FEMA National Continuity Programs
(NCP)
SYNOPSIS: Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS)
Management Support Services Contract - Industry Day Webinar
The Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, NCP-
IPAWS Division will be conducting an Industry Day Webinar for Management Support
Services Contract. The IPAWS requirement is hereby synopsized in accordance with FAR
5.207 Preparation and Transmittal of Synopsis:
Description:
IPAWS Industry Day Webinar Please see announcement flyer.
Registration Deadline: Friday, June 4, 2021, 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard
Time (EST).
The IPAWS Program Office will be accepting a one-page business capability statement for
Market Research purposes sent to: FEMA-INDUSTRY-
REGISTRATION@FEMA.DHS.GOV
Subject title: IPAWS Business Capability Your Company Name
Deadline: Friday, June 4, 2021, 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (EST)
This event will speak to the IPAWS pre-solicitation requirements and allow general
questions regarding the programs mission. Please send questions to: FEMA-INDUSTRY-
REGISTRATION@FEMA.DHS.GOV Subject Title: IPAWS Questions Deadline: Friday,
June 4, 2021, 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (EST)
This contract has a small business plan obligation which will be discussed during the
IPAWS Industry Day.
RFI posted April 16, 2021 and closing May 14, 2021 (Notice ID FEMA-RFI-2022IPAWS)
Background:
The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) is a national system that
supports local alerting through integrated systems, services, and capabilities to
Federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local alerting authorities (AA) and emergency
managers, enabling them to provide emergency alerts to people in their respective
communities. In close collaboration with their critical stakeholders, IPAWS provides
an integrated architecture and enables a concept of operations to alert the nation to a
wide variety of incidents (e.g., disasters, AMBER alerts). IPAWS coordinates with
over 1,500 public alerting authorities across 50 states, and 3 U.S territories, including
law enforcement, military agencies, emergency managers, and Native American
tribes. IPAWS is made up of 77 Primary Entry Point (PEP) Radio Stations across the
U.S. and its territories.
Current State: IPAWS currently has contracts in place that will soon expire.
VISION:
Scope:
Acquire centralized and flexible support that serves as a single point of contact for IPAWS
leadership to manage all facets of program management support which includes but is not
limited to information collection, communications, and support for program activities that
guide strategic and tactical approaches developed to meet IPAWS mission requirements.
IPAWS has a requirement for Management Support Services to include but not be limited to:
A. Program/Project Management Support
B. Stakeholder Outreach
C. Policy Development and Analysis
D. Engineering Support
Description of Requirements
A. Program/Project Management Support Services The IPAWS program management
office (PMO) is responsible for complete lifecycle management of the IPAWS Program.
The PMO requires support to the IPAWS staff in all aspects of acquisition and systems
lifecycle program management to include planning, budgeting, organizing, executing,
controlling, and reporting necessary to execute the mission of the IPAWS while
maintaining program documentation in accordance and compliance with applicable
FEMA, DHS, and OMB program acquisition and systems lifecycle requirements, policies
and Federal rules and regulations.
The awardee/s must set repeatable procedures and tools to initiate, assign, perform,
monitor, and control work, guided by a Project Management Framework (PMF) and
tailored to meet IPAWS specific needs. The PMF should be based on the Project
Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) best practices from the Project Management
Institute (See SOO for additional details).
B. Stakeholder Outreach IPAWS Stakeholder Outreach/Engagement is critical to the
program to provide information and gather feedback from a wide range of stakeholders
including the public. There are numerous activities required to meet engagement
objectives, beginning with support for IPAWS Stakeholder Engagement Branch (See
SOO for additional details).
C. Policy Development and Analysis Congress, the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC), DHS, and FEMA are all sources for IPAWS mandates. Additionally,
technological advances and evolving threats or emergencies also drive IPAWS policy
changes. IPAWS requires support to maintain its flexibility and establish policies that
continue to direct Program activities focused on meeting the mission (See SOO for
additional details).
D. Engineering Support Central to IPAWS mission is management of the IPAWS national
systems infrastructure as described in the SOO. FEMA designs and builds systems to
meet requirements elicited from stakeholders, from regulatory changes, from statute, and
based on emerging technical and performance demands. Engineering support provides
the management, tracking, and technical oversight necessary to ensure the systems meet
the program and stakeholder objectives.
FEMA ensures IPAWS is operating properly through several technical activities,
primarily relying on User Acceptance Testing (UAT). UAT ensures that the IPAWS-
OPEN web services perform at an acceptable level for the intended interoperable
systems. IPAWS Program Management Office (PMO) representatives conduct testing
activities and document results independent of IPAWS-OPEN development teams. Tests
were carried out from the perspective of external interoperating system developers
performing interoperable system acceptance testing of the IPAWS-OPEN capabilities.
End-to-end testing from origination source through IPAWS and out to all dissemination
sources, including through CMSP Gateways to Gateway controlled end-user devices, is
beyond the scope of the UAT. IPAWS has no control or visibility into carrier managed
networks and processes. UAT covers only what IPAWS can control. Table 4 of the SOO
describes example deliverables that should be considered for supporting Technical
Direction and Oversight Support.
The Engineering Support task is integral to the requirements elicitation process to ensure
stakeholder needs and program goals are properly captured, categorized, and are testable.
This activity requires the knowledge, skills, and abilities embodied in the systems
engineering and software engineering disciplines.
In order for FEMA to position IPAWS to adapt to and utilize emerging technologies and
to adapt to changes to current technologies, the Engineering Support task must seek out,
monitor, and at times influence the direction of standards and technologies by following
developments in bodies such as the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions
(ATIS), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Organization for the
Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS), and the Consumer
Technology Association (CTA).
Disclaimer: The information contained within this Synopsis is
notional and subject to change at the discretion of the
Contracting Officer or the IPAWS Program Office.
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