RFI-FOIA Management Software.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF WAR EDUCATION ACTIVITY

HEADQUARTERS

4800 MARK CENTER DRIVE

ALEXANDRIA, VA 22350-1400

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION - HE12542051426

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Management Software

1.0 Description

1.1 The Department of War Education Activity (DoWEA) seeks information on how an interested contractor could provide cloud-based FOIA management software that complies with all Federal laws/regulations.

1.2 DoWEA anticipates making a single award. The anticipated period of performance is August 7, 2026 – August 6, 2031.

1.3 This request for information (RFI) is issued solely for information and planning and does not constitute a request for quote (RFQ) or a promise to issue an RFQ in the future.

The Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI, i.e., all costs associated with responding to this RFI are solely the responder’s responsibility.

Not responding to the RFI does not preclude a contractor from responding to a future RFQ/RFP. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the SAM.gov website. Potential responders are responsible to monitor the relevant site for additional information pertaining to this requirement. Do not submit proposals or quotes. The Government will not evaluate, nor entertain, any unsolicited proposals or offers received in response to this RFI. Any such submissions will be discarded.

2.0 Overview

2.1 Agency: For school year 2025-26, the Department of War Education Activity (DoWEA) will provide PK-12 instruction in 161 schools to approximately 66,000 dependents of active-duty military and civilian employees. In the Americas, DoWEA operates 50 schools located in seven states, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. In Europe and the Middle East, DoWEA operates 64 schools located in Germany, England, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Turkey, and Bahrain. In the Pacific, DoWEA operates 46 schools located in Korea, Japan (mainland and Okinawa), and Guam. DoWEA also operates a fully accredited virtual high school with teaching hubs in each region. Our curriculum, resources and student achievement scores on standardized assessments compare favorably to those of high-performing US public school systems.

2.2 Background: The DoWEA Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Office currently uses the FOIAXpress application to process FOIA requests made to the Agency. In accordance with the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) created a national FOIA request portal. It mandated federal agencies to connect to the portal by the end of the fiscal year 2021. The current contract includes the FOIAXpress Public Access Link (PAL) setup and subscription to connect to the national FOIA portal which has brought DoWEA into compliance.

2.3 Requirements: DoWEA requires a commercially available, off-the-shelf (COTS), enterprise license for FOIA management software. The proposed solution shall include related data migration and technical support.

Supporting Tasks: The tasks below are to help the Contractor gain a better understanding of the requirements.

They are not all inclusive, so the Contractor shall develop the total solution to meet all the requirements in accordance with a performance-based approach.

2.4 Draft Summary

Subscription Licenses: The Contractor shall provide one enterprise FOIA management software subscription.

It shall include upgrades and customizations and address any concerns about the system after upgrade deployment and any concerns about the frequency of upgrades. The Contractor shall:

2.4.1 The proposed Case Management System shall possess the following capabilities:

1) Distinguish between privileged accesses.

2) Assign a tracking number to a request automatically.

3) Include email templates or other information out using DoWEA’s SMTP server.

4) Ensure fields in the correspondence template are auto populated with the required information.

5) Maintain documents and notes associated with a case.

6) Retain all outgoing correspondence such as emails, as part of the case file.

7) Track fees generated during the FOIA process.

8) Compile statistics on requests and requesters.

9) Support Federal retention policies for records management for case files.

2.4.2 The proposed case management system shall allow users to perform the following:

1) Enter a FOIA request into the system manually.

2) Use an automated workflow system from the beginning of the process to final disposition.

3) Print correspondence and documents.

4) Upload file formats such as PDF/Word/Excel/PPT.

5) Store and manage electronic records.

6) Redact documents within the system.

7) Generate reports on the number, types, and nature of FOIA requests processed.

8) Pull custom reports, save, download, print, and email reports.

9) View the dashboard with statistics and metrics in the system.

2.4.3 The proposed Electronic Data Review (EDR) shall possess the following capabilities:

1) Email deduplication to consolidate email threads and attachments.

2) Rank, categorize and identify relevant content by concept automatically.

3) Provide role-based permissions to assign cases to select users and give or limit access to features or secure content by role.

4) Include advanced keyword search to uncover responsive terms in large document sets.

5) Create audit logs automatically to ensure compliance and support legal actions.

6) Perform side-by-side document review to certify accuracy.

2.4.4 The proposed artificial intelligence (AI) redaction shall leverage machine learning to find and redact sensitive information on requested documents automatically.

2.4.5 The proposed public access link (PAL) shall possess the following features:

1) Connection to the National FOIA Portal (NFP).

2) Public websites configured to support DoWEA.

3) Secure requestor portal with unique logins to submit requests/appeals, track status, communicate and receive records for download.

4) Automatic case tracking.

Data Migration: The objective is to migrate the FOIAXpress data into the proposed FOIA management software solution at the beginning of the contract period and to assist, if necessary, a new Contractor in migrating data to a new solution at the end of the contract period. The Contractor shall:

2.4.6 Start Up (if required): Migrate DoWEA’s FOIAXpress data into the proposed FOIA management software solution without losing interoperability with DOJ’s FOIA website/portal. Ensure the connection with DoJ remains seamless throughout the process. Note: This clause is only applicable if the incumbent is not awarded a new contract.

2.4.7 Close Out (if required): Assist the new Contractor’s migration of data to the new FOIA management software solution. Ensure the connection with DoJ remains seamless throughout the process. Note:

This clause is only applicable if the incumbent is not awarded a new contract.

Cloud Service and Support: The objective is to (1) ensure rapid deployment, installation, and configuration of the SaaS solution, and (2) provide project management services, technical architecture review/design, system setup, system engineering, and security. The Contractor shall:

2.4.8 Provide application and environment documentation needed for DoWEA to complete security reviews such as a privacy impact assessment and cloud questionnaires.

2.4.9 Be responsible, as a SaaS provider, for server and application maintenance, upgrades, patching, and hosting services for 24/7/365 availability. Note: The Contractor shall notify DoWEA a minimum of one business day prior to upgrades and downtime.

2.4.10 Provide a document containing their customer support center standard operating procedures (SOP) for support call handling within 24 hours of the contract award date. The SOP shall include, at a minimum:

1) Contact information for the Contractor’s helpdesk.

2) Initial information required to open a ticket (e.g., name, agency, phone number, product, etc.).

3) Steps the Contractor will take to process and complete the incident request.

2.4.11 Provide weekly or bi-weekly updates to the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), who will be identified at the post-award conference.

User Acceptance Testing: The objective is to successfully complete User Acceptance Testing (UAT). The Contractor shall:

2.4.12 UAT Test Plan and Checklist Submission: Deliver a comprehensive UAT test plan and associated checklist to the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR). This deliverable shall be submitted no later than five business days prior to the scheduled UAT walk-through.

2.4.13 Checklist Revisions: Incorporate all DoWEA-provided feedback and requested changes into a final UAT checklist. The revised checklist shall be used for the official UAT event.

2.4.14 Pre-UAT System Walkthrough: Conduct a virtual walkthrough of the complete DoWEA instance of the application. This event, serving as a preparatory demonstration, shall be completed at least two business days prior to the scheduled UAT.

2.4.15 UAT Execution: Conduct the formal UAT, which shall be completed 20 business days after the award.

2.4.16 Discrepancy Resolution: Document all discrepancies, errors, or defects identified during the UAT and provide them to the COR.

Final Acceptance Testing: The objective of Final Acceptance Testing (FAT) is to confirm that the software is ready for its intended uses and the production environment. This task includes verifying that the system meets all the agreed-upon business requirements and functions correctly in real-world scenarios. The Contractor shall:

2.4.17 Correct all documented UAT findings prior to FAT.

2.4.18 Complete the FAT in a timely manner.

General Requirements—The Contractor shall:

2.4.19 Technical Support: provide industry-standard technical support for its digital resources for the life of the contract via telephone or email within one business day from the initial contact to include but not limited to assisting with service problems, product setup, upgrades, and troubleshooting,

2.4.20 Third-Party Programs, Software, and Applications: Ensure its own and its subcontractors’ (third-party) programs, software, and applications meet—at a minimum—the same technical requirements as the Contractor must meet, such as single sign on (SSO) and Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) Level 2, etc. On a case-by-case basis, DoWEA may honor requests to waive the FedRAMP Level 2 requirement.

3.0 Responses

3.1 Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI using Microsoft Word or a compatible format. We fully realize that you will be able to give a much more refined answer once the solicitation is released, but we hope you can provide some general information in this regard based on your experience. In that regard, please include the following information:

3.1.1 Administration & Subcontracting

1) Company name, DBA name (if applicable), mailing address, CAGE code, unique entity identifier

(UEI), and North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes.

2) Designated point of contact’s name, title, phone number, and email address.

3) Describe, if applicable, any subcontracting possibilities. Note: The prime must perform at least 51 percent of the work.

3.1.2 Capability: Describe your proposed enterprise solution for handling FOIA requests to include your experience handling them for Federal agencies.

3.1.3 Data Migration: Briefly describe the plan and estimated timeline to migrate DoWEA’s FOIAXpress data, including what support will be required from the current contractor and from DoWEA.

3.1.4 Pricing: Provide a non-binding price estimate or estimated range—that will be kept confidential.

Please use the attached Excel spreadsheet. If the breakdown that is provided does not fit your solution, please revise the spreadsheet as needed.

3.1.5 Recommendations: Please provide any recommendations you believe might improve the Government’s performance work statement.

3.2 Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and be clearly marked. Please segregate the proprietary information. Note: All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

4.0 Industry Discussions

DoWEA representatives may or may not choose to speak with potential offerors. Such discussions would only be intended to get greater clarification on such things as capability and pricing.

5.0 Questions

Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted by email to Contract Specialist, Mr. Wardell Gordon.

at wardell.gordon@dodea.edu and Contracting Officer, Ms. ShaHannah Brown, at shahannah.brown@dodea.edu.

Verbal questions will not be accepted. Questions will be answered via email and will not contain proprietary or classified information. The Government does not guarantee that questions received after May 19 will be answered.

6.0 Summary

This RFI is issued solely for information and planning and does not constitute an RFQ/RFP. The information herein is subject to change and not binding on the Government. Release of this RFI is not a commitment that DoWEA will issue an RFQ/RFP in the future or that it authorizes costs to be incurred for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

SUSPENSE

Submit your RFI response no later than 1PM EST on Friday, May 25, 2026. Please email your responses to Contract Specialist, Mr. Wardell Gordon at wardell.gordon@dodea.edu and Contracting Officer, Ms. ShaHannah Brown at shahannah.brown@dodea.edu.