The Office of the Coordinator for International Information Programs (OIIP) and the Bureau for Education and Cultural Affairs (ECA) below the Under Secretary of Public Diplomacy of the Department of State were created in October 1999 as a part of the consolidation of USIA into the Department of State. IIP and ECA have a mission to understand, inform and influence foreign publics in promotion of the national interest; and to broaden the dialogue between Americans, their institutions and their counterparts abroad. Their goals are: (1) to explain and advocate U.S. policies in terms that are credible and meaningful in foreign cultures; (2) to provide information about the official policies of the United States, its people, values and institutions; (3) to build lasting relationships and mutual understanding through the exchange of people and ideas; and (4) to advise on foreign attitudes and their implications for U.S. policies.

IIP and ECA are located in an annex of the Department of State. Computer support is provided by IIP-ECA/IT to approximately 900 domestic users and 150 overseas LAN administrators. IIP/IT/NUS (network and user support) provide user support to users on personal computer Local Area Networks (LAN), more than 50 file servers, and multiple gateways. These LANs are used to support the mission critical functions that are vital to ECA and IIP operations and must continue to be administered. The users must continue to receive technical support on a daily basis. Software applications must continue to be tailored, loaded, administered, and maintained, and the LANs must continue to expand in capacity to house these applications as they are developed. An on-going goal of the IIP/IT is to provide Help Desk support to end-users of the Department’s microcomputer hardware and desktop productivity suite of software.

Description of Work
SEI provides Project Management, Systems Administration, Technical Support, Software Installation, Worldwide Lotus Notes Training & Support, Visual Basic Support, Microsoft Office 97, and LAN Maintenance and Monitoring to State.

Category of Services:

• Develop, Implement and Maintain Automated Information Systems

• Project Management & Planning

• Systems Analysis & Programming Support

• Network Operations, Management, and Technical Support

• Client / Server Based Architectures

• Lotus Notes Help Desk Support