MODIFICATION
70 -- Entry Exit System
- Notice Date
- 11/5/2002
- Notice Type
- Modification
- Contracting Office
- Department of Justice, Immigration & Naturalization Service, Headquarter's Procurement Division, 425 I Street, N.W. Room 2208, Washington, DC, 20536
- ZIP Code
- 20536
- Solicitation Number
- COW-2-R-0056
- Response Due
- 11/29/2002
- Point of Contact
- Joe Garforth, Contracting Officer, Phone 202-514-3630, Fax 202-616-2414, - John Russo, Contracting Officer, Phone 202-514-8379, Fax 202-616-2414,
- E-Mail Address
-
joseph.m.garforth@usdoj.gov, john.a.russo@usdoj.gov
- Description
- REQUEST FOR INFORMATION - ENTRY EXIT SYSTEM This notice is a follow-up to notices posted on May 2, 2002, May 24, 2002, May 28, 2002, July 12, 2002 and August 21, 2002 identifying the Department of Justice (DOJ), Immigration and Naturalization Service's (INS) intent to acquire an integrated, automated information system (AIS), which will be known as the "United States Entry Exit System (EES)." The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to solicit information from commercial entities capable of providing the services and products described herein. The work efforts will include the design, development, assembly, construction, integration, deployment and on-going support for a system to record the arrivals and departures of individuals to and from the United States of America and its territories. The system, known as the Entry Exit System (EES), will have to be designed to comply with multiple architectural, technical, security, business processes and legislative requirements. The system must enable the verification of the identity of individuals who intend to enter and exit the United States, note if an individual overstays the terms of their entry conditions and produces reports of all tracked activities. The new EES will interface with multiple existing, and future, Government and commercial industry databases. The successful offeror will be required to demonstrate the interoperability, scalability, security, and evolvability in an open architecture environment using generally accepted standards and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products to the maximum extent possible. Proposed solutions must address the inclusion of various biometrics identifiers that are both currently available and planned. This RFI is not a Request for Proposal (RFP), but rather, is an exploratory request to identify capabilities, obtain expressions of interest, determine the availability of COTS products, market information, and contractor capabilities for Government planning purposes. The Entry Exit Program Team is seeking to identify and resolve concerns regarding the feasibility of the requirements, integration of the various technologies and other industry concerns or questions related to this acquisition. BACKGROUND OF THE EES: The United States has more than 300 air, land, and sea ports-of-entry (POEs) through which international travelers are inspected and permitted to enter the United States in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Each year, there are more than 500 million entries into the United States through these POEs. This volume is projected to rise steadily - intensifying the need to improve the Government's ability to manage our borders. In addition, the Government must effectively and efficiently determine the admissibility of international travelers while maintaining the commitment to an open society. The primary Government users of the EES will be the Departments of Justice, State, Treasury, Transportation and Homeland Security (when established). Together, these departments share the principal responsibilities for managing the borders in order to protect the U.S. and its territories from threats to our national security, enforce immigration and customs laws, and promote economic prosperity through the facilitation of legitimate cross-border trade and travel. Additional background information related to regulatory requirements having an impact on the EES may be found at the following links: USC Title 8, Chapter 13, Immigration and Naturalization Service http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/8/ch13.html, USC Title 8, Chapter 12, Subchapter II, Part IX, Sec. 1365a., Integrated Entry and Exit Data System http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/8/1365a.html, USC Title 8, Chapter 12, Subchapter II, Part II, Section 1187, Visa Waiver Program for Certain Visitors http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/8/1187.html, Data Management Improvement Act (DMIA) Task Force http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/lawenfor/bmgmt/inspect/dmia.htm OBJECTIVES: The Entry Exit Program (EEP) is a joint effort by the aforementioned Departments with the intent of significantly improving the processes, policies, workforce, and systems utilized to manage the pre-entry, entry, stay, and exit of international travelers through established POEs. Briefly, the focus of the EEP is contained in the following four process areas. 1- The pre-entry process concerns visa eligibility determinations and the denial of visa applications from inadmissible aliens through the use of more timely, complete, and accurate data, including biometrics. 2- The entry process concerns the ability to manage travelers at POEs through a more accurate and timely inspection process. The objective is to improve the accuracy, efficiency and consistency of the overall entry process with respect to detecting fraudulent travel documents, verifying traveler identity, and determining traveler admissibility through the use of more complete and accurate data, including biometric data. 3- The stay management process will enable the proper determination, validation and reporting of an alien's status which will have a bearing on the eligibility of the alien to receive (or not receive) a requested benefit. All existing administrative and adjudication functions must be considered in order to address this requirement. 4- The exit process concerns the ability to capture, record and report on traveler departure data. This information supports the accuracy, reporting and data integration across the Border Management Community. In addition, the EES must be designed to accommodate the following characteristics: Collaboration across the Border Management Community through tighter integration of processes and data relevant to travelers, cargo, and means of conveyance. Cooperation with Federal, State, and local intelligence and law enforcement organizations through improved access to more complete and timely data generated by the Border Management Community, as well as information generated by State and local law enforcement activities when the assistance of the Federal law enforcement community is requested. The ability to meet legislatively mandated improvements in border management processes and systems within required timeframes. Together, the above areas illustrate the basic framework for an EES that must (1) integrate the current 26 legacy systems and technical services that ensure interoperability, and (2) allow for the incorporation of emerging security and identification applications into an open architecture environment. Mission Critical Functions: The mission critical functions, listed below, encompass a broad perspective of the overall minimal system and functionality requirements. They are not all inclusive, nor restricted to the supporting definitions. Data Capture and Validation: Input and retrieval times of data should be significantly reduced within the confines of the EES. Data input should have on-line visibility throughout the chain-of-approval in the processes. The capture of critical data should take into account current practices, automated commercial manifests, and biometric technology. There should be only limited use of traditional "batch processing". (Note: the Program Office is particularly interested in industry comments on the gathering and processing of biometric identifier data without unduly delaying processing times at the border. For example, how might this issue be addressed as it relates to admitting several foreign nationals arriving at a land POE in one vehicle?) Data Integration: Various points of information critical to the review and approval, or non-approval, of data shall be merged. The EES shall provide for the ability to merge critical links and facilitate the improvement of the quality of data in the approval/non-approval process. Information flows, alerts and event triggers should be communicated in real time wherever possible. These diverse sources are currently being identified through the existing systems and data repositories. Solution Integrity: The EES and its supporting infrastructures shall be redundant without single points of failure. Integration efforts will be non-disruptive to current operations to the extent practical, without loss of information required to support the mission at all POEs. Security: The system shall meet current and emerging standards of information security and access. Access to, and the management of, sensitive data is a critical consideration. Decision Support and Reporting: The system shall have an automated workflow capability that allows for leadership, planners and inspectors to request or submit data/information critical to timely review and approval/non-approval of entry and exit decisions. This functionality should include the capability to model information relevant to policy concerns and overall management concerns. Through automated and ad hoc reporting capabilities, the system shall rapidly support queries, or data/information interface, to other operational systems with respect to historical or lookout data. These capabilities shall be presented via a straightforward graphical user interface and on-line electronic forms. PROCUREMENT STRATEGY: It is expected that an award for the design, development, integration and deployment of the EES will be conducted in two phases. The first phase of work to be awarded will consist of a prototype or pilot demonstration effort at several POEs. The work efforts may be somewhat determined by the offerors in response to the statement of work in the initial RFP. It is expected that awards in this phase may be made to multiple offerors. Upon the completion of the prototype demonstration phase, contractors would submit bids for a single award to one vendor team for the implementation / integration phase of the EES. Due date for response to RFI: 29 November 2002 SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION: Respondents are asked to provide information which outlines specific capabilities of products and services that may satisfy the broad Governmental requirements as noted herein. The Government is also interested in relevant experience and contractor qualifications to perform the work envisioned. Other areas in which the EEP Team is seeking industry input include the following: Considerations for partnering and the utilization of small business concerns; Suggested solution(s) related to the complex task of gathering, and processing, biometric identifier data from multiple individuals in a vehicle, for example, at a land POE; Suggested approaches to technical infrastructure operational support issues; Identification of methodologies and best practices for product refreshment based on the incorporation of new technologies; Existing corporate size and presence in the greater Washington D.C. area that would be available to support this effort; and Additional information that will be required from the Government in order to develop a sound technical and pricing proposal. This RFI is NOT to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue an RFP or to ultimately award a contract. Responses provided by industry will not be considered as proposals nor will any award be made as a result of this RFI. Any costs incurred as a result of responding to this RFI shall be borne by the respondent and cannot be charged to the Government for reimbursement. The information in this RFI represents an overview of the anticipated project, is subject to change, and is in no way binding on the Government. The Government will not provide any direct feedback to industry in general. The Government may utilize any information submitted by interested parties to assist in the development of the statement of work for the proposed RFP. Offerors are advised not to submit any proprietary information that they would not want to be used for this purpose. A potential offeror may have an idea that does not fit into the existing framework of the current entry exit process, but it may open up the Government to consider the use of a completely new and more effective way of doing business. Potential offerors are encouraged to suggest any and all ideas they have that can add value to the process. All information submitted in response to this RFI or requests to be informed of the status of any possible RFP resulting from effort shall be sent to: Mr. Joseph M. Garforth Jr. Contracting Officer, Office of Procurement Immigration & Naturalization Service 425 Eye Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20536 or via electronic mail to Joseph.M.Garforth@usdoj.gov no later than 3:00 pm on 29 November 2002. Responses shall be limited to 30 pages in MS Word 97 format and include the name and telephone number of a point of contact having authority and knowledge to discuss responses with government representatives.
- Place of Performance
- Address: U.S.A. Nation Wide
- Record
- SN00200020-W 20021107/021105213316 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |