RFI-192830-GECS.pdf

NCIA Pre-competitive Engagement Calling Notice Request for Information

GEOSPATIAL ENTERPRISE CORE SERVICES (GECS)

CAPABILITY PROGRAMME

RFI-192830-GECS

Amendment 1

NCIA/ACQ/2026/16805

Monday, 26 October 2026

Amendment 1 to NCIA Pre-competitive Engagement Calling Notice/ Request for Information

Through this Amendment no. 1 to the RFI GEOSPATIAL ENTERPRISE CORE SERVICES (GECS) CAPABILITY PROGRAMME dated 20/10/2026 – the following changes are presented:

Para F: RFI-192830-GECS Point of Contact Jean-Luc Guellec email has changed to RFI-192830-GECS@ncia.nato.int

Except as provided above, all other terms presented in the RFI GEOSPATIAL ENTERPRISE CORE SERVICES (GECS) CAPABILITY PROGRAMME remain unchanged.

mailto:RFI-192830-GECS@ncia.nato.int

NCIA Pre-competitive Engagement Calling Notice

Request for Information (RFI-192830-GECS)

To: Industry Partners

1. The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) is conducting pre-competitive market engagement as market research to gather input on potential solutions to support the upcoming acquisition for the Geospatial Enterprise Core Services (GECS) capability programme. To that end, we are issuing the attached Request for Information RFI-192830- GECS and holding a dedicated workshop at NATO Edge to solicit feedback from capable and interested industry partners.

2. This Calling Notice RFI-192830-GECS is issued for planning purposes only and is not a request for bids. It is part of NCIA’s effort to engage early to inform and ensure it has a clear understanding of the marketplace, available capabilities, and potential acquisition strategies.

3. We value your insight and invite you to view and comment on our draft high level problem statement, Annexes B with a view in providing recommendations for improving performance outcomes, competition, and efficiency; and identifying any risks or concerns that should be considered during planning.

4. Feedback can be provided in writing in accordance with submission instructions and/or by attending a dedicated industry engagement – Geospatial Enterprise Core Services Workshop at NATO Edge, taking place on 17-19 November in Izmir (Türkiye), where NCIA will respond to clarifying questions and invite comments from participants.

5. Submission instructions and additional details can be found in the enclosure to this RFI-

192830-GECS.

6. Only companies from a NATO member country can participate in or respond to this RFI- 192830-GECS (https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/nato_countries.htm) or attend a dedicated workshop.

7. Should you have any questions or need clarification, please contact Jean-Luc Guellec at

8. We thank you in advance for your time and input, and we look forward to engaging with you as we shape this potential acquisition.

For the Chief of Acquisition:

Emira Kapetanovic Principal Contracting Assistant https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/nato_countries.htm

Enclosure :

• Distribution List

• Request for Information with Annexes A and B

Distribution List

1. NATO Delegation (Attn: Infrastructure Adviser)

1. Albania 12. Greece 23. Poland

2. Belgium 13. Hungary 24. Portugal

3. Bulgaria 14. Iceland 25. Romania

4. Canada 15. Italy 26. Slovakia

5. Croatia 16. Latvia 27. Slovenia

6. Czechia 17. Lithuania 28. Spain

7. Denmark 18. Luxembourg 29. Sweden

8. Estonia 19. Montenegro 30. Türkiye

9. Finland 20. Netherlands 31. United Kingdom

10. France 21. North Macedonia 32. United States

11. Germany 22. Norway

2. All NATEXs

Table of Contents

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

A. Introduction B. Submission Instructions C. Industry Engagement D. Disclaimer E. Use of Information Provided through Responses F. RFI-192830-GECS Point of Contact Annex A – Requested Information Annex B – Problem Statement

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

A. Introduction

1. The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) is conducting pre-competitive market engagement as market research to gather input on potential solutions to support the upcoming acquisition for the Geospatial Enterprise Core Services (GECS) capability.

To that end, we are issuing the attached Request for Information (RFI-192830-GECS) and holding a dedicated workshop at NATO Edge to solicit feedback from capable and interested industry partners.

2. This Calling Notice RFI-192830-GECS is issued for planning purposes only and is not a request for bids. It is part of NCIA’s effort to engage early to inform and ensure it has a clear understanding of the marketplace, available capabilities, and potential acquisition strategies.

B. Submission Instructions

1. Interested parties are invited to respond in accordance with the instructions below or provide feedback during Industry Engagement:

a. Submit responses via the email address in section E no later than 12:00 hours Central European Time (CET) on 03 December 2026.

b. Responses should be submitted in PDF or Word format and must not exceed 15 pages, including:

i. Responses to Annex A and comments on Annex B excluding:

i. Cover page

ii. Company brochures or product literature (if included)

iii. Attachments such as past performance references

c. Use the following subject line for submission

i. “Response to [RFI-192830-GECS Number] – [Company Name]”

d. All responses should address the items listed in Annex A – Requested Information.

e. Respondents are also encouraged to review and comment on the draft problem statement in Annex B .

C. Industry Engagement

1. Planned industry engagement will take place in the form of Geospatial Enterprise

Core Services] Workshop at NATO Edge, taking place on 17-19 November in Izmir (Türkiye).

2. During the workshop NCIA will brief the high level problem statement and outcome/performance based requirements (Annex B), respond to clarifying questions and invite comments from participants, based on the questions shared (Annex B) in the open forum as well as in bilateral meetings (schedule allowing).

3. More information on NATO Edge attendance and registration is available on event’s official website - https://www.natoedge.nato.int/ https://www.natoedge.nato.int/

D. Disclaimer

1. This RFI-192830-GECS is for planning and informational purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or obligation on the part of the NCIA. The NCIA does not intend to award a contract based on responses to this RFI-192830-GECS.

2. Respondents are solely responsible for all costs incurred in responding to this RFI- 192830-GECS. The NCIA will consider and analyse all information received from this RFI-192830-GECS and may use these findings to develop a future solicitation. The NCIA will consider all responses as confidential commercial information and will protect it as such.

3. NCIA reserves the right, at any time, to cancel this informal market survey, partially or in its entirety. No legal liability on the part of NCIA for payment of any sort shall arise and in no event will a cause of action lie with any prospective participant for the recovery of any costs incurred in connection with the preparation of documentation or participation in response hereto. All effort initiated or undertaken by prospective informal market survey participants shall be done considering and accepting this fact.

E. Use of Information Provided through Responses

1. Confidentiality of Responses

The NCIA may incorporate industry comments and responses, in part or in whole, into a future release of a solicitation. Should respondents include proprietary data in their responses that they do not wish to be disclosed to the public for any purpose, or used by NCIA (except for internal evaluation purposes), they must:

a. Mark the title page with the following legend:

This document includes data that shall not be disclosed outside NATO and shall not be duplicated, used, or disclosed – in whole or in part – for any purpose other than for NCIA internal evaluation purposes, unless otherwise expressly authorised by [insert company name]. This restriction does not limit the NCIA’s right to use information contained in this data without restriction if it is obtained from another source. The data subject to this restriction are contained in sheets [insert numbers or other identification of sheets]

b. Mark each sheet of data it wishes to restrict with the following legend:

Use or disclosure of data contained on this sheet is subject to the restriction on the title page of this document.

F. RFI-192830-GECS Point of Contact

1. Jean-Luc Guellec

Annex A – Requested Information

1. Respondents are encouraged to provide the following information in their response:

a. Company Information

i. Legal Business Name

ii. Address

iii. Website

iv. Primary Point of Contact

v. Email address

b. Technical Capability

i. Summary of relevant capabilities and past performance

c. Feedback and Recommendations

i. Responses to the following RFI-192830-GECS questions as per

Annex B

ii. Innovations or alternatives

iii. Comments on the draft Problem Statement

d. Questions or Concerns

i. Risks, concerns, or barriers

ii. Suggestions for risk mitigation or enhancing competition

Annex B – Problem Statement

Note: This is a DRAFT and subject to change. The NCIA is seeking industry feedback.

Geospatial Enterprise Core Services (GECS) Summary of Requirements and Questionnaire

1. Introduction The NATO Communications and Information Agency is preparing a project and procurement plan for the Geospatial Enterprise Core Services (GECS) capability programme. GECS is intended to evolve NATO’s current geospatial capability into a NATO enterprise-wide, interoperable and data-centric geospatial capability aligned with NATO’s Digital Transformation, the NATO GIS Vision and Strategy, and the emerging and future NATO Cloud / Digital Backbone environments.

GECS will provide NATO with the ability to assure the timely provisioning, processing, visualization, exploitation and secure dissemination of geospatial information (GI) to NATO users, Functional Services and Communities of Interest. The capability’s scope covers geospatial services related requirements across the full spectrum of NATO operations and activities from Baseline Activities and Current Operations (BACO), through crisis, to Maximum Level of Effort (MLE), including support to deployed forces. GECS will further enhance NATO’s geospatial and GIS technology readiness at strategic, operational and tactical levels by improving the availability, discoverability, sharing with Nations, NATO Force Structure and coalition partners as well as exploitation of geo-located data, products and services.

Figure 1 provides an overview on the GECS Capability Programme objectives, the main actors and interactions as well as the five developments areas (NEXGIS, GSCOI, SDI, RGSC, GIP), which will be used to achieve the full scope of GECS.

NCIA intends to meet the overall scope of its programme with a number of contracts, with different procurement and owner ship models in line with the NATO’S “Adopt, Buy, Create” principle and service outsourcing approach for ICT services to allow service/solution providers take responsibility for the broadest possible scope and the opportunity to optimize their services/solutions. An industry integrator will support the NCIA in implementing the entire GECS capability to ensure that the modernized geospatial processes take full advantage of the latest technologies, and that different development areas of GECS are aligned to deliver an efficient and coherent Enterprise geospatial capability.

GECS development area

Procurement / implementation method

Ownership model Description

NEXGIS – NATO

Enterprise Next Generation Core GIS

BUY for additional capability with the legacy Core GIS as foundation

NONO — NATO-Owned / NATO-Operated

NATO, through NCIA, retains ownership and operation of the Core GIS-based capability. The existing Core GIS is the foundation and will evolve into NEXGIS through several contracts (“Buy”) to meet additional operation requirements, including GeoAI and migration to emerging and future NATO cloud / operational infrastructure.

SDI – Spatial Data Infrastructure

SERVICE COCO — Contractor-Owned / Contractor-Operated

SDI is to be provided as an externally managed service by industry.

The service may run on NATO PBN or on service provider cloud infrastructure (TBD), depending on availability, accessibility, security and integration constraints.

The intent is to award one contract for the SDI service and GECS Integrator support.

GIP – Geospatial Information Procurement and Preparation

SERVICE COCO — Contractor-Owned / Contractor-Operated

GI acquisition, provisioning and pre-processing are planned to be outsourced to industry as service in the form of a framework/IDIQ contract.

RGSC – Reusable GIS Software Components

BUY / CREATE NONO — NATO-Owned / NATO-Operated

NATO / NCIA intends to manage and provide common reusable GIS components for NATO service and COIs centrally. Multiple contracts to BUY commercial off-the-shelf components are possible, with limited NATO-specific development (CREATE) only where required.

GSCOI – COI Geo- Located Services

BUY / CREATE NONO — NATO-Owned / NATO-Operated

One or multiple contracts are envisioned to manage integration support services to assist Communities of Interest discover, visualise, integrate and exploit geo-located data. The approach is mainly BUY, with limited CREATE for NATO-specific needs.

PP.A2(07.25)

This Request for Information seeks industry input on available services, products, delivery models, technical and integration approaches, commercial constraints, cyber security posture and data access models relevant to the GECS development areas. The information received will help NCIA better understand the market and shape future statements of work and acquisition approaches that enable competition while reducing risk and allowing for accelerated deliver/implementation.

2. Requirements summary The following constitutes a high-level view of the requirements, and will be refined and discussed with candidate service providers during future engagements. In the following the lots included in GECS are further explained in detail.

2.1. SDI

The NATO geospatial SDI will provide a collaborative geospatial platform for sharing, managing, discovering, co-producing and disseminating geospatial information across NATO, Nations, NATO Force Structure (NFS) and coalition partners.

Key requirements

• Cloud hosted (NATO PBN or on service provider cloud infrastructure (TBD) SDI supporting GI sharing, discovery, management and dissemination.

• Streamline GI provision from Nations to NATO (upload) and dissemination from NATO to Nations and partners (download).

• AI supported metadata creation and management according to NATO standards.

• Enable collaborative geospatial information co-production and harmonization incl. AI supported quality control.

• Provide catalogue, portal, web services and APIs for geospatial data access and cross security domain synchronization/access.

• Operate on the NU up to NR level.

2.2. NexGIS

The successor to NATO Core GIS, providing NATO’s main enterprise GIS capability for production, management, analysis, exploitation and dissemination of geospatial information.

Key requirements

• Provide full GIS functionality: display, collect, convert, store, retrieve, process, analyse and create GI.

• Serve geospatial information through web services and interfaces to COI and Functional Area Services.

• Support both static and deployable configurations.

• Interface and synchronize with the SDI provided catalogue and geospatial information/services

• Operate primarily on classified (NS/MS) operational networks

• Align with future NATO Cloud infrastructure, especially ON-X and next-generation

DCIS.

• Cross security domain enablement for geospatial information and service availability;

full support of data centric security.

• Migrate, enhance modernise the legacy Core GIS capability in the areas of automation, GeoAI processing and analysis tools and AI geospatial support assistant for all HQ staff (answer simple / complex geospatial questions, to discover and exploit GI, integrate geospatial information and support AI into NATO’s primary AI, create maps on demand, …)

2.3. Geospatial Information Procurement (GIP)

A centralized contractual framework (IDIQ contract type) for acquiring, conflating, preparing, quality-controlling and provisioning geospatial data from commercial, open and other sources to supplement national authoritative datasets.

Key requirements

• GI required include but are not limited to:

o Orthorectified high-resolution imagery o Seamless multi-scale vector data o High-resolution digital elevation data

• Procure commercial geospatial data as and when required.

• Use open, commercial and other sources to supplement authoritative GI.

• Support general, urgent and emerging GI requirements.

• Perform cataloguing, processing, QA/QC and maintenance of acquired data.

2.4. Community of Interest geo-located services (GSCOI)

A NCIA managed service providing integration support services to assist Communities of Interest discover, visualize, integrate and exploit geo-located data.

Key requirements

• Enable COI systems to use and share geo-located information.

• Support discovery, cataloguing and exploitation of location-enabled data.

• Help standardise geo-located information profiles and metadata.

• Enable fusion of geospatial data with operational data from other domains.

Improve interoperability between geospatial services and COI-specific systems.

2.5. GIS SW Components (RGSC)

A common framework of reusable GIS software components to avoid duplication of GIS components acquisition, implementation and maintenance efforts across NATO systems and Communities of Interest.

Key requirements

• Provide reusable GIS components for NATO systems and services.

• Reduce duplication of GIS functionality across projects.

• Support common map visualisation, metadata, geoprocessing, service consumption and standards-compliance functions.

• Use COTS, GOTS, open-source and limited NATO-specific custom components.

• Improve interoperability and reduce lifecycle costs.

• Support reuse by Functional Services and potentially by Nations.

2.6. GECS Integrator support

Provides programme/project-level integration support to NCIA to ensure the GECS lots are delivered as one coherent enterprise capability.

Key requirements

• Coordinate all GECS implementation lots.

• Continuously refine system and service-level requirements.

• Support availability of Geography and Geospatial services across NATO security domains.

• Align GECS with future NATO Cloud infrastructure, including PBN, ON-X and next-generation DCIS.

• Support transition from site-centric to data-centric architecture.

• Maximize reuse of common software components across nexGIS, SDI, RGSC and

GSCOI.

• Develop migration and change-management plans from legacy Core GIS to nexGIS ensuring the continuity of the NATO geospatial support.

• Review the geospatial support processes taking into account the technological transformational changes brought by GECS and recommend improvements.

3. Procurement/implementation approach The below depicted procurement approaches mirror the stipulations of the Capability Programme Plan and may be subject to further changes, tuning or alterations as a result of this Request For Information and further authorisation processes or Governance guidance.

The procurement approach uses an agile, three-step NATO Competitive Procurement process to involve industry early in the design of the GECS capability.

Project #0: Step 1 establishes a competitive range of up to three bidders based on high-level designs, implementation approaches, risks, and demonstrated expertise. Step 2 is a focused competitive dialogue/design phase, where down-selected bidders receive funding to develop detailed designs, implementation and contracting strategies, and an SDI prototype. Step 3 evaluates final price proposals and selects the Industry Integrator and SDI service provider to support implementation, operation, sustainment, and improvement.

Project #1: The implementation model is hybrid (individual contract per development area):

SDI and GIP are intended to be outsourced to industry as externally managed services, while NEXGIS, RGSC, and GSCOI remain internally managed NATO assets. The Industry Integrator supports NCIA by coordinating the programme lots, managing dependencies, advising NATO decision-makers, supporting migration from legacy Core GIS, and ensuring coherent delivery across the GECS capability.

An outcome/performance-based approach will be taken to describe the different developments areas, which will be further refined and turned into a solution together with industry in project #0 in the program. User stories will serve as additional information to support the definition of the solutions for the different development areas. Table 1 summarizes the planned implementation duration for the projects/development areas.

Planned Duration/months Project #0 De-risk/ Design/ Select

Project #1 Implementation

SDI IOC: 18

FOC: IOC+12

nexGIS IOC: 18

FOC: IOC+12

GIP IOC: 18

FOC: IOC+12

GSCOI IOC: 18

FOC: IOC+12

RGSC IOC: 18

FOC: IOC+12

Table 1: Planned implementation durations for project and development areas

4. RFI-192830-GECS scope The following questions are intended to support a future industry engagement activity related to the GECS capability development. At this stage, the objective is not to request responses or proposals or detailed technical solutions, but to obtain early feedback from industry on the clarity, scope, and completeness of the questions. Industry input will help determine whether the questions are understandable, appropriately structured, and aligned with the information needed to support meaningful discussion. Feedback is also sought on whether the background and contextual information provided is sufficient for industry participants to prepare for first dialogues in the future.

The desired outcome of the RFI-192830-GECS is to receive feedback/questions from industry partners:

a) on the procurement approach and anticipated implementation timelines (see Table 1).

b) regarding the clarity of the scope of the development areas and the high-level outcomes to be achieved.

c) on where clarification, additional detail/supporting information/documentation, or alternative wording is recommended.

The responses received will be used to refine the questions and supporting material ahead of any future more detailed engagement.

The following administrative and technical questions indicate areas of interest from the Agency where industry feedback would be welcome. Additional feedback/responses to this RFI- 192830-GECS are welcome and are not limited to these areas nor is it required to respond to all questions.

1) Administrative / Commercial / Procurement Questions

1. Clarity and engagement o Is the description of the capability NATO is seeking clear?

o What additional information would you need?

o Do you have any comments or questions on the procurement approach presented at the RFI-192830-GECS?

2. Procurement and contracting approach o Would awarding the SDI service and GECS Integrator support under one contract interfere with your core business?

o Would such an approach constrain you from offering your service or solution in the GECS context?

o Are there obstacles to delivering your solution under the proposed procurement / implementation model?

3. Business and costing model o What is the business / costing model for your service or solution?

o For which GECS development area(s) are you proposing a solution?

4. Geospatial Information Procurement o What would be your preferred costing model? Can you support IDIQ-type contracts?

o What additional data sets could you offer?

o Can you provide services to integrate NATO data into a harmonized seamless dataset?

o Would you see the opportunity to provide near-real-time GI updates continuously as part of the service?

2) Technical / Solution / Integration Questions

1. AI / GeoAI provisioning, support and integration o In which of the following areas can you offer solutions?

GeoAI support for geospatial staff

Metadata support

Automated geospatial information extraction / generation

Geospatial analysis

AI geospatial support for HQ staff

AI support for nexGIS CIS support staff o Does the solution include AI / GeoAI capabilities by default, or would custom development be required?

o Can AI-generated outputs respect access controls, data labels, classification and releasability of the source data?

o What is your approach to managing AI risk for your products and services?

o How will the offered AI solution comply with the NCIA General Terms and Conditions GTC.G (download available here)?

2. Hosting, infrastructure and deployment o What are the approximate hosting capacity requirements, including specialized hardware?

o Which metrics would you use to calculate hosting capacity requirements?

o Can the SDI run on a specific private cloud, such as PBN?

o Does the SDI require vendor-specific cloud infrastructure?

o Are there obstacles to your solution operating without Internet access during installation, implementation or operations?

https://www.ncia.nato.int/business/procurement/documents-resources/terms-conditions.aspx

3. Integration with NATO systems o How would the solution integrate with NexGIS or other GIS solutions for:

Publication

Consumption

Synchronisation

Replication of geospatial data and services o What integration, customisation or NATO-provided enabling services would be required?

o Can the solution be delivered today without custom development?

4. Federation and user support o How would the solution support NATO Nations, NATO Force Structure and partners as federated users and data providers?

o How would the solution support federation of geospatial data, services and catalogues?

5. Standards, metadata and catalogue o Which geospatial standards, formats and APIs are supported natively?

o How does the solution support the required STANAG compliance?

o How does the solution support GI metadata and catalogue functions?

o Is metadata creation or management AI-supported?

o How does the solution implement:

Metadata

Security labelling

Provenance

Licence restrictions

Releasability

6. Data Centric Security and access control o How does the solution support Data Centric Security?

o Does it support:

Labelling / L1

Attribute-Based Access Control / L2

Cryptographic label binding and encryption / L3 o How does the solution protect data:

At rest

In transit

In use o How does the solution enforce access control at:

Catalogue level

Dataset level

Service level

API level

Feature level

Download / export level?

7. Cyber security and compliance o How would you demonstrate compliance of your AI tools with NATO cyber security requirements?

o How would you demonstrate compliance with strict cyber security standards?

o How do you protect your platform from engineered or forged data injection?

8. Cross-domain services and information exchange o How would the solution support same security domain and cross security domain synchronisation or release of data and services?

o How would the solution integrate with accredited cross-domain guards or information exchange gateways?

9. Geospatial Information provisioning as a service o Which geospatial data that is relevant to NATO’s mission do you hold?

o What are the technical specifications and how current is its collection, update and maintenance?

o Why is it relevant?

o How can your data be conflated with other sources to lead to GI of improved value to NATO’s mission?

o Which standards do you implement and how can they align with NATO’s STANAGs?

o How is your data licensed and how can it align with the GECS requirement to collaborate

Within the NATO Enterprise

Within the Alliance Federation

Across the Coalition Federation o How can your data be part of a longstanding, centralized procurement construct (e.g. IDIQ), potentially awarded to a third party?

o How can a future procurement construct support in-time provision of time-sensitive data to the end-user?