U.S. Coast Guard - Surveyor

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes; it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP. Furthermore, those who respond to this RFI should not anticipate feedback with regard to its submission; other than acknowledgment of receipt - IF a request for an acknowledgement is requested by the submitter. This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service. DHS is not at this time seeking proposals. Responders are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay any cost incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party's expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP. The information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. All submissions become the property of the Federal Government, and will not be returned. 1. DESCRIPTION The USCG currently collects large amounts of data; however, information is stored in a manner that is incompatible with analysis. Many systems are disconnected from each other, creating silos of information that are difficult to access or use to conduct robust analysis. In addition, there are numerous repositories of images, videos, photocopied text, and voice recordings that are not utilized to their fullest potential and are often not machine searchable. As a result, even seemingly straightforward questions require an incredible amount of time to answer, and often yield unsatisfying analysis for senior executives. As a result, the United States Coast Guard (USCG), Data Readiness Task Force located at 2703 Martin Luther King Jr Ave, Washington DC, 20593, is considering plans for acquiring a Coast Guard instance of a Defense Information System Agency (DISA) Big Data Platform (BDP). The Contractor awarded a contract for this effort would initially stand-up the USCG instance of a DISA BDP, build the USCG's front end user interface and provide subsequent technical expertise and maintenance data scientists. This effort would be considered a technical demonstrator with an anticipated period of performance of one 12-month base period, and one 12-month option period. 2. PURPOSE OF THIS RFI The USCG is seeking information from potential service providers that can provide the follow capabilities: 2.1 REQUIRED CAPABILITIES 2.1.1 Big Data Platform Software-as-a-Service The Contractor shall utilize a DISA BDP cloud environment within a Contractor provisioned Amazon Web Services (AWS) GovCloud environment that meets DoD IL5 standards and can be reached from the DoDIN to support the USCG initiative. The environment(s) shall provide the ability for authorized users to have role-based access to data. Down time will be coordinated with the government to minimize impact to analysis. All upgrades and installs shall typically be planned to occur outside of peak use hours; with peak use hours defined as 0700 through 2000 EST on weekdays. 2.1.1.1 Implement the Coast Guard Big Data Platform The Contractor shall establish a BDP for an initial Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) baseline within the AWS GovCloud Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). The baseline shall be 500 Terabytes (500 TB) of active storage and production compute environment configured to match DISA's BDP environments to align with security authorizations and practical computing interoperability. 2.1.1.2 Sustain Big Data Platform The Contractor shall support the operations and maintenance of the VPCs, user access permissions, and the transfer of data between VPCs for the Period of Performance. 2.1.1.3 Data Ingest and Integration to the Big Data Platform The Contractor shall coordinate with the USCG Data Readiness Task Force to process data to develop and maintain metadata for all data sources ingested to the BDP. The Contractor shall assist the USCG Data Readiness Task Force with tagging and parsing the data being ingested. 2.1.1.4 Data Transport The Contractor shall coordinate and transfer data to support the large data collection activities of both business and operational systems. 2.1.1.5 Information Systems Security Support A key aspect in selecting the DISA BDP is leveraging reciprocity of current ATO by other DOD agencies. The Contractor shall implement Surveyor in accordance with USCG NIST Risk Management Framework requirements. The Contractor will work with a USCG-assigned Information System Security Officer (ISSO) to identify, implement, and assess required security controls. The Contractor shall coordinate with the USCG ISSO to present a draft Authority to Operate (ATO) package in electronic form documenting Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) ATO for the Contractor's infrastructure within five (5) business days after submission of the IATT package. The Contractor will provide monitoring capabilities to enable support cyberspace operations by the Coast Guard Cyber Command (CGCYBER). 2.1.2 Data Science Support 2.1.2.1 Facilitator Functions The Contractor shall provide personnel to support the USCG's initial efforts into data analytics and the use of the BDP toolset. The Contractor shall guide the USCG through the initial startup of analytical processes to include development of data catalogs, ingesting new data sources and formats, and creating new analytics tailored for the disparate data sets. 2.1.2.1.1 Data Science Expert The Contractor shall provide one (1) Full Time Equivalent data science expert to provide consulting on the enterprise level BDP to the USCG Data Readiness Task Force and the contractor team to include data strategies, methods of analysis, policies, processes, technologies, and BDP resources available to the USCG. The expert will work primarily at USCG Headquarters. Travel to other USCG units or partners may be required. The data science expert shall support the implementation of end- to-end proof of concepts for leading edge data mining and analytics systems. They shall implement innovative methods for extracting key parameters of big data coming from various sources. The data science expert shall provide expertise in machine learning, statistical data analytics, and predictive analytics to help implement analysis. This position shall assist with the development of analysis and support the overall implementation of analytics as developed by other USCG sources in addition to the Data Readiness Task Force. 2.1.2.1.2 Data-Tagging Subject Matter Expert The Contractor shall provide one (1) data tagging expert to advise, assist and conduct data tagging of USCG data and data sources. The work will be primarily at USCG Headquarters. Travel to other USCG units or partners may be required. The data tagging subject matter expert shall provide the necessary activities required to implement current and new data flows into the BDP and AWS GovCloud environments applying the proper tagging and data wrappers to be able to index and search data ingested into the system. 2.1.2.1.3 Big Data Subject Matter Expert The contractor shall provide three (3) big data subject matter experts to design the architecture of USCG data to be loaded or streamed into the technical demonstrator. The big data subject matter experts will provide sufficient design, governance, and security (at rest and in transit) of the structured and unstructured data so that it can be loaded into the BDP. The work will primarily be at USCG Headquarters. Travel to other USCG units or partners may be required. The big data subject matter experts shall design and build relational databases, perform data analysis, and implement archive and recovery of data. Candidates shall translate operational needs into long-term architecture solutions, as well as develop data platform blueprints, evaluate infrastructure platforms, and perform systems integration. Candidates shall review and develop data models and the metadata repository to structure the data for better management and quicker access. The USCG desires the experts have experience in data formats of personnel and logistics. The experts shall have experience in ingesting and analysis of information in non-traditional database formats (e.g. video, audio, text, etc.). 3. RFI RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS Each response shall: Explain a service provider's ability to stand-up a Coast Guard instance of a DISA BDP. This includes providing detailed, concise information about the company's qualifications and experience, from the company's specific current capabilities to past performance, with providing the required capabilities below. Explains pricing/service arrangements available to the USCG for these services, as well as contract vehicles available to the USCG for procuring these services. Only electronic submissions will be accepted. Electronic files larger than 5 MB shall be broken down into multiple files with no one file exceeding 5 MB. Each electronic submission shall include: The RFI number in the subject line. The maximum number of pages per submission shall be limited to 10 pages. Times New Roman, 12 inch Font and 1 inch margins. The file number and total files being submitted (e.g., File 1 of 4, File 2 of 4, etc.) in the subject line, if submission includes more than one electronic email. A Point of Contact (POC), phone number and email address of the person (in the body of the email) to be contacted regarding any correspondence between the Government and the Vendor. The POC shall be capable of addressing questions or issues associated with the submission and content of the RFI. Business Size applicable to the NAICS code: 518210. A brief summary of email content, vendor name and the firm's mailing address. Interested parties having the expertise and capabilities are invited to submit detailed information discussing their capabilities to Mr. Darron Kenley via email at Darron.L.Kenley@uscg.mil, or Mr. Michael McFadden via email at Michael.a.mcfadden@uscg.mil by 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) on April 16, 2020. Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid USCG, please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that all submissions become the property of the Federal Government, and will not be returned. Responses to this RFI may be reviewed by Government technical experts drawn from staff within DHS and other Federal agencies. The Government may use selected support contractor personnel to assist in the review. These support contractors will be bound by appropriate non-disclosure agreements to protect proprietary and source selection information. This action will be governed under DHS law enforcement sensitive guidelines.