NIMA/PCU 14675 LEE ROAD MS/C-99, CHANTILLY VA

70 -- INFORMATION DELIVERY SERVICES SOL NIMA201-99-R-IDS DUE 091099 POC Tonya Norman, Contracting Officer, (703)633-5839 National Imagery and Mapping Agency Sources Sought for Information Discovery and Retrieval Services (ID&RS) and Information Delivery Services (IDS) Technologies. Project Lead: Maj. Mark Zavala, Technical POC: Mr. Kevin Morgan. The National Imagery and Mapping Agency, Archive and Dissemination (A&D) Office (NIMA/SOD) is conducting market research for insertion of commercial technologies into Information Discovery and Retrieval Services (ID&RS) and Information Delivery Services (IDS). If your organization is involved in the area of information discovery and retrieval and/or information delivery or otherwise believe that you have capabilities which can potentially benefit our ID&RS and IDS needs described below, please e-mail (RTF or MSWord) or mail a response of no more than 6 pages (additionally, brochures and pamphlets are welcome) to the address listed below by 10 September 1999. Please include the following information in your response. 1. Your organization name, a POC, e-mail addresses, Fax/phone numbers. 2. A brief description of your general knowledge and experience within this technical/operational area with respect to the scope defined below. 3. A description of your technical capabilities and their potential benefit to the ID&RS and IDS development. If any of these technologies are based on other government projects please provide the project name and government sponsor information. BACKGROUND: The United States Imagery and Geospatial Information Service (USIGS) is a web-based network of storage nodes and interoperable software applications that enable users to store, locate and retrieve, and deliver USIGS information (imagery, imagery intelligence, and geospatial information) of interest in national, military, and civil missions. The USIGS ID&RS mission is to provide users with the capability to locate and retrieve USIGS information from various storage locations within the USIGS architecture. The USIGS IDS mission is to deliver USIGS information to and among users worldwide. ID&RS and IDS are two key components or Mission Area Applications (MAAs) described within the USIGS architecture. The Information Storage MAA, another key component, is not covered in this survey, as it is currently being implemented by the NIMA Libraries program. The USIGS Technical Architecture document provides a much more detailed description of the different MAA and Common Support Application (CSA) services within USIGS. This document and other architecture documents are available on-line at http://www.nima.mil/sandi/arch/. NIMA's preferred software architecture for future USIGS application interoperability is a distributed object-oriented paradigm based on the CORBA specification. SCOPE: The ID&RS MAA, as defined in the USIGS Architecture documents, provides applications to navigate the USIGS to locate and retrieve information, products, and services. The IDS MAA, also defined in USIGS Architecture documents, provides an agile interest profiling capability across the USIGS enterprise for delivery of ID&RS requested information. The following is a list of high level ID&RS and IDS needs that will be refined into a more detailed set of requirements based upon this market survey. ID&RS and IDS will: 1. provide users with seamless access to information sources, to include imagery, imagery products, imagery intelligence, geospatial information, and management information across USIGS distributed data holdings; 2. provide users with the capability to query for and discover USIGS holdings based on catalog and query data (i.e. metadata) in the A&D Logical Data Model (LDM) and management data in the Management Data Library LDM and other (TBD) logical data model(s) of management data; 3. provide users with the capability to browse hits from queries (on-line metadata, including browse views of selected products) and to graphically and textually view metadata; 4. provide users with the capability to order desired data from the hit lists and to submit instructions for data tailoring (custom orders); 5. provide users with the capability to catalog (i.e. populate the library catalog from ID&RS) and store information in the NIMA libraries; 6. store and manage individual user interest profiles for a "smart push" means of disseminating USIGS information; 7. retain knowledge of user information interests and predict information needs from applicable or related sources; 8. provide user notification of new and updated information; 9. automatically discover and update links to new information sources; 10. automatically search for information updates/changes in disparate data stores (text, imagery and video libraries, and geospatial products/data bases) and store global information metadata and links; 11. automatically capture, extend, and centralize user profiles from multiple NIMA Libraries; 12. use CSA services for data conversion, imagery compression/decompression and other geospatial services provided by other information stores; 13. provide real-time status indicators of information distribution from source to consumer; 14. provide predictive analysis and management indicators to anticipate demand and monitor IDS performance; 15. leverage infrastructure services to demonstrate dynamic bandwidth allocation, quality of services features, and robust prioritization of systems/applications. ID&RS and IDS will consolidate information profiling capabilities of USIGS enabling individual users to establish a single interest profile that will interact with all available USIGS information sources. Additionally IDS would facilitate delivery via DISN common user WAN/MAN/LAN networks at various classification levels as well as the Global Broadcast System. This also includes other alternative telecommunications networking initiatives such as wireless communications for tactically deployed forces. Respondents should suppose an ID&RS and IDS architecture will be hosted on a shared platform and use or invoke services provided by: * NIMA Library programs. * DISA's Information Management/Information Delivery Management (IDM) services for access and use of DISN (SIPRNET and JWICS) and GBS Satellite Broadcast Manager (SBM) and Theater Information Management (TIM) services. ID&RS and IDS will use commercial solutions to access, manage and deliver USIGS information holdings to the maximum extent possible. ID&RS and IDS will interface with portions of the USIGS architecture as defined by governing documentation, the USIGS Interoperability Profile (UIP), and the NIMA Mapping Interface Control Document (MICD) (for non-UIP interfaces). All proposed solutions for the ID&RS and IDS will utilize applicable Open Geospatial Exchange (OGE) services provided by the USIGS. NIMA will consider any Government implementation of the USIGS Geospatial Dissemination Service or a commercial implementation of the Open GIS Consortium (OGC) Geospatial Dissemination Service based upon the OGC Service Architecture Abstract. As an option, ID&RS and IDS will need to interface with legacy systems. STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES: For the purposes of this market survey, all respondents shall consider the following Statement of Objectives as the core development environment that their responses shall embrace. 1. Provide the movement of various data types through the USIGS architecture at various security classification levels. 2. Interface with management services provided by common user and dedicated communication networks to facilitate timely and efficient bandwidth usage/data flow. 3. Demonstrate network concentric software applications and employ Object-Oriented technology standards for software and architecture design. 4. Accommodate and interoperate with other USIGS applications and incorporate concepts of DII COE and USIGS UIP services to maximize software portability. 5. Employ spiral development for design, technology insertion, rapid prototyping and acquisition. 6. Maintain current level of service to existing users while providing effective migration to support rapidly changing user base, information sources, infrastructure architectures, services and interfaces. 7. Provide flexible and tailored USIGS information to support a wide variety of consumers by having seamless access to layered information/NIMA foundation data. NIMA seeks innovative methods of transitioning its existing network and data capabilities from multiple legacy systems to a coherent, enterprise based, network services solution using state of the art, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) with minimal government-off-the-shelf (GOTS) technology and experience. We are interested in finding DEVELOPERS or VENDORS with experience in the business of information discovery and retrieval and information delivery. INSTRUCTIONS: After assessing the results of this market survey, NIMA will determine whether to proceed with any operational prototyping or operational evaluation in the future. NIMA will consider funding respondents with particularly promising candidate solutions to allow testing in a NIMA environment using NIMA data. Please note the fact that we are merely conducting a market survey. If you choose to respond to this market survey, we can not guarantee that you will be awarded a contract regarding this effort. However, your response to this market survey will be invaluable input in helping NIMA determine whether to proceed with a formal solicitation. Please send your responses to Mr. Kevin Morgan by e-mail to morgank@nima.mil (cc: to zavalama@nima.mil) or by mail to Mr. Kevin Morgan, NIMA/SODD, POB 2879, Reston, VA., 20195. NIMA may respond with a questionnaire to ascertain additional information about your product. Thank you for your interest and participation. Posted 08/12/99 (I-SN367203). (0224)

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