FINAL_Lidar_Cloud_Data_Management_RFI_11062018.docx

USDA Forest Service Request for Information (RFI) for the Geospatial Technology and Applications Center (GTAC)

This RFI is for information purposes only and shall not be construed as a commitment or a promise of a contract by the Government. This is not a request for quotations, although information related to costs and pricing is welcome. This notice does not constitute a Request for Bid, Request for Quote, or Request for Proposal, nor does it restrict the Government as to the ultimate acquisition approach.

1. Purpose The USDA Forest Service (USFS) Geospatial Technology and Applications Center (GTAC) is seeking comments on the following Request for Information (RFI) related to procurement of a lidar data management system, including ingesting, accessing, retrieving, disseminating, processing, and archiving lidar data products and derivatives (point cloud and raster data). The USFS currently has more than 207 TB of lidar point cloud and raster-derivative data. The USFS is seeking an enterprise-level lidar data management system to protect its capital investment, provide consistency, offer access and usage efficiencies, and facilitate greater discoverability for end users. The USFS is seeking information on a system or systems that will replace most or all of the current data management approach. This RFI seeks industry responses on their current capabilities to address these needs.

The USFS may be interested in a system that is also capable of managing stereo imagery and derived products from terrestrial photography, unmanned aerial systems (UAS), aerial imagery, scanned historical aerial photography, and high-resolution satellite imagery. Respondents who have the capability to address stereo image processing and management of imagery, photogrammetrically-derived point clouds, and derivatives are invited to respond, provided that it is clear when responses refer to lidar data or to photogrammetrically-derived data.

2. Background The USFS administers nearly 200 million acres of public land. The agency relies on lidar data and systems to gather resource information.

GTAC is a national technical service center of the USFS. GTAC’s mission is to provide the Forest Service with the knowledge, training, tools, and technical services to effectively apply geospatial technologies to meet the agency’s stewardship and mission responsibilities. GTAC also provides a range of geospatial data, products, and services to the agency, interagency partners, and the general public. Major activities at GTAC include: geospatial analysis, mapping, remote sensing and analysis, geospatial data storage, geospatial (largely raster imagery-based) services development and hosting, and near-real-time collection and processing of satellite data in support of various active- and post-fire applications.

3. Current Environment and Capabilities Consistent with the USFS decentralized organization model, lidar data acquisition efforts in the Forest Service are typically coordinated and funded at either the regional and/or forest levels for specific project areas on National Forests and Grasslands. Currently, each region manages its own lidar data investments in order to accommodate its respective end-users, infrastructure, and network architecture. In some cases, the data are managed and supported centrally at the Regional Office and then integrated at the field level, while other regions enable local level controls on data lifecycle management and implementation. In addition, GTAC has a support role at the national level by hosting image services, coordinating with other agencies, and offering operational support services. Currently, the Forest Service is a download-oriented agency, where users wishing to work with data must download a local copy of the data. The Forest Service is interested in moving to an enterprise system where users can potentially work with data in the cloud.

4. Information Request and Known Requirements GTAC is requesting information regarding possible solutions for its lidar data management needs. Respondents should provide information regarding hardware, architecture, and performance limitations of such a system (e.g. methods for upload, data transfer rates, storage capacity, etc.). All systems must have the ability to be in compliance with government mandates regarding IT security. The Forest Service is not seeking elaborate responses, but rather concise, meaningful responses from vendors with expertise to meet the Forest Service’s needs. Responses will not be returned. The Forest Service reserves the right to use the responses to this RFI to amend its requirements, acquisition strategy, and associated documents or approaches for this effort. The Forest Service is interested in industry’s ideas, pertinent information, useful suggestions, cautions, and areas for potentially innovative IT solutions. As such, the Forest Service is interested in any relevant information that can be provided, up to a page limit of 30 pages. The Forest Service recognizes that it is seeking industry’s answers to numerous questions and use cases. Industry should not feel obligated to answer all questions.

Items in this section marked with “*” indicate desired features and not requirements. Responses that apply to photogrammetrically-derived data, if a respondent is including that information, should be clearly indicated.

a. Ingesting When users ingest lidar data into a system, the system should:

· Allow data to be easily organized (e.g. by region, collection name, and date);

· Allow metadata to be clearly associated with projects or individual files;

· Allow for data load options such as internet-based bulk uploads or external hard drive either remotely or at source; and

· Accommodate the large file size of lidar data (for example, up to 200 GB for a single digital surface model raster, and up to 3 TB for a full point cloud), so that data can be uploaded in an efficient and streamlined manner.

b. Accessing Lidar data is used across the Forest Service. The system should:

· Allow users in different regions of the Forest Service to access the same data;

· *Allow 24-hour access to the data, if possible; however, the Forest Service may be interested in other access or service options;

· *Not lock the data if it is “in use” by another user;

· *Allow end users to find data by delineating an area of interest on a web-based map;

· *Allow the creation of a nationwide, best-available area (applicable for areas with multiple collections); and

· *Allow users to visualize data in 2D and 3D (like Google Earth), including products like point clouds, canopy height, slope, aspect, and hillshade.

c. Retrieving Some users may need to download data. The system should:

· Allow for bulk downloads, rather than only one file at a time;

· Accommodate the large file size of lidar data so that data can be downloaded smoothly;

· *Allow end users to retrieve data by delineating an area of interest on a map and subsequently selecting which layers to download; and

· *If a download fails, the system should indicate which files downloaded successfully or unsuccessfully and why the download failed. When the process restarts, downloads should not be duplicated.

d. Disseminating Lidar data is frequently shared outside the Forest Service, both to other federal agencies and to the public. The system should:

· Include a permissions management system so that certain users can access specific data;

· Allow permissions to be set for users in other federal agencies and those outside of a federal agency;

· Allow an end user to easily request access to restricted data, without needing to know who the owner is;

· *Include expiration dates for access permissions, along with view-only, download, or upload permissions;

· *Provide a record of number of views and downloads for individual files; and

· *Track activity by user.

e. Processing At a minimum, the Forest Service envisions processing data on distributed computers (e.g. a user’s desktop). The Forest Service is also interested in what kinds of server-side or cloud processing might be available. The system should:

· Allow data to be analyzed with a variety of software programs;

· *Allow for fast and reliable data analysis; and

· *Allow for scalable workflows and automation.

f. Archiving

· Data ownership will remain proprietary to the USFS post-contract; and

· The system should back up the data and make it fully recoverable.

5. Questions for Industry

· For each of the requirements identified above (a – f) for which you have a response, how would you tackle these requirements? Can you provide a summary of your capability, including any proprietary file structures or formats?

· Are you able to meet these requirements yourself, or would you form a partnership?

· What IT infrastructure would the Forest Service need in order to implement your solution?

· Have you provided services to other government agencies?

· Do you have cost brochures or a price catalog that you could share?

· What level of security posture do you have? Where are you in the process of receiving approval for government work?

· Is your system or solution Fed Ramp certified? Are you in the process of obtaining Fed Ramp certification?

6. Disclaimers and Notes This RFI is issued solely for information and planning and does not constitute a program of contractual solicitation. The Forest Service is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of submissions or the information received, or to provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI.

In accordance with FAR 15.20 (e), 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 responding to this RFI. The Government intends to use the information received in response to this RFI for planning purposes for which a formal Request for Proposal may result. However, the Government will not award a contract directly on the basis of this RFI or otherwise pay for the information solicited.

7. RFI Response Submission Instructions

The Government is not seeking elaborate responses, but rather concise, meaningful responses from vendors with expertise to meet its needs. Responses will not be returned. The Government reserves the right to use the responses to this RFI to amend its requirements, acquisition strategy, and associated documents or approaches for this effort.

The Government recognizes that it is seeking industry’s answers to numerous questions and use cases. Industry should not feel obligated to answer all questions. The Government is interested in industry’s ideas, pertinent information, useful suggestions, cautions and areas for potentially innovative IT solutions. As such, the Government is interested in any relevant information that can be provided, even if only a handful of questions are answered.

The Government also recognizes that many potentially interested companies will need to, and have yet not been able to, partner with other companies. At this time, the Government requests that the response address the respondent’s perspective when addressing the RFI Questions and Use Cases rather than proposing teaming solutions.

Please provide:

1. Answers to all of the questions in Section 8.1, Company Information.

2. As many answers to the RFI Questions in Section 5 as possible.

No page limit exists for the response. Responses must be submitted to nnunezhidalgo@fs.fed.us no later than 5pm ET on November 29, 2018. Submissions must be in Microsoft Word. Additionally please submit any questions related to this RFI November 19th, 2018 in order to allow the government enough time to provide answers.

8. Requested Information

a. Company Information

1. Company Name, Address, and Website

2. Point-of-Contact with Email Address and Phone Number

3. DUNS Number

4. Recommended NAICS for the IT solution

5. Company Status (Other than Small Business, Small Business, WOSB, VOSB, SDVOSB, HUBZone, 8(a), ANC, etc. per Small Business Administration’s definitions[footnoteRef:2]) [2: https://www.sba.gov/managing-business/running-business/size-standards ]

6. Contract vehicles that your services and/or products are available for purchase by USDA

7. Brief Company Overview (no longer than ½ of a page)

8. Please note if the IT solution(s) proposed is currently FedRAMP approved and has an active Authority to Operation (ATO) with a federal agency. If not fully FedRAMP approved, please note the current phase of the approval process.

9. Please include agency and the Contracting Officer’s Representative name, contact number, and email address for up to three agencies that have implemented your IT solution.