SOURCES SOUGHT
D -- Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)/Privacy Act (PA) Processing Solution - Appendices
- Notice Date
- 12/15/2014
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541512
— Computer Systems Design Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship & Immigration Services, USCIS Contracting Office, 70 Kimball Avenue, Burlington, Vermont, 05403
- ZIP Code
- 05403
- Solicitation Number
- HSSCCG-15-I-00001
- Archive Date
- 1/30/2015
- Point of Contact
- Mary Kay Fau, Phone: 202-272-9059
- E-Mail Address
-
mary.k.fau@uscis.dhs.gov
(mary.k.fau@uscis.dhs.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Appendix C - Relevant DHS/USCIS Compliance Appendix B - System Requirements Appendix A - Application Needs 1. RFI Announcement This Request for Information (RFI) is issued solely for informational and planning purposes and does not constitute an Invitation for Bids, Request for Proposal, or Request for Quotations. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract, nor do they affect a potential respondent's ability to respond to any future synopsis/solicitation which may or may not follow or restrict the U.S. Government's eventual acquisition approach. Additionally, the U.S. Government will not provide reimbursement for any information that may be submitted in response to this RFI. Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. Interested vendors responding to this RFI may provide capability information for any pieces of this requirement or for an entire solution. Respondents will not be notified of any results derived from a review of the information provided; however information gathered may be utilized for technical and acquisition purposes. The U.S. Government will not pay for any costs associated with such demonstration(s) of any software products. This RFI will be open from the date of release for 30 calendar days. This RFI is requested of companies currently involved in the market place where these services/products are available and in production. 2. Scope The Department of Homeland Security, United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) is conducting research for an on-line/electronic FOIA/Privacy Act workflow and processing system. This will be a replacement/upgrade to the existing system. A solution must be capable of interfacing with other components of the USCIS suite of systems, and it must be a COTS based solution that can be configured to provide the functionality and workflows to support processes performed by FOIA/PA staff. In addition, USCIS requires information about support services including but not limited to: project management, system integration and implementation, migration of existing data, ongoing system maintenance requirements, help desk support and transition to operations and maintenance. 3. Background The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), as amended (5 U.S.C. § 552), permits any person to request access to federal agency records. The FOIA establishes a presumption that records in the possession of Federal departments and agencies are accessible to people, except to the extent that the records are protected from disclosure by any of the nine exemptions contained in the law or by one of three special law enforcement record exclusions. The Privacy Act (PA) of 1974, as amended (5 U.S.C. § 552a), embodies a code of fair information principles that govern the collection, use, and dissemination of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) by federal departments. The PA provides U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents (LPR) with the opportunity to request access to Federal department and agency records that are maintained on an individual. USCIS manages its FOIA/PA program in accordance with DHS policy. Any PII that is collected, used, maintained, and/or disseminated in connection with a mixed system by DHS shall be treated as a system of records subject to the Privacy Act, regardless of whether the information pertains to a U.S. citizen, LPR, visitor, or alien. If a requested document contains the PII of an individual other than the requestor, information in the associated records must be redacted by totally concealing the information that completely removes the PII. The USCIS National Records Center (NRC) receives approximately 145,000 FOIA/PA requests annually. USCIS FOIA requests fall under two categories: • A-File requests, which include requests for information contained in A-File or requests for a complete copy of an A-File. A-Files contain all records of any active case of an alien not yet naturalized as they passed through the United States immigration and inspection process. Approximately 98% of the FOIA requests received at USCIS are for A-Files and A-File materials. • Significant Information Group (SIG) requests, which include requests concerning agency processes, procedures, reports, statistics, and other matters not directly related to or contained within an A-File and represents approximately 2% of the FOIA requests received at USCIS. To respond to these requests, the NRC FOIA/PA staff search for "responsive records" in DHS/USCIS systems (e.g., National File Tracking System, Central Index System, Electronic Document Management System, etc.) and import data/information as needed. Responsive records are defined as any records, whether in electronic or paper form, that pertain to the information being requested. For example, if information on an A-file is requested, all documents contained within a specific A-file would be considered "responsive records." The responsive records range in size from 50 to 15,000 pages per file. The existing application used by USCIS to respond to FOIA/PA requests is the FOIA/PA Information Processing System (FIPS). This is a web-based application that supports on-line processing from the initial request (paper based form) received at the National Records Center (NRC) through providing a response to the requestor. The forms and supporting documents are digitized utilizing the Scan on Demand (SODA) application's Captiva module dedicated for FIPS; the digitized images with associated metadata (stored in an XML file) are transmitted to FIPS via nightly network copy. The information is then processed through electronic workflows to determine the records needed to respond to the request, redact information, generate letters and associated information to be sent to the requestor via printed documents, CDs, or email as needed. Through an interface, the application provides information on the status of the request to the requestor. The user base for this application is approximately 200 staff members at the National Records Center where an estimated 150 users telework 3 days a week. In addition, there are approximately 20 users at USCIS Service Centers, USCIS Headquarters/Office of Records and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 4. High Level Functional Needs The list of requirements and preferences by end users and the Office of Information Technology are contained in Appendix A and B of this RFI. The best result would be to address the functional needs using a COTS package that can be configured to meet the preferences with minimal customizations. 5. Relevant DHS/USCIS Compliance Any recommended solution, must meet the DHS established department-wide IT security program standards based on the following Executive Orders (EO), public laws, and national policies as identified in Appendix C of this document. 6. Instructions for Responding to RFI Interested parties should provide the following information: A. Description of Solution - Provide the following information regarding the solution that meets the needs stated above. • Identify the products and tools for meeting the high level functional needs. • Describe the ability to generate and maintain correspondence templates and reporting, including any 3rd party tools interface requirements. • Provide a notional architecture for the recommended solution with a listing of hardware and required software, identifying components of the solution that are based on open source technologies. • Describe the available hosting options, in addition to hosting at a DHS Data Center. • Describe the options for handling classified requests and responses. • Identify the standard reports that are available "out of the box". B. Services - Describe services that are available and/or required to support the implementation and on-going support of the solution. For example, project management, configuration support, release management, system integration/implementation, operations and maintenance, training, helpdesk and other support services in connection with this product. All respondents should include application life cycle management practices that have been used in environments similar to USCIS and elsewhere. C. Vendor Experiences - Vendors should provide references for at least two production clients operating for a minimum of 18 months in an environment similar to USCIS. As part of the identification of these references please include a brief description of the work performed and how it is similar to the USCIS environment, including the number of users and transactions processed. D. Complete the attached checklists in Appendix A and B by: • Indicating how the solution meets the need (Yes/No): ­ Currently Available Off the Shelf ­ Configurable - The need can be met using configurations. ­ Customizable - Customizations are required to meet the need. • Future Enhancement Time Frame - Indicate that the need will be met through a future enhancement by indicating when the enhancement will be available (MM/YY). • Other Feature That Addresses Need - In the event there is a feature that meets the need but it may not be obvious, identify the feature. • Comments - The respondent may include any additional information in this space to clarify their response. E. Optional White Paper - In the future, USCIS intends to move to an on-line entry capability for individuals to request information that contains PII. Under 5 U.S.C. § 552a(b) and CFR § 5.21(f), there are specific requirements to verify the identity of the requestor for specific situations. USCIS is interested in industry best practices and experiences/lessons learned from respondents in providing this capability in an on-line manner, replacing the paper based processed used today. 7. Questions reqarding this RFI shall be submitted via email ONLY, to the POC listed in this RFI. 8. Responses to this RFI shall be submitted via email to the POC listed by the closing date in this RFI.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DHS/BC/ACB/HSSCCG-15-I-00001/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: USCIS, Office of Information Technology, 111 Massachuetts Ave NW., Washington, District of Columbia, 20001, United States
- Zip Code: 20001
- Zip Code: 20001
- Record
- SN03596501-W 20141217/141215234922-726faad16cce7d4c1b1335a93023431e (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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