RFI No. 47HAA025N0003 - National Digital Signage.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

No. 47HAA025N0003

National Digital Signage (NDS) - Installation, Upgrade, Maintenance, and Support Services

In Support Of Office of Facility Management (OFM)

ISSUED UNDER: eBuy/NASA SEWP/SAM.gov

Issued By:

GSA, Office of Administrative Services

Office of Internal Acquisition 1800 F Street NW

Washington, DC 20405

November 13, 2024

Disclaimer This Request for Information (RFI) is for planning purposes only and is not a Request for Quotes (RFQ), Request for Proposals (RFP), Invitation for Bids (IFB) or an obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any services.

The Government intends to utilize the information from this RFI to identify companies that can meet the Government’s requirements below, provide input on acquisition strategy, including proposed contract type, acquisition planning schedule and the feasibility of the requirement.

The contemplated NAICS codes are:

513210 (formerly 511210) - Software Publishers

541850 - Indoor and Outdoor Display Advertising

Responses to this RFI are not offers and cannot/will not be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. The Government reserves the right to determine how it should proceed as a result of this notice. Furthermore, those who respond to this RFI should not anticipate feedback with regard to their submission. However, the Government may engage vendors that respond to this notice by seeking further information about capabilities or even a direct award. The Government will not pay any cost incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the responding party’s expense. The information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government.

Project Objective and Background Digital Signage is an essential technology for modernizing communication and information dissemination within GSA’s real estate portfolio. A digital signage solution allows GSA to effectively manage and distribute real-time information, such as tenant updates, event schedules, emergency notifications, and building-related announcements across multiple properties. This enhances building occupant experience, engagement, and operational efficiency. Today, GSA hosts a centralized, on-premise deployment of a third party digital signage solution, currently supporting 85 lobby kiosks in 66 Federal facilities across the nation.

The objective of this RFI is to identify interested parties capable of providing scalable, interoperable digital content solutions that seamlessly integrate with GSA’s existing facility management tools and technologies. The GSA is seeking a solution that supports both interactive and non-interactive displays and can accommodate a range of media formats, including videos, images, live data feeds, and emergency messaging.

GSA’s digital content solution must meet the following technical and operational goals:

1. Content Management System (CMS)

● User-Friendly Interface: An intuitive and easy-to-use dashboard for uploading, organizing, and managing media like images, videos, animations, and text.

● Scheduling: Tools to schedule when specific content should be displayed (time, date, recurring schedules).

● Templates & Layouts: Pre-built and customizable templates for creating visually appealing content. The ability to design multi-zone layouts for different content areas on the same screen.

● Content Types: Support for a variety of media types including images, videos, webpages, live data feeds, social media streams, and real-time data like news or weather.

2. Remote Management

● On Premises or fedRAMP Cloud-Based Platform: Allows users to manage content and screens remotely from any location with internet access.

● Multi-Device Support: The ability to control multiple screens, across different locations, from a centralized platform.

● Real-Time Monitoring: View the status of each screen, ensuring all devices are operational and displaying the correct content.

● Updates and Changes: Instant or scheduled updates to the content on any display or group of displays.

3. Content Scheduling and Targeting

● Dynamic Scheduling: Customize which content plays at specific times or on certain days to target audiences at different times.

● Audience Targeting: Ability to display personalized or contextual content based on factors like location, time of day, weather conditions, or audience demographics.

4. Interactive Capabilities

● Touchscreen Support: Integrates with touch-enabled displays to allow user interaction, like wayfinding or self-service kiosks.

● Trigger-Based Content: Ability to change content based on triggers such as motion sensors or user interaction.

● QR Code Generation: Support for generating QR codes that can lead to digital experiences, such as web pages, apps, or special offers.

● Mobile Capable: Support for end user consumption or interaction via mobile device, such as a phone or tablet.

5. Data Integration & Dynamic Content

● Live Data Feeds: Display dynamic data such as national news, social media feeds, or weather updates.

● API Integration: Ability to connect with external systems or data sources (e.g., weather, traffic, or social media platforms) for real-time content display.

6. Analytics & Reporting

● Content Performance Metrics: Insights on which content is being viewed most frequently, at what time, and how long.

● Audience Metrics: Data on engagement rates.

● Proof of Play Reports: Evidence that content has been played as scheduled.

7. Security Features

● User Permissions: Role-based access control to manage who can upload content, manage screens, and view analytics.

● Data Encryption: Secure data transfer and encryption to protect sensitive information.

● Device Authentication: Authentication processes to ensure that only authorized devices can display content.

8. Device Compatibility

● Hardware-Agnostic: Support for a wide range of display hardware, including commercial screens, kiosks, video walls, and mobile devices.

● Multi-Platform Support: Ability to work on multiple operating systems (Windows, Android, iOS, Linux).

● Offline Functionality: Capability to store and play content even if the device loses internet connection temporarily.

9. Customization & Branding

● Custom Branding: The ability to customize the platform with GSA logos, colors, and themes.

● Ease of Use: Ease of system administration, configuration, and content management will be prioritized. The solution should offer and support templates for content creation and management.

10. Scalability

● Network Expansion: Easy to scale from a single screen to thousands of screens without performance degradation.

● Multi-Language Support: Useful for global deployments to cater to different languages and regions.

● Multi-Location Management: Centralized control for organizations with displays across various geographical locations.

11. Support & Maintenance

● Technical Support: Comprehensive customer support including troubleshooting, software updates, and maintenance.

● Content Backup: Backup and recovery options to ensure content isn’t lost in case of system failures.

Description of Information Requested All Interested parties shall submit the following minimum information:

● Name of company

● SAM UEI#

● POC, Telephone Number(s), Address, and e-mail address

● Supporting narrative/capability statement as applicable to this RFI

○ Anticipated Requirement Specifications

○ Generic Cost Estimate - If applicable, provide by technology (platform, station, kiosk, connected system, etc).

○ Generic Cost Estimate - If applicable, provide by deployment scale (small<100 sites, medium<500 sites, large<1,000 sites - ranges to be determined by contractor)

○ Technical Questions

○ Additional Information

Anticipated Technical Requirement Specifications

Interested contractors should provide sufficient documentation to demonstrate the company’s ability to meet, at a minimum, the service requirements as stated within this RFI.

A need for a Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) interactive Digital Content solution meeting, but not limited to, the following criteria:

● Solution is IPv6 capable

● On premises or fedRAMP compliant cloud environment, or willingness to achieve fedRAMP compliance

● Ability to adopt existing system architecture without the need for additional hardware

○ Reuse existing touchscreen displays and GSA-managed Windows PCs (players) running Chrome fullscreen

● Physical kiosk and mobile device options

● Interactive functionality. Can the solution support or planned support for:

○ Augmented reality for wayfinding

○ Interactive chatbot support

○ Digital concierge services

○ Enhanced accessibility features

○ Real-time, emergency evacuation instructions

● Support for SSO/MFA integration

● Support for API integration (e.g. REST)

● Usage analytics

● Timely response to support and security-related issues

● Training and content creation support

The Contractor will coordinate all technical implementation tasks with Government-designated support teams including server, application, network and/or security teams. This task includes the technical support, changes, and architectural expertise to maintain the solution in compliance with all existing GSA policies and guidelines. Issues that may be discovered through scan, reviews and audits shall be resolved in the timeframes defined by GSA Policy. The scope of the resulting procurement shall include all products and support services required to deploy, host, license, configure, integrate, and support the Digital Content platform, as well as train key stakeholders.

Technical Questions

1) Does the solution support IPv6?

2) Does the solution support the existing hardware & network architecture?

3) Does the solution offer (a) an on-premise option, (b) does the solution offer a cloud option, or (c) both?

4) What cloud provider does the solution utilize?

5) fedRAMP compliant? If not, is this on the vendor’s roadmap?

6) Is the solution mobile device responsive?

7) Does the solution support SSO-MFA?

8) Does the solution support interactive functionality? If so, please describe capabilities, and if able, future planned capabilities.

9) Does the solution provide use analytics and reporting?

10) Does the solution support templates for themed content?

IT Considerations

1. GSA has moved to the most current protocol of IPv6. Does the vendor proposed solution meet this requirement? Operational deployment and use of IPv6 has been mandated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) via M-21-07. The OMB directive, issued on November 19, 2020, includes the requirement to upgrade internal client applications that communicate with public Internet servers and supporting enterprise networks to operationally use native IPv6.

2. Does the vendor proposed solution meet GSA’s MFA requirements which require the vendor to use GSA’s single-on and multi-factor authentication (MFA) protocols to securely access the platform? If so, what are the alarming capabilities and the notification process (SMTP, text, etc.)?

3. The vendor must support configurable integrations with GSA operated, and government-wide operated, identity and authentication / single sign on services.

The vendor must support SAML 2.0 and/or OpenID Connect integrations.

4. The vendor shall support SCIM (System for Cross-domain Identity Management) or a vendor secured RESTful API for GSA to create and manage GSA end user accounts.

This includes creation, assignment of roles, and termination.

Additional Information

1. What is your firm’s socioeconomic status?

2. Does your firm have a GSA Schedule contract, if so what is your schedule contract number and category?

7. RFI SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Please limit technical responses to a maximum of fifteen (15) pages total (excluding brochures, and listings of authorized resellers), and submit in either Microsoft Word or PDF file format. It is recommended to submit the information in the format as outlined above to minimize the effort of the respondent and structure the responses for ease of analysis by the Government. Page limitation will consist of fifteen (15) pages Times New Roman, 12pt font for the technical responses.

Responses will only be accepted if submitted electronically to the addressee(s).

No telephone inquiries will be accepted.

Please submit your written responses no later than 10:00AM, Wednesday, December 4, 2024 via email to Sharmel Lane (sharmel.lane@gsa.gov) and Michelle Andrews (michelle.andrews@gsa.gov).

mailto:sharmel.lane@gsa.gov mailto:michelle.andrews@gsa.gov