work performed will be conducted at the contractor site. If the contractor has to perform work on site then the Government will provide all the necessary equipment for the contractor staff in performance of tasks outlined in this PWS.

3.5 Materials: The Government will provide Standard Operating Procedures and Policies, Quality Manuals and Technical Procedures as needed.

PART 4

CONTRACTOR FURNISHED ITEMS AND SERVICES

4. CONTRACTOR FURNISHED ITEMS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

4.1 General: The Contractor shall furnish all supplies, equipment, facilities and services required to perform work under this contract that are not listed under Section 3 of this PWS.

4.2. Materials: The Contractor shall provide any and all training materials during the training phase of this PWS.

4.4. Equipment: N/A

PART 5

SPECIFIC TASKS

5. Specific Tasks:

5.1. Basic Services

5.1.2 Maintenance.

5.1.2.1 Contractor will maintain system based on maintenance contract for the period of at least one base year. Maintenance will include all new point and major version releases as well as expert resolution of general STRmix Scientific support questions from the contractor.

5.1.2.2 Scientific support includes trouble shooting, case specific queries, general email queries and advice, but excludes validation, platform upgrade or version upgrade support.

5.2. Task Heading N/A

5.3. CONTRACTOR MANAGEMENT REPORTING (CMR): The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower & Reserve Affairs) operates and maintains a secure Army data collection site where the Contractor shall report ALL Contractor manpower (including subcontractor manpower) required for performance of this contract. The Contractor shall completely fill in all the information in the format using the following web address https://Contractormanpower.army.pentagon.mil. The required information includes: (1) Contracting Office, Contracting Officer, Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR) or also known as the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR); (2) Contract number, including task and delivery order number; (3) Beginning and ending dates covered by reporting period; (4) Contractor's name, address, phone number, e-mail address, identity of Contractor employee entering data; (5) Estimated direct labor hours (including sub-Contractors); (6) Estimated direct labor dollars paid this reporting period (including sub-Contractors); (7) Total payments (including sub-Contractors); (8) Predominant Federal Service Code (FSC) reflecting services provided by Contractor (and separate predominant FSC for each sub-Contractor if different); (9) Estimated data collection cost; (10) Organizational title associated with the Unit Identification Code (UIC) for the Army Requiring Activity (the Army Requiring Activity is responsible for providing the Contractor with its UIC for the purposes of reporting this information); (11) Locations where Contractor and sub-Contractors perform the work (specified by zip code in the United States and nearest city, country, when in an overseas location, using standardized nomenclature provided on website); (12) Presence of deployment or contingency contract language; and (13) Number of Contractor and sub-Contractor employees deployed in theater this reporting period (by country). As part of its submission, the Contractor shall provide the estimated total cost (if any) incurred to comply with this reporting requirement. Reporting period shall be the period of performance not to exceed 12 months ending September 30 of each government fiscal year and must be reported by 31 October of each calendar year. Contractors may use a direct XML data transfer to the database server or fill in the fields on the website. The XML direct transfer is a format for transferring files from a Contractor’s system to the secure website without the need for separate data entries for each required data element at the website. The specific formats for the XML direct transfer may be downloaded from the website.

PART 6

APPLICABLE PUBLICATIONS

6. APPLICABLE PUBLICATIONS (CURRENT EDITIONS)

6.1. The Contractor must abide by all applicable regulations, publications, manuals, and local policies and procedures. These include AR 25-1, AR 25-2, DOD Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIG), FBI QAS, FSQ/ISO and USACIL Quality Manuals.

PART 7

ATTACHMENT/TECHNICAL EXHIBIT LISTING

7. Attachment/Technical Exhibit List:

7.1. Attachment 1/Technical Exhibit 1 – Performance Requirements Summary

7.2. Attachment 2/Technical Exhibit 2 – Deliverables Schedule

7.3 Attachment 3/Technical Exhibit 3 – Conformance Requirements

TECHNICAL EXHIBIT 1

PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY

The contractor service requirements are summarized into performance objectives that relate directly to mission essential items. The performance threshold briefly describes the minimum acceptable levels of service required for each requirement. These thresholds are critical to mission success.

Incentive (Positive and/or Negative)

PRS #1. PWS 5.1.2.2 Contractor will provide maintenance to include all new point and major version releases as well as expert resolution of general STRmix Scientific support questions from the contractor.

TECHNICAL EXHIBIT 2

DELIVERABLES SCHEDULE

TECHNICAL EXHIBIT 3

CONFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS

1. DoD Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIG) compliant prior to each version release and remain compliant with STIGs as DoD modifies the guides.

2. HQDA Microsoft Army Gold Master (AGM), 64-bit compliance and remain compliant as AGM baselines evolve to next generation of MS OS, SQL, & services.

3. Any AGM baseline modification, such as a patch or configuration change, that adversely affects the STRmix application will be resolved no later than 30 days after notification.