NTIA Broadband Availability Map Platform and Development Services

Pursuant to FAR 6.302-1 and 6.302-2, the Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), intends to issue a sole source GSA task order to the Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI). ESRI is the sole provider for the ESRI Managed Cloud Service, a product which incorporates a unique combination of its ArcGIS Online product, hosted in Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud, with the professional services necessary to adapt the solution to the specific needs of NTIA and its broadband availability mapping program. Importantly, the legislation requires that NTIA produce a working map no later than September 30, 2019. In order to meet the Congressional directive while complying with NTIA and Federal procedures, the vendor must be able to achieve an Authority to Operate (ATO) in an expedited time-frame. Within DOC, it generally takes more than six months to secure an ATO new cloud-based solutions - a timeframe which would seriously jeopardize NTIA's program. However, it is possible to secure an ATO more quickly by procuring a solution that has previously met DOC and GSA standards for cloud-based solutions. In that case, appropriate authorizing documentation was previously completed by another agency. Leveraging that documentation, NTIA can accelerate the adoption of its secure cloud solution. GSA's Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) is a government-wide program that provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services. This approach uses a "do once, use many times" framework that saves cost, time, and staff required to conduct redundant Agency security assessments. ESRI Managed Cloud Services for AWS was FedRamp authorized by a DOC bureau, Census. Census recently utilized a Brand Name Justification and selected ESRI to build the Census Business Builder (CBB) application, a cloud-based tool that visualizes and analyzes demographic and economic data via ESRI Managed Cloud Services. The fact that a fellow DOC agency successfully sponsored the FedRamp and achieved ATO for the CBB leads to a high degree of confidence that ESRI Managed Cloud Services will also meet NTIA and DOC requirements for an expedited ATO. The intent of this notice is not to request competitive quotations and no solicitation is available or will be issued. Any information received from interested parties will only be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether a competitive procurement should be conducted. Interested parties may submit a description of their firms' capabilities for satisfying the requirement, which demonstrates they possess the ability to successfully perform this effort. All questions concerning this matter should be addressed directly to Shadie Teymourian at [email protected] by 5pm EST on Friday, November 9, 2018.