Announcement of Requirements and Registration for the Digital Service Contracting Professional Training and Development Program Challenge, 34459-34464 [2015-14683]
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 115 / Tuesday, June 16, 2015 / Notices
www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.
We will provide a paper copy of the
Consent Decree upon written request
and payment of reproduction costs.
Please mail your request and payment
to: Consent Decree Library, U.S. DOJ—
ENRD, P.O. Box 7611, Washington, DC
20044–7611.
Please enclose a check or money order
for $7.50 (25 cents per page
reproduction cost) payable to the United
States Treasury.
Susan M. Akers,
Assistant Section Chief, Environmental
Enforcement Section, Environment and
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2015–14705 Filed 6–15–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410–15–P
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Office of Workers’ Compensation
Programs
Proposed Extension of Existing
Collection; Comment Request
ACTION:
Notice.
The Department of Labor, as
part of its continuing effort to reduce
paperwork and respondent burden,
conducts a preclearance consultation
program to provide the general public
and Federal agencies with an
opportunity to comment on proposed
and/or continuing collections of
information in accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This
program helps to ensure that requested
data can be provided in the desired
format, reporting burden (time and
financial resources) is minimized,
collection instruments are clearly
understood, and the impact of collection
requirements on respondents can be
properly assessed. Currently, the Office
of Workers’ Compensation Programs is
soliciting comments concerning the
proposed extension of the existing
collection: Health Insurance Claim Form
(OWCP–1500). A copy of the proposed
information collection request can be
obtained by contacting the office listed
below in the addresses section of this
Notice.
SUMMARY:
Written comments must be
submitted to the office listed in the
ADDRESSES section below on or before
August 17, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Ms. Yoon Ferguson, U.S.
Department of Labor, 200 Constitution
Ave. NW., Room S–3201, Washington,
DC 20210, telephone/fax (202) 354–
9647, Email ferguson.yoon@dol.gov.
Please use only one method of
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DATES:
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transmission for comments (mail, fax, or
Email).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Office of Workers’ Compensation
Programs (OWCP) is the agency
responsible for administration of the
Federal Employees’ Compensation Act
(FECA), 5 U.S.C. 8101 et seq., the Black
Lung Benefits Act (BLBA), 30 U.S.C. 901
et seq., and the Energy Employees
Occupational Illness Compensation
Program Act of 2000 (EEOICPA), 42
U.S.C. 7384 et seq. All three of these
statutes require that OWCP pay for
medical treatment of beneficiaries:
BLBA also requires that OWCP pay for
medical examinations and related
diagnostic services to determine
eligibility for benefits under that statute.
Form OWCP–1500 is used by OWCP
and contractor bill processing staff to
process bills for medical services
provided by medical professionals other
than medical services provided by
hospitals, pharmacies and certain other
medical providers. To consider the
appropriateness of the requested
payment in a timely fashion, it is
essential that provider bills be
submitted on a standard form that will
capture the critical data elements
needed to evaluate the bill, such as
procedure and diagnosis codes. This
information collection is currently
approved for use through December 31,
2015.
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The Department of Labor seeks the
approval of the extension of this
currently approved information
collection in order to carry out its
responsibility to provide payment for
certain covered medical services to
eligible employees who are covered
under FECA, BLBA or EEOICPA.
Type of Review: Extension.
Agency: Office of Workers’
Compensation Programs.
Title: Health Insurance Claim Form.
OMB Number: 1240–0044.
Agency Number: OWCP–1500.
Affected Public: Individuals or
households, businesses or other forprofit.
Total Respondents: 58,923.
Total Responses: 2,777,034.
Time per Response: 1–7 minutes.
Estimated Total Burden Hours:
260,873.
Total Burden Cost (capital/startup):
$0.
Total Burden Cost (operating/
maintenance): $0.
Comments submitted in response to
this notice will be summarized and/or
included in the request for Office of
Management and Budget approval of the
information collection request; they will
also become a matter of public record.
Dated: June 8, 2015.
Yoon Ferguson,
Agency Clearance Officer, Office of Workers’
Compensation Programs, US Department of
Labor.
BILLING CODE 4510–CR–P
The Department of Labor is
particularly interested in comments
which:
* Evaluate whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the
functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have
practical utility;
* evaluate the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information,
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
* enhance the quality, utility and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and
* minimize the burden of the
collection of information on those who
are to respond, including through the
use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology,
e.g., permitting electronic submissions
of responses.
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III. Current Actions
[FR Doc. 2015–14678 Filed 6–15–15; 8:45 am]
II. Review Focus
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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND
BUDGET
Announcement of Requirements and
Registration for the Digital Service
Contracting Professional Training and
Development Program Challenge
Office of Management and
Budget.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Digital Service and
Office of Federal Procurement Policy
(OFPP), as part of the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB), give
notice of the availability of the ‘‘Digital
Service Contracting Professional
Training and Development Program’’
prize competition and rules. Through a
multi-phased challenge, participants are
eligible for prize money up to
$360,000.00 under this competition.
In August 2014, the U.S. Digital
Service was launched to bring in the
country’s brightest digital talent to
SUMMARY:
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 115 / Tuesday, June 16, 2015 / Notices
The goal of this prize competition is
to develop a Digital Service Contracting
Professional Training and Development
Program for the Federal Government,
which will be used to add a digital
service core-plus specialization for
contracting professionals under the
Federal Acquisition Certification in
Contracting (FAC–C) Program issued by
OFPP.2 The final results of the challenge
will be provided to Federal training
institutions, such as the Federal
Acquisition Institute (FAI) and Defense
Acquisition University (DAU), for those
institutions to implement and maintain
the program. This program will be one
of many initiatives to foster
transformative change in the Federal
Digital Service acquisition culture.
No formal contract to any challenge
participant will be awarded as a direct
result of this prize competition.
The optimal comprehensive training
and development program, intended for
Federal Contracting Professionals,
specifically Contracting Officers and
Contract Specialists, will enable them to
understand and apply strategic thinking,
industry best practices, market place
conditions, and appropriate acquisition
strategies to the procurement of digital
supplies and services. An ideal training
and development program will be no
longer than 6 months in total, and may
include strategies such as rotational
assignments, mentoring, in-classroom
training, and detail assignments woven
into an innovative approach to
accomplish the stated objectives. A
definition of a successful digital service
buyer, novel ideas, leading-edge
approaches, and iterative methodologies
are highly encouraged in response to
this Challenge.
Digital services, as defined by OMB,
refers to ‘‘the delivery of digital
information (data or content) and
transactional services (e.g., online
forms, benefits applications) across a
variety of platforms, devices, and
delivery mechanisms (e.g., Web sites,
mobile applications, and social media).’’
Digital services may be delivered to
customers either internal or external to
the Government, or both.3
The primary outcomes of this Digital
Service Contracting Professional
Training and Development Program are
that participating Federal contracting
professionals:
• Become digital service procurement
experts;
• Are equipped with the knowledge
necessary to be imbedded within agency
Digital Service teams to serve as a
business advisor to the team, its
customers, and its stakeholders; and
• Have the knowledge to lead agency
training, workshops, and consultations
in order to expand digital service
procurement expertise within their
agency and the government.
1 Available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/
default/files/omb/procurement/memo/simplifyingfederal-procurement-to-improve-performance-driveinnovation-increase-savings.pdf.
2 https://www.fai.gov/drupal/sites/default/files/
2006-1-20-OMB-Memo-FAC-C-Certification.pdf.
3 https://www.whitehouse.gov/digitalgov/digitalservices-governance-recommendations.
transform how government works for
American citizens and businesses by
dramatically improving the way
government builds and buys digital
services.
On December 4, 2014, Anne Rung,
Administrator for Federal Procurement
Policy, issued a memorandum titled
Transforming the Marketplace:
Simplifying Federal Procurement to
Improve Performance, Drive Innovation,
and Increase Savings.1 In this
memorandum, Administrator Rung lays
out several initiatives for driving greater
innovation and strengthening Federal
acquisition practices, one of which is
building digital information technology
(IT) acquisition expertise.
As part of this initiative, OFPP and
the U.S. Digital Service are working
together to focus on improving the
process of IT acquisition, and
specifically the acquisition of digital
services. OFPP and the U.S. Digital
Service recognize the need for
improving and simplifying the digital
experiences that citizens and businesses
have with the Government.
Strengthening digital services expertise
in the Government is a key component
of being able to reduce the risk of failed
acquisitions and systems, and save
taxpayer dollars. The Digital Service
Contracting Professional Training and
Development Program prize competition
seeks to spur innovation in the training
and development of Federal Contracting
Professionals who are fundamental to
the success of digital service
acquisitions. Through program concept
white papers, up to three design
presentations, and a pilot program, the
effectiveness and feasibility of
innovative training and development
program approaches will be explored.
ADDRESSES: Questions about this prize
competition may be emailed to
Challenge@omb.eop.gov.
Prize Competition Managers:
Traci Walker—US Digital Service, OMB
Joanie Newhart—OFPP, OMB
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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Objective
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Specifically, the program must teach
Federal Contracting Professionals how
to:
(1) Understand and procure digital
services and supplies utilizing concepts
such as those described in the Digital
Services Playbook 4 and the TechFAR 5
(e.g, DevOps, UX, Design Services, Agile
Software Development, Open Source,
Cloud, Iaas, SaaS, and PaaS);
(2) Appropriately measure the success
of these contracts based on industry
standards;
(3) Accurately describe and define the
value received; and
(4) Encourage the use of commercial
practices and innovative approaches
(e.g. modular contracting, broad agency
announcements, challenges and prizes)
to ensure procurements can capture
flexible and rapidly changing
technology advancements.
The prize challenge will include three
phases. Phase I asks for participants to
submit a white paper that describes
their concept for a training and
development program that will meet the
stated objectives. Up to three Phase I
submissions will be selected as finalists
and move to Phase II. These finalists are
awarded $20,000 each in prize money to
design in more detail their proposed
concept program. At the end of Phase II,
these finalists will present their indepth program designs at an oral
presentation and a one hour mock
classroom training to a panel of Federal
senior leaders. One winner will be
selected and moves to Phase III, which
requires that participant to develop and
pilot its program for approximately 30
students. In Phase III, up to $250,000 in
milestone payments will be provided to
assist the participant in developing their
proposed pilot for a training and
development program that can be easily
adopted and implemented by the
Government. Upon completion of Phase
III, the finalist can win up to $50,000 in
additional prize money for developing a
program that fully met the stated
objectives.
The pilot will be held in the
Washington, DC area with local
students. However, approaches for the
proposed program that include virtual
components to allow participation of
students outside of the Washington, DC
area (with some in-person sessions
required) and/or self-pacing are highly
encouraged, but must also demonstrate
cost effectiveness.
4 https://playbook.cio.gov/.
5 https://github.com/WhiteHouse/playbook/blob/
gh-pages/_includes/techfar-online.md.
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Eligibility and Rules for Participating in
the Challenge
• To be eligible to win a prize under
this Challenge, an individual or entity:
Æ Shall have registered to participate
in the Challenge under the rules
promulgated by OMB and published in
this Notice;
Æ Shall have complied with all the
requirements in this Notice;
Æ In the case of a private entity, shall
be incorporated in and maintain a
primary place of business in the United
States, and in the case of an individual,
whether participating singly or in a
group, shall be a citizen or permanent
resident of the United States. Non-U.S.
citizens and non-permanent residents
are not eligible to win a monetary prize
(in whole or in part);
Æ In the case of an individual,
whether participating singly or in a
group, must be at least 18 years old at
the time of entry;
Æ May not be a Federal entity;
Æ OMB reserves the right to
disqualify and remove any submission
that is deemed, in the judging panel’s
discretion, inappropriate, offensive,
defamatory, and/or demeaning;
Æ May not be a Federal employee
acting within the scope of his/her
employment, and further, and may not
work on his or her submission(s) during
assigned duty hours;
Æ May not be an employee of the US
Digital Service, OFPP, a judge of the
Challenge, or any other party involved
with the design, production, execution,
or distribution of the Challenge or the
immediate family of such a party (i.e.,
spouse, parent, step-parent, child, or
step-child).
• Federal grantees may not use
Federal funds to develop their
Challenge submissions unless use of
such funds is consistent with the
purpose of their grant award and
specifically requested to do so due to
the Challenge design.
• Federal contractors may not use
Federal funds from a contract to develop
their Challenge submissions or to fund
efforts in support of their Challenge
submission.
• Submissions must not infringe
upon any copyright or any other rights
of any third party. Each participant
warrants that he or she is the sole author
and owner of the work and that the
work is wholly original. It is the
responsibility of the participant to
obtain any rights necessary to use,
disclose, or reproduce any intellectual
property owned by third parties and
incorporated in the entry for all
anticipated uses of the submission.
Submissions must not violate or infringe
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upon the rights of other parties,
including, but not limited to, privacy,
publicity or intellectual property rights,
or material that constitutes copyright or
license infringement.
• By participating in this Challenge,
each individual (whether competing
singly or in a group) and entity agree to
assume any and all risks and waive
claims against the Federal Government
and its related entities (as defined in the
COMPETES Act 6), except in the case of
willful misconduct, for any injury,
death, damage, or loss of property,
revenue, or profits, whether direct,
indirect, or consequential, arising from
their participation in the Challenge,
whether the injury, death, damage, or
loss arises through negligence or
otherwise.
• Based on the subject matter of the
Challenge, the type of work that it will
possibly require, as well as an analysis
of the likelihood of any claims for death,
bodily injury, or property damage, or
loss potentially resulting from Challenge
participation, no individual (whether
competing singly or in a group) or entity
participating in the Challenge is
required to obtain liability insurance or
demonstrate financial responsibility in
order to participate in this Challenge.
• By participating in this Challenge,
each individual (whether competing
singly or in a group) or entity agrees to
indemnify the Federal Government
against third party claims for damages
arising from or related to Challenge
activities.
• An individual or entity shall not be
deemed ineligible because the
individual or entity used Federal
facilities or consulted with Federal
employees during the Challenge if the
facilities and employees are made
available to all individuals and entities
participating in the Challenge on an
equitable basis.
• Each individual (whether
competing singly or in a group) or entity
retains title and full ownership in and
to their submission and each participant
expressly reserves all intellectual
property rights (e.g., copyright) in their
submission. However, each participant
grants to the Federal Government, and
others acting on behalf of the Federal
Government, a royalty-free nonexclusive worldwide license to use,
copy for use, and display publicly all
parts of the submission for the purposes
of the Challenge and future training and
development programs. This license
may include posting or linking to the
submission on the official OMB Web
6 https://www.congress.gov/110/plaws/publ69/
PLAW–110publ69.pdf.
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site and making it available for use by
the public.
• OMB reserves the right, in its sole
discretion, to (a) cancel, suspend, or
modify the Challenge, and/or (b) not
award any prizes if no entries are
deemed worthy.
• Each individual (whether
competing singly or in a group) or entity
agrees to follow applicable local, State,
and Federal laws and regulations.
• Each individual (whether
participating singly or in a group) and
entity participating in this Challenge
must comply with all terms and
conditions of these rules, and
participation in this Challenge
constitutes each participant’s full and
unconditional agreement to abide by
these rules. Winning is contingent upon
fulfilling all requirements herein.
• The Federal government will not
provide any travel expenses for
participants in the pilot projects.
• Prizes awarded under this
Challenge will be paid by electronic
funds transfer and may be subject to
Federal income taxes. Payment will
comply with the Internal Revenue
Service withholding and reporting
requirements, where applicable. Any
entrant on the Excluded Parties List will
not be selected as a finalist or prize
winner.
Registration and Submission Process
All submissions must include
information addressing all of the
mandatory elements. Any submission
not including all information will not be
eligible for award.
All submissions must be in English.
Each submission must consist of a PDF
file. The PDF documents must be
formatted to be no larger than 8.5″ by
11.0″, with at least 1 inch margins. The
participant must not use OFPP’s or
OMB’s logo or official seal, or the logo
of the U.S. Digital Service in the
submission, and must not claim Federal
Government endorsement.
Certification: Each submission must
include a cover letter that the individual
or every member of the team responding
has read and consents to be governed by
the Challenge Rules and meets the
eligibility requirements. This cover
letter must be signed and dated by all
participants. The following statement
must be included:
‘‘I have read and understand the OMB
Challenge Rules (‘‘Rules’’) for the Digital
Service Contracting Professional Training
and Development Program prize competition.
I hereby agree to abide by such Terms and
Rules.
I hereby agree to assume any and all risks
and waive claims against the Federal
Government and its related entities, except in
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the case of willful misconduct, for any injury,
death, damage, or loss of property, revenue,
or profits, whether direct, indirect, or
consequential, arising from participation in
this prize challenge, whether the injury,
death, damage, or loss arises through
negligence or otherwise.
I hereby agree to indemnify the Federal
Government against third party claims for
damages arising from or related to challenge
activities.
I certify that I am over the age of 18 and
a United States Citizen or a permanent
resident.
I hereby grant to the Federal Government,
and others acting on behalf of the Federal
Government, a royalty-free non-exclusive
worldwide license to use, copy for use, and
display publicly all parts of the submission
for the purposes of the Challenge. This
license may include posting or linking to the
submission on the official OMB Web site and
making it available for use by the public.’’
Submission Requirements and Pilot
Implementation
This Challenge will be conducted in
three phases.
Phase I: Program Concept
Challenge participants will have one
month from the date of this Notice to
submit a program concept. Those
submissions must comply with the
requirements provided below. Up to
three Phase I submissions may be
selected as finalists. The names of the
finalists will be posted on the
Challenge.gov Web site as will the
names of any participants receiving an
honorary mention. Honorary mentions
may be given to highly ranked
submissions that were not identified as
one of the final three finalists.
Phase II: Detailed Program Design
The Phase I finalists will receive
$20,000 each and will have one month
from the date of this award, to transform
their program concepts into a detailed
program designs, which meet the
requirements provided below. One
finalist will be selected as the winner of
the challenge. The winner’s name will
be posted on Challenge.gov.
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Phase III: Pilot
The challenge winner receives up to
$250,000 in milestone payments and
will have five months to develop and
implement their design with up to 30
government contracting students.
Milestone payments will be made based
on mutually agreed upon deliverables
throughout the pilot based on the
accepted design. An initial milestone
payment will be determined to assist
with the startup costs of the pilot.
OMB will select and provide students
for the pilot project. The students in the
pilot project will be selected from
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contracting professionals who are
certified at the Federal Acquisition
Certification—Contracting (FAC–C) or
Defense Acquisition Workforce
Improvement Act (DAWIA) Level II or
above.7 These pilot students are the
target demographic for the program, are
influential early adopters of new and
innovative acquisition strategies, and
will have some experience in IT
acquisition. These students will have
managerial commitment and approval to
fully participate and meet the
requirements of the pilot; however it is
anticipated that pilot participants will
be not required to be 100% assigned to
the pilots for the entire length of the
program, and will remain in their
current jobs during the pilot.
Assignment: In order to help judge the
effectiveness of the training and
development program, as part of the
pilot, the Federal contracting students
will be expected to complete a ‘‘live’’
digital service assignment, which could
be an actual project, procurement, or
agency engagement. OMB will work
with the Phase II winner to determine
which assignment is best-suited for its
specific pilot based on its proposed
design.
Phase I Program Concept
Each submission for this Challenge
shall consist of a white paper describing
the concept for a training and
development program that will meet the
stated objectives. It must include a
concept overview that describes how
the proposed program will improve the
ability of Contracting Specialists/
Officers to purchase digital services.
The white paper must detail how the
solution will create a competent digital
buying contracting workforce and how
this workforce will help agencies buy
digital services better. The white paper
must also include:
Æ Outline of major content focus
areas with their performance objectives;
Æ Suggested instructional strategies
for each content area;
Æ Overall expected program outcomes
and how the concept will meet them.
Æ A clear description of what
innovative training and development
approaches are proposed along with the
benefits of those approaches to this
program.
Æ The type of Government
stakeholder input required if the design
is selected for the pilot in Phase III.
Æ The anticipated cost of the pilot
and proposed program and any
7 Additional information on the FAC–C program
is available at www.fai.gov and the DAWIA
program at https://dap.dau.mil/career/cont/Pages/
Certification.aspx.
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expected intangible benefits related to
the program, or ways to utilize virtual
components and/or quantities of scale
strategies to leverage the program across
the government for Federal Contracting
Professionals.
Æ A concept for defining and
evaluating how well the students have
achieved the objectives of the program,
including a comprehensive survey for
the students and a description of how
the digital assignment outcome will be
assessed.
Phase II: Program Design
The finalists chosen in Phase I shall
prepare a detailed program design,
including the following three sections:
• Program Description
Æ More details on the major content
focus areas with their performance
objectives,
Æ Comprehensive Syllabus
Æ Defined instructional strategies and
educational method for each content
area,
Æ Mock-ups or prototypes,
Æ Proposed speaker lists,
Æ How a digital assignment will be
incorporated into the program,
Æ An understanding of how the
program components will achieve the
desired program outcomes,
• Assessment Plan
Æ More details on the planned
assessment of how well the students
have achieved the objectives of the
program;
Æ A remediation plan for trainees
who do not achieve the goals; and
Æ A concept for a Capstone or
Practical Skills Test that might be
required for certification.
• Anticipated Cost To Implement
Program
Æ The estimated investment required
to implement both the pilot and the
resulting program. The pilot would be
estimated on a basis of 30 students as
will the resulting program. If the pilot
is a scaled-down version of the fullyimplemented program, the
differentiation must be explained.
Æ Any expected intangible benefits
related to the program, or ways to
leverage quantities of scale strategies to
facilitate a widespread adoption of the
program in the government.
Phase II Oral Proposal
This program design will be presented
to the judges through oral proposals.
Additionally, a one hour mock
classroom training shall be provided to
the judges in order for the challengers
to demonstrate one aspect of their
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proposed design. It will be up to the
challenger to determine which aspect
and method of delivery will best
encompass the concept of their
proposed design.
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Phase III: Program Development and
Pilot
In this phase, the training and
development program is developed and
major components are piloted by the
Phase II winner with up to 30 students
to validate the content, feasibility,
instructional strategies, and expected
outcomes of the training program. There
shall be complete lesson plans,
participant materials, mock-ups and
prototypes, and training aids to test
during the pilot delivery. The pilot
program delivery is the ‘‘test drive’’ of
the proposed challenge solution to
determine whether it meets expected
outcomes. In addition to the students
assigned to the pilot, OMB will provide
key stakeholders and government
subject matter experts who can provide
other limited assistance required to
develop and pilot the program as
requested by the challenger in Phases I
and II. OMB will assist the Phase II
winner with the identification of current
Procurements/Projects/Digital Service
teams that students will be assigned to
work on during the course of the pilot.
The nature of the assignment chosen
will be based on a discussion between
the Phase II winner and OMB during
pilot program preparation. Sample
assignments might include:
• Conducting a solicitation from
Request For Proposal to Award to
establish a Federal-wide Blanket
Purchase Agreement.
• Working with a Digital Service
Agency team on drafting a Request for
Proposal.
• Assisting GSA’s 18F with a
consulting effort and resulting
acquisition.
• Drafting a Digital Service Agency
team’s acquisition strategy for multiple
projects/acquisitions.
Submission shall include an end user
survey to be delivered to the students
based on the proposed program concept
which will be used to determine how
confident the participants are in their
ability to apply the knowledge and
skills learned.
Final Submission: Results of Pilot and
Update of Proposed Program
Upon completion of the pilot, the
following information shall be provided
to OMB by January 31, 2016 to help
OMB judge the outcome of the proposed
training and development program:
Æ Results of the assessment of how
well the students achieved the
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objectives of the proposed program, and
update of the proposed remediation
plan and concept for a Capstone or
Practical Skills Test that might be
required for certification;
Æ Any logistical problems that
surfaced in the execution of the pilot
(this could relate to scheduling
challenges, absenteeism on behalf of the
participants, physical or logical
roadblocks encountered), including
what was done to resolve the problems,
or what should be done if a scaled
program were to be implemented to
ensure success;
Æ The pilot’s actual cost breakdown
including contract services, equipment,
facilities, hardware, software, training
materials, as it relates to the proposed
submission (this could include return
on investment evaluations and
alternative analyses);
Æ An accountability report that
captures how well the pilot was
executed (pilot’s projected cost
breakdown compared to the actual cost
breakdown) and how quality was
measured to get the expected results of
the pilot.
Æ The documented program design
incorporating lessons learned and any
changes made to the design initially
proposed;
Æ The final estimated investment
required to implement the proposed
program; and
Æ A description of how Return on
Investment (ROI) should be monitored
(e.g., linkage to performance metrics,
etc.).
Evaluation Process
The evaluation process will begin by
removing those that are not responsive
to this Challenge or not in compliance
with all rules of eligibility. Judges will
examine all responsive and compliant
submissions, and rate the entries. Judges
will determine the most meritorious
submissions based on these ratings and
select up to three finalists to include in
Phase II—Program Design.
Honorable Mentions may be included
as non-monetary prizes and announced
along with the winners on
Challenge.gov.
Phase I: Program Concept Submission
The judging panel will rate each
submission based upon the effectiveness
of the overall concept to help foster
transformative change in the Federal
Digital Service acquisition culture, the
viability of the proposed program, the
anticipated cost and its reasonableness,
the effectiveness of the proposed
assessment of the pilot, the
innovativeness of the approach, and its
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34463
potential for achieving the objectives of
the program.
Phase II: Program Design
Evaluation will be based on the
following criteria:
Overall Effectiveness of the Proposed
Program Design
Æ This factor examines the quality of
the design and the mock classroom
experience and how it demonstrates
how the proposed training solution will
help participants learn the skills and
concepts that are desired outcomes for
this program. It also examines the
creativity and innovativeness of the
program.
Overall Assessment Capability
Æ This factor examines the
effectiveness of the proposed
assessment capability, including
whether the data collection, tracking,
and analysis methods proposed
demonstrate the participants’ ability to
meet the program objectives.
Feasibility of Implementation
Æ This factor examines whether the
relative cost of implementation is
reasonable and commensurate with the
caliber of the proposed solution and
whether the concept can be scaled and
modified to suit local resources and
constraints in terms of number of
participants.
Scores from each criterion will be
weighted equally.
Phase III: Pilot Development and
Implementation
Evaluation of the effectiveness of the
proposed program will be based on the
final submission and on the following
criteria:
Results of Assessment of Pilot and
Proposed Program
Æ This criteria examines whether the
skills students learned through the pilot
met the objectives of the program and
whether or not students demonstrated
confidence in their ability to apply the
knowledge and skills learned. This
includes whether the students indicated
an understanding of how to procure
Digital Services utilizing concepts such
as those described in the Digital Service
Playbook and the TechFAR, how to
appropriately measure the success of
contracts, how to accurately describe
and define the value received, and how
to encourage the use of commercial
practices and innovative approaches to
ensure procurements can capture
flexible and rapidly changing
technology advancements.
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34464
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 115 / Tuesday, June 16, 2015 / Notices
Æ This criteria also examines the
likelihood of the proposed program to
meet the program objectives.
Expected Return on Investment
Æ This criteria examines the benefits
of the pilot and the proposed program
as compared to the cost. Judges may
examine the cost effectiveness of the
proposed program compared to
alternatives. Judges may examine
expected intangible benefits related to
the pilot.
Æ This criteria also examines the
accountability report.
The winner of the challenge will be
eligible for an additional prize of
$50,000.00 based upon the results of the
evaluation of the final submission.
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 3719.Dated:
Dated: June 9, 2015.
Joanie F. Newhart,
Office of Federal Procurement Policy, OMB.
[FR Doc. 2015–14683 Filed 6–15–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3110–05–P
NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION
SAFETY BOARD
Public Availability of FY 2013 Service
Contract Inventory Analysis, FY 2014
Service Contract Inventory, FY 2014
Service Contract Inventory
Supplement, and FY 2014 Service
Contract Inventory Planned Analysis
for the National Transportation Safety
Board
AGENCY:
Dated: June 11, 2015.
Candi R. Bing,
Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2015–14719 Filed 6–15–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7533–01–P
National Transportation Safety
Board.
Notice of Public Availability of
FY 2013 Service Contract Inventory
Analysis, FY 2014 Service Contract
Inventory, FY 2014 Service Contract
Inventory Supplement, and FY 2014
Service Contract Inventory Planned
Analysis.
ACTION:
In accordance with Section
743 of Division C of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2010 (Pub. L.
111–117), the National Transportation
Safety Board is publishing this notice to
advise the public of the availability of
the FY 2013 Service Contract Inventory
Analysis, the FY 2014 Service Contract
Inventory, the FY 2014 Service Contract
Inventory Supplement, and the FY 2014
Service Contract Inventory Planned
Analysis. The FY 2013 inventory
analysis provides information on
specific service contract actions that
were analyzed as part of the FY 2013
inventory. The FY 2014 inventory
provides information on service contract
actions over $25,000 that was made in
FY 2014. The inventory information is
SUMMARY:
asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
organized by function to show how
contracted resources are distributed
throughout the agency. The inventory
has been developed in accordance with
guidance issued on November 5, 2010
by the Office of Management and
Budget’s Office of Federal Procurement
Policy (OFPP). OFPP’s guidance is
available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/
sites/default/files/omb/procurement/
memo/service-contract-inventoriesguidance-11052010.pdf. The FY 2014
inventory supplement provides
information collected from contractors
on the amount invoiced and the direct
labor hours expended on covered
service contracts. The FY 2014
inventory planned analysis provides
information on which functional areas
will be reviewed by the agency. The
National Transportation Safety Board
has posted its FY 2014 inventory, FY
2014 inventory supplement; FY 2014
planned analysis, and FY 2013
inventory analysis at the following link:
https://www.ntsb.gov/about/
employment/Pages/open.aspx.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Questions regarding the service contract
inventory should be directed to Peter M.
Hazlinsky, Chief, Acquisition and Lease
Management Division, NTSB at 202–
314–6205 or matt.hazlinsky@nts.gov.
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[NRC–2015–0119]
Information Collection: Financial
Protection Requirements and
Indemnity Agreements
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Renewal of existing information
collection; request for comment.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) invites public
comment on the renewal of the Office of
Management and Budget’s (OMB’s)
approval for an existing collection of
information. The information collection
is entitled, ‘‘Financial Protection
Requirements and Indemnity
Agreements.’’
DATES: Submit comments by August 17,
2015. Comments received after this date
will be considered if it is practical to do
so, however, the Commission will only
ensure consideration for comments
received on, or before, this date.
SUMMARY:
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Fmt 4703
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You may submit comments
by any of the following methods:
• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2015–0119. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol
Gallagher; telephone: 301–415–3463;
email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For
technical questions, contact the
individual listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this
document.
• Mail comments to: Tremaine
Donnell, Office of Information Services,
Mail Stop: T–5 F53, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555–0001.
For additional direction on obtaining
information and submitting comments,
see ‘‘Obtaining Information and
Submitting Comments’’ in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of
this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Tremaine Donnell, Office of Information
Services, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555–
0001; telephone: 301–415–6258; email:
INFOCOLLECTS.Resource@NRC.GOV.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
ADDRESSES:
l. Obtaining Information and
Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2015–
0119 when contacting the NRC about
the availability of information for this
action. You may obtain publiclyavailable information related to this
action by any of the following methods:
• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2015–0119.
• NRC’s Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publiclyavailable documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html. To begin the search, select
‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then
select ‘‘ Begin Web-based ADAMS
Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS,
please contact the NRC’s Public
Document Room (PDR) reference staff at
1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by
email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The
supporting statement is available in
ADAMS under Accession No.
ML15104A625.
• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and
purchase copies of public documents at
the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville
Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
• NRC’s Clearance Officer: A copy of
the collection of information and related
instructions may be obtained without
E:\FR\FM\16JNN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 115 (Tuesday, June 16, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34459-34464]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-14683]
=======================================================================
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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
Announcement of Requirements and Registration for the Digital
Service Contracting Professional Training and Development Program
Challenge
AGENCY: Office of Management and Budget.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Digital Service and Office of Federal Procurement
Policy (OFPP), as part of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB),
give notice of the availability of the ``Digital Service Contracting
Professional Training and Development Program'' prize competition and
rules. Through a multi-phased challenge, participants are eligible for
prize money up to $360,000.00 under this competition.
In August 2014, the U.S. Digital Service was launched to bring in
the country's brightest digital talent to
[[Page 34460]]
transform how government works for American citizens and businesses by
dramatically improving the way government builds and buys digital
services.
On December 4, 2014, Anne Rung, Administrator for Federal
Procurement Policy, issued a memorandum titled Transforming the
Marketplace: Simplifying Federal Procurement to Improve Performance,
Drive Innovation, and Increase Savings.\1\ In this memorandum,
Administrator Rung lays out several initiatives for driving greater
innovation and strengthening Federal acquisition practices, one of
which is building digital information technology (IT) acquisition
expertise.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/procurement/memo/simplifying-federal-procurement-to-improve-performance-drive-innovation-increase-savings.pdf.
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As part of this initiative, OFPP and the U.S. Digital Service are
working together to focus on improving the process of IT acquisition,
and specifically the acquisition of digital services. OFPP and the U.S.
Digital Service recognize the need for improving and simplifying the
digital experiences that citizens and businesses have with the
Government. Strengthening digital services expertise in the Government
is a key component of being able to reduce the risk of failed
acquisitions and systems, and save taxpayer dollars. The Digital
Service Contracting Professional Training and Development Program prize
competition seeks to spur innovation in the training and development of
Federal Contracting Professionals who are fundamental to the success of
digital service acquisitions. Through program concept white papers, up
to three design presentations, and a pilot program, the effectiveness
and feasibility of innovative training and development program
approaches will be explored.
ADDRESSES: Questions about this prize competition may be emailed to
Challenge@omb.eop.gov.
Prize Competition Managers:
Traci Walker--US Digital Service, OMB
Joanie Newhart--OFPP, OMB
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Objective
The goal of this prize competition is to develop a Digital Service
Contracting Professional Training and Development Program for the
Federal Government, which will be used to add a digital service core-
plus specialization for contracting professionals under the Federal
Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) Program issued by
OFPP.\2\ The final results of the challenge will be provided to Federal
training institutions, such as the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI)
and Defense Acquisition University (DAU), for those institutions to
implement and maintain the program. This program will be one of many
initiatives to foster transformative change in the Federal Digital
Service acquisition culture.
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\2\ https://www.fai.gov/drupal/sites/default/files/2006-1-20-OMB-Memo-FAC-C-Certification.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
No formal contract to any challenge participant will be awarded as
a direct result of this prize competition.
The optimal comprehensive training and development program,
intended for Federal Contracting Professionals, specifically
Contracting Officers and Contract Specialists, will enable them to
understand and apply strategic thinking, industry best practices,
market place conditions, and appropriate acquisition strategies to the
procurement of digital supplies and services. An ideal training and
development program will be no longer than 6 months in total, and may
include strategies such as rotational assignments, mentoring, in-
classroom training, and detail assignments woven into an innovative
approach to accomplish the stated objectives. A definition of a
successful digital service buyer, novel ideas, leading-edge approaches,
and iterative methodologies are highly encouraged in response to this
Challenge.
Digital services, as defined by OMB, refers to ``the delivery of
digital information (data or content) and transactional services (e.g.,
online forms, benefits applications) across a variety of platforms,
devices, and delivery mechanisms (e.g., Web sites, mobile applications,
and social media).'' Digital services may be delivered to customers
either internal or external to the Government, or both.\3\
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\3\ https://www.whitehouse.gov/digitalgov/digital-services-governance-recommendations.
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The primary outcomes of this Digital Service Contracting
Professional Training and Development Program are that participating
Federal contracting professionals:
Become digital service procurement experts;
Are equipped with the knowledge necessary to be imbedded
within agency Digital Service teams to serve as a business advisor to
the team, its customers, and its stakeholders; and
Have the knowledge to lead agency training, workshops, and
consultations in order to expand digital service procurement expertise
within their agency and the government.
Specifically, the program must teach Federal Contracting
Professionals how to:
(1) Understand and procure digital services and supplies utilizing
concepts such as those described in the Digital Services Playbook \4\
and the TechFAR \5\ (e.g, DevOps, UX, Design Services, Agile Software
Development, Open Source, Cloud, Iaas, SaaS, and PaaS);
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ https://playbook.cio.gov/.
\5\ https://github.com/WhiteHouse/playbook/blob/gh-pages/_includes/techfar-online.md.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(2) Appropriately measure the success of these contracts based on
industry standards;
(3) Accurately describe and define the value received; and
(4) Encourage the use of commercial practices and innovative
approaches (e.g. modular contracting, broad agency announcements,
challenges and prizes) to ensure procurements can capture flexible and
rapidly changing technology advancements.
The prize challenge will include three phases. Phase I asks for
participants to submit a white paper that describes their concept for a
training and development program that will meet the stated objectives.
Up to three Phase I submissions will be selected as finalists and move
to Phase II. These finalists are awarded $20,000 each in prize money to
design in more detail their proposed concept program. At the end of
Phase II, these finalists will present their in-depth program designs
at an oral presentation and a one hour mock classroom training to a
panel of Federal senior leaders. One winner will be selected and moves
to Phase III, which requires that participant to develop and pilot its
program for approximately 30 students. In Phase III, up to $250,000 in
milestone payments will be provided to assist the participant in
developing their proposed pilot for a training and development program
that can be easily adopted and implemented by the Government. Upon
completion of Phase III, the finalist can win up to $50,000 in
additional prize money for developing a program that fully met the
stated objectives.
The pilot will be held in the Washington, DC area with local
students. However, approaches for the proposed program that include
virtual components to allow participation of students outside of the
Washington, DC area (with some in-person sessions required) and/or
self-pacing are highly encouraged, but must also demonstrate cost
effectiveness.
[[Page 34461]]
Eligibility and Rules for Participating in the Challenge
To be eligible to win a prize under this Challenge, an
individual or entity:
[cir] Shall have registered to participate in the Challenge under
the rules promulgated by OMB and published in this Notice;
[cir] Shall have complied with all the requirements in this Notice;
[cir] In the case of a private entity, shall be incorporated in and
maintain a primary place of business in the United States, and in the
case of an individual, whether participating singly or in a group,
shall be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States. Non-U.S.
citizens and non-permanent residents are not eligible to win a monetary
prize (in whole or in part);
[cir] In the case of an individual, whether participating singly or
in a group, must be at least 18 years old at the time of entry;
[cir] May not be a Federal entity;
[cir] OMB reserves the right to disqualify and remove any
submission that is deemed, in the judging panel's discretion,
inappropriate, offensive, defamatory, and/or demeaning;
[cir] May not be a Federal employee acting within the scope of his/
her employment, and further, and may not work on his or her
submission(s) during assigned duty hours;
[cir] May not be an employee of the US Digital Service, OFPP, a
judge of the Challenge, or any other party involved with the design,
production, execution, or distribution of the Challenge or the
immediate family of such a party (i.e., spouse, parent, step-parent,
child, or step-child).
Federal grantees may not use Federal funds to develop
their Challenge submissions unless use of such funds is consistent with
the purpose of their grant award and specifically requested to do so
due to the Challenge design.
Federal contractors may not use Federal funds from a
contract to develop their Challenge submissions or to fund efforts in
support of their Challenge submission.
Submissions must not infringe upon any copyright or any
other rights of any third party. Each participant warrants that he or
she is the sole author and owner of the work and that the work is
wholly original. It is the responsibility of the participant to obtain
any rights necessary to use, disclose, or reproduce any intellectual
property owned by third parties and incorporated in the entry for all
anticipated uses of the submission. Submissions must not violate or
infringe upon the rights of other parties, including, but not limited
to, privacy, publicity or intellectual property rights, or material
that constitutes copyright or license infringement.
By participating in this Challenge, each individual
(whether competing singly or in a group) and entity agree to assume any
and all risks and waive claims against the Federal Government and its
related entities (as defined in the COMPETES Act \6\), except in the
case of willful misconduct, for any injury, death, damage, or loss of
property, revenue, or profits, whether direct, indirect, or
consequential, arising from their participation in the Challenge,
whether the injury, death, damage, or loss arises through negligence or
otherwise.
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\6\ https://www.congress.gov/110/plaws/publ69/PLAW-110publ69.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Based on the subject matter of the Challenge, the type of
work that it will possibly require, as well as an analysis of the
likelihood of any claims for death, bodily injury, or property damage,
or loss potentially resulting from Challenge participation, no
individual (whether competing singly or in a group) or entity
participating in the Challenge is required to obtain liability
insurance or demonstrate financial responsibility in order to
participate in this Challenge.
By participating in this Challenge, each individual
(whether competing singly or in a group) or entity agrees to indemnify
the Federal Government against third party claims for damages arising
from or related to Challenge activities.
An individual or entity shall not be deemed ineligible
because the individual or entity used Federal facilities or consulted
with Federal employees during the Challenge if the facilities and
employees are made available to all individuals and entities
participating in the Challenge on an equitable basis.
Each individual (whether competing singly or in a group)
or entity retains title and full ownership in and to their submission
and each participant expressly reserves all intellectual property
rights (e.g., copyright) in their submission. However, each participant
grants to the Federal Government, and others acting on behalf of the
Federal Government, a royalty-free non-exclusive worldwide license to
use, copy for use, and display publicly all parts of the submission for
the purposes of the Challenge and future training and development
programs. This license may include posting or linking to the submission
on the official OMB Web site and making it available for use by the
public.
OMB reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to (a)
cancel, suspend, or modify the Challenge, and/or (b) not award any
prizes if no entries are deemed worthy.
Each individual (whether competing singly or in a group)
or entity agrees to follow applicable local, State, and Federal laws
and regulations.
Each individual (whether participating singly or in a
group) and entity participating in this Challenge must comply with all
terms and conditions of these rules, and participation in this
Challenge constitutes each participant's full and unconditional
agreement to abide by these rules. Winning is contingent upon
fulfilling all requirements herein.
The Federal government will not provide any travel
expenses for participants in the pilot projects.
Prizes awarded under this Challenge will be paid by
electronic funds transfer and may be subject to Federal income taxes.
Payment will comply with the Internal Revenue Service withholding and
reporting requirements, where applicable. Any entrant on the Excluded
Parties List will not be selected as a finalist or prize winner.
Registration and Submission Process
All submissions must include information addressing all of the
mandatory elements. Any submission not including all information will
not be eligible for award.
All submissions must be in English. Each submission must consist of
a PDF file. The PDF documents must be formatted to be no larger than
8.5'' by 11.0'', with at least 1 inch margins. The participant must not
use OFPP's or OMB's logo or official seal, or the logo of the U.S.
Digital Service in the submission, and must not claim Federal
Government endorsement.
Certification: Each submission must include a cover letter that the
individual or every member of the team responding has read and consents
to be governed by the Challenge Rules and meets the eligibility
requirements. This cover letter must be signed and dated by all
participants. The following statement must be included:
``I have read and understand the OMB Challenge Rules (``Rules'')
for the Digital Service Contracting Professional Training and
Development Program prize competition. I hereby agree to abide by
such Terms and Rules.
I hereby agree to assume any and all risks and waive claims
against the Federal Government and its related entities, except in
[[Page 34462]]
the case of willful misconduct, for any injury, death, damage, or
loss of property, revenue, or profits, whether direct, indirect, or
consequential, arising from participation in this prize challenge,
whether the injury, death, damage, or loss arises through negligence
or otherwise.
I hereby agree to indemnify the Federal Government against third
party claims for damages arising from or related to challenge
activities.
I certify that I am over the age of 18 and a United States
Citizen or a permanent resident.
I hereby grant to the Federal Government, and others acting on
behalf of the Federal Government, a royalty-free non-exclusive
worldwide license to use, copy for use, and display publicly all
parts of the submission for the purposes of the Challenge. This
license may include posting or linking to the submission on the
official OMB Web site and making it available for use by the
public.''
Submission Requirements and Pilot Implementation
This Challenge will be conducted in three phases.
Phase I: Program Concept
Challenge participants will have one month from the date of this
Notice to submit a program concept. Those submissions must comply with
the requirements provided below. Up to three Phase I submissions may be
selected as finalists. The names of the finalists will be posted on the
Challenge.gov Web site as will the names of any participants receiving
an honorary mention. Honorary mentions may be given to highly ranked
submissions that were not identified as one of the final three
finalists.
Phase II: Detailed Program Design
The Phase I finalists will receive $20,000 each and will have one
month from the date of this award, to transform their program concepts
into a detailed program designs, which meet the requirements provided
below. One finalist will be selected as the winner of the challenge.
The winner's name will be posted on Challenge.gov.
Phase III: Pilot
The challenge winner receives up to $250,000 in milestone payments
and will have five months to develop and implement their design with up
to 30 government contracting students. Milestone payments will be made
based on mutually agreed upon deliverables throughout the pilot based
on the accepted design. An initial milestone payment will be determined
to assist with the startup costs of the pilot.
OMB will select and provide students for the pilot project. The
students in the pilot project will be selected from contracting
professionals who are certified at the Federal Acquisition
Certification--Contracting (FAC-C) or Defense Acquisition Workforce
Improvement Act (DAWIA) Level II or above.\7\ These pilot students are
the target demographic for the program, are influential early adopters
of new and innovative acquisition strategies, and will have some
experience in IT acquisition. These students will have managerial
commitment and approval to fully participate and meet the requirements
of the pilot; however it is anticipated that pilot participants will be
not required to be 100% assigned to the pilots for the entire length of
the program, and will remain in their current jobs during the pilot.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ Additional information on the FAC-C program is available at
www.fai.gov and the DAWIA program at https://dap.dau.mil/career/cont/Pages/Certification.aspx.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Assignment: In order to help judge the effectiveness of the
training and development program, as part of the pilot, the Federal
contracting students will be expected to complete a ``live'' digital
service assignment, which could be an actual project, procurement, or
agency engagement. OMB will work with the Phase II winner to determine
which assignment is best-suited for its specific pilot based on its
proposed design.
Phase I Program Concept
Each submission for this Challenge shall consist of a white paper
describing the concept for a training and development program that will
meet the stated objectives. It must include a concept overview that
describes how the proposed program will improve the ability of
Contracting Specialists/Officers to purchase digital services. The
white paper must detail how the solution will create a competent
digital buying contracting workforce and how this workforce will help
agencies buy digital services better. The white paper must also
include:
[cir] Outline of major content focus areas with their performance
objectives;
[cir] Suggested instructional strategies for each content area;
[cir] Overall expected program outcomes and how the concept will
meet them.
[cir] A clear description of what innovative training and
development approaches are proposed along with the benefits of those
approaches to this program.
[cir] The type of Government stakeholder input required if the
design is selected for the pilot in Phase III.
[cir] The anticipated cost of the pilot and proposed program and
any expected intangible benefits related to the program, or ways to
utilize virtual components and/or quantities of scale strategies to
leverage the program across the government for Federal Contracting
Professionals.
[cir] A concept for defining and evaluating how well the students
have achieved the objectives of the program, including a comprehensive
survey for the students and a description of how the digital assignment
outcome will be assessed.
Phase II: Program Design
The finalists chosen in Phase I shall prepare a detailed program
design, including the following three sections:
Program Description
[cir] More details on the major content focus areas with their
performance objectives,
[cir] Comprehensive Syllabus
[cir] Defined instructional strategies and educational method for
each content area,
[cir] Mock-ups or prototypes,
[cir] Proposed speaker lists,
[cir] How a digital assignment will be incorporated into the
program,
[cir] An understanding of how the program components will achieve
the desired program outcomes,
Assessment Plan
[cir] More details on the planned assessment of how well the
students have achieved the objectives of the program;
[cir] A remediation plan for trainees who do not achieve the goals;
and
[cir] A concept for a Capstone or Practical Skills Test that might
be required for certification.
Anticipated Cost To Implement Program
[cir] The estimated investment required to implement both the pilot
and the resulting program. The pilot would be estimated on a basis of
30 students as will the resulting program. If the pilot is a scaled-
down version of the fully-implemented program, the differentiation must
be explained.
[cir] Any expected intangible benefits related to the program, or
ways to leverage quantities of scale strategies to facilitate a
widespread adoption of the program in the government.
Phase II Oral Proposal
This program design will be presented to the judges through oral
proposals. Additionally, a one hour mock classroom training shall be
provided to the judges in order for the challengers to demonstrate one
aspect of their
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proposed design. It will be up to the challenger to determine which
aspect and method of delivery will best encompass the concept of their
proposed design.
Phase III: Program Development and Pilot
In this phase, the training and development program is developed
and major components are piloted by the Phase II winner with up to 30
students to validate the content, feasibility, instructional
strategies, and expected outcomes of the training program. There shall
be complete lesson plans, participant materials, mock-ups and
prototypes, and training aids to test during the pilot delivery. The
pilot program delivery is the ``test drive'' of the proposed challenge
solution to determine whether it meets expected outcomes. In addition
to the students assigned to the pilot, OMB will provide key
stakeholders and government subject matter experts who can provide
other limited assistance required to develop and pilot the program as
requested by the challenger in Phases I and II. OMB will assist the
Phase II winner with the identification of current Procurements/
Projects/Digital Service teams that students will be assigned to work
on during the course of the pilot. The nature of the assignment chosen
will be based on a discussion between the Phase II winner and OMB
during pilot program preparation. Sample assignments might include:
Conducting a solicitation from Request For Proposal to
Award to establish a Federal-wide Blanket Purchase Agreement.
Working with a Digital Service Agency team on drafting a
Request for Proposal.
Assisting GSA's 18F with a consulting effort and resulting
acquisition.
Drafting a Digital Service Agency team's acquisition
strategy for multiple projects/acquisitions.
Submission shall include an end user survey to be delivered to the
students based on the proposed program concept which will be used to
determine how confident the participants are in their ability to apply
the knowledge and skills learned.
Final Submission: Results of Pilot and Update of Proposed Program
Upon completion of the pilot, the following information shall be
provided to OMB by January 31, 2016 to help OMB judge the outcome of
the proposed training and development program:
[cir] Results of the assessment of how well the students achieved
the objectives of the proposed program, and update of the proposed
remediation plan and concept for a Capstone or Practical Skills Test
that might be required for certification;
[cir] Any logistical problems that surfaced in the execution of the
pilot (this could relate to scheduling challenges, absenteeism on
behalf of the participants, physical or logical roadblocks
encountered), including what was done to resolve the problems, or what
should be done if a scaled program were to be implemented to ensure
success;
[cir] The pilot's actual cost breakdown including contract
services, equipment, facilities, hardware, software, training
materials, as it relates to the proposed submission (this could include
return on investment evaluations and alternative analyses);
[cir] An accountability report that captures how well the pilot was
executed (pilot's projected cost breakdown compared to the actual cost
breakdown) and how quality was measured to get the expected results of
the pilot.
[cir] The documented program design incorporating lessons learned
and any changes made to the design initially proposed;
[cir] The final estimated investment required to implement the
proposed program; and
[cir] A description of how Return on Investment (ROI) should be
monitored (e.g., linkage to performance metrics, etc.).
Evaluation Process
The evaluation process will begin by removing those that are not
responsive to this Challenge or not in compliance with all rules of
eligibility. Judges will examine all responsive and compliant
submissions, and rate the entries. Judges will determine the most
meritorious submissions based on these ratings and select up to three
finalists to include in Phase II--Program Design.
Honorable Mentions may be included as non-monetary prizes and
announced along with the winners on Challenge.gov.
Phase I: Program Concept Submission
The judging panel will rate each submission based upon the
effectiveness of the overall concept to help foster transformative
change in the Federal Digital Service acquisition culture, the
viability of the proposed program, the anticipated cost and its
reasonableness, the effectiveness of the proposed assessment of the
pilot, the innovativeness of the approach, and its potential for
achieving the objectives of the program.
Phase II: Program Design
Evaluation will be based on the following criteria:
Overall Effectiveness of the Proposed Program Design
[cir] This factor examines the quality of the design and the mock
classroom experience and how it demonstrates how the proposed training
solution will help participants learn the skills and concepts that are
desired outcomes for this program. It also examines the creativity and
innovativeness of the program.
Overall Assessment Capability
[cir] This factor examines the effectiveness of the proposed
assessment capability, including whether the data collection, tracking,
and analysis methods proposed demonstrate the participants' ability to
meet the program objectives.
Feasibility of Implementation
[cir] This factor examines whether the relative cost of
implementation is reasonable and commensurate with the caliber of the
proposed solution and whether the concept can be scaled and modified to
suit local resources and constraints in terms of number of
participants.
Scores from each criterion will be weighted equally.
Phase III: Pilot Development and Implementation
Evaluation of the effectiveness of the proposed program will be
based on the final submission and on the following criteria:
Results of Assessment of Pilot and Proposed Program
[cir] This criteria examines whether the skills students learned
through the pilot met the objectives of the program and whether or not
students demonstrated confidence in their ability to apply the
knowledge and skills learned. This includes whether the students
indicated an understanding of how to procure Digital Services utilizing
concepts such as those described in the Digital Service Playbook and
the TechFAR, how to appropriately measure the success of contracts, how
to accurately describe and define the value received, and how to
encourage the use of commercial practices and innovative approaches to
ensure procurements can capture flexible and rapidly changing
technology advancements.
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[cir] This criteria also examines the likelihood of the proposed
program to meet the program objectives.
Expected Return on Investment
[cir] This criteria examines the benefits of the pilot and the
proposed program as compared to the cost. Judges may examine the cost
effectiveness of the proposed program compared to alternatives. Judges
may examine expected intangible benefits related to the pilot.
[cir] This criteria also examines the accountability report.
The winner of the challenge will be eligible for an additional
prize of $50,000.00 based upon the results of the evaluation of the
final submission.
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 3719.Dated:
Dated: June 9, 2015.
Joanie F. Newhart,
Office of Federal Procurement Policy, OMB.
[FR Doc. 2015-14683 Filed 6-15-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3110-05-P
