Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Request for Information SAFECOM Program - Technologies and Processes Enabling Public Safety Interoperability

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 22:46:36 -0500

Request for Information SAFECOM Program -
  
Technologies and Processes Enabling Public Safety Interoperability

WASHINGTON, DC, Oct. 24, 2003 - The SAFECOM Program (SAFECOM) is soliciting
comments and input from qualified vendors and the academic research community
regarding technology concepts and existing or under-development products or
services to provide for the interoperability of public safety communications.
SAFECOM is asking for 5-7 page White Papers describing the technology product,
service, or concept to be submitted by November 14, 2003.

 White Papers should be submitted to [email-masked]

SAFECOM is the umbrella program within the Federal government intended to help
local, tribal, State and Federal public safety agencies improve public safety
response through more effective, efficient, interoperable wireless communications.

This Request for Information (RFI) is intended to increase SAFECOM?s awareness of
the technology available, under development or in concept that will help realize
the program?s long-term goal: The creation of a ?system of systems? by which
public safety across disciplines and jurisdictions will be fully interoperable
when necessary. A panel of SAFECOM representatives will review submissions to this
RFI and select respondents may be invited to present to a board of these
representatives to answer questions regarding submitted products, services, or
technology concepts. A Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) under which SAFECOM may
fund demonstration projects undertaken jointly by industry and public safety
agencies will likely follow this RFI.

Solicitation Number: HSSCHQ-04-RFI-0002

58 -- Request for Information

SAFECOM Program

Technologies and Processes
Enabling Public Safety Interoperability
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

General Information

Document Type:  Presolicitation Notice 
Solicitation Number: HSSCHQ-04-RFI-0002 
Posted Date: Oct 20, 2003 
Original Response Date: Nov 14, 2003 
Original Archive Date: Nov 29, 2003 
Current Archive Date:  
Classification Code: 58 -- Communication, detection, & coherent radiation
equipment 

Contracting Office Address
DHS - Direct Reports, Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, Office of
Procurement Operations, Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, Washington, DC,
20528
Description

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION, SAFECOM PROGRAM, Technologies and Processes Enabling
Public Safety Interoperability____----

 INTRODUCTION---- The SAFECOM Program (SAFECOM) is soliciting comments and input
from qualified vendors and the academic research community regarding technology
concepts and existing or under-development products or services to provide for the
interoperability of public safety communications. SAFECOM is asking for 5-7 page
White Papers describing the technology product, service, or concept to be
submitted by November 14, 2003. White Papers should be submitted to
[email-masked] SAFECOM is the umbrella program within the Federal
government intended to help local, tribal, State and Federal public safety
agencies improve public safety response through more effective, efficient,
interoperable wireless communications. The SAFECOM program was created by the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as a high priority e-government initiative
and is housed within the Science and Technology Directorate of the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS). 

SAFECOM is currently working with existing Federal communications initiatives and
key public safety stakeholders to facilitate the development of better
technologies and processes for the cross-jurisdictional and cross-disciplinary
coordination of existing communications systems and future networks. A public
safety practitioner driven program, SAFECOM has a customer base of over 44,000
local and State public safety agencies and organizations, in addition to over 100
Federal agencies involved in public safety response.____ 

This Request for Information (RFI) is intended to increase SAFECOM?s awareness of
the technology available, under development or in concept that will help realize
the program?s long-term goal: The creation of a ?system of systems? by which
public safety across disciplines and jurisdictions will be fully interoperable
when necessary. A panel of SAFECOM representatives will review submissions to this
RFI and select respondents may be invited to present to a board of these
representatives to answer questions regarding submitted products, services, or
technology concepts. A Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) under which SAFECOM may
fund demonstration projects undertaken jointly by industry and public safety
agencies will likely follow this RFI.____ 

----BACKGROUND---- 

Public safety wireless ?interoperability? is the ability of public safety service
and support providers to communicate with each other via voice, data or video, on
demand, in real time, when needed and as authorized. Inadequate and unreliable
wireless communications are serious issues plaguing public safety. In many
instances, agencies lack the technology necessary to perform their
mission-critical duties. Such agencies are unable to share critical voice and/or
data information in routine day-to-day operations, within pre-established task
forces and in large-scale events such as acts o
 f terrorism and natural disasters. This lack of interoperability comes at a high
price: Property may be damaged or even lives lost when public safety agencies
cannot effectively communicate.____ According to a report issued by the National
Task Force on Interoperability (NTFI) in January 2003, there are many factors--
political, technological, and financial-- that hamper public safety
interoperability today, including:____ ? Incompatible and aging communications
equipment in use across the 44,000 agencies in the United Sates, ranging from
newer, digital systems to 30 year old analog systems____ ? Limited and fragmented
budget cycles and funding at the federal level (where grant funding agencies have
not previously coordinated a common set of requirements) and at the local level
(where individual agencies often have different planning cycles, procurement
processes and technology requirements)____ ? Limited and fragmented planning and
cooperation among public safety agencies d
 ue in part to the limited resources of small and sometimes volunteer
organizations____ ? Limited and fragmented radio spectrum dedicated to public
safety____ ? Limited equipment standards for public safety communications which
would incorporate universally recognized, fully open, implementable standards____
----TECHNOLOGIES OF INTEREST---- SAFECOM is requesting information from qualified
vendors and the research community for products, service models or enabling
technologies that can accomplish one or more of the following functional
requirements:____ ? Interconnect disparate voice and/or data public safety
communications systems____ ? Extend and/or enhance public safety communications
systems coverage (including but not limited to improved spectrum management,
signal coverage, system reliability)____ ? Extend and/or enhance capabilities to
public safety communications systems (including, but not limited to extension of
battery life, user/message prioritization)____ SAFECOM and its associated programs
have identified a number of parameters expected to characterize the technologies
and processes submitted in response to this RFI. While submissions are not
necessarily expected to respond to all of these considerations, SAFECOM would like
to identify concepts that fulfill or enable as many as possible. Evaluations will
be based on these parameters.____ These parameters include:____ ? Open Standards
rather than proprietary solutions____ ? Leveraging of ?mainstream? commercial
technology____ ? Backwards compatibility with legacy systems and technologies____
? Scalability to function in both day-to-day public safety response and in major
event situations with small and large number of responders and varying functional
requirements of different types of subscribers (e.g. police, fire, EMS) and levels
of government (local, State and Federal)____ ? High end-to-end Quality of Service
and performance characteristics____ ? High degree of reliability and
redundancy____ ? Useful for day-to-day operations____ ? Limited power
requirements____ ? Flexibility in ergonomics / ease of use____ ? Inherent and
supportable elements of security____ ? Inherent and supportable elements of
privacy____ ? Acceptable Total Cost of Ownership for public safety agencies____ ?
Interoperability across public safety disciplines and all levels of government____
? Spectral efficiency____ ? Non-Repudiation____ ? Interoperable across all Public
Safety frequency bands____ Stage of Development:____ SAFECOM is interested in
receiving submissions from industry that illustrate any new or developing
technologies that can provide solutions, full or partial, towards public safety
interoperability. Information on technologies in all stages of development is
welcome and sought after, whether the products are already on the shelf, in
development, or merely a concept on the drawing table. It is asked that industry
clearly articulate the stage of development of any te
 chnologies in the submissions.____ 

----WHITE PAPER CONTENTS:---- 

In response to this Request, white papers of 5-7 pages should be submitted which
cover:____ 1. Background, Current State, and Categorization of Proposed Technology
Describe in adequate detail the specific technology or solution being proposed for
SAFECOM consideration, the current state of its development, any current
deployments of the technology within the public safety environment, and how the
technology or solution compares with the parameters outlined above.____ 2.
Applicability of Proposed Technology to Public Safety Communications Explain how
the proposed technology or solution would be deployed in a public safety
communications setting, and how public safety officers would gain access to and
use it.____ 3. Timeline and Cost to Develop Provide a rough estimate of the time
and cost to develop the technology for utilization.____ 

----SUBMISSION PROCESS:---- 

In response to this Request, white papers of 5-7 p
 ages should be submitted electronically by Friday November 14, 2003 to____
[email-masked] ----CONTACTS:---- Parties requiring further information
may contact:____ Dereck Orr, SAFECOM Program, [email-masked]
----RESOURCES:---- Additional information on public safety communications and
associated federal efforts can be obtained at the following websites.____ AGILE
Program The AGILE Program within the Office of Science and Technology at the
National Institute of Justice has a mission to assist State and local law
enforcement agencies to effectively and efficiently communicate with one another
across agency and jurisdictional boundaries. It is dedicated to studying
interoperability options and making valuable information available to law
enforcement, firefighters, and emergency technicians across the country.____ 

http://www.agileprogram.org/____ Association of Public Safety Communications
Officials ? International, Inc. (APCO) APCO is the world?s oldest and largest
not-for-profit professional organization dedicated to the enhancement of public
safety communications.____ http://www.apcointl.org/____ Justice Technology
Information Network (JUSTNET) The official web site for the National Law
Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center system, JUSTNET contains various
publications on communications interoperability issues.____
http://www.justnet.org/____ National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Summit on Interoperable Communications for Public Safety The Summit on
Interoperable Communications for Public Safety, held at the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on June 26 and 27, 2003
was a joint effort between NIST, the Department of Homeland Security?s Science and
Technology (S&T) Directorate, Project SAFECOM, and the National Institute of
Justice?s AGILE Program. The Summit brought together a variety of programs that
were created to assist public safety practitioners, including the First
Responders. The Summit was the initial step in familiarizing key interoperability
players with the work being done by others so that mutually beneficial
coordination, and collaboration, among the various technical programs could be
established.____ http://pssummit.its.bldrdoc.gov/____ National Public Safety
Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) NPSTC is a federation of associations
representing public safety telecommunications. NPSTC serves as a resource and
advocate for public safety telecommunications issues.____
http://www.npstc.du.edu/____ National Task Force on Interoperability (NTFI)
Recognizing that solutions to the national problem of public safety communications
interoperability could only be achieved through cooperation between all levels of
government, 18 national associations representing State and local government and
public safety officials formed a task force to address this issue. NTFI?s
recommendations have been published in the form of a brochure, guide, and
supplemental resources.____
 
http://www.agileprogram.org/ntfi/____ 

Public Safety Wireless Network (PSWN) Formerly a joint Department of Justice and
Department of Treasury program and now part of the SAFECOM program under DHS, PSWN
is dedicated to the establishment of a seamless, coordinated public safety
communications system for the safe, effective, and efficient protection of life
and property.____ http://www.pswn.gov/____ 

Original Point of Contact
Jean Carter, Contracting Officer
Phone 2027725044
Fax 2027729729
Email [email-masked]

http://www2.eps.gov/spg/DHS%2DDR/OCPO/DHS%2DOCPO/HSSCHQ%2D04%2DRFI%2D0002/SynopsisP.html

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