Inactive

This is a Request for Information - SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS and is not a pre-solicitation announcement. The purpose of this Market Research and Sources Sought Notice is to gain knowledge of potential ... This is a Request for Information - SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS and is not a pre-solicitation announcement. The purpose of this Market Research and Sources Sought Notice is to gain knowledge of potential business firms that have the technical capabilities and capacity required of the government. Responses to this Sources Sought Synopsis will be used by the Government in making appropriate acquisition decisions. Background: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries West Coast Region conducts analyses to inform policy decisions. Being able to conduct these analyses in a reproducible manner is extremely important, yet something toward which the team has only taken the first few steps. Training the NOAA Fisheries team to convert workflows to R is a long-time goal, but one with which the current R users in the organization need help. While the NOAA Fisheries team has some R users, and staff committed to teaching themselves, we do not have anyone with experience teaching others to use R. Objectives: The NOAA Fisheries team is looking for support in developing internal training materials to help NOAA staff learn to use R. As staff continue to acquire new skills we want to enhance our existing course to meet the growing need. We need a virtual training course that would provide opportunities for staff to develop coding skills that would enable them to perform analyses and automate routine tasks. We also often have folks who onboard throughout the year, so often have cohorts of only a few folks at a time (ranging from 5 -10 individuals). Therefore, a training platform that allows folks to learn independently throughout the year is necessary. In addition, the R automation and document production tasks that would most benefit West Coast Region (WCR) staff efficiency and streamlining are specific to our policy roles, and rely heavily on templates and standardized language specific to our offices. Developing R training materials that are specific to our products and include exercises and templates that staff can apply directly to their daily work will greatly enhance the usefulness of a training course. Creating applicable templates and course content for regional documents will also help increase the consistency of our products and make sure they are accessible (i.e., 508 compliant). Teaching our staff how to use code sharing platforms such as Github will also maximize our ability to collaborate on projects with teams and across the Region. The major outcomes for the virtual course are to introduce WCR staff without any coding skills to R coding for workflows, and for those staff to be able to start using existing code or automated workflows available in their office, and to feel confident beginning to code for their own needs. Another key outcome will be the support that develops the teaching abilities of a few key WCR staff who are already using R and Github, helping the self-taught use best practices to teach coding concepts to newcomers (e.g. train the trainers). The end result will be a course website that is immediately serviceable, and while initially populated with a combination of WCR-owned and vendor-licensed materials, WCR staff will then have the skills to update the website during the term of the license to convert it to a fully WCR-owned training product. Some staff in our region are building these types of tools and have begun to incorporate them into existing workflows. However, new standards for data sharing, accessibility, and transparency have increased the applicability and need for this approach. We also need to be able to regularly update training to remain compliant with these standards (e.g. Section 508 compliance, accessibility and data sharing). Developing a platform for internal training that belongs to the WCR and can be updated and maintained by our staff would greatly improve our capacity to develop our staff and transform to efficient, transparent, and reproducible workflows over the long-term. Tasks: Key tasks include the following: Deliverables Task 1: The contractor shall build an introductory R training website specific to skills and tasks common to WCR work and train key WCR mentors in its maintenance A. Build and transfer to WCR staff a html website built out using Quarto B. Provide key WCR staff training on how to maintain and update website, replace or develop new content for existing modules, and create new modules of the course. C. Host meetings, including kickoff meeting and 2-3 training meetings to teach website maintenance, updating, and use. Deliverables: A. Website developed in Quarto B. Imported training materials, including explanatory text, examples, and videos, to course pages for duration of license (see below for requested content) C. Email meeting and training information to WCR lead staff D. Draft and finalize agendas for training meetings at least 24 hours prior to the meetings E. Monthly progress report to include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following: accomplishments, issues encountered, and recommendations, if applicable. Task 2: The contractor shall provide course material licensing A. Course material created by contractor that includes the basic to intermediate R coding, with specific relevance to WCR work. Required content areas include: a. File/project/user interface setup, importing data, using a Quarto template, tidyverse packages and concepts, coding standard conventions and file structures, Github version control and collaboration, Quarto, getting help, functions, loops, data types, and accessibility (i.e., Section 508 compliance). Deliverables: A. Licensing which allows NOAA Fisheries WCR users access to any course materials owned by the vendor (e.g., videos, animations, presentations) until August 31, 2024. Task 3: The contractor shall provide Pedagogical Support A. Teach the NOAA Fisheries team best practices for teaching R to staff B. Kick off meeting and 25-30 hours over the course of multiple months to discuss training issues C. Provide support by email to address course website, curriculum, and teaching strategy questions as needed Deliverables: A. Up to five hours of support per month over multiple months B. Email meeting information to participants Schedule of Deliverables: Task 1A Build and provide introductory R Trainig Website; 1 Webpage; by Sept. 2023 Task 1B Train NOAA Staff to maintain website; by Dec 2023 Task 2A Course material and licensning; by Dec 2023 Task 3A Pedagogical Support; through Aug 2024 Requested Qualifications: The proposed personnel must have experience in the following: Program planning and management in a team environment Working with diverse interagency teams Excellent verbal and written communication skills Training people and organizations to use R code and to automate workflows Developing, launching, and maintaining R packages, Rmarkdown interactive documents, and R training materials including exercises, handouts, videos, and course websites The proposed personnel must possess and maintain the following skills/certifications and/or credentials during the period of performance: Current MS Office skills Advanced coding skills in the R programming language, using the RStudio platform and tidyverse syntax Current introductory R course instructor (private or academic) Confidentiality and Data Privacy: The requirement may require that services contractors have access to Privacy Information. Services contractors are responsible for maintaining confidentiality of all subjects and materials and may be required to sign and adhere to a Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA). Government Furnished Resources: The Government will not furnish any resources to the Contractor in support of this contract. Place of Performance: Work will be conducted at the place of business of the contractor. Travel is not expected or authorized for this requirement. Is there intellectual property or data rights involved? Yes, the licensed material will remain with the contractor but the website Period of Performance: August 31 2023 through August 30 2024 The North American Industry Classification Code (NAICS) is 541519 with a size standard of $34M. Appendix: Term Description R programming language: A computer coding language for statistical analysis and creating data visualizations Rstudio: A graphical user interface for interacting with R and saving code (developed by Posit Inc.) Quarto: A program for creating standardized documents by merging code outputs, text, and formatting (developed by Posit Inc.) Rmarkdown: A program for creating documents as described for Quarto using the R programming language specifically (predecessor to Quarto) tidyverse: A set of packages that use standard organization, grammar, and syntax rules designed to make it easier to clearly combine, process, and analyze data Github: A web-based version control and collaboration platform for software developers Interested firms shall provide, in writing, a technical specification sheet for product wishing to be considered, and documentation to support your firm’s capability to deliver requirement identified above and meet the essential services and include your firm’s name, address, point of contact, telephone number, email address, SAM UEI Number, Cage Code Number, business type and size, i.e., small, large, non-profit, educational, governmental, and so forth. Any response that does not include this information will not be considered. The Government will review your response to determine if your firm and offered product meets the governments immediate requirements. Please send all documentation to raynier.camerino@noaa.gov This request for information does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that a procurement action will be issued. This request for information does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise that any procurement action may be issued for the Government’s requirements. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise as a result of the submission of contractor’s information. The Government shall not be liable for or suffer any consequential damages for proprietary information not properly identified. Proprietary information will be safeguarded in accordance with the applicable Government regulations All contractors doing business with the Government are required to be registered and active with the System for Award Management (SAM).