FMDS Market Survey 6-30-2022.docx

MARKET SURVEY ANNOUNCEMENT

FLOW MANAGEMENT DATA AND SERVICES (FMDS)

WARNING: This document contains technical data in Attachments 4 and 6-12 that have been deemed as sensitive unclassified whose export is restricted by the Arms Export Control Act (Title 22, U.S.C., Section 2751, et seq.) or the Export Administration Act of 1979 (Title 50, U.S.C., App. 2401 et seq.), as amended. Violations of these export laws are subject to severe criminal penalties. Disseminate in accordance with provision of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Order 1240.13.

I. INTRODUCTION

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has a requirement to develop a new system to provide Traffic Flow Management (TFM) services to the National Airspace System (NAS). This new system, Flow Management Data and Services (FMDS), will replace the FAA’s current Traffic Flow Management System (TFMS). The purpose of this Market Survey is to solicit industry input to support FAA efforts in developing the FMDS acquisition strategy, further defining the requirements and technical approach, and developing a strategy for a phased transition from TFMS to FMDS in operations.

This announcement is being issued in accordance with the FAA Acquisition Management System (AMS) Section 3.2.1.2.1.

This is not a Screening Information Request (SIR) or Request for Proposal (RFP). The responses to this market survey will be used for informational purposes only. The FAA is not seeking or accepting unsolicited proposals. Responders are advised that the FAA will not pay for any information received or for administrative costs incurred in preparing a response to the market survey. Any costs associated with responding to this market survey are solely at the interested respondent’s expense.

To the extent that information received in response to this market survey is proprietary or otherwise confidential commercial information, the vendor should mark its response with a restrictive legend. This information will be for the sole use of the FAA and will be treated confidentially.

Nature of Competition The acquisition strategy and the periods of performance for any potential procurements have not been determined at this time. This market survey will be used to inform the strategy.

II. PURPOSE

The FAA is seeking to gain a better understanding of industry interest and capabilities to meet the FMDS requirements. This market survey builds upon a previous market survey issued in November of 2020. Interested vendors are encouraged to respond to this market survey in accordance with the instructions herein. The purpose of this market survey is to:

· Notify vendors of the FAA’s intent to replace the Traffic Flow Management System.

· Obtain vendor comments regarding the preliminary Program Requirements Document (pPRD), which establishes the initial baseline for the FMDS investment program.

· Identify potential technical approaches for the development of a system that will meet the FAA’s requirements for FMDS.

· Identify available products in the marketplace that could meet the FAA’s requirements for FMDS, including creating a pathway for existing product demonstrations.

· Obtain vendor feedback on the infrastructure options for FMDS.

· Obtain vendor feedback on the proposed phased implementation strategy for FMDS.

· Obtain industry insight regarding integration and support strategies for FMDS.

· Obtain industry feedback on the proposed acquisition strategy for FMDS.

· Obtain insight into vendors’ interest in pursuing a future RFP or SIR.

The FAA will use the information from this market survey to assist in refining its acquisition alternatives and program requirements in support of the FMDS Investment Analysis Readiness Decision (IARD) in January 2023.

III. BACKGROUND

The FAA’s Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) provides the vision and roadmap for modernizing the NAS to meet future air traffic demands. The execution of this plan involves the research, development, and deployment of new Air Traffic Management (ATM) systems, technologies, and decision support tools to meet these growing demands safely and efficiently. The FAA works in cooperation with the airlines and other NAS users to implement TFM programs to reduce delays to ensure smooth and efficient traffic flow through FAA controlled airspace, thereby saving the flying public and airlines millions of dollars per year in avoided delay. The FAA’s Air Traffic Systems Decision Support Systems Program Office is responsible for developing and deploying technology to support the safe and efficient movement of aircraft through the NAS and ensuring that new TFM systems and technologies provide NAS-Level benefits in addition to providing localized benefits within a particular volume of airspace or phase of flight.

The TFMS provides information processing support for FAA Traffic Management personnel as they coordinate the use of the NAS and respond to conditions of excess demand. TFMS receives information on planned and active flights, generates forecasts of demand from the current time to several hours into the future, presents this information to Traffic Management personnel to assist with identification of constraints, and provides automation support for the development of Traffic Management Initiatives (TMIs) to resolve or ameliorate congestion. TFMS provides information to other Air Traffic Organization (ATO) automation systems, Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) users, Flight Operations Centers (FOCs) such as Airline Operations Centers (AOC), and other consumers of Traffic Flow Management (TFM) data. TFMS supports advanced planning for anticipated adverse or restrictive conditions. It supports post-event analysis and evaluation of actions taken. TFMS archives the information it receives, making it available for researchers and developers. It collects and distributes metrics on the use of the NAS.

To build a NAS Common Situation Model, the TFMS scope includes all en route and terminal flights within the continental United States, plus all inbound and outbound oceanic flights and international flights. TFMS processes flight and weather-related data from a multitude of sources, as documented in the preliminary program requirements document (pPRD), and provides situational awareness in support of the Traffic Management mission. The centralized “core engine” of TFMS is located at the TFMS Production Center at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, NJ (the primary site) and conducts data capture, analysis and reporting.

Additionally, TFMS assists Traffic Management Specialists (TMS) and Traffic Management Coordinators (TMC) at remote facilities in making decisions to reduce air travel delays through information sharing and collaborative decision-making. TMSs work at the Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) in Warrenton, VA, and provide centralized management of TFM capabilities. Staff at other remote facilities who coordinate with the ATCSCC include TMCs at the Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCC), the combined Center Radar Approach Control (CERAP) facilities, high activity Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facilities, and high activity Air Traffic Control Towers (ATCT). Time-sensitive data is provided to the TMCs to strategically maximize the efficient use of available capacity across the entire NAS in response to bad weather or increased demand. TFMS provides the TMCs with automated tools that enable data sharing, arrival/departure management, congestion management, system impact assessment, and performance assessment. In turn, this leads to better recognition, prediction, and response to the dynamic NAS for improved passenger throughput and a more equitable allocation of resources among users.

IV. FMDS OBJECTIVES

FMDS will provide a reliable TFM automation system using a modernized architecture that will increase reliability and reduce response time compared to TFMS. A microservices architecture will provide the FAA with increased flexibility to implement capabilities, leveraging enterprise services, and support future enhancements. Functions needed by multiple applications (and automation systems) will be implemented as shared services. This will avoid duplication of functions and data across services, applications, and automation systems, which will simplify development and maintenance. A modernized architecture will also improve the processes for providing system support, by providing increased visibility into system and component performance to prevent system failures.

TFM automation system functions will be implemented in a streamlined interface that will improve the user experience via an integrated situation awareness display application. The improved performance of FMDS in conjunction with a new, consolidated application suite will allow traffic managers to view all traffic, TMIs, and weather in one integrated application, allowing for more proactive and efficient execution of TFM actions. Today, traffic managers collect information electronically but manually log it. FMDS will support automated logging of common information, reducing traffic manager workload associated with entering duplicate data across disparate applications. Automated logging will also make it easier for traffic managers to share information with multiple facilities, improving situational awareness.

NAS users will access information about NAS operations and collaborate with traffic managers in new ways. The various TFMS web applications that NAS users must currently monitor separately will be streamlined and accessible via a centralized portal. NAS users will be able to subscribe to notifications of changes in TMIs, operations plans, and other information, relieving them from the need to poll or scrape several websites to obtain a complete view of NAS operations. CDM members will transition away from the use of local instances of the Flight Schedule Monitor (FSM) application, as its functionality will be included in the integrated situation awareness display application. FMDS may provide application programming interfaces (APIs) that will allow CDM members to access data and services they can use to model the impact of TMIs on their flights. Alternatively, or in addition, FMDS may provide CDM members access to a web-based version of the integrated situation awareness display that will allow them to perform similar tasks as they can do today via FSM and the remote desktop version of the Traffic Situation Display (TSD) application.

Post-event analysis will be supported by an expansive, searchable datastore of the data FMDS presents to users, data exchanged among FMDS users/facilities, and data exchanged among the underlying software services and automation systems. The datastore will support better understanding of NAS events and their impacts on operations. Additionally, the datastore enables improved replay capabilities.

FMDS will use NAS enterprise services and standard industry data formats where appropriate to minimize the number of different data structures utilized and duplicate functionality across systems. This will allow for simplified internal maintenance and updates and will ease data sharing across NAS automation systems.

V. REQUESTED INFORMATION / QUESTIONS TO INDUSTRY

The FAA seeks feedback from respondents who generally fall into one or more of the following categories:

1. Service/application providers, including both infrastructure and software

2. Infrastructure/platform providers

3. Software development service providers

4. System/software integrators The FAA recognizes that some respondents mat not have interest or expertise in all areas addressed in this market survey and desires input from a diverse group of respondents.

Please address the following questions in your market survey responses. If some questions are not applicable to your offering or you have no feedback, you may provide answers only to a subset of the questions. The FAA recognizes that some respondents may not have interest or expertise in all areas addressed in this market survey and desires input from a diverse group of industry participants. Responses should be provided in the order listed below.

1. Please provide feedback on the content, clarity, or completeness of the Attachment 2: FMDS Preliminary Program Requirements Document (pPRD). The pPRD captures overall goals for the FMDS program and is not a system/software specification. Specifications will be derived from the pPRD.

2. Do you have an existing product or service that can be leveraged to meet FMDS requirements, even if partially? Can that product be integrated with other products or services? If you have an existing product, estimate the percentage (%) of applicable functional and non-functional requirements in the pPRD that your product satisfies (i.e., your system meets 50% of the requirements), and describe how you would demonstrate this product to the FAA.

3. How do you suggest FMDS meet delivery of services to the CDM community as captured in the requirements? For example, should FMDS provide applications, data services, APIs, etc.?

4. The FAA is considering contracting with multiple vendors through a multiple award indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract or something similar with work conducted via task orders for FMDS. Please provide feedback on this approach detailed in Attachment 5: Acquisition Strategy White Paper, with a focus on the role of system integrator and the relationship of development vendors.

5. If the FAA pursues an acquisition strategy with multiple Agile-like software teams via multiple vendors, what integration tools, platforms, and processes do you recommend for successful deployment and operations? Please include examples of programs/projects where you have used Agile development methods.

6. What would be the best way for the FAA to acquire an on-premises (that is, located in an FAA facility) cloud-like platform? Similarly, what would be the best way for the FAA to acquire an off-premises (that is, located in a vendor facility) cloud platform? Please specifically address security considerations and controls necessary for integration with primary FAA users located in FAA facilities.

7. How do you suggest the FAA user community (traffic management, air traffic control, system support, and CDM members) and union representatives be engaged in the development of the new TFM applications to ensure user acceptance of the new applications?

8. Do you think it is feasible to deploy the new FMDS system using a phased implementation approach? If so, how would that be accomplished? Provide feedback on the strategy proposed by the FAA in Attachment 3: Implementation Strategy White Paper.

9. If a phased implementation is pursued by the FAA, do you think it is reasonable to leverage TFMData to provide the required services during the rollout of FMDS?

10. Based on your company's experience and the provided functional requirements, provide a product roadmap and timeline for developing capabilities within this market survey. How many months after contract award would a realistic in-service date for FMDS be? Given the proposed phased implementation strategy, can you provide more details on realistic dates for each of the phases?

11. What is your proposed approach to system support? What responsibilities should be allocated to the vendor(s) vs. the government?

12. If the FAA pursues a service-based, or software as a service (SaaS) model for FMDS, how would you recommend architecting the solution with respect to FAA cybersecurity concerns regarding FAA security policy and processes? Additionally, describe your recommended demarcation point between the service and FAA systems.

13. The FAA is considering use of Other Transaction Authority (OTA) for industry collaboration during the investment analysis process. This OTA could enable sharing of TFMS code and iterative prototype development. Please provide activities, considerations, and timeline for this approach that should be considered.

VI. QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS:

Submit any written questions or comments, which must be limited to aspects of this announcement, via email to the Contracting Officer, Troy Teachey, at troy.teachey@faa.gov. Verbal communication will not be entertained.

Please use the attached Comments and Questions Matrix to submit comments or questions on the market survey. Refer to Paragraph X for submittal deadlines. It is the responsibility of the vendor to monitor the site for applicable questions and responses that the FAA will post.

You are encouraged to submit nonproprietary information to the greatest extent possible; however, if you do submit proprietary information please mark as identified in Paragraph XI below.

Comments and questions on the market survey are not considered part of the response submission page limit.

VII. NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE

The Principal North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this requirement is 541512 Computer Systems Integration Design Services.

VIII. ACCESS TO EXPORT CONTROLLED INFORMATION

Attachments to this market survey contain information that is subject to the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR, 15 C.F.R. Parts 730-774). As a consequence, this information cannot be exported nor re-exported to country group E:1 or E:2 countries/persons (see Supp.1 to Part 740 of the EAR), nor can be made available to any national of such country. In addition, the information in this document cannot be exported nor re-exported to an end-user or for an end-use that is prohibited by Part 744 of the Export Administration Regulations (15 C.F.R. Part 744). To obtain the controlled documents you must agree to the terms and conditions for release by signing/submitting the following:

· Attachment 14.1 – Document Security Notice (DSN)

· Attachment 14.2 –Non-Disclosure Agreement and Non-Use Agreement (NDA) [footnoteRef:2] [2: *The Consolidated Employee Screening List must include all employees that will have access to the documents.]

· Attachment 14.3 – Consolidated Employee Screening List The associated documentation identified herein is subject to U.S export controls.

Attachments 1 through 12 have been deemed as sensitive unclassified. Instructions to obtain sensitive unclassified attachments can be found in the Attachment 14. The Attachments 4 and 6 through 12 will only be provided to vendors that register on FAA AMS Contract Opportunities (https://sam.gov) and are upon submittal of those documents (Attachments 14.1, 14.2, and 14.3) to the FAA Contracting Officer.

IX. LIST OF ATTACHMENTS

Attachment 1: Concept of Operations Attachment 2: Preliminary Program Requirements Document (pPRD) Attachment 3: Implementation Strategy White Paper Attachment 4: Traffic Flow Management Data Services (TFMData) Java Messaging Service Description Document (JMSDD) Attachment 5: Acquisition Strategy White Paper Attachment 6: FMDS Human Interface Guide Attachments 7-12: TFMS User Application Reference Guides Attachment 13: Comments and Questions Matrix Attachment 14: Instructions to Obtain Sensitive Unclassified Information (inclusive of 3 files labeled 14.1, 14.2, and 14.3)

Attachment 15: Business Declaration Form

X. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Interested parties must provide responses in writing. Responses to this market survey should be no more than 30 pages long and must be in PDF format in Times New Roman 12 Font. Please limit company background information to one page.

Responses must be submitted to the Contracting Officer at troy.teachey@faa.gov. Any proprietary or confidential information contained in the market survey submissions must be appropriately marked.

Vendor responses will not be returned and shall remain the property of the FAA. Vendors will not be notified of the results of this market survey. For questions and requests for additional information regarding this market survey contact the aforementioned individual(s) via email only utilizing the provided Comments and Question Matrix as referenced herein by the specified date in Paragraph XI. Verbal communication will not be entertained.

Please find the following schedule with applicable due dates for the market survey:

· July 14, 2022, by 4 PM EDT– Vendors to submit Business Declaration Form, for prospective prime contractor and subcontractor(s), and all Attachments 14 (14.1, 14.2, and 14.3) requesting from FAA an access to sensitive unclassified information.

· July 21, 2022 - Cleared Vendors to receive the Market Survey Packages

· July 30, 2022 – Vendors submit comments and/or questions to FAA using the Comments and Questions Matrix.

· August 15, 2022 – The FAA will post responses to vendor comments and/or questions on the website (https://sam.gov/).

· August 31, 2022, by 4PM EDT – Vendor to submit market survey responses, with completed Business Declaration Form(s), for prospective prime contractor and subcontractor(s).

· October 15, 2022 – Vendor to submit Certificate of Destruction (per Attachment 13.2)

Government Point of Contact Information:

Troy Teachey Contracting Officer, AAQ-210 800 Independence Ave., SW Washington, DC 20591 Email: troy.teachey@faa.gov

END OF ANNOUNCEMENT