Sources Sought - National Organic Program - Organic Integrity Database
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is seeking capabilities information from vendors to support and develop the USDA National Organic Program's (NOP) Organic Integrity Database (OID).
Background
The mission of the USDA/AMS National Organic Program (NOP) is to protect the integrity of the USDA organic seal, both domestically and abroad, and ensure that both producers and consumers trust the organic label. The NOP does this through marketing and regulatory activities related to organic agriculture, including administering the USDA organic regulations; accrediting and overseeing USDA-accredited certifying agents (called "certifiers") and State Organic Programs; and administering an organic compliance and enforcement program.
NOP currently maintains a list of certified USDA organic operations on its website that is updated on an annual basis at http://apps.ams.usda.gov/nop/. NOP also posts updates to this list if an operator becomes suspended or revoked during the year. The annual list of certified operations soon becomes out-of-date since new operations become certified throughout the year, and others surrender their certification.
Description of Need
NOP seeks to develop a new, interactive, web-based database of certified organic operations containing reliable, high quality information of value to the organic industry and public. A modernized certified organic operations management system will serve as a significant operational centerpiece for the NOP staff and stakeholders. When complete, NOP's Organic Integrity Database will help the program increase supply chain transparency, promote market visibility for organic operations, reduce certifier reporting burden, and deter fraud.
The Organic Integrity Database project scope includes the following:
• Contain all elements in the current NOP list of certified organic operations at http://apps.ams.usda.gov/nop/ for all certified organic operations covered by NOP 4009 (National Organic Program Handbook: Guidance and Instructions for Accredited Certifying Agents and Certified Operations);
• Ability to track organic operations and changes in certification information and status over time;
• Provide structured fields for products/commodities while allowing for flexibility for unique entries;
• Allow NOP's accredited certifying agents (certifiers) to update data and provide updates about their certified operators in multiple ways (i.e., manually, in batch uploads, or APIs/web services);
• Provide permissions management to allow NOP staff, certifiers, and the public to appropriately see and/or edit data;
• Ability to map an operation's location(s);
• Include a Reporting module (e.g., operation counts, distribution);
• Include a Certificate generation module.
Additionally, the database/system must comply with Section 508 of the Disability Act of 1978 and applicable Federal security and privacy policy and guidelines.
NOP is proposing to leverage current AMS platform technologies to build a cost-effective, yet modern system. The Appendix describes USDA's Technical Environment and the current Application Development Platforms. Additional background information on the National Organic Program can be found on NOP's website at: http://go.usa.gov/7dcx. Documents relevant to the OID project include:
• Modernized Certified Organic Operations Database: Needs Assessment and Business Requirements Analysis (2013) http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5103061
• Organic Integrity Database: An Overview (2014) http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5109718
Vendors interested in supporting AMS/NOP in the development of the Organic Integrity Database should have the capability to:
• Develop systems utilizing Agile processes such as Scrum/XP (e.g. ability to respond to changing requirements in a fast-paced environment with frequent business owner interactions);
• Demonstrate experience with Microsoft CRM or .NET development environment;
• Design systems to minimize operations and maintenance expenses where feasible, given the limited one-time nature of funding for system development.
• Support early engagement with the certifier user community, as they will be key data providers for, and users of, the system. Organic Program domain and process expertise is desirable;
Request for Information Instructions
Responses to this publication will not result in a contract and will only be used for market research data. This is not a Request for Proposal (RFP) for competitive proposals. The Government will NOT award a contract based on the information received, nor reimburse participants for information they provide.
Interested sources may notify AMS of their interest in performing this type of work. Responses must include:
1) Name of Company and Contact Information to include telephone and e-mail;
2) Business Size and type of ownership (e.g., Large Business, Small Business, HubZone Small Business, Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), 8(a), Women-Owned, Small Disadvantaged);
3) Duns Number;
4) Responses to the requested information questions;
5) Three past performance and references relevant to the company's ability to perform this type of work and/or literature that supports the company's capability to perform this work; and
6) List of contract vehicles your company may have such as a GSA Federal Supply Schedule, 8(a) Certification, etc., OR if only able to compete under Open Market.
Requested Information - Interested companies should include in their response answers to the following market research questions/requests:
a) What is your management and staffing approach for successfully developing an IT system using agile methodologies?
b) Given the AMS technical environment (see Appendix), what use would you make of innovative IT tools/approaches such as cloud computing, open source/standards-based applications, or leveraging existing investments, commodity IT, and other best practices?
c) How do you ensure cost-effective, long-term maintainability of the system when tasked primarily to develop new system functions and capabilities?
d) How do you plan to engage the agriculture stakeholder community to develop business domain expertise to effectively communicate with the system user community?
Interested sources that submit a response are responsible for appropriately marking information that is proprietary in nature. Information requested is strictly voluntary. Responses must be e-mailed to: BeverlyS.Brown@ams.usda.gov. No telephone communication will be honored and sources that submit a response will not be entitled to the results of this notice.
Beverly S. Brown, Phone 901-384-3099, ext. 3103, Fax 901-384-3021, Email BeverlyS.Brown@ams.usda.gov
