Sources Sought Requirements.pdf

Sources Sought Requirements

This requirement is seeking contract support to continue the National Secure Data Service (NSDS) demonstration project required under the CHIPS and Science Act (Public Law 117- 167 §10375(b)) and included within the White House AI Action Plan. The demonstration period began in August 2022 and ends in August 2027. Multiple NSDS components have been built and this requirement is seeking continuity of support to enable maintenance and continued development of these components through the end of the demonstration period. Any break or gap in support for any one component or any transition time between awards is determinantal to upholding the statutory requirements, will adversely impact the ability to implement the recommended policy actions from the White House AI Action Plan, and will lead to project failure.

The specific NSDS demonstration project components that require continuity of support between awards are included below. For each of these components, the current status must be maintained without any interruption. Furthermore, development of the components must continue at the beginning of the new contract award.

• Secure Compute Environment (SCE) – The SCE provides a virtual data access platform that enables researchers, including federal, state, local, and territorial agencies as well as tribal governments, to share, link data, and expand the utility of existing data. The SCE includes cutting-edge tools and technology in a FEDRAMP moderate environment with an NSF Authorization to Operate (ATO). The SCE meets federal security requirements for data access, offers fully integrated user-centered support and training, and provides partitioned project spaces that allow for secure data access for approved users on approved projects. Currently, approximately 30 users across six (6) NSDS projects require uninterrupted service.

• Data Navigator – The Data Navigator is an AI-based front door to the NSDS that includes an AI Chatbot, Data Usage Platform, and Community Forum. These subcomponents are described below. The Data Navigator is in development with a complex AI agentic system that draws from agency partnerships at the state and federal level to leverage high-quality information from agencies to answer detailed data usage and statistical queries.

o The Navigator AI Chatbot answers natural language questions with information sourced directly from Federal statistical agency websites. Users with more complex questions can request assistance from the human Subject Matter Expert Network who have expertise in federal and state data, data linkage, privacy-preserving technologies, and data science.

o The Data Usage Platform tracks federal data usage across the publication and internet ecosystem with a public dashboard with real-time data, with custom dashboard interfaces for individual agencies.

o The Community Forum offers a moderated space for data users to ask questions and share knowledge based on shared research topics.

• AI Data Harmonizer – The AI Data Harmonizer toolkit offers a suite of five tools that address some of the more burdensome data processing tasks and accelerate analyst capacity. These tools leverage both AI and complex statistical methodology to provide customized solutions to common data processing tasks. The five tools of the Data Harmonizer are currently completed as a beta version and will undergo testing with anticipated enhancements.

o The Metadata Extractor uses AI to extract metadata from tabular data, including Excel, CSV, and PDF files.

o The Free Text Encoder uses AI to enable users to cluster or categorize free-text fields.

o The Tabular Data Extractor uses AI to enable users to extract structured answers and tabular data from semi-structured documents (e.g., PDFs, TXT files).

o The Data Harmonizer uses AI to harmonize multiple tabular datasets by extracting schemas, defining or generating a target schema, grouping similar fields, and matching values across files.

o The Missing Data Assistant uses a browser-based interface to offer sophisticated imputation methods.

• AI Data Ready Toolkit – The AI Data Ready Toolkit helps agencies and organizations make their public data more useable by AI systems by assessing whether website content is AI-ready, providing assessment metrics, and identifying the tagging needed to make that content easier for AI systems to discover and use. The AI Data Ready Toolkit is currently completed in a beta version and will undergo testing with anticipated enhancements.

o The AI-Ready Evaluator assesses whether a website’s content is AI-ready, what percent is AI-ready, and whether the URL can be run using the Transformation Tool.

o The AI Ready Transformation Tool determines tagging required to render website content AI-ready and provides code that can be utilized by a systems engineer. It is a companion tool for the AI Readiness Evaluator.

• AI State Data Explorer – The AI State Data Explorer provides easy access through the Navigator’s AI Chatbot to data from state governments to support enhanced evidence building and novel linkage techniques using artificial intelligence. This tool will be further developed to provide open-source code so states can install it behind their firewalls.

• Privacy-Enhancing Technologies – Data users and providers face multiple challenges in securely accessing and provisioning data for evidence-building.

Privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) offer solutions to address these barriers.

Many agencies are exploring the use of PETs to securely expand access and linkage opportunities. The NSDS has developed tools and resources that enable the use of PETs (including Privacy Preserving Record Linkage and Synthetic Data Generation) to link data and support tiered access. Currently, these tools and resources are being integrated into the NSDS infrastructure.

• Data Quality Scorecard – The Data Quality Scorecard is an online tool that assesses a data source’s fitness for use through a series of user questions. The scorecard is based on the three domains and eleven dimensions defined in the Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology’s Framework for Data Quality. The scorecard is built on an R Shiny Dashboard and uses R Markdown to automate generation of HTML and PDF reports. Currently, the scorecard is being integrated into the NSDS infrastructure.

• Data Protection Toolkit (DPT) – The DPT is a government-wide resource that builds on well-established expertise within the Federal Statistical System (FSS) for balancing the protection of data and increasing access to users including privacy officials and chief data officers. The DPT includes content on four topic areas:

promoting data access while protecting confidentiality, assessing disclosure risk, statistical disclosure limitation, and tiered access model. The site has over 200 resources and tools that facilitate open data practices. Currently, the DPT is being integrated into the NSDS infrastructure.