SOURCES SOUGHT
99 -- NextGen Network Enabled Weather (NNEW) Request for Information (RFI)
- Notice Date
- 7/30/2012
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- Contracting Office
- FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, AAQ-330 HQ - FAA Headquarters (Washington, DC)
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- 12097
- Response Due
- 12/31/2012
- Archive Date
- 1/15/2013
- Point of Contact
- Kathy StHill, 202-385-6136
- E-Mail Address
-
kathy.sthill@faa.gov
(kathy.sthill@faa.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- NextGen Network Enabled Weather (NNEW) Request for Information (RFI) This announcement provides a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Market Survey - Request for Information (RFI) for the NextGen Network Enabled Weather (NNEW) Program. This is the second RFI for the NNEW program. The purpose of this RFI is to (1) further inform vendors about the NNEW program; (2) obtain vendors' comments and recommendations regarding the attached, draft program documents; and (3) obtain additional industry insight regarding the overall NNEW Program's technical challenges and questions. This announcement is NOT A SCREENING INFORMATION REQUEST (SIR) OR REQUEST FOR OFFER (RFO). Further, the FAA is not seeking or accepting unsolicited proposals. The FAA may decide to do a full and open competition or set aside all or part of the procurement for small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, or eligible socially and economically disadvantaged businesses that are certified by the SBA for participation in the SBA's 8(a) Program. I.Program Name Change From this time forward, the NNEW Program will be referred to as the Common Support Services - Weather (CSS-Wx) Program on all procurement documentation to align with the FAA's strategic initiatives. II.Background The operation of today's National Airspace System (NAS) is supported by a variety of weather sensing and processing systems maintained by Federal agencies and private entities. These disparate sources of aviation weather data sometimes conflict with one another, creating challenges for efficient operational planning and decision-making. Furthermore, consistent NAS-wide weather information is rarely available in any one location. As a result, NAS-wide operational coordination requires excessive, ad hoc discussion among stakeholders, which is time-consuming and inefficient. The realization of NextGen will require changes to the FAA's weather architecture. The integration of weather information into air traffic management decision support tools will entail an increased use of gridded weather data with high spatial and temporal resolutions and the addition of new users to the network, which will impose significant demands on the capacity of the FAA Telecommunications Infrastructure (FTI) Operations Internet Protocol network. The addition of new types of data sources and remote users could also require costly, "purpose-built" connections and service adaptors to translate among data formats. The FAA has identified a need for a solution that will address the inconsistency of weather data and the limitations in network coverage and scalability. CSS-Wx will enable the efficient publication of high-resolution aviation weather data from the variety of producing systems to weather information users throughout the NAS. The solution will provide users with access to the NAS-wide weather information required for operational planning. It will also institute standard protocols for NAS systems and will be scalable to facilitate the addition of new systems, thereby minimizing the need for service adaptors. III.Program Description The CSS-Wx System will be the single provider of aviation weather information for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and will publish the weather information in standardized formats to consumers via the System Wide Information Management (SWIM) system. The CSS-Wx System will also publish weather information for NAS users external to the FAA. After the CSS-Wx System is operational, the FAA will be able to begin decommissioning certain legacy weather provider subsystems. CSS-Wx will ultimately provide the following high level capabilities: (1) Filter weather information geospatially and temporally to provide only the specific data requested by a user (e.g., along a flight path in support of trajectory-based operations) (2) Provide weather information via Web Coverage Service (WCS), Web Feature Service (WFS) and Web Map Service (WMS) (3) Perform weather data management (4) Standardize weather information in common formats identified by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) (5) Store, archive, and retrieve weather information (6) Manage discovery of information in real time The CSS-Wx System will publish improved weather products provided by the NextGen Weather Processor (NWP), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) 4-Dimensional Weather Data Cube, and other weather sources, to FAA and NAS users for input into collaborative decision making. Consumers of CSS-Wx System-published information will include air traffic, commercial aviation, general aviation, and the flying public. CSS-Wx will make weather information available for NextGen's enhanced decision-support tools. Other consumers will include the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and NOAA. The system will be implemented over multiple work packages with an Initial Operating Capability in 2016. CSS-Wx Work Package 1 and Work Package 2, which may be operational within 4-years of Work Package 1, will focus on the following: Work Package 1 (1) Establishing aviation weather publishing capability to users via SWIM (2) Publish weather information from NWP, NOAA-4D Wx Cube and other data sources (3) Consolidating/replacing the weather provider subsystems of Weather and Radar Processor (WARP); Corridor Integrated Weather System (CIWS); and Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS) (4) Providing information via WCS, WFS and WMS (5) Standardizing weather information into OGC formats (6) Discovery of weather information in real-time (7) Filtering of weather information geospatially and temporally Work Package 2 (1) Further consolidation of legacy weather provider capabilities. (2) Publishing of new and enhanced products (3) Filtering along a four dimensional trajectory (4) Full dynamic discovery of information and (5) Complex queries of weather information IV.Previous Market Research The FAA released a Market Survey and a RFI regarding the CSS-Wx program, described below: (1) NNEW Market Survey (Posted 05/16/2011): The purpose of the Market Survey was to solicit statements of interest and capabilities from interested vendors. (2) NNEW RFI (Posted 08/16/2011): The purpose of the RFI was to (1) identify potential technical solutions that could meet the FAA's requirements for the NNEW System; (2) obtain vendors' comments and recommendations regarding the draft Initial Program Requirements; and (3) obtain additional industry insight regarding the overall NNEW Program. The program also plans to release an additional RFI late this summer to (1) further inform vendors about the CSS-Wx program; and (2) obtain additional industry insight regarding the overall NNEW Program's technical challenges and questions surrounding cloud computing. V.Program Milestones The FAA anticipates the following CSS-Wx Program milestones: (1) RFP Release: 1st or 2nd Quarter FY2013 (2) Contract Award: 1st or 2nd Quarter FY2014 (3) Key Site Initial Operating Capability: FY2016 VI.Program Documents The FAA welcomes the opportunity to further inform industry about the CSS-Wx Program and to obtain comments and recommendations on program documentation. The table below lists the program documents attached to this RFI. The program has attempted to provide the most current documentation; however, all documentation is in draft form and is subject to revision. To further assist vendors in drafting a response, the Government-owned reference implementation software and attachments 1-5 can be accessed via a protected site. To gain access to CSS-Wx RFI ftp server, respondents should make request via URL: http://wx.tc.faa.gov/csswx_rfi2 Please follow the instructions below when responding to this RFI: (1)Provide comments and recommendations for all attachments using Attachment 1: Document Review Template. The Government will only review the comments and recommendations provided in the template. (2)There is no page limit for your comments response; however, individual incoming messages are limited to 10 MB. Attachment # 1 - Document Review Template Attachment # 2 - Draft System Specification Attachment # 3 - Draft Government Furnished Information (GFI)-Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) List Attachment # 4 - Draft Common Support Services - Weather (CSS-Wx) Consumer Service Adaptor (CSA) to Advanced Technologies and Oceanic Procedures (ATOP) Interface Requirements Document (IRD) Attachment # 5 - WCS and WFS reference implementation executable files VII.Responses Interested parties are requested to provide responses as directed below. You are encouraged to submit nonproprietary information, as possible; however, if you do submit proprietary information, please mark all proprietary information included in the response as such. As a follow-up to this RFI, the CO may contact some, all, or none of the respondents for one-on-one meetings to obtain additional information regarding their response. SUBMISSION FORMAT: One (1) Electronic to: kathy.sthill@faa.gov One (1) original and (1) copy to: Kathy St. Hill Wilbur Wright Bldg. (FOB10B) FAA National Headquarters 600 Independence Ave., SW Suite 4W100, Column G (4W42GN) Washington, DC 20597 The front cover of any submission must include responder's point of contact information, including name, telephone number, email, and mailing address. NOTES: Electronic submission is preferred. The electronic submission should be in either Microsoft WORD format or portable document format (PDF). Please note that the FAA email server restricts file size to 10MB per email message; therefore, responses may have to be submitted in more than one e-mail in order to be received. The FAA will not pay for any information received or costs incurred in preparing responses to this announcement. All submissions must be received by 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on August 21, 2012. For questions, requests for additional information, etc. regarding this market survey, contact Kathy St. Hill, Contracting Officer, via email: kathy.sthill@faa.gov. Submissions must include company point(s) of contact, telephone number(s), FAX number(s), email address(es) (if available), and mailing address. VIII.Questions The FAA also requests responses to the following questions. A complete response to all questions listed is appreciated, but not required. Please limit your response to 15 pages. System Specification (1) Does the Draft CSS-Wx System Specification document allow you to propose your best solution for the FAA? If not, state specifically how the Specification limits your solution. (2) Based on your review of the Draft CSS-Wx System Specification, what technical and programmatic risks do you foresee bearing an impact on the implementation of your best solution for the CSS-Wx program? (3) Would any of the requirements specified affect your design or cost of development in a significant manner? If so, which specific requirements pose this burden and what would be your recommendation (with rationale) to modify? (4) If the FAA was contemplating cloud computing or hardware as GFE, how would the System Specification Document need to change? (5) What level of detail w/ performance requirements need to be provided by the government in order for you to propose your best solution? Government Furnished Information and Equipment (1) Based on the GFI-GFE List, what do you foresee as the advantages, disadvantages, and risks of development and implementation of a system? (2) Based on the items listed in the GFI-GFE List, is there anything else you would need from the Government? (3) Do you have experience integrating software onto hardware that is provided as GFE? Contracting (1) Are there any recommendations regarding CLIN and contract types? Do you anticipate any constraints? (2) What are your thoughts on a separate contract for the implementation of the hardware infrastructure/service vs. the development of the CSS-Wx software? (3) What risks do you see to the software development effort if the hardware infrastructure is provided as GFE to use? (4) How soon after contract award would you need to access to GFE resources for development and testing purposes?
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