Supporting Statement Part A_rev. 5 Sep 2017X

SUPPORTING STATEMENT - PART A

(NGA Generic Customer Satisfaction Strategy Survey – OMB Control Number 0704-AAKL)

1. Need for the Information Collection

NGA requires research on customer experience as it transforms over the next several years from providing content to providing anticipatory intelligence. Customer experience studies assess satisfaction with NGA products, content, and services in order to generate specific insights for action regarding improvement. Included in the three-year customer experience study plan is NGA’s annual study used to respond to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and Congress for its Congressional Budget Justification regarding customer satisfaction measures. Other studies (e.g., surveys, interviews, and focus groups) target specific gaps by the analysis of web traffic, product and service feedback forms, and customer engagement. Without data from the proposed studies, leadership will be unable to make evidence-based decisions.

The concept and design of the NGA Customer Satisfaction Strategy Survey were considered under two authorities. H.R. 1660, the Government Customer Service Improvement Act of 2013 defines the “Customer of an agency” and the customers’ implied cost to the federal government as it relates to customer feedback. The E.O. 12892-Setting Customer Service Standards (September 11, 1993), Section 1, was also considered as the determination of the quality of NGA services and the customers’ satisfaction with services will be a focal point of our strategy.

2. Use of the Information

Assessment of a customers’ satisfaction level provides leadership with the knowledge to make informative decisions in product improvement, marketing, and assists leadership in strategic planning. Respondents to the proposed customer surveys are contract employees of the Federal government who use National Geospatial Agency (NGA) Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) to support their respective missions. They will be inclined to respond to the information collection because doing so will enhance their user experience. The results will be used to identify drivers of customer satisfaction, improve NGA products and content, and meet federally mandated reporting requirements by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and Congressional oversight committees.

The collection instruments will be administered in several ways including electronic surveys, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups. For our electronic surveys, participants will be sent an email with an embedded URL to access the survey on an NGA Lime Survey web server, an Information Technology (IT) tool already installed on our Top Secret, Secret, and Unclassified domains. Respondents answer demographic questions by selecting the most appropriate choice provided in the survey. Demographic questions are based on the role that respondents perform, such as the following:

a) Strategic architects - decision-makers who are able to manipulate geospatial information and services in order to improve future decisions

b) Strategic executives - decision-makers who consume geospatial information to remain aware of events that may impact future decisions

c) Analysts - personnel conducting studies and analysis in order to eventually inform decision-makers

d) Tactical operators - personnel conducting "on the ground" activities requiring near real-time turnaround of geospatial information and services

e) Tactical supporters - personnel supporting tactical missions from fixed locations

Respondents answer usage questions by clicking on questions that numerically measure sentiment based on a five-point unidirectional scale. Sentiment measures include, but are not limited to, the following: timeliness, responsiveness, reliability, accuracy, relevance, and discoverability. Respondents also answer questions regarding their need for geospatial intelligence products via the following categories and their definitions:

• Informing others-I need to make geospatial information easily understandable for use by others and provide context for non-geospatial data.

• Awareness and planning-I assess dynamic geospatial information over a short time horizon for situational awareness and command-and-control purposes.

• Route navigation-I need geospatial information to identify the easiest route between multiple points and navigate a vehicle between them.

• Site assessment-I need geospatial information and services so I can monitor and manage the status of ground contents, physical infrastructure, and real property.

• Trend analysis-I need geospatial information and services so I can model, analyze and predict trends over extended periods.

After completion of a survey, each respondent’s answers will be anonymously stored on NGA’s secure server.

To increase participation and a higher response rate using an electronic survey, NGA plans on providing the following information to each participant to inform them about the survey and its purpose:

• An invitation letter to respondents with a link to the survey

• Two follow-up email reminders during the two weeks that data collection is taking place, one a week after initial launch and one the day before the close of the survey.

• A confirmation letter acknowledging the receipt of completed survey

• An extension letter informing those who have not responded of an extended deadline in the case of low response rates.

The annual survey provides overall measures of performance and identifies areas of success and areas in need of improvement. Multiple measures of customer experience will be analyzed using data sets segmented according to the demographics discussed above. The analysis will be used to determine the customers’ overall experience in accessing, obtaining, and using NGA intelligence products and services. The output of which provides an in-depth understanding performance and effectiveness of NGA analysts and systems.

The semi-structured interview collection, requires respondents be contacted by email and telephone to request their participation. Respondents will answer a series of questions by telephone or face to face. Answers to questions will be initially recorded using handwritten notes that are later typed into Microsoft Word. Responses captured as electronic text will be analyzed manually or by using computer assisted qualitative data analysis software, as appropriate. This will result in deeper insight regarding customer experience than surveys alone can provide.

In focus group collections, respondents will be contacted by email and telephone to request their participation. Respondents will answer a series of questions via face to face engagement or video teleconference. Answers to questions will be initially recorded using handwritten notes that are then typed into Microsoft Word. Responses captured as electronic text will be analyzed manually or with computer assisted qualitative data analysis software, as appropriate. This will result in deeper insight regarding customer experience than surveys and interviews alone can provide regarding a limited number of issues identified by other studies of customer experience.

Information, regardless of collection instrument, will only be handled and processed by personnel directly involved in the collection project and typically will be analysts and study managers with social and behavioral science backgrounds. Processing of numeric data will include preparing and cleaning of data for analysis using statistical tools such as Stata, SPSS, and/or Excel. Processing of qualitative data will include preparing and cleaning data in Word or Excel for analysis using qualitative tools.

The end result of the information collection as a whole will be data-driven decision making by NGA leadership and management as the agency strives to be known for customer centricity.

3. Use of Information Technology

Our standard tool for IT is our electronic survey where participants will be sent an email with an embedded URL to access the survey on an NGA Lime Survey web server. Lime Survey is accredited and already installed on our Top Secret, Secret, and Unclassified domains for purposes of collecting survey/census data. Electronically collected surveys will represent approximately 90% of the total of all collection methods used.

4. Non-duplication

The information obtained through this collection is unique and is not already available for use or adaptation from another cleared source.

5. Burden on Small Businesses

This information collection does not impose a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small businesses or entities.

6. Less Frequent Collection

NGA must report annually on customer satisfaction of all NGA customers. In addition to this reporting requirement is the need to use customer experience studies as part of the agency’s suite of business intelligence approaches to become a learning organization that provides service and value. Less frequent collections would hamper the agency’s ability to provide good value on Federal funds expended and achieve its mission as the premier provider of geospatial intelligence.

7. Paperwork Reduction Act Guidelines

This collection of information is consistent with the guidelines delineated in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).

8. Consultation and Public Comments

Part A: PUBLIC NOTICE

A 60-Day Federal Register Notice for the collection published on Monday, March 6, 2017. The 60-Day FRN citation is 82 FRN 12575.

No comments were received during the 60-Day Comment Period.

A 30-Day Federal Register Notice for the collection published on Wednesday, July 26, 2017. The 30-Day FRN citation is 82 FRN 34649.

Part B: CONSULTATION

No additional consultation apart from soliciting public comments through the 60-Day Federal Register Notice was conducted for this submission. However, because this is a new information collection, NGA will plan to consult with respondents during the course of the first approval period in an effort to make the program more effective and less burdensome.

9. Gifts or Payment

If incentives are provided, they will meet OMB guidelines (e.g. no more than $75 for 90 minute focus groups, $40 for cognitive interviews) and the need (based on the specific population) will be documented as part of the individual submission."

10. Confidentiality

A Privacy Act Statement is not required for this collection because we are not requesting individuals furnish personally identifiable information (PII) for a system of records.

A System of Record Notice (SORN) is not required for this collection because records are not retrievable by PII.

A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) is not required for this collection because PII is not being collected electronically.

This collection has been assigned the following records retention and disposition schedule: The NGA Records Management Program (RMP) is currently in discussions with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to determine whether the CSS records are covered under the new General Records Schedule (GRS) being drafted by NARA or whether a new NGA records file sub-series needs to be created and approved by NARA to cover the records. It is NGA’s mission requirement to retain some of the CSS records (i.e., survey response data) for as long as ten (10) years. Other CSS records, such as the survey and reports generated would be retained for a shorter time. The specific retention and disposition policy can be provided to WHS once the proper records policy is determined or approved by NARA.

11. Sensitive Questions

No questions considered sensitive are being asked in this collection.

12. Respondent Burden and its Labor Costs

a. Estimation of Respondent Burden

Annual	Number of Respondents	Average Response Time	Respondent Burden Hours
Annual Survey	20,000
Targeted Surveys	9,000
Interviews	150
Focus Groups	135
Total	29,285	13.89 minutes	6,779.5 hours

Average response time for all respondents is the result of multiplying the number respondents by the number of minutes for each type of inquiry, adding the resulting products, and dividing the sum of the products by the total number of respondents.

Total average annual activities: 8 Total average activities over three years: 24

Total Burden Over Three Years: 20,338.5hours

b. Labor Cost of Respondent Burden

Annual Labor Cost of Respondent Burden

a. Number of Total Annual Responses: 29,285

b. Response Time: 13.89 minutes

c. Respondent Hourly Wage: $40*

d. Labor Burden per Response: $9.26

e. Total Labor Burden: $271,179

2. Overall Labor Burden

a. Total Number of Annual Responses: 29,285

b. Total Number of Responses Over Three Years: 87,855

c. Total Labor Burden: $271,179

d. Total Labor Burden Over Three Years: $813,537

The Respondent hourly wage was determined by using the Department of Labor Wage Website (http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/index.htm). Hourly wage was derived by sampling mean wages for different occupations, such as geographers, engineering, and security analysts. These are typical occupations of NGA customers. Data was obtained from querying the Department of Labor website for median hourly wages and annual salaries, which were divided by 2080 hours to get an hourly rate.

13. Respondent Costs Other than Burden Hour Costs

There are no annualized costs to respondents other than the labor burden costs addressed in Section 12 of this document to complete this collection.

14. Cost to the Federal Government

a. Labor Cost to the Federal Government

1. Customer experience inquiry

a. Number of Total Annual Responses: 29,285

b. Processing Time per Response: .1 hours

c. Hourly Wage of Worker(s) Processing Responses: $53

d. Cost to Process Each Response: $5.30

e. Total Cost to Process Responses: $155,211

2. Overall Labor Burden to Federal Government

a. Total Number of Annual Responses: 29,285

b. Total Labor Burden: $155,211

Time needed to analyze data is estimated at six minutes per response for preparing data, analyzing it using specialized software such as Stata or SPSS, and reporting basic descriptive and inferential statistics.

Analyst hourly wage was determined by using the Department of Labor Wage Website (http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/index.htm). The median 2016 salary for a computer and information research scientist, which is the most appropriate occupation category for a person analyzing customer experience data, was taken from the Department of Labor website and divided by 2080 hours to determine hourly wage to process responses.

b. Operational and Maintenance Costs

1. Equipment: $2000

2. Printing: $50

3. Postage: $0

4. Software Purchases: $0

5. Licensing Costs: $0

6. Other: $0

g. Total: $2,050

Equipment costs are related to the analyst’s computer. Printing costs reflect approximate per page printing of survey result materials associated with analysis activities.

1. Total Operational and Maintenance Costs: $2,050

2. Total Labor Cost to the Federal Government: $155,211

3. Total Cost to the Federal Government: $157,261

4. Total Cost to the Federal Government Over Three Years: $471,783

15. Reasons for Change in Burden

This is a new collection with a new associated burden.

16. Publication of Results

The results of this information collection will not be published externally. Statistical data will be used internally for improvement purposes.

17. Non-Display of OMB Expiration Date

We are not seeking approval to omit the display of the expiration date of the OMB approval on the collection instrument.

18. Exceptions to “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Submissions”

We are not requesting any exemptions to the provisions stated in 5 CFR 1320.9.

Version 1.1 – Effective 11/1/2016