SOURCES SOUGHT
99 -- Electronic Flight Strip Demonstration
- Notice Date
- 10/31/2005
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- Contracting Office
- FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, ATO-A - 320 FAA Headquarters (ASU)
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- 4450
- Response Due
- 11/8/2005
- Description
- The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Air Traffic Organization - Terminal Services Division (AT0-T) announces an opportunity for industry demonstration of Electronic Flight Strip (EFS) capabilities. This is a follow-on announcement to a July 28, 2005 market survey announcement published on the FAA Business Opportunities website. That announcement provided background information for the proposed demonstration and was published in order to assess what industry capability currently exists. The following companies responded to the market survey: 1. Sensis Corporation 85 Collamer Crossing East Syracuse, NY 13057 2. Frequentis 12530 Parklawn Drive, Suite 360 Rockville, MD 20852-1702 3. Systems Atlanta, Inc P.O. Box 99 Lebanon, GA 30146 4. Northrop Grumman Corporation Information Technology Federal Enterprise Solutions 12005 Sunrise Valley Drive Reston, VA 20191 5. Oracle Telecomputing Inc. 25 Industrial Avenue Carleton Place Ontario, Canada K7C 3V7 6. Raytheon Airspace Management and Homeland Security 1001 Boston Post Rd Marlboro, MA 01752 As stated in the July 28, 2005 announcement, which can be retrieved under the FAA website archives, this is an opportunity for demonstration of Electronic Flight Strip equipment. This is not an acquisition of equipment. FAA will assess the results of the demonstration(s) and make a decision regarding FAA Electronic Flight Strip requirements, including the viability of an Electronic Flight Strip acquisition. . The objective of this information request is to determine if it is in the best interest of FAA to proceed with informal demonstrations of Electronic Flight Strip equipment. One or more companies may be selected for demonstration of equipment at a company facility. Attachment 1 hereto contains areas of technical interest to the agency for the facility demonstration. If the agency makes a determination that further demonstrations are merited beyond the company facility, the next phase will be to evaluate selected systems at the FAA Technical Center. After successful completion of the Technical Center demonstration, one or more systems will be demonstrated at FAA operational sites. This will be the only public announcement. There will be no RFOs or related formal acquisition procedures. FAA will announce who was selected for further evaluation. The FAA intends to negotiate an "Other Transaction Agreement" with the some, all or none of the companies responding to this announcement. That agreement will document the terms and conditions associated with the demonstration. Any resulting agreement(s) issued under the "Other Transaction Authority (OTA) authorized by PL 108-76, Section 183 and 49 U.S.C. 106(l) and (m), allows for agreements and other transactions on such terms and conditions as the Administrator determines necessary. Companies are requested to respond to the following information request: Each company is to submit information to illustrate how their system addresses or supports the below listed capabilities/features. If the capability is not currently in the system the vendor may document how the capability would be included in their system in the near term. This information will be reviewed by the FAA. 1. Interoperability with External Air Traffic Support Systems a. What external interfaces are supported for transmission and receipt of flight plan/strip data and other Air traffic control information? b. Does the system have the capability to synchronize and coordinate local ATC operations and flight strip/plan amendments with other ATC support systems and services? 2. Configurability and Performance a. Is the system scalable to different size of airport operations? ?? Maximum number of workstations, (controller/supervisory/maintenance/administrative) ?? Number of simultaneous air traffic control tower operational positions. b. Does the system track operational and performance statistics for real-time and off-line analysis and reporting? c. Are the user/ATC actions time-stamped and recorded? d. How many flight strips can the system process at any given time? 3. Adaptability a. To what extent can the system be modified (adapted/configured) to accommodate airport's air traffic control tower(s) (ATCT) operational requirements? ?? Runway closures, shift changes, #operational positions, ?? AT Controller Position display layout - Combining positions, restricting functions to meet immediate operational needs. b. Describe which system adaptation/configuration is real-time/offline. c. To what extent does the system allow modification to the flight strip layout? d. Describe which of the following Flight strip features are supported in the Electronic Flight Strip system: o ICAO data fields, o Space for markings/additional data fields, o Ability to distinguish flight strip layouts for arrival and departure. 4. System Usability and Graphical User Interface (GUI) a. Does the system follow standard industry guideless and/or FAA GUI (HF-STD-001) guidelines? b. Identify the GUI guidelines the system follows, if any. c. Were human factors assessments or evaluations performed on the system by users (controllers, maintenance personnel) or human factors experts? If so, provide the metrics and results for usability and efficiency of the system. d. Were operational efficiency studies performed on the system (e.g., error rate; task time, aircraft/flight strip throughput, oral communications between controllers, heads-down time, time to learn system)? If so, provide the studies and results. e. What is the maximum viewing distance at which the text on the display is easily legible f. What is the size of the most commonly displayed text? g. What sunlight and glare readability specifications does the display meet? If the display is currently used in any tower environments, identify the locations. 5. System Hardware and Software a. What software and hardware technologies and methodologies were used in the design and development of the system? b. To what extent can the software and hardware be modified to accommodate varying AT controller/airport operational requirements? c. Reliability, maintainability and availability (RMA) ?? Does the system support: o Redundancy in the hardware, software and communications interfaces, o Monitoring of system performance and operational status real-time, o Real-time and off-line maintenance and monitoring capabilities. ?? Are MTBF analyses available for hardware components and lowest replaceable units (LRU)? If so, provide details. ?? Is MTBF analysis available for the operational system? If so, provide details. d. What system security methodologies and features are incorporated in the system? e. Does the system permit software and operating system upgrades? If so, are the upgrades performed real-time or off-line? Provide details on the upgrade process. f. Is there a methodology/process in place to verify/certify system performance? g. Is the system ISO-9000 compliant? h. How does the system capture the progress of the flight strip and all actions initiated on the flight strip data? i. Does the system have an operational position(s) that supports supervisory functions (e.g., ATC position configurations; airport operational configuration; user authentication/permissions; monitor of system operational statistics; ???)? 6. System Maturity a. Describe the level of system design documentation that is currently available and under configuration management (CM)? b. How many systems are currently operational in air traffic control towers and how long have they been operational? c. Was the vendor's operational system included in electronic flight strip cost benefit analyses and/or studies. If so, were the studies published or are they available for review? d. Has the vendor performed any technology refreshments on an operational system? Explain in detail. 7. Support Functions a. What type of training software is provided with the system? b. Is a playback feature provided ?? Does the playback include AT controller and supervisory and system actions/processing? If so, provide details. ?? Does the system include off-line maintenance diagnostics capabilities/tools? ?? Describe the maintenance and support processes which are in-place for the system in an AT operational environment. 7. Proposed Location of Vendor Evaluation a. Provide the location which would be available for FAA demonstration of the system prior to testing at the FAA Technical Center. Responders are advised that FAA may use representatives from the following companies to assist in the evaluation of responses. SAIC 5 copies of responses are to be submitted to the following address no later than November 28, 2005. Please E-mail Steve.Manley@faa.gov to verify mail submissions. U.S. Postal Service Address: U.S. Federal Aviation Administration ATTN: ATO-A S. Manley FOB 10B 800 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20591 Telephone number point of contact for mail delivery Hand-delivery Address: U.S. Federal Aviation Administration ATT: ATO-A Steve Manley Room 5-B-33 600 Independence Avenue, S. W. Washington, D.C. 20591 Companies are advised that FAA will review the relevant information to determine if entering OTA's are in the best interest of the FAA. Failure to be selected for this demonstration will not effect a company's potential to participate in any future Electronic Flight Strip acquisition. All questions should be directed to the Contracting Office, Mr. Stephen B. Manley, Steve.Manley@faa.gov.
- Web Link
-
FAA Contract Opportunities
(http://www.asu.faa.gov/faaco/index.cfm?ref=4450)
- Record
- SN00923813-W 20051102/051031211638 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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