The Environmental Protection Agency wants to step up its digital services game and is asking industry how it might be able to help. However, companies interested in responding to the call should be ready to prove they can deliver.
The EPA issued a request for information asking vendors to explain the latest offerings in areas like user-centric design, agile architecture and development, API-first design, DevOps and others and how those services are being sold to government customers.
Rather than request a long-form explanation, EPA is asking respondents to keep their submissions to under 500 words, asking instead for a demonstration.
The RFI asks vendors to build a working prototype demonstrating their capabilities using a public environmental dataset, such as those posted on data.gov. The prototypes should be posted to a public git site (like GitHub) for contracting officers to assess.
The main text of the response is limited to six basic questions, including the company name, socioeconomic status and potential labor categories.
According to the RFI, EPA is interested in hearing from vendors that offer specific services, as well as those who provide a more comprehensive range.
Responses are due by 4 p.m. on Dec. 30.
Aaron Boyd is an awarding-winning journalist currently serving as editor of Federal Times — a Washington, D.C. institution covering federal workforce and contracting for more than 50 years — and Fifth Domain — a news and information hub focused on cybersecurity and cyberwar from a civilian, military and international perspective.
