D -- INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES, INCLUDING TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES

Notice Date

May 25, 2001

Contracting Office

Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, 810 7th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20531

ZIP Code

20531

Solicitation Number

N/A

Response Due

June 13, 2001

Point of Contact

Janice P. Waller, Contracting Officer (202) 307-1418, E-mail Address: wallerj@ojp.usdoj.gov

E-Mail Address

Acquisition Management Division Point of Contact (towlesr@ojp.usdoj.gov)

Description

US Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Request For Information Background. The mission for the Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs (OJP) is to provide federal leadership in developing the nation's capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice, and assist crime victims. OJP identifies emerging criminal justice issues, develops and tests promising approaches to address these issues, evaluates program results and disseminates findings and other information to State and Local governments. In the last few years, OJP has provided funds to help support state and local justice agencies with information technology initiatives to promote information sharing. The goal of these efforts is to foster information sharing that can serve the collective needs of various justice system components and prevent the development of repetitive, overlapping, and non-compatible systems. Information about OJP along with its program bureaus and offices is available to the public by various methods, but increasingly through the use of the Internet and web-enabled technology. Objective. OJP has implemented the Grants Management System (GMS) which is a custom-built, web-based, software system enabling OJP to process grant applications through various evaluation stages through award. (See Attachment A, GMS Sequence Diagram). (Attachment A is available at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/new.htm). The current GMS model is static, i.e. the activities are hard-coded within the GMS application. Yet, the legislative and the processing environments are dynamic. New laws passed by Congress create new grant programs that GMS must implement. Old grant programs might be phased out. Processing methodologies within any given office might change. New offices may join the GMS umbrella. In order to meet these demands OJP is seeking information about software solutions that could be used in the design of the next generation of GMS. The next generation of GMS must be dynamic enough to absorb the changes that such an environment naturally dictates while ensuring that Government standards are followed. Purpose. OJP is seeking information from vendors that will help in determining the most suitable approach for acquiring services and/or products to meet the stated Objective. It is the intent of OJP to ascertain the availability and suitability of commercial and non-developmental items that might meet the stated Objective and to identify standard commercial practices that will allow OJP to take advantage of the current competitive marketplace. A preliminary review of the current state of technology, conducted by OJP, indicated that current workflow modeling technologies might allow for an elegant web based design that could support such a dynamic environment. OJP is particularly interested in this technology and would like vendors to submit information about it relevant to the stated Objective. Included within the submitted information, OJP would expect to see certain features: 1. Three Tier Web based implementation- the presentation-application-database server paradigm in some form; 2. Flexible Rule-base -- the rules that define the transition of an application from state to state (reviewing office to reviewing office) to be modified on the fly, e.g. wysiwyg or form based solution; 3. User Interface generation on the fly- the capability of generating user interfaces (html/asp/jsp, xml etc) on the fly, e.g. wysiwyg or form based solution. Further, middle tier and database binding should occur dynamically. The approach must use industry standards in order to assure interoperability. These standards include but are not limited to XML, XSL, Java, Corba, COM/DCOM, etc.. 4. Scaling in complexity -- as new programs and offices are absorbed, old ones modified/discarded, the ability to address complex data driven problems; 5. Scaling in volume -- the ability to grow substantially with respect to the number of users it supports; 6. Architecture standardization -- the ability for users to forward new requirements using some sort of architectural standard, UML specifically; and 7. Integrated Development Environment -- the ability to employ an integrated development environment which exposes high level architecture all the way down to low level code. Review of Submitted Information. OJP intends to allow submission of requested information to continue for a two week period. Upon receipt of the requested information, OJP may schedule one-on-one market research sessions to further explore the state of the marketplace as it relates to the stated Objective. During the one-on-one market research sessions, OJP may request evaluation copies of any recommended products. THE SUBMISSION OF THIS INFORMATION IS FOR PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT TO PROCURE ANY ITEMS/SERVICES, NOR FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO PAY FOR THE INFORMATION RECEIVED. NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS EXISTS. Please include relevant information pursuant to your company's corporate experience and past performance in this area. Responses shall be received by June 13, 2001, at the following address: Attn: Robyn Dyson Towles, Deputy Director, Acquisition Management Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, 810 7th Street, NW, Room 3628, Washington, DC 20531. Ms. Towles' E-mail Address is towlesr@ojp.usdoj.gov, (202)616-9226. This is a request for information only.

Web Link

Grants Management System, Request for Information (PDF) (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/new.htm)

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010530/DSOL011.HTM (W-145 SN50N230)