D -- OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE AND ONGOING ENHANCEMENT OF THE AMERICAN FACTFINDER (AFF) SYSTEM

Notice Date

May 18, 2001

Contracting Office

Bureau of the Census, Procurement Office, FOB #3, Room 1541, Washington,(Suitland, MD) DC 20233

ZIP Code

20233

Response Due

June 15, 2001

Point of Contact

Harold M. Brooks or Gary Schaumburg at 301 457-4102

E-Mail Address

None (DADS.RFI@census.gov)

Description

Desc: THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT. IT IS A SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS 1. The purpose of this sources sought is to establish initial interest and points of contact from private industry, determine the state of the industry and possible technology avenues to explore for enhancement of the American FactFinder (AFF) system, determine alternatives for efficiently and inexpensively operating and maintaining large-scale data production and dissemination systems, and explore technologies and applications for providing complex querying of very large databases. 2. American FactFinder (AFF) (http://factfinder.census.gov/) is the fruit of a three-year Census Bureau effort to create a data dissemination system for its vast stores of population and societal data. Bureau data, because of their huge quantity, broad range of topic areas, and complexity, challenge traditional presentation and dissemination approaches. Yet they are vitally important to American life. Besides providing pivotal data for Congressional apportionment and state legislative redistricting, Bureau data are crucial for market analysis, planning government services and facilities, implementing affirmative action programs, studying environmental impacts, and government spending plans, grants-in-aid, and revenue-sharing. The Census Bureau has for years been in the forefront in introducing new technology for disseminating data. AFF continues this tradition, blending aspects of data warehousing, web content management, and user interface technology to create a flexible, friendly environment for Bureau customers. AFF design shares many features of "classic" data warehousing -- large data pools, extensive cross-tabulation -- it diverges in very fundamental ways: large numbers and great diversity of users (3,500 simultaneously); selectable dissemination formats, including QuickTables and QuickReports, reference and thematic maps, and Geographic Comparison Tables; and a large selection of display options. AFF is data-centric, giving users significant control over selection and display of content. AFF, though engineered to support the data expert -- researchers, information-savvy press, statisticians, demographers -- carries a simple and intuitive interface that caters to casual Internet browsers, students, and business people. AFF for the first time ever gives users access to multiple Census Bureau data sets, including 1990 and 2000 Population Censuses, 1997 Economic Census, and the American Community Survey (ACS). Overall storage exceeds 12 terabytes -- over 6 terabytes of data storage alone. AFF is designed to accept new data sets easily and quickly, using metadata to establish the appropriate data space and specifications. 3. AFF comprises an internal, intranet-based system that provides internal Census Bureau users with access to sensitive detailed data files, and an external Web-based system for all other users. In addition, the AFF system includes development and test environments that support the growth of the system. These separate systems and environments provide the DADS Program with great flexibility in preparing for new data sets and conducting system upgrades without impacting external operations. 4. American FactFinder provides some powerful new tools for accessing data. AFF provides data in two forms: as finished data products, available for online review or download (Tier 1), or as dynamically-generated responses to pre-formatted queries, using AFF-generated table formats (Tier 2). In both instances, external users are not allowed direct query access to Census microdata, because of Title 13 confidentiality limitations. A new capability being developed in tandem with American FactFinder is the Tier 3 query capability. Tier 3 provides two advantages: first, external users get direct access, within certain constraints, to Census microdata, and second, users may construct free-form queries of those data. Tier 3 protects against possible disclosure of Title 13 data through the use of filters -- a query filter that rejects too-specific queries, and a report filter that tests system responses before they are reported to the user. The Tier 3 capability is designed to support up to 300 users simultaneously. More specific information concerning the Tier 3 capability is available on the DADS RFI web site. 5. The Census Bureau is exploring its options concerning the re-competition of the current Data Access and Dissemination Systems (DADS) contract, possibly in GFY 2003. The Bureau anticipates awarding one or more contracts to provide a) operation and maintenance support for AFF; b) ongoing technology refreshment and enhancement to the AFF system, and c) ongoing operation, technology refreshment, and enhancement to the Tier 3 capability. This RFI is submitted to collect information and insights to assist the Census Bureau in devising its acquisition strategy. 6. Specifically, this RFI is distributed to solicit insights and advice as to: a. Inventive, effective contracting approaches to address both the Bureau's need to ensure ongoing, innovative technology refreshment of the American FactFinder system and its requirement to provide reliable, cost effective operation and maintenance of the system. b. Innovative approach(es) and tools for developing/integrating a user interface that is intuitive; easy to use; supports display of large, complex data tables; easily integrates and displays interactive maps; easily integrates with the underlying data warehouse; and allows for quick, easy modification as requirements evolve. c. Innovative, flexible ways to query our databases and generate responses. American FactFinder's user responses (except for Basic Facts) are dynamically generated at the time of the query. d. Current technologies and approaches for database construction/tuning, data warehousing, and data dissemination that might be applied to Census Bureau data and data products, with an emphasis on handling very large, very complex databases; database queries in real time; fast response to queries while providing dynamic delivery of content; and quick update of databases as new data sets are included. e. Approaches for tracking software development, accurately predicting future development requirements, managing development staff and resources, and appropriate metrics for determining performance. f. Best tools, approaches, and practices for operating, administering, and maintaining a large-scale system, associated databases, and various software applications. g. Solutions for providing high capacity, reliable storage to support system operations and data archiving. h. Innovative approaches for providing complex, multi-dimensional querying capabilities for external users to very large microdata files while ensuring that inappropriate queries or responses are not disclosed. Recommendations and discussions should concentrate on making use of existing hardware and primary software applications to the greatest extent possible. 7. Current AFF Specifications: Hardware: IBM RS/6000 SP 4-way parallel servers External system: 24 SP nodes Internal system: 4 SP nodes Development environment:4 SP nodes Test environment: 2 SP nodes Software: AIX operating system Oracle 8i Parallel for data warehouse ESRI Spatial Database Engine for geographic database ESRI Map Server for reference and thematic maps IBM WebSphere web application server Number of users (Peak): 3,500 simultaneous user sessions Data Representation: Textual (Table-based) Geographic Reference maps for selecting data Thematic maps for displaying data Data Load/Update: Metadata-driven for consistency/ flexibility. AFF is designed to be able to quickly accommodate new data sets. Foreign Language: AFF is designed to easily accommodate data access and dissemination in more than one language. Additional AFF system architecture data is available on the RFI website. 8. Tier 3 is undergoing initial requirements analysis and architecture development. Early draft documents are available on the RFI website. 9. Responses to this announcement should be submitted no later than close of business on June 15, 2001. Any response to this notice must also include the following: company name, company web site, contact person, address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address. Company information will be posted on the web site for this project. Input on these important issues is greatly appreciated, but responses will not be acknowledged. All questions related to this RFI will be publicly responded to within 72 hours on the DADS RFI web site (http://www.census.gov/procur/www/dads/dads.html). It is the responsibility of interested parties to monitor this web site periodically to receive answers to questions asked about the RFI and keep abreast of the milestones of the project. 10. Limit responses to 25 pages or less. Input and RFI responses should be emailed to DADS.RFI@census.gov as a WordPerfect document; refer to the web site. This is not a request for proposal or invitation for bids, but is to be considered as a market research tool that will assist in the development of the RFP. Participation in this effort is strictly voluntary with no cost or obligation to be incurred by the U.S. Government. 11. If you have any questions contact Gary Schaumburg at 301 457-4102.

Web Link

None ((http://www.census.gov/procur/www/dads/dads.html))

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010522/DSOL005.HTM (W-138 SN50M4Y7)