FG_CD_CSO_QandA20260713.xlsx

XLSX spreadsheet 88 KB Posted Jul 13, 2026

Attached to: Foundation GEOINT (FG) Change Detection (CD) Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO)
Solicitation number: HM047626SC001
Issued by: Department of Defense National Geospatial Intelligence Agency

About this file

Written by GovTribe AI · Jul 13, 2026

This is a Questions and Answers document dated July 13, 2026, for the Foundation GEOINT (FG) Change Detection (CSO) Commercial Solutions Opening solicitation (HM047626SC001) issued by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). The document provides responses to inquiries submitted by potential offerors regarding the solicitation requirements and evaluation criteria. As a Q&A file, it does not specify required products or services, pricing terms, or award details, but rather clarifies the solicitation's technical and administrative requirements based on questions posed by prospective contractors prior to the July 8, 2026 submission deadline. The actual Q&A content details are not visible in the provided summary, as the file itself (an Excel spreadsheet) would contain the specific questions and NGA responses addressing offeror concerns about the change detection capabilities, deliverables, and compliance requirements for this commercial solutions acquisition.

View the file

Other files

File	Type	Posted
FG_CD_CSO_QandA_20260715.xlsx	XLSX spreadsheet	Jul 15, 2026
FG_CD_CSO_QandA_20260713v2.xlsx	XLSX spreadsheet	Jul 13, 2026
FG_CD_CSO_QandA 792026.xlsx	XLSX spreadsheet	Jul 9, 2026
Attch2_FG_CD_CSO_TOI_20260707.pdf	PDF	Jul 7, 2026
FG_CD_CSO_QandA_20260707.xlsx	XLSX spreadsheet	Jul 7, 2026
Attch1_FG_CD_CSO_20260623v2.pdf	PDF	Jun 23, 2026
Attch1_FG_CD_CSO_20260623v2.pdf	PDF	Jun 23, 2026
Attch2_FG_CD_CSO_TOI_20260623.pdf	PDF	Jun 23, 2026
Attch5_FG_CD_CSO_QandA.xlsx	XLSX spreadsheet	Jun 23, 2026
Attch4_FG_CD_CSO_Clause_List_20260623.pdf	PDF	Jun 23, 2026
Attch3_FG_CD_CSO_SD_Template_20260623.pdf	PDF	Jun 23, 2026

Show all 11

On GovTribe

Work with this file

Download the original file
Contacts named in this file
Similar government files
Ask GovTribe AI about this file

Try for free Login

Text version

The file's text, extracted by GovTribe without its formatting.

CD-CSO

CD-CSO-Vendor Questions
Question Numbers	Comment/Question	NGA Response
1	To support solution sizing and ROM pricing, can NGA provide the anticipated annual demand for on-demand change analysis requests? Specifically, what is the expected annual area of analysis (square kilometers), typical AOI size, and approximate number of requests, independent of the quarterly global change notification requirement?	As mentioned in the FG CD CSO TOI, “major challenge in this process is determining how to most efficiently understand if change has occurred to prompt an update to our products” and “Automated recurrent global change detection would inform future FDT data”. The purpose of this CSO will be to help NGA to gage foundation GEOINT relevant change and omit non-relevant on a global scale. It is yet to be determined the periodicity of accomplishing the FG group level global change detection requirements. Annual frequency and size of requests will be highly dependent on DOW and IC priorities, world events, and existing currency of data over these areas. The ideal solution should provide a cost-efficient process for identifying GEOINT relevant change over large regions of the earth, when combined, provide global coverage change detection on an annual or nearly annual basis.
2	The Topic of Interest primarily describes the delivery of a commercial change detection capability and associated data products. Beyond product delivery, does NGA anticipate requiring implementation or operational support services (e.g., system integration, deployment support, training, on-site support, or other professional services) as part of any resulting award?

Clarification on the expected balance between commercial product delivery and implementation services will help offerors propose an appropriately scoped solution and accurately address the Viability evaluation factor.	The primary purpose of the FG CD CSO will be to show detection capabilities of foundation GEOINT relevant change and omit non-relevant on a global scale. Agile change detection solutions that are compatible with standard government GIS formats and environments would typically offer the most viable solutions. While there is no requirement for implementation or operational support services, in the FG_CD_CSO_20260623 document Section A, there mentioned “Solutions may include existing technologies or procedures that are not currently in use that would enhance or streamline mission capabilities.”
	3	The bulleted list under "Problem Statement" includes, "Detection of change over areas as small as 100 sq. meters." Does 100 sq. meters here refer to the AOI extent or the area of change detected?	The 100 sq meters refers to minimum areas of change.
	4	Is there a limit to the number of AOIs that will be run on the program?	There is no limit to the number of AOI’s. The purpose of this CSO is for identifying GEOINT relevant change over large regions of the earth, that could be accomplished through a multitude of smaller AOI’s or fewer larger AOI’s.
	5	Is there a limit to the total AOI area that will be run on the program?	While there is no limit to the total AOI area, for the CSO it will be a large area or series of smaller areas that when combined could start to simulate a global business model.
	6	Is there a limit to the total AOI area that will be run on the program?	NGA response is the same as for Question 5.
	7	Is there a timeline for the next phases for this effort-- Pitch, Full Proposal and Award?	NGA has not made a determination if there will be any award resulting from this CSO, or a timeline.
	8	Does the Agency intend to offer any GFI to support vendor proposals?	NGA has no intention of offering any GFI in support of the CSO at this time.
	9	What ground cover increments in square kilometers are expected to satisfy the CSO requirements? 250k, 500k, 1M, 25M, 50M, 100M, Global?	The TOI specifies possible areas as small as 100 sq meters, otherwise, there is no limit to the total AOI area. The CSO will require a large area or series of smaller areas that when combined could start to simulate a global business model.
	10	To optimize the change-detection deliverable, can NGA describe how the GeoJSON output is intended to be consumed downstream — e.g., ingested into a production or tasking system, reviewed by analysts, or persisted in some way?	NGA at this time will perform analyst review of the GeoJSON output to determine identification of FG relevant change.
	11	Does NGA maintain established confidence or accuracy expectations associated with specific feature classes, such that a change-detection confidence score should align to existing per-feature benchmarks rather than a single method-derived value?	In the FG CD CSO, NGA did not specify a specific threshold concerning confidence, accuracy or acceptable false-positive and false-negative rates. However, in the TOI Problem Statement, it specifies the proposed solution should include “transparent QA/QC process metrics ensuring the highest confidence in accuracy of the data”. While there is no specified number, NGA expects offerors to leverage technology to achieve high industry standards in this area.
	12	What are the target acceptable false-positive and false-negative rates for the fully automated stage — i.e., how accurate does detection need to be before a case gets flagged for analyst validation instead of passing through automatically?	In the FG CD CSO, NGA did not specify a specific threshold concerning confidence, accuracy or acceptable false-positive and false-negative rates. However, in the TOI Problem Statement, it pecifies the proposed solution should include “transparent QA/QC process metrics ensuring the highest confidence in accuracy of the data”. While there is no specified number, NGA expects offerors to leverage technology to achieve high industry standards in this area.
	13	Does the pipeline need to natively ingest and normalize multi-sensor inputs (e.g., comparing a PlanetScope 3-meter visual image to a Sentinel-2 10-meter spectral tile), or will operational input assets always come from identical sensor constellations? What is the expected resolution range (min & max)?	The primary purpose of the FG CD CSO will be to show detection capabilities of foundation GEOINT relevant change and omit non-relevant on a global scale. While there is no specific requirement concerning sensor and resolution, desired solution attributes should include “Leverage and continuously improve use of computer vision AI/ML technology”.
	14	Is there an operational requirement to filter out changes based on specific target classes (e.g., ignoring heavy commercial vehicles parked on hardstanding while flagging permanent concrete extensions)?	A desired solution attribute of this CSO is to leverage collaborative commercial market solutions to identify broad area FG-relevant change, while removing nonrelevant.
	15	What hardware limitations should we consider, and what are the specs of the system you’ll be testing on?	For this CSO, NGA has no hardware or system specs at this time other than to identify broad area FG-relevant change, while removing nonrelevant in vector, open standard formats with metadata, such as polygons in GeoJSON format.
	16	What data should be used for this project — open-source/commercial imagery sourced by the offeror, or will imagery/data be provided by NGA?	NGA has no intention of offering any GFI in support of the CSO at this time, open source/commercial imagery sourced by the offeror should be used.
	17	When the TOI refers to "historical" data, is comparison against the single most recent clear image sufficient, or does the baseline need to be composited from several older images (useful for persistently cloudy regions)?	For the purpose of this CSO, the baseline will be 3 months, in most cases, going backwards for “comparison against the single most recent clear image” may be sufficient to identify broad area FG-relevant change, while removing nonrelevant. When the “single most recent clear image” does not suffice, NGA expects demonstrations of agility as specified in the TOI Solutions Attributes and adjust and go back further as needed.
	18	Who supplies the imagery? Will this be Gov’t sourced or commercially sourced as part of the vendor’s innovative approach?	NGA has no intention of offering any GFI in support of the CSO at this time, open source/commercial imagery sourced by the offeror should be used.
	19	Who supplies the computing power? Is there a preferred platform for computing e.g. AWS?	NGA has no intention of offering any GFI in support of the CSO at this time, computing power by the offeror should be used.
	20	What is the initial GEO graphic extent? Whole world or specific AOI/AOR?	The initial GEO graphic area or AOI, for the CSO will be a large area or series of smaller areas that when combined could start to simulate a global business model.
	21	What type of imagery? Multi-imagery EO, SAR, IR. Etc.	The primary purpose of the FG CD CSO will be to show detection capabilities of foundation GEOINT relevant change and omit non-relevant on a global scale. While there is no specific requirement concerning sensor and resolution, the FG_CD_CSO_20260623 document Section A, points out “obtain innovative solutions” and the TOI points out the “objective of this effort is to leverage collaborative commercial market solutions”.
	22	Can we reference past high-side performance? Would be ideal to highlight success of high-side app development and Machine Learning (ML) modeling and implementation/deployment.	The FG CD CSO Solution Document includes a Team & Past Performance page that could be leveraged as long as it is compliant with the FG_CD_CSO_20260623 document Section B stating, “electronically submit…an unclassified Solution Brief”.
	23	Is there a specific timeframe for the initial deliverable product? E.g. 90-days, Quarterly, etc. (does it vary from the periodicity?)	Outlined in the TOI Problem Statement, “Change notifications should be scalable to global coverage which will provide a deliverable of relevant global changes detected over a 3 months period of time delivered quarterly”.
	24	Is the preferred solution a stand-alone solution (e.g. desktop or web app) or something that will be integrated into existing systems (e.g. Docker container, etc.)?	The FG CD CSO output at this time will function as a stand-alone data delivery solution.
	25	Does NGA anticipate making multiple awards under this CSO to support complementary capabilities (e.g., data collection, change detection, analytics, exploitation), or is NGA seeking a single end-to-end commercial solution?	NGA has not made a determination if there will be any award resulting from this CSO, or a timeline.
	26	Are there metadata standards or schemas that NGA expects offerors to follow?	Outlined in the TOI Problem Statement,” Vector indicators of change in open standard formats, attributed with metadata such as date, source, location, areal extent, and confidence score in standard formats”.
	27	What does NGA's on-demand analysis requests look like - e.g., API?	The FG CD CSO output will be more of a stand-alone data delivery at this time.
	28	Does NGA envision this capability becoming part of the Foundation Digital Twin operational baseline, or will it remain a stand-alone commercial service?	NGA has not made a determination if there will be any award resulting from this CSO, or a timeline.
	29	NGA indicated that additional pricing options would be useful. Could NGA please elaborate on the specific types of pricing options it would like industry to provide? Examples may include resolution-based pricing, square kilometer tiering, differentiated product features, delivery cadence, or other variables NGA would like offerors to consider."	The FG CD CSO will consist of AOI’s that simulate a global business model and as outlined in the FG_CD_CSO_20260623 document Section D, under possibility of funding, “solutions with lower prices are favored”.
	30	The TOI requests "change analysis based on ready access (2 days or less) to global data" but does not define expected request volumes, AOI sizes, turnaround expectations, or whether this capability is intended as an analyst-driven service, self-service capability, or demonstration of data availability. Can NGA clarify the expected operational concept to support development of an appropriate technical approach and pricing model?	The FG CD CSO is intended to be a stand-alone data delivery, offering CD solutions compatible with standard government GIS formats and environments. The FG CD CSO is pursuing FG-relevant change on a global scale and while there is no limit to the total AOI, it will consist of large or series of smaller areas that when combined could simulate a global business model. This operational concept should employ computer vision, and AI/ML technology advancements that contribute to state of the art, cost-effective solutions that bring best value to the government.
	31	What factors will NGA use in determining whether a selected solution will result in a FAR-based fixed-price commercial contract versus an OTA?

Reference: Attch1_FG_CD_CSO_20260623v2 Section B.A.2 pg.3

32	Will NGA provide access to all required current and historical imagery?
33	How many concurrent users should we assume for viewing, reviewing, filtering, commenting on, and exporting AOI change-detection results?
34	The government has provided a template for the offeror to utilize in responding to this requirement. Is it permissible to combine slides (e.g., have one slide that contains both introduction and opportunity responses) and still conform to the CSO.
35	The TOI distinguishes between relevant change for mapping, charting, navigation, infrastructure, transportation, land cover, and disaster impacts, and non-relevant change such as seasonality, time of day, pattern of life, and order of battle. Can NGA provide additional priority weighting among relevant change categories, or should offerors propose their own relevance taxonomy and confidence scoring approach?
36	The TOI requests vector indicators of change in open standard formats with metadata including date, source, location, areal extent, and confidence score. Does NGA have a preferred schema, geometry type, attribution model, coordinate reference system, or compatible standard for the Phase 1 deliverable, such as GeoJSON, OGC API Features, shapefile/geopackage, STAC-linked metadata, or another FDT-aligned format?
37	For Phase 1, may offerors rely on commercially available EO/SAR imagery, public/open imagery, customer-licensed imagery, or a combination of these sources? Should the proposed solution include imagery acquisition as part of the fixed-price solution, or may it demonstrate the commercial processing capability using offeror-provided representative data?
38	The TOI requests ready access within two days to global historical and current data. Should this be interpreted as access to the underlying imagery/catalog needed to perform analysis, delivery of change results within two days after AOI/time-window tasking, or both?
39	Does NGA have preferred QA/QC metrics for evaluating broad-area change detection, such as precision/recall, false positives per square kilometer, minimum mapping unit, geolocation error, areal overlap/IoU, confidence calibration, analyst review burden, or timeliness?
40	For the quarterly global-change deliverable, does NGA expect comprehensive wall-to-wall global scanning, prioritized monitoring of foundation-interest geographies, or a scalable architecture and sampling-based demonstration during Phase 1?
41	Does NGA intend for the resulting capability to ingest and update an external, NGA-hosted persistent feature registry, or should offerors include a decoupled, standalone feature-state management repository within their solution boundary? If external, what standard interface (e.g., OGC API - Features) must the architecture support?
42	To support automated feature reconciliation, will NGA provide open schema definitions (such as NSG Application Schema/NAS) to selected offerors post-award, or must the solution's internal semantic-context engine map outputs to arbitrary, vendor-defined ontologies?
43	Is the terminal output of the proposed capability defined as a machine-to-machine vector change product routed directly to an existing NGA review system, or must the offeror deliver a dedicated User Interface (UI) to support manual analyst adjudication and state-transition approval workflows?
44	For the annual global change detection scope referenced in Q1, will NGA establish explicit geographic exclusion zones (e.g., open ocean, unpopulated regions), or must the system evaluate surface characteristics uniformly across all global landmass shapes?
45	Post-award, will operational commercial imagery ingestion be facilitated via centralized NGA enterprise access points (e.g., GIMS, Cedar, or Global EGD APIs), or are offerors expected to independently arrange, fund, and maintain direct commercial constellation harvesting pipelines?
46	Does the "accessible within two days" latency threshold define the maximum allowable duration from initial satellite sensor acquisition to final change product delivery, or does it govern internal processing time once the data becomes available inside the processing environment?
47	Should the solution architecture be engineered with plug-and-play microservices to ingest and orchestrate external third-party CV/AI model detections, or should the platform be optimized exclusively around independent, solution-owned analytical methods?
48	Does NGA require a unified, mandatory temporal change-detection algorithm across all surface environments, or does the agency favor an adaptive approach where different temporal comparison methods (e.g., CCDC vs. BFAST) are dynamically assigned based on regional land-cover types?
49	Are there baseline performance metrics (e.g., minimum Recall or a maximum False Alarm Rate per square kilometer) required for technical acceptability, or are offerors evaluated on their capability to dynamically output confidence scores that let NGA adjust thresholds operationally?
50	To support appropriate security engineering and ROM sizing, what are the target deployment parameters for the operational capability? Specifically: (a) What cloud fabric and impact level (e.g., C2E Top Secret) is designated, and (b) Will personnel require facility access or specific clearances during the initial development phase?
51	Please have the Government team confirm whether the intent of this acquisition is to obtain change detection data products (e.g., vector polygon change content) rather than a change detection system? Specifically, is the contractor expected to deliver change detection results/content, or to deploy, implement, operate, and maintain change detection tools and infrastructure on the Government network (SBU, SEC, COE,etc)?
52	Please have the Government team clarify the intended scope of Task Order (1) with respect to change detection data delivery and hosting? Specifically, is the contractor's responsibility limited to producing and delivering change detection content (e.g., vector polygon data and associated outputs) to a Government-designated file share, object store, or other repository?

Or does the scope of Task Order (1) also include hosting, service-enabling, replicating, distributing, and maintaining access to the change detection data across multiple NGA networks and environments?

53	Section: Problem Statement / Desired Solution Attributes. The TOI does not define "broad area" beyond the reference to detecting change over areas as small as 100 sq. meters (which describes the minimum size of a single detected change, not the scope of coverage). Please clarify: does "broad area" refer to country-level, regional, continental, or global-scale coverage, or is the intended scope defined by another mechanism (e.g., a prioritized list of Areas of Interest)?
54	Section: Problem Statement. The Problem Statement references NGA's support to "over 600 NEO sites in 189 countries" as context for the volume of requirements the Foundation GEOINT Operations Office manages, while other sections describe the desired capability using "global coverage" and "global indicators of change." Please clarify whether the change detection capability sought under this TOI is expected to cover: (a) the full global landmass regardless of the NEO site list, (b) the NEO sites and/or NSG partner-submitted requirement locations specifically, or (c) a different, NGA-defined set of priority areas.
55	Section: Problem Statement (“Change notifications should be scalable to global coverage which will provide a deliverable of relevant global changes detected over a 3 months period of time delivered quarterly”). Please confirm our interpretation: that this requirement covers the entire global landmass within each 3-month period, with the resulting deliverable provided on a quarterly cadence. Additionally, please clarify whether a “change notification” is intended to indicate only that relevant change has occurred at a given location (a flag), without characterizing what the change is, as distinct from “change analysis” (see following question).
56	Section: Problem Statement (“Change analysis on demand of a specified Area of Interest and over a specified time lapse – beginning and end dates, days to years”). Please clarify: (1) does “change analysis” include characterizing or classifying what changed (as distinct from a “change notification,” which we understand to flag only that change occurred), and (2) what refresh or re-flagging cadence should offerors assume for changes within an active Area of Interest – daily, sub-daily, weekly, or another interval?
57	Section: Problem Statement (“Transparent QA/QC process metrics ensuring the highest confidence in accuracy of the data”). Can NGA provide specific examples of the QA/QC process metrics expected (e.g., positional accuracy, precision/recall against ground truth, confidence-score calibration), or is the selection and definition of appropriate metrics left to the offeror’s proposed methodology?
58	For monitoring AOIs, will the customer directly interact with the analytic for tasking, or will we just get a spreadsheet with a defined AOI and instructions? We're trying to determine if we need a UI and/or API for the customer or if the customer simply wants to be delivered finished products.
59	How will AOIs be defined fo monitoring? Center point? Polygon/geofence? Common name feature with a radius? All of the above?
60	The RFP cites quarterly delivery of a change detection product, but how often within the preceding quarter does the customer want a target or AOI imaged? Only once, or will repeatability be defined in the tasking order? Is there a minimum requirement?
61	The RFP metions validating reported changes - is the validated change supposed to be comprehensive (100%) or would an initial sampling size suffice and have a sliding bar of increased validations should that initial sampling return thresholds higher than expected tolerances/accuracies? Aare you wanting to validate in a system of record before exporting vectors or is the validation meant to happen in the customer's preferred software system? Is this validation meant or preferred to be automated, or does there need to be a human in the loop?
62	The RFP encourages teaming between commercial companies to deliver an end-to-end solution from data collection through exploitation. Will the Government clarify whether it intends to identify or encourage interoperability-based teaming among offerors when separately proposed capabilities appear complementary?
63	The Topic of Interest (TOI) encourages teaming to offer end-to-end solutions from data collection through exploitation. Should offerors assume all source data, including commercial collection and licensing costs, is supplied within the proposed solution, or may offerors leverage imagery access under existing Government commercial imagery agreements?
64	Does the Government have a preference or restriction regarding sensing modalities (EO, SAR, multispectral)? Specifically, are SAR-derived change indicators acceptable for regions with persistent cloud cover, recognizing that SAR-based indicators may carry different confidence characteristics than EO-derived indicators?
65	The TOI requires change notifications scalable to global coverage with quarterly delivery. Three scope clarifications: (a) Does global coverage encompass littoral and coastal zones relevant to maritime safety of navigation, or land areas only? (b) Is a phased ramp to full global coverage acceptable within an initial award, or is full global coverage expected in the first quarterly deliverable? (c) Will the Government share AOI priorities (for example, the NEO site list) to inform coverage sequencing or QA emphasis?
66	The 100 sq. meter minimum change footprint implies source imagery at roughly sub-5 meter GSD for reliable detection. Is the 100 sq. meter threshold required uniformly at global scale for the quarterly product, or does it apply to on-demand AOI analysis, with a coarser detection threshold acceptable for the quarterly global deliverable?
67	Regarding the transparent QA/QC requirement: (a) Are there target precision, recall, or false-alarm-rate thresholds for relevant change detection? (b) How will the Government adjudicate ground truth, and will an evaluation dataset or benchmark AOIs be provided so offeror metrics are comparable? (c) Does the Government expect confidence scores to be calibrated probabilities, with calibration methodology included in QA/QC reporting?
68	For the on-demand AOI change analysis capability, can the Government characterize expected request volumes, typical AOI sizes, and required turnaround times, to support appropriate fixed-price structuring?
69	Where will deliverables be consumed: vendor-hosted services accessible on unclassified networks, delivery into a Government cloud environment, or both? Are there required interface or delivery standards beyond open vector formats?
70	The CSO requires solutions be shareable with international partners. Does this requirement apply to the derived vector deliverables only, or also to underlying source imagery? Should offerors ensure commercial imagery licensing supports releasability of derived products to international partners?
71	What data rights does the Government intend to assert in analyst feedback and adjudication data provided under the continual-improvement requirement, and does the Government anticipate any restrictions on model improvements derived from that feedback, given the CSO requirement that solutions remain commercial and shareable with international partners?
72	Can the Government characterize the anticipated funding range or period of performance for initial awards under this TOI, to inform the flexible pricing options requested in the Solution Document template?
73	For imagery access to derive the requested insights, can the submitters assume that access to GFI (i.e. imagery) will be available and acceptable?
74	To provide the most accurate ROM for cost, is it expected that submitters provide prices for imagery purchase to derive insights?
75	Can the Government provide more context on “ready access (2 days or less),” is this simply being able to access and begin analysis on products from commercial imagery stores within 2 days of a request by the Government to perform a change analysis in a particular AOI/TOI?
76	Can the Government clarify if they will consider changing this solicitation from 541370 - Surveying and Mapping *except Geophysical) Services to 541512 - Computer Systems Design Services?
77	Can the government clarify whether all work will be required to be completed in the St. Louis area, or would the government consider contractor facilities, the Washington DC Metro area, or other ares within the CONUS?
78	Attachment 3 states “Vendors can utilize their own branding (e.g. fonts, slide background, images, etc.) as long as it is legible when printed or shared digitally. Is a minimum font size of 10pt considered “legible”?
79	Is there access to unclass NGA foundational geoint data to baseline and determine change from?
80	Does the government expect this CSO period of performance to achieve a full production and ATO'ed system or an unclassified prototype?

UNCLASSIFIED

File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated Jul 13, 2026.