CBP NII Integration Platform RFI .pdf

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REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection

Office of Field Operations, Non-Intrusive Inspection Integration Program

TITLE: NII Integration Platform ISSUANCE DATE: May 24, 2024

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This is an RFI released pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10 – Market Research and Part 15.201(e). This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes; it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) nor a promise to issue an RFP or other solicitation. Furthermore, those who respond to this RFI should not anticipate feedback about its submission, other than acknowledgment of receipt. This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is not currently seeking proposals. Respondents are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay any cost incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the expense of the respondent. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future solicitation. The information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. All submissions become the property of the Federal Government and will not be returned.

1.0 Background

The Non-Intrusive Inspection Integration (NII-I) Program is organized within the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO) with the mission to develop, acquire, deploy, operate, and maintain a wide variety of non-intrusive inspection (NII) technology detection systems in support of all CBP operational vectors. NII technology is currently deployed to airport, seaport, international mail, express consignment, rail, and land border ports of entry (POE), including commercial truck, private vehicle, and pedestrian operational environments. NII systems such as vehicle x-ray, radiation portal monitors (RPM), chemical detectors, etc., provide a more efficient and effective means to screen conveyances and individuals for contraband and to identify threats, compared to manual search techniques. The focus of this RFI is to integrate Large Scale (vehicle) NII x-ray data and technology onto a single integrated platform.

NII x-ray imaging systems have historically been deployed as stand-alone, “air-gapped” systems not connected to the CBP network nor fully integrated with CBP applications or IT infrastructure. The NII Program uses NII x-ray systems from a variety of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) vendors, each offering its own proprietary user interface, system data structures, and formats.

Movement of x-ray data has historically been limited to manual use of flash drives and other

2 | P a g e portable media, while opportunities to automate processes, track state of health data, and create operational efficiencies were consistently unavailable. Maintenance generally required a site visit by contractor technicians to troubleshoot / fix problems and to maintain system availability.

The NII-I Program is now working to recapitalize existing system assets and expand coverage of NII scanning technology with a modern, integrated, and networked design that may include a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) integration platform (IP) to aggregate all x-ray and ancillary system data into an organized solution for further CBP integration and automation. CBP is seeking information from vendors that have demonstrated experience in creating, deploying and maintaining such IP solutions to integrate and manage data produced by large-scale NII systems, including both older legacy and modern NII systems in operation today. Specifically, CBP would like to hear from vendors that have a proven, configurable COTS application with the ability to ingest, transport, manage, enhance, store, and share NII data using a cloud-based, microservice oriented architecture.

2.0 Integration Platform Objectives

The RFI objective is to determine whether an integration solution for the NII program is available to facilitate closure of integration gaps with the adoption of a rapidly deployable, production ready integration platform capable of integrating with CBP’s IT enterprise architecture and with data sourced from multiple vendor-agonistic x-ray systems.

Ideally an integration platform solution will include the ability to:

• Integrate NII systems with existing CBP IT infrastructure via the CBP network utilizing an open architecture and standard interface design, that permits real time, efficient, and secure movement of large NII data streams to NII’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud database, enabling NII data sharing, data mining, and analysis.

• Integrate NII systems data with various primary and secondary law enforcement applications such as ACE Truck Manifest, Simplified Arrival-Vehicle/Pedestrian (SA-V/P), ATS Import Cargo, Unified Secondary, and SEACATS (and their successor applications) to streamline and automate operational workflow processes/ data entry, and reduce officer workload.

• Integrate NII system data with other CBP technology program systems, including Land Border Integration (LBI), Biometric Entry Exit (BEE), and Border Security Deployment Program (BSDP)) technologies and technical architectures, to create joint solutions and collaborative CONOPS which cross traditional CBP technology program boundaries.

• Integrate NII system data flows into POE site-level or regional control centers to consolidate and centralize NII system operation and analysis of sensor data, and to establish enhanced situational awareness and operational efficiencies for overall POE NII scanning processes.

• Provide a standard user interface, image analysis tool set and training platform for NII image analysts through a NII integration platform-enabled “common viewer” capability, which

3 | P a g e accepts data input from any NII OEM vendor product via a Unified File Format (UFF) or other agreed interface standard, with no degradation in OEM system image quality nor data content.

• Provide the means to integrate CBP or third party-developed anomaly detection algorithm (ADA) results output within the common viewer / integration platform.

• Integrate traffic control, RPM and other NII ancillary systems with NII scanning systems.

• Network NII systems data to the NII Cloud database and operational maintenance (O&M) dashboard to facilitate continuous remote monitoring and management of NII system health, faults, security, configuration, and established performance service level agreements

(SLA).

• Automate the collection, measurement and reporting of user data including:

o Commercial and POV vehicle / traveler wait times o NII system performance metrics and utilization o Access / audit data including user audit logs, authentication methods, authentication logs o Performance data – ex. adjudications tools used, time to adjudicate o Compliance data / logs.

• Process x-ray system data including:

o High resolution images o Dimensional data – shapes and dimensions of objects o Material data – object density and composition o Radiographic image data - X-ray images from multiple pass scans integrated with under vehicle systems.

• Calculate and report system health and performance data including:

o Maintenance status system faults, and alerts o Critical incident data such as emergency shutdown incidents o Operational statistics such as Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF), operational availability, Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) o Radiation exposure monitoring data o Scheduled maintenance data.

3.0 Purpose of this RFI

Through this RFI, CBP is seeking information from industry on the availability of a mature and readily deployable COTS integration platform and its capabilities. CBP also seeks information regarding industry technical and management service capabilities, to support integration of their COTS IP product with CBP NII systems and IT infrastructure. Vendors should address the following statements and questions in their RFI response:

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1. Describe your experience in integrating multiple non-intrusive x-ray systems using interface standards such as Unified File Format (UFF) and Digital Imaging and Communications in Security (DICOS) that include data translation and transformation services. Please provide examples of previous solution development and completed deployment projects.

2. Describe your integration platform capability to accurately display x-ray images from multiple make and model NII systems and to provide a common analyst viewer, tool set and training interface.

3. Describe your integration platform capability to accurately prioritize and configure a workflow queue and display x-ray images from multiple make and model NII systems into a single centralized location/image adjudication platform.

4. Describe your integration platform’s capability to interface with third-party anomaly detection algorithms (ADA) software.

5. Describe your integration platform’s capability to integrate with government off the shelf (GOTS) systems and applications, including compliance with all applicable CBP security protocols.

6. Describe your capabilities, experience, and successes in integrating data sourced from broad geographic areas and multiple operational vectors, including large numbers of disparate NII systems.

7. Describe your capabilities and experience implementing standardized processes and compliance with CBP AWS Cloud-hosted solutions while meeting DHS cyber security and enterprise architecture requirements for a CBP OIT-approved authority to operate (ATO).

8. What is your experience with CBP network integration, implementing CBP multi account architecture security control, and CBP enterprise active directory, for PIV-enabled access control?

9. Describe your experience in providing an integration platform solution to enable networked health monitoring, configuration status, and remote maintenance of OEM NII systems.

10. Describe your recommendations on what investment, acquisition, design, and management strategies would be conducive to minimizing technical risk and life cycle costs while accelerating integration platform deployment.

11. Describe how the government can ensure both technical and acquisition flexibility in any potential new contract as integration platform requirements evolve over time.

12. Describe the subcontract / teaming arrangements you have (or would have) in place with NII OEMs and with small / disadvantaged businesses to address the full range of stated NII integration platform requirements?

13. Describe the collaborative activities government and private sector entities should undertake to encourage the development and adoption of open architecture, non-proprietary integration platform solutions where the government gains joint data rights?

4.0 RFI Response Instructions

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Only electronic submissions will be accepted. Electronic files larger than 10 MB shall be broken down into multiple files with no one file exceeding 10 MB. Each electronic submission shall include:

1. The RFI title in the subject line

2. The maximum number of pages per submission shall be limited to ten (10) pages excluding title page, table of contents, company information page and reference materials, if attached.

3. All content must be provided in Microsoft Word or PDF format.

4. The company information page shall include the following information:

- Company Name

- Socio-economic status

- DUNS number, UEI number, and CAGE code

- Point-of-Contact information for technical questions

- Point-of-Contact information for contractual questions

- Federal Contract(s) available for use.

5. The file number and total files being submitted (e.g., File 1 of 4, File 2 of 4, etc.) in the subject line, if submission includes more than one electronic email.

This notice is part of Government Market Research, a continuous process for obtaining the latest information on the commercial status of the industry. This RFI is for planning purposes, and does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that a procurement action will follow.

CBP will use the information submitted in response to this notice at its discretion and will not provide comments to any submission; however, CBP reserves the right to contact any respondent to this notice for the sole purpose of enhancing CBP's understanding of the notice submission. The content of any responses to this notice may affect any subsequent solicitation.

Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with any voluntary response to this RFI, including any subsequent product demonstrations.

Questions and responses on this RFI must be sent via email to the following:

CBP Procurement POC:

Peter Giambone Senior Contracting Officer peter.a.giambone@cbp.dhs.gov

Questions must be electronically submitted to the Procurement POC by 12:00 pm EDT on June 7, 2024. Include the RFI title in the subject line of your email when submitting questions.

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RFI RESPONSE SUBMISSIONS: RFI responses must be electronically submitted to the procurement POC by 12:00 pm EDT on June 21, 2024. Include the RFI title in the subject line of your email.