DA10--REAL TIME ALERT SYSTEM

This new requirement is a request for information/sources sought notice in order to identify sources that have the resources and capabilities to provide real-time alerting system for incident reporting requirements, timely notification, information management and emergency decision making to the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Office of Emergency Management (OEM). Description of Work: Provide real-time alerting on breaking news and events, discovered in public tweets posted on Twitter and other social media platforms. Require software/service that provides information feeds from unclassified government (Federal, State, local) information, open-source media, and social media feeds. Feeds will be based on established VHA Critical Information Requirements and Essential Elements of Information. Specific feed requirements will be established with software implementation and setup. No manpower/analysts are required. Skills sets (physical security, public affairs, cyber security, intelligence analyst) provided by manpower are covered in Position Descriptions and outside the scope of this work. No coverage is required for public safety events related to traveling VHA personnel. No Data storage requirements. Alerts shall be not be stored as Federal Reporting requirements are specific to VHA Watch Office products created from the alerts/information. Data does not have warehousing requirements. Any real-time breaking news event alert must be accompanied by estimated event location, an event summary to make social media language signals more understandable, and the ability to see and receive a chronological set of unique, related event updates. Tool shall pull from multiple social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, others as identified) Tool shall pull from Blogs/Media Sources (this includes major and local blogs, foreign media and official government sources) Tool shall pull from Public Information Sensors (flight tracking, traffic incidents, seismological data, 911 scanners and Internet of Things data) Tool shall pull from Deep and Dark Web (hacking, ransomware, doxing, etc.) Tool shall have real-time access to 100 percent of public Twitter tweets. System shall ingest every publicly available tweet in real time and conduct algorithmic analysis on every public Tweet to filter out low-quality and duplicative signals, and cluster like signals into unique, breaking news alerts. Automatically translate every breaking news alert into English. Source of every breaking news alert must be categorized and scored in order to help determine the veracity of each breaking news alert. Push real-time alerts on breaking news and events for News Topics, News Categories, Region, and Alert Priority Level without requiring the input of keywords, hashtags, @handles, or phrases. Ability to customize each account to the user s specific news alert preferences and geographies. Provide Alerts on three priority levels and customized geographic parameters via internal notification algorithms. Alerts will be based on Critical Information Requirements (Key Word Searches) and Geofencing to designate specific geographical areas. Geofencing required for all VHA facilities and subordinate clinics to identify incidents (Critical Information Requirements Criteria) within the catchment area. Includes all VA Medical Centers and outlying healthcare clinics. Specific geographic parameters will be established with software implementation and setup. Alert delivery via web-browser user interface (UI), web UI pop-up windows, and email notification. Instant access to Government (Federal, State, and Local) information, open source media and social media feeds. Provide system access via native iOS and Android mobile applications in the Apple AppStore and Google Play Store. The Contractor shall be a certified Twitter Official Data Partner (https://partners.twitter.com/en/find-a-partner.html). Provide software maintenance, support, and technical support to include 24/7 helpdesk services. Software licenses required for six (6) total VHA personnel: five (5) VHA Watch Officers and one (1) VHA Watch Office Supervisor. No data storage required for this statement of work. Skillsets required for basic VHA Watch Officers are: physical security personnel, public affairs personnel, cyber security personnel. Training: Initial training of VHA OEM staff. Technical Requirements: The Contractor shall provide a web-based application that can be accessed via Microsoft Edge, Chrome, etc. for a real-time alert system on breaking news and events. The Contractor shall provide initial training and support at Martinsburg, WV and virtually as required. The Contractor shall maintain and support the Real-Time Alert System so that the system remains fully operational 24/7 365 days per each period of performance. Maintenance requirements include software repairs, bug fixes, defect resolutions, and troubleshooting to the software and applicable software upgrades. Any updates/upgrades made to the Real-Time Alert System are expected to be updated within ten (10) days of release. The contractor shall provide 24-hours/7-days a week help desk support to answer calls and resolve user reported problems: The contractor shall log email and call helpdesk support requests. The contractor shall provide support for simple issues, including password resets and simple troubleshooting; and The contractor shall provide advanced issue support that would usually require specialized technical or application expertise and possibly outside vendor assistance. The Government anticipates annual licenses, not perpetual. Period of Performance shall be for one (1) plus Four (4) Option Year periods. Interested & Capable Responses NCO 5 is seeking responses from businesses that are interested in this procurement and consider themselves to have the resources and capabilities necessary to provide the Real-Time Alert System to include installation and training. Please respond with your: 1. Business name, business type, socio-economic status (e.g., Veteran-Owned, Woman-Owned, Disadvantaged Small Business, 8(a), etc.), and person of contact (including telephone number & email address). 2. GSA contract number, if your company has one, that includes the labor CLINs necessary for the performance of the work specified above. 3. Capability statement and summary of relevant experience performing these types of services for VHA or other entities. 4. Ballpark cost estimate what VHA could expect to pay your company to perform the work described above. Responses must be submitted by 3:00PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) 18 Feb 2022. Responses to the information requested above may be submitted via email to laura.jardine@va.gov. This request for information/sources sought notice is for planning purposes ONLY. The results of this market research will assist in the development of (1) the requirement, and (2) the acquisition strategy (e.g., small business set-aside, full and open competition, etc.). VA assumes no responsibility for any costs incurred associated with the preparation of responses submitted as a result of this notice. NO PHONE CALLS WILL BE ACCEPTED