Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data services

Description This Sources Sought Notice is for information and planning purposes only and should not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the Federal Government from the USDA Forest Service, Geospatial Service and Technology Center (GSTC). No award, cooperative agreement, grant, or contract will be made on the basis of the Sources Sought Notice responses. Any information submitted by respondents is strictly voluntary and payments will not be made for the preparation of any information submitted to the Government in response to this Sources Sought Notice. Responding to this notice does not guarantee participation in any future activities. Background The Forest Service (GTSC) is conducting market research regarding the availability of potential sources of onsite/off-site professional services (NOT of an architectural or engineering nature as defined under the Brooks Act) in the areas of geospatial web application development, geographic information systems (GIS), enterprise architecture, geospatial data management, spatial database administration and related geospatial activity areas. Considered sources for such services may include large, non-profit, and small businesses (8(a), service-disabled veteran owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, veteran-owned small business, and women-owned small business). GSTC develops, implements and applies geospatial solutions to address a variety of resource management needs utilizing a variety of technical services which includes: 1) data conversion, processing, and integration in accordance with the Forest Service's GIS Data Dictionary and other standards; 2) linking of the GIS spatial data with Oracle or SQL databases; 3) generation of related metadata to Federal Geographic Data Committee standards; 4) miscellaneous technical support, including training, analysis, map development, etc; and 5) GIS application and associated programming in the desktop, server, and internet environments. Project size will typically involve large parts of, or an entire, National Forest (50,000 to 5 million acres), and may include part or all of the USDA FS GIS Data layers at one time. The possibility exists for non core data themes to also be processed. Services Sought The specific services of interest for this request include the following geospatial activity areas. 1. GIS Analysis: Assisting government staff with determining approaches to solving geospatially-related problems and estimating geospatial work requirements for Forest Service projects, conducting advanced geospatial analysis including but not limited to: multi-criteria analysis, view shed analysis, travel-time calculations, and geographically-weighted regression analysis, assist government staff ensuring file naming conventions and file storage rules are followed for geospatial holdings in GSTC and the Forest Service's enterprise data centers. 2. Geospatial Data Management: Provides geospatial data management support, advises management on the acquisition/installation of hardware equipment, software, and maintenance agreements relating to data management, assists in the development of appropriate equipment specifications, assists in conversions from previous systems to newly developed systems, works in conjunction with other organizations to rectify data errors, assess needs and develop solutions, oversees the integrity, maintenance and dissemination of spatial data according to standard data policies and procedures, manages the organization and directory structures for the geospatial data to allow accessibility and efficient storage, provide data descriptions and metadata so data users to know of shareable data availability, data meaning, and access procedures, takes responsibility for data security and ensures that a proper backup and recovery procedure is in place for the geospatial and related tabular data, works with committees to determine needs for shared data and effectively works within the agency's standards for sharing data, participates organization meetings and prepares reports as requested. 3. Spatial Database Administration (DBA) - SQL Server, Oracle: Works to develop and maintain spatial database functionality, directly supports geospatial analysts and application developers, and assists with agency-wide database administration needs, practices database management skills, including database design and programming, in addition to experience in implementing and administering Oracle, and ESRI's Spatial Database Engine (ArcSDE) technologies, display strong analytical and problem solving skills, information technology skills, and effective verbal and written communication skills, DBA needs make recommendations to management on spatial database design and deployment strategies. 4. Web Hosting Administration: Assists the government staff in administration of web hosting environment with geospatial application focus, Assists in capacity planning for new and existing infrastructure, monitors and evaluates hosting environment and services for performance and usage trends. Manages change management processes for all stages of deployment lifecycle. 5. Geospatial Web Application Development: Performs analysis, design, coding, testing, verification, validation, and maintenance of web-based GIS applications, analyzes and documents software requirements, prepares design specifications, develops software, creates and implements test plans and installation, uses knowledge of software lifecycle processes to ensure quality applications are designed, tested and delivered, provides customer support during requirements gathering, systems integration and acceptance testing, provides leadership relative to software development and advocates best practice in configuration management, software design and testing and participates in peer code reviews, provides support of the implementation of enterprise-level processes and/or procedures, use problem solving skills and show responsibility for project results in terms of code quality, delivery schedule, and requirements management, be responsible for the technical direction or training of less experienced staff, interacts with functional peer group, managers, and customer staff. 6. Cartography: Assist government staff with producing and developing cartographic maps and displays related to the work requirements for Forest Service projects (i.e. product requirement, maps, graphics, display, web map services, etc.), work closely with team members of various GIS specialist roles, project managers, and GSTC customers; gathering and carrying out specific cartographic requirements, assist government staff with ensuring file naming conventions and file storage rules are followed for geospatial holdings in GSTC and the Forest Service's enterprise data centers. 7. Graphic Design/GUI (Graphical User Interface) Design: Work with technical mapping and GIS experts who use geospatial data to portray information about natural resources (forestry, wildlife management, hydrology, etc.) in a nontechnical way, display ability to simplify technical information is an important aspect, use expertise to display geographic or spatial data sources, thematic maps, graphs, pie charts, tables, and others, be responsible for all aspects of web design, including project storyboards, interface design, web graphics creation/optimization, and web usability, work in a collaborative environment with project managers and web developers to design and build web applications, take verbal and written requests and translate them into creative, well-designed products, creates and implements web site style guides and templates to ensure consistency with web design standards, design posters, web banners, ads, online demos and other marketing materials, assists with project documentation and the presentation of storyboard content, performs excellent written and oral communication. 8. Geospatial Training Development/Instruction: Develops and delivers basic, intermediate, and advanced geospatial analysis instruction of the ESRI product suite of ArcMap, Arc Catalog, Arc Toolbox, ArcGIS Explorer, ArcGIS Services, and other GIS related technologies to the community of Forest Service employees and cooperators, create, manipulates, and updates ArcGIS projects, manipulates layers and features in map displays, attributes tables, and graphs, provide support for the installation, licensing, and operation of ESRI geospatial software in a desktop and enterprise environment as part of a geospatial helpdesk, works as part of a team of contract and government geospatial analysis experts to develop applied geospatial training for current and future Forest Service desktop and enterprise geospatial systems, serves as a subject matter expert in the areas of GIS, training development and delivery. 9. Project Management and Reporting: Document and manage geospatial project tasks and coordinate and manage project schedules. Manage resources required for projects and conduct necessary coordination to ensure projects are completed on time, within cost, and within specifications. Identify and mitigate project risks. Instructions to Prospective Offerors Vendors responding to this Sources Sought Notice must 1) complete the attached GSTC activity area checklist matrix and assess their capability to support the listed activity areas; and, 2) for each activity area that can be supported, provide brief documentation describing relevant experience and/or capabilities; 3) provide your business size, socioeconomic designation, and DUNs number and 4) indicate if you are currently a GSA schedule holder for these services (include GSA Contract No.). Supporting documentation should include knowledge and experience in technical and applied training on the topics listed, and a description of expertise and experience in relevant software, platforms, and systems. Also include descriptions of any current or past projects for similar work, and identify ability to provide on-site or off-site support services, or both. Response must be submitted as a .pdf or Microsoft Word format. Information provided in response to this Sources Sought Notice should not exceed 10 pages total (including checklist matrix). Your company should only contact the Contracting Officer issuing this notice if there are questions about any aspect of this Sources Sought Notice. Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. An organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. We anticipate this project solicitation being available in early spring of 2016; however there is no guarantee or implication of a guarantee that this project will be solicited. Responses to this notice will NOT be considered adequate responses to any resulting solicitation. Interested parties may register at http://www.fedbizopps.gov to receive notification when the solicitation (AG-02NV-S-16-0025) and any amendments or notices are issued and available for downloading. Please note that the General Services Administration provides the notification service as a convenience and does not guarantee that notifications will be received by all persons on the mailing list. Therefore, we recommend that you monitor the FedBizOpps site for all information relevant to desired acquisitions. Please submit your electronic response to msschafer@fs.fed.us on or before March 7, 2016 - 2:00 P.M. MT. Information should be submitted electronically referencing the Notice Number AG-02NV-RFI-16-0025. No faxes will be accepted.