West_Point_PWS_v5.docx

West Point DES seeks to leverage available cellphone-based technologies in an effort to better secure a campus and installation filled with individuals who are increasingly accustomed to using mobile devices in every aspect of their lives, anticipating this will increase reporting, enforcement, and the overall safety of the Corps of Cadets, staff, faculty, contractors, Soldiers, visitors, and USMA/USAG West Point property.

In order to accomplish this, West Point will acquire the chosen application for one base year with five option years using an initial phased approach in the base year. The first phase following acquisition, the pilot phase, will begin upon award and include approximately 100 users made up of mobile device users (select Garrison and USMA personnel with several cadets and select family members) users and several dashboard users. This phase will be used to conduct initial setup supported by the vendor, initial training of dashboard users, development and implementation of “advertising” products/strategy, establish baseline reporting/information flow structures, branding, confirm initial customization choices, ensure embedding with existing applications, and provide users the opportunity to provide feedback with the goal of confirming that the initially chosen vendor can meet the expectations of the Government. This phase ends after 60 days after award.

The second phase, full roll out, will begin on the 61st day after award if all expectations and functionality are met in Phase I. This phase will include working with the vendor to make any adjustments to the initial/baseline configurations, fielding additional dashboards, and any additional changes or alterations based off of user feedback in the pilot phase. This phase will see the population of users of the primary application rise to approximately 20,000 personnel as it will be open for all Cadets, Soldiers, Staff, Faculty, Family Members, Civilian Employees, and Contractors.

The Technical Review process will also consist of two phases. Phase I will consist of a small group (3-4) reviewing the submitted bids against TR Criteria. Phase II will consist of the top two-to-four vendors (for efficiency only the top two-to-four bids as determined by PH I will “move on” to PH II) who will then provide access to an instance (either in a “beta”/testing environment or in coordination with the other instance owner/customer) of their application to a larger group (20-30) for a validation exercise that will confirm the submitted application’s functionality in West Point’s unique academic, military installation and residential environment. A fully functional and West Point-specific instance is not required nor will any efforts to customize an instance prior to award will be given more favorable consideration. This test will consist of the chosen individuals testing the functionality of the application in their own unique working/ living environments and relaying that information back to the TR Board from Phase I. Vendors will provide access and a written set of instructions on how to register and use the functions to be tested. They will not be allowed on site to make any on-the-spot corrections or technical changes unless absolutely necessary to allow the exercise to function (ie if using a “closed” network run from a “local” server). The results of both phases will be combined and a selection made.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE SUPPLIES AND/OR SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE AGENCY’S NEEDS:

West Point requires a single, integrated, command and control application which allows emergency managers, strategic communicators and the supported population the following capabilities:

1) Incident/ Tip Reporting: App users will be able to report criminal, self-harming, and/or suspicious behavior or activities to law enforcement personnel and/or the appropriate agencies through pre-designated and West Point-chosen “hot buttons” that utilize text, video, and voice reporting both attributable and anonymously. There must be a user-enabled option to report activities or behaviors completely anonymously to the dashboard users with no information other than the “tip” itself relayed to the dashboard. In the event of imminent danger (loss of life, limb or eyesight), a small group of pre-identified leaders must be able to gain at least location information from the vendor POC, understanding that more information would be available upon a court order.

2) Incident Management: The application must have a user-enable location and status discrimination (ex: safe/not safe) function, preferably “one-touch,” that can be viewed on the dashboard/GUI, overlaid on maps, and preferably satellite imaging. It would be desirable to remind the user every time they enable the app without location being used that it works more efficiently if enabled. The app user must also have the ability to enter information that will be viewable by dashboard users, ie name, unit, phone number, address, etc. Dashboard users must be able to push mass notifications to all users and geo-fenced notifications to targeted populations.

3) On premises monitoring/ notification: The application dashboard/interface must be monitored and manipulated by West Point personnel. The dashboard must also be customizable by organization, distinct views/ functionality by role.

4) Availability: Upon award this app must be available, free of charge, for download by all smart device users, iOS, Google, Windows, and Android compatible. Users must be limited to those that have a vested interest and geographic proximity to West Point through either location and/or email-address based discrimination, ie only .mil and westpoint.edu users, with users required to “re-register” at a to-be-determined interval, ie a pop-up question annually confirming the user still wants access to the West Point instance of the selected application also with non-active users being purged after 365 days of non-use. This purging will be done by the vendor.

5) Security: This app must have user information secured with a SOC2 or higher standard web-based solution, ie AWS, etc. Within 180 days of award (phase II), the vendor must have FEDRAMP level 1 certification application submitted for this app and within 270 days of award be on the DISA certified list of applications. This will allow users with Govt Furnished Equipment (tablets and cell phones) to download and utilize the product.

6) User-monitoring Notification: While not frequent in most current applications, full users must be notified that their selection of GPS-enabled location and chat functions constitutes permission to have their location and correspondence with dashboard users monitored and recorded…for official use only, but monitored and recorded nonetheless.

7) The solution must provide analytics as part of the dashboard within 90 days of award.

8) All data related to the application will be deleted by the vendor within 60 days of termination of the contract. A final analytics roll-up displaying usage trends and numbers of users to include types and frequency of interactions, most-to-least popular functions, etc, from award to termination will be furnished to the Govt within 30 days of the termination of the contract. All data related to the application will be provided to the government in an identifiable, usable, read/write format if/when the contract or license is discontinued.

9) Two-way communication: App users and dashboard users must be able to chat either attributional or anonymously and individually or in a group within the app, not using another application on the user’s phone, ie the default messaging/chat.

10) Information Management: The information/communication flow between mobile device users (device users) and dashboard users must be customizable by role.

11) Customization: Beyond information management, the vendor will work with West Point to “brand” the app to enhance user experience through at least colors, titling of tips to coincide with military terminology, inclusion of crests, insignias and symbols. It must be obvious to the user they are using a West Point-specific instance of the application.

12) Geofence-based messaging—Emergency and Non-Emergency: The app will allow USAG West Point and USMA dashboard users to broadcast dangerous areas and emergency cordons to the public in the event of an emergency. Dashboard users must be able to establish geofence-based messaging, both emergency and non-emergency. The app will allow dashboard users to report hazard concerns, damage, special event circumstances, and emerging disaster conditions to and from users. It will also allow time-based messages to alert app users once a boundary is crossed for a set amount of time, ie a “parking lot will be closed and violators towed after 2300 on Friday” message set to remind users every for several days in advance every time they cross a geofence. A geofence drawn by a dashboard user must not be able to include non-federal property, so some form of boundary will have to built into the system.

13) Non-Emergency Functionality: The app will provide at least a resource page for non-emergent situations with Points of Contact, addresses, phone numbers, etc, and links to other applications that are used by specific agencies or organizations.

14) Full User discrimination: Full users must be limited to West Point Soldiers, Family Members, Cadets, Staff, Faculty, and Contractors. This will be done by geo-fencing to West Point during enrollment (requiring the user to physically be on West Point at the time of enrollment) and/or email address, ie @mail.mil, @westpoint.edu. There will also be semi-annual “open enrollment” period the last week of JAN and last week of AUG where individuals will be able to submit names, email addresses, and phone numbers to a West Point POC, with the list being forwarded to the vendor for those individuals to download and register with the application the first week in FEB and SEP, ie someone employed on West Point can submit their family members’ information on 26JAN for access to the application and they would be able to download and use the application the first week of FEB.

15) “Embeddable” in an existing application being used by West Point organizations: The app must have the ability to be embedded within other West Point-related applications via a software developer’s kit (SDK) or like methodology with the same end result, a hot button taking a user to the Apple Store or Google Play to download the application is not acceptable.

16) Full Users must have app functionality away from West Point: As users travel into areas where there are other instances of the vendor’s application, users must have access to that instance of the application and still be able to “cross-communicate” with West Point instance personnel, ie have that area’s police station locations and still be able to chat with West Point users and emergency personnel. Further example, West Point would receive notification if a Cadet (or other user) called 911 while in NYC or on leave in Dallas and that Cadet must be able to chat with either other West Point users and/or West Point emergency personnel. 911 calls would still be routed to local 911 and the user must have the ability to also use that area’s instance of the application to contact local emergency personnel. This application can’t just work at West Point and must work in other areas without having to download another application.

17) Functionality in a connectivity challenged environment: It is desirable for the application to be functional in the absence of wi-fi or cellular service. Some vendors refer to this as mesh-networking, the ability to use the phones’ transmitter/receiver capabilities to relay information amongst users directly/without cellular or wi-fi signal.

18) Training and Setup: The vendor will provide at least two iterations included, with more on a per-event-cost basis, of training for dashboard users (small group) and device-user demos/training (small auditorium).

19) Single application functionality: All of the functionality listed in the previous requirements must be resident in a single application for app and dashboard users.

20) Functionality Availability: All functions listed above must be available to users upon award. Any software updates/patches or additional application functionality will be included, ie as new versions are released, they will be made available to West Point at no additional cost for the life of this contract (base year and option years)

21) Fee/Billing. West Point prefers billing be conducted on a flat fee basis for four option years with the base year including a “start-up” cost. Tiered cost on the number of users is preferable and will be assessed in each option year based on the number of actual users, ie if the base year cost is based on a 20k user population but only 10k actually use the application, then the first option year cost will be based on the tier in which 10k falls…the converse also holds, if the cost is based off of 20k and 30k actually use the application, then the option year cost will then change to reflect the cost of the tier in which 30k falls. Purchasing licenses for every user is not acceptable. Also, an a la carte menu of additional fees, ie on-site assistance not included in the “start-up,” additional customization in option years. Also, any software upgrades and/or patches the vendor makes to the application must be available free of charge to users and West Point for the period of performance.

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Technical Review Criteria (Phase I)

Does the app allow users to chat with dashboard users anonymously within the application without users having to “move” to their phone’s default messaging/texting function?

Yes No

Can users self-identify as safe/not-safe with “one-touch” functionality? Replying to an embedded option in a mass notification message is a two-touch response, one for the message and one for the safe/not safe selection. This is vice a separate page that allows the user to self-identify at all times.

Yes No/more than two touch

How is user and communication information secured?

DISA/FEDRAMP AWS/SOC 2 Not tested/certified

Can messages be sent realtime to individuals?

Yes No

Can messages be sent realtime to pre-determined or “as needed” groups?

Yes No

Can messages be initially sent to geofenced determined group?

Yes No

Can messages be linked for periods of time to a geofenced area?

Yes No

Can it be embedded? SDK Deep Link No

Cost for initial year? under 30k 30-40k Over 40k

Technical Review Criteria (Phase II)

These are “go/ no-go” situations. Users will annotate on their checklist whether they were able to complete the tasks at the designated time for the validation exercise.

Note whether or not your mobile device has cellular and/or wi-fi service prior to the validation exercise

Send an attributable tip from your workspace/barracks room with a picture of your workspace

Access the resources page from your workspace/barracks room

Receive and respond to a geo-fence based message (dashboard user will send and annotate time, message and responses

Receive a mass notification message (dashboard user will send and annotate time, message and responses)

Toggle your “status” to not safe (either in response to mass notification or “in app” depending on the product being validated)

Receive and respond to one-on-one text from dashboard user verifying they see a change of status