A Request for Information (RFI) to industry has been issued to gain
additional information on the potential costs and benefits of different
approaches to meet the goals of the Imagery for the Nation (IFTN)
initiative. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has
led the development of the RFI, acting on behalf of the FGDC Executive
Committee.
A presolicitation notice, No.: ACR-2010-01, has been posted and is
available through FedBizOpps.gov at the following address:
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=5686bd9200cb1729a7fcd44b855f30bd&tab=core&_cview=0
Responses are due by August 16, 2010. The IFTN RFI is a sources
sought announcement to conduct market research only. This announcement
is being issued solely for information and planning purposes and does
not constitute an Invitation for Bids (IFB), a Request for Proposals
(RFP), a Request for Quotations (RFQ) or an indication that the
Government will contract for any of the items and/or services contained
in this notice.
The goal of the IFTN initiative is to provide a sustainable and
flexible nation-wide imagery program to meet the needs of government at
all levels. With input from many stakeholders and partners, the
IFTN initiative has been refined by the FGDC Steering Committee and
Executive Committee, and earned the support and endorsement of a number
of key professional and advisory groups, including: the National
Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC), ACSM, ASPRS, AAG, CaGIS, GITA,
GIS Certification Institute, IAAO, NSGIC, UCGIS, and URISA.
The IFTN initiative will take advantage of existing programs that
acquire imagery for Federal purposes. These programs include the
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agriculture Imagery
Program (NAIP) and a joint effort between NGA and the U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS) to conduct the Urban Area Imagery Partnership
(UAIP). IFTN will coordinate these efforts with state, tribal,
regional and local government imagery programs to provided standardized
and comprehensive national coverage. Federal guidelines, established in
OMB Circular A-16, identify orthoimagery as a data theme of national
significance and include it in a list of core sets of digital
spatial information that require development, maintenance, and
dissemination.
For additional information on the IFTN initiative, visit http://www.fgdc.gov/iftn
