LA Wildfires Response and Recovery Technology Showcase

California's Government Operations Agency (GovOps) has initiated a technology showcase in response to the early 2025 Los Angeles area firestorm, seeking technology vendors to address four specific survivor challenges through digital web features and services. The procurement is structured as a non-traditional opportunity for technology owner-developers to propose innovative solutions supporting wildfire recovery efforts. Respondents must submit two-page proposals detailing their solutions, qualifications, and specific challenge focus areas, with a virtual vendor forum scheduled for February 19, 2025, at 1:00 PM PST requiring mandatory registration. Submissions are due by February 24, 2025, at 5:00 PM PST to stakeholderrelations@state.ca.gov, with selected vendors to be notified by March 7, 2025. The four primary challenge areas include improving survivor digital recovery services, developing analytics for equitable outcomes, ensuring comprehensive assistance accessibility, and presenting other innovative recovery proposals. Evaluation criteria will emphasize solutions that benefit people, support multilingual and accessible services, and can be rapidly implemented to assist survivors with information access, form completion, and connections to government assistance resources.

While no specific set-aside designations were explicitly detailed, the opportunity appears designed to be inclusive of diverse technology providers, including private sector and nonprofit organizations. The state has already established an online portal (ca.gov/lafires) and disaster recovery centers that have supported over 21,000 visits, suggesting potential integration requirements for new technological solutions. No specific award values or budget ranges were provided in the documentation, indicating this may be a preliminary market research and solution exploration phase rather than a traditional procurement. The state emphasizes solutions that can support vulnerable populations, including non-English speakers, people of color, individuals with limited vision, and low-income communities. Key technical requirements include ensuring data privacy, supporting multilingual interfaces, facilitating inter-agency data sharing, and creating immediately deployable digital services that can help survivors access financial assistance, cleanup support, mental health resources, and document replacement services.