SOW and Procedures_RP Document Digitization_FINAL.pdf

1. PURPOSE

To establish a statement of work and procedures for creating digitized versions of Agency paper documents. Digitization, also known as digital imaging, converts hardcopy or physical content into digital (i.e., computer-readable) formats. This process includes metadata tagging to provide basic contextual information and Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR), and Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) to enable full-text searching and management of digital copies.

2. SCOPE & SCHEDULE

This Procedure covers digitization efforts for the Acquisition & Contracting Directorate's (AAQ) Real Estate Contracting Division (AAQ-900) and applies to all Real Property Program documents. Real Property Contracting Officers and critical stakeholders in the FAA's Real Property Program Office should adopt these procedures (immediately or in a phased approach), but only if doing so does not jeopardize the status of their established standard business practice(s). Once digitized and validated, AAQ-900 manages the electronic documents/records in accordance with the appropriate information directives for agency records (FAA Order 1350.14B – Records Management).

Digitizing analog audio and video recording records requires specialized procedures and is out of this project and document's scope.

The Period of Performance begins on or about 1 October 2022 and concludes one year after the project kick-off. The contractor will complete all aforementioned activities within this timeframe.

3. BACKGROUND

The FAA strives to comply with Federal recordkeeping laws, regulations, and applicable record schedule guidance. Including the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum M-19-21, with the following goals:

• Goal 1.1, Requiring that all permanent electronic records be managed electronically by December 31, 2019, to the fullest extent possible for eventual transfer and accessioning to NARA in an electronic format

• Goal 1.2, Requiring all permanent records in federal agencies be managed in an electronic format with appropriate metadata by December 31, 2022

• Goal 1.3, Requiring all temporary records in federal agencies to be managed in electronic format or stored in commercial records storage facilities by December 31,

• Goal 2.4, Requiring NARA to no longer accept transfers of permanent or temporary records in analog formats (hardcopy, microfilm, and microfiche) and only accept records in electronic format and with appropriate metadata after December 31, 2022

To support these directives, AAQ-900 will transition to electronic record keeping utilizing the FAA's Enterprise Document Management System (EDMS) – Alfresco. Converting paper

Real Property Documents Digitization Project

Statement of Work & Work Procedures https://www.epa.gov/irmpoli8/current-information-directives

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Real Property Documents Digitization Project Procedures documents into digital files will optimize the effectiveness and use of the EDMS and provide additional benefits to the FAA and AAQ-900, such as:

• Improving the safety, preservation, and protection of FAA information

• Providing access to geographically dispersed staff (in offices and when teleworking)

• Improving document retrieval actions through faster search features

• Enhancing contracting operations through electronic signatures and process automation

• Efficiently manage records across rapidly changing technologies

• Reducing physical office space, or storage requirements

4. POLICY

The NARA requirements and standards for digitizing records apply throughout this project (36 CFR Chapter XII, Subchapter B, Part 1236, Subpart D). The regulation at 36 CFR § 1236.32 directs that, when digitizing records, agencies must meet the following standards:

• Capture all information contained in the original source records

• Include all pages or parts from the original source records

• Ensure the agency can use the digitized versions for all the purposes the original source records serve, including the ability to attest to transactions and activities

• Protect against unauthorized deletions, additions, or alterations to the digitized versions

• Ensure the agency can locate, retrieve, access, and use the digitized versions for the records entire record retention period

The regulation at 36 CFR § 1236.30(a)(2) forms the basis for allowing the FAA and AAQ-900 to designate digitized images as official record copies, thereby allowing the destruction of the original source record. However, as prescribed by FAA Order 1350.14B – Records Management (https://usfaa.sharepoint.com/sites/faarim/JobAids/Forms/AllItems.aspx), document and record disposition (destruction or retention) is outlined in AAQ-900's Office File Plan (Appendix A)

The contractor must adhere to the above policy requirements & those outlined in Appendix A.

5. STATEMENT OF WORK

Subtask A: Program Management (AMS WBS: 3.2.1)

Activity 1: Project Management and Reporting

The contractor will perform project management services for digitization activities. These services include but are not limited to:

• Planning and reporting project status against scheduled milestones

• Planning and reporting cost expenditures and remaining balances at each milestone

• Planning and reporting work breakdown structure and performance at each milestone

• Planning and reporting deliverable status against scheduled milestones https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=2cb32d56fb6af59e4b4ee022f092b321&mc=true&node=pt36.3.1236&rgn=div5&sp36.3.1236.d https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=2cb32d56fb6af59e4b4ee022f092b321&mc=true&node=pt36.3.1236&rgn=div5&sp36.3.1236.d https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=2cb32d56fb6af59e4b4ee022f092b321&mc=true&node=pt36.3.1236&rgn=div5&sp36.3.1236.d https://employees.faa.gov/exit/?pageName=https%3A%2F%2Fusfaa%2Esharepoint%2Ecom%2Fsites%2Ffaarim%2FJobAids%2FForms%2FAllItems%2Easpx&pgLnk=https%253A%252F%252Fusfaa%252Esharepoint%252Ecom%252Fsites%252Ffaarim%252FJobAids%252FForms%252FAllItems%252Easpx

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Activity 2: Project Schedule and Duty Locations

The contractor has sole responsibility for staffing, work assignments, maintaining the project schedules, and submitting required reports (See Activity 1). The contractor will provide digitization support at the following eight sites:

1. 10101 Hillwood Parkway, Ft Worth, TX 76177

2. 2300 E. Devon Ave., Des Plaines, IL 60018

3. 1701 Columbia Ave., College Park, GA 30337

4. 1 Aviation Plaza, Jamaica, NY 11434

5. 1200 District Ave., Burlington, MA 01803

6. 12200 S. 216th St., Des Moines, WA 98198

7. 777 S. Aviation Blvd., El Segundo, CA 90245

8. 222 West 7th Ave., Anchorage, AK 99513

Ft Worth is the first location for digitization activities. As the initial location, activities will occur in a solitary state (no other locations simultaneously performing digitization activities). In addition to the procedure outlined in section six, the contractor will validate the logic used during digitization activities; ensuring:

• The procedures produce the desired results and deliverables

• The procedures are reliable and repeatable

• The available equipment and technologies are adequate for mission support

• The schedule, staffing, and work assignments are appropriate for the workload

The contractor will immediately rectify any potential or perceived errors in the logic and notify the FAA's project lead of the changes. Following revisions to procedures, the contractor has the option to perform digitization activities concurrently or separately in the remaining locations. The FAA's project lead must approve the location schedule before the contractor initiates digitization activities at the various sites. The location schedule is subject to change based on resource availability or AAQ-900 operational requirements.

AAQ-900 will identify a point of contact (POC) at each site to liaison with the contractor. This POC will coordinate for the contractor to access the facility, file rooms, and provide any hardware and software needed for digitization activities. AAQ-900 designates this POC to approve, in writing, and "sign-off" that all digitization activities are completed to standard and within schedule. The FAA's project lead has final approval on the overall "sign-off" of digitization activities and project deliverables.

Activity 3: Equipment Assessment

After project kick-off, AAQ-900 will provide a list of scanner equipment types and quantities at each location. The contractor will evaluate the scanner equipment capabilities and throughput capacity based on the provided information. The contractor will then develop processes that provide optimal throughput of documents while retaining high quality.

The FAA will provide hardware and software for contractor use at each location.

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6. PROCEDURES

Subtask B: AFN/AAQ Scanning Support (AMS WBS: 3.1.3)

Digitization procedures include six key activities:

1. Document identification and preparation. Preparing selected documents for scanning.

2. On-site document scanning. Scanning and converting documents to digital files.

3. Document indexing & digitization. Naming and tagging documents according to naming conventions and metadata on prepared checklists (Appendix B).

4. Quality assurance & control. Checking digital documents are complete and accurate.

5. Digital file management. File digital documents in the FAA's EDMS – Alfresco.

6. Paper document disposition. Re-file or destroy paper documents according to retention and disposition instructions (Appendix A).

Sections 6A through 6F provide additional details for each activity. A caveat, these procedures are generic and do not include location-specific processes or hardware adjustments.

6A. Document identification and preparation.

Preparing documents for scanning is a critical step in the digitization process. Preparation ensures the pages scan correctly and are not damaged. While time-consuming, this step could increase the project's overall timeline if not properly completed. During this step, the contractor will:

• Ensure all pages are present and in a condition ready for scanning

• Examine each document and remove binders, staples, paper clips, sticky notes, and all other materials that prohibit proper scanning

• Review document to verify "scan-ability," noting any torn pages and flattening or uncurling pages to ensure the paper materials will scan smoothly

• Make photocopies of original documents/pages, if necessary, that are fragile or of a non-standard size or thickness which may hinder or be irreparably damaged upon movement through the scanning equipment or that may not yield a legible image due to bleed-through

• Insert target sheets, as needed, to create a place-holder for oversized or "special handling" pages such as maps, charts, or pages that require different scanning settings

• Insert separator sheets to identify breaks in lengthy documents (>250 pages) or attachments ("children") to a "parent" document or to determine when a new document begins during batch scanning operations

• Determine appropriate scanning settings (e.g., if the original document has single-or double-sided printing or needs adjustments to contrast/brightness, etc.)

• Count and annotate the number of pages to be scanned in the original document and check after scanning that all necessary pages were captured

• Assemble materials that will be batch-processed according to scanner and software requirements

• Establish and track custody by affixing a code, or barcode, with identifying data on a document's first/cover page (taking care not to obscure any important content).

This code will link the paper document with the image file, other related documents, and metadata. The code will also link the paper document and image file with specific scanning staff. This code will also assist in tracking status and metrics

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6B. On-site document scanning.

Before executing full-scale digitization activities, the contractor will conduct a proof of concept test for a small sample of paper documents. This proof of concept will validate scanner equipment capabilities and allow both AA-900 and the contractor to resolve any potential issues. Below are the estimated volume and document count for scanning at each location.

Scanning Location Estimated Volume Estimated Count Southwest Region - (ASW) Location 1: 10101 Hillwood Parkway, Ft Worth, TX 76177

High

117,000 pieces of paper

Great Lakes Region - (AGL) Location 2: 2300 E. Devon Ave., Des Plaines, IL 60018

Low

5,220 pieces of paper

Southern Region - (ASO) Location 3: 1701 Columbia Ave., College Park, GA 30337

Eastern Region - (AEA) Location 4: 1 Aviation Plaza, Jamaica, NY 11434

5,220 pieces of paper

New England Region - (ANE) Location 5: 1200 District Ave., Burlington, MA 01803

9,900 pieces of paper

Northwest Mountain Region - (ANM) Address: 12200 S. 216th St., Des Moines, WA 98198

Western-Pacific Region - (AWP) Address: 777 S. Aviation Blvd., El Segundo, CA 90245

5,940 pieces of paper

Alaskan Region - (AAL) Address: 222 West 7th Ave., Anchorage, AK 99513

9,000 pieces of paper

The contractor will load, scan, and convert paper documents into digital files. During this activity, the contractor must ensure no pages are skipped or double scanned, that the scanner does not jam, and quality checks to ensure that the digital file meets the appropriate standards and specifications for federal records. To ensure the best results, the contractor will adjust scanning attributes such as gray scaled images, small print, and enhanced quality of tables.

6C. Document indexing and digitization.

The contractor will index all scanned documents according to standardized naming conventions outlined in Appendix B. Additionally, the contractor will tag (metadata) all scanned documents according to the standard content taxonomy and metadata schemas outlined in Appendix B. These actions will result in faster search and digital file retrieval.

(Appendix B)

The digitization process includes optical character recognition (OCR), intelligent character recognition (ICR), intelligent document recognition (IDR), and optical mark recognition (OMR) for full text search and is critical to maximizing the use of the new EMDS and increasing the organization’s operational efficiency. Thus, the contractor will use agency

6 | P a g e approved software to apply OCR, ICR, IDR, and OMR to scanned documents as outlined in Appendix B.

The contractor will temporarily store all scanned documents in a local/digital staging folder to better facilitate additional processing, quality control, and finalization prior to release to the production storage environment – EDMS Alfresco. The contractor will return original paper documents to the file room or identified custodian once all processing is completed.

6D. Quality assurance.

Quality check is a process for ensuring the accuracy, legibility, integrity and completeness (referred to as the degree to which the record is trustworthy) of digitized records including ensuring the digitized image fully and accurately represents the physical product.

The contractor will quality check all scanned documents to ensure the digital file completely and accurately captured all information from the source document. This activity requires the contractor to review images for readability, orientation, and ensure accurate indexing. Quality assurance is an iterative process and consist of multiple checks to examine, enhance, and validate the quality of the scan.

First pass quality check: The contractor performs 100% quality control on each document and image, based on FAA policy and NARA guidance for completeness ad digital image quality to ensure the scanned image is an accurate and complete representation of the source document. During this pass, the contractor confirms related documents (parent, child, attachments, appendices, etc.) were digitized, or are in the digitization queue, and are appropriately associated.

Second pass quality oversight and validation: The contractor will assist an FAA FTE in performing quality checks on a random sample of scanned documents. During this check, both parties will confirm the accuracy of indexing and metadata tagged.

The initial sample size is high, capturing 60% of the scanned documents. This high sample size allows the FTE and contractor to validate that the scanning and quality control activities are producing digital images that meet policy standards, and that resulting images reproduce the original source records with sufficient quality to preserve accuracy and serve as the official record for all FAA purposes.

Sampling size decreases over time as more pages are scanned and acceptable levels of performance and quality of results are confirmed, to a minimum of 10%. However, sampling sizes must increase, or revert to the previous percentage, when results of second pass quality reviews identify increased error rates (greater than 1%), or reveal other potential performance issues.

If more than 1% of the total number of images and associated metadata in a batch, are found to be defective, the contractor will re-inspect 100% of the batch. However, the local FTE is responsible for validating compliance and accepting the final digital product.

Pages From: Pages To: 1st PASS QC 2nd PASS QC

1 3,000 100% 60% 3,001 6,000 100% 50% 6,001 12,000 100% 35% 12,001 20,000 100% 25% 20,001 and above 100% 10%

AAQ-900 and the FAA’s Project Lead are ultimately responsible for oversight of the entire

7 | P a g e digitization process, and quality of the final product, and must guarantee the authenticity, reliability, integrity and usability of the records for FAA purposes.

6E. Digital file management.

All scanned and digitized files need to be stored within the Agency's EDMS, Alfresco, according to standard file structures and storage requirements (see example file structure below). The contractor will use the steps detailed in Appendix C - eDocs/Alfresco SOP to create the file structure and migrate all digital files from the temporary staging folder into designated storage folder.

After project kick-off, AAQ-900 will provide the contractor training aids and videos for creating and using the eDocs/Alfresco system.

6F. Paper document disposition.

In accordance with retention guidelines, outlined in Appendix A, the contractor will either need to re-file the scanned documents or destroy the paper copy with appropriate chain-of-custody documentation. Contractor must receive a "Certificate of Destruction" signed by a AAQ-900 designated POC before destroying paper files.

The contractor will destroy physical paper documents following established FAA secure destruction procedures.

The contractor will purge all scanned and digital document data from the FAA servers, laptops, or equipment before leaving each location.

Some documents exist in a combined electronic and physical state. These hybrid records may include documents with raised seals, ink signatures, architectural drawings or maps, etc. Appendix B lists hybrid documents. The contractor will refile hybrid documents according to the Office File Plan – Appendix A.

Appendix A: EXAMPLE Office File Plan and Retention Schedule

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Appendix B: EXAMPLE Checklists

1. LOB/SO: 2. Routing Symbol: < Approved Date

File Identification Total Record Items Entered: 0 v. 5.2020 Routing Symbol

Disposition Authority

File Code Record Title Types of Office Records

Records Description Disposition Instructions Filing/Storage Location

Location POC Cutoff Protection Comments Record Format

Storage Volume Volume Measure

Beginning Date

Ending Date Essential Record

Essential Records Backup Location

Record Type

4. Organization Title:

5. .

P Volume of Measurement (Auto Populate): CF or Bytes Q Beginning Records Date Range (Oldest) R Ending Record Date Range (Newest or Present) S Essential Record (Dropdown): Yes or No T If yes, where is the backup copy stored?

* For electronic records, identify the backup location.

M Comments: Provide relevant comments N Record Format (Dropdown):

* Select Physical for paper, film, or other tangible media

* Select Electronic for digital files or electronic data O Storage Volume: Use CUBIC FEET (CF) or BYTES ONLY (These formats are required for analytics)

Note: Offices are only "required" to complete this Inventory Collection as part of the Agency's annual records inventory.

Inventory Collection Instructions

3. Prepared By:

OFFICE FILE PLAN

X

Approver's Digital Signature