WASHINGTON - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is asking for information from in relation to the agency's Automation Evolution Strategy (AES). The FAA says its AES focuses on a set of strategic outcomes including seeking efficiencies to develop and sustain automation systems while also increasing the speed with which the FAA can make new functionality operational.
The FAA says that in many of its automation systems, each system independently maintains similar technological infrastructure elements such as hardware, operating systems, data management tools. These systems generally do not take advantage of shared, enterprise-based infrastructure elements and methodologies that could optimize operating costs, scale to meet dynamic user demands, and enable the use of common data flows to ultimately improve air traffic management (ATM) service delivery.
The FAA is seeking input on industry experience with architecting, designing, developing, operating, sustaining and governing mission layer software (e.g., applications, mission and common mission services), with a focus on innovative solutions that can be applied at enterprise scale across multi-vendor industry and government teams. The FAA is interested in industry approaches that allow software components developed by independent vendors to be deployed to interoperate as well as seamlessly share data and computation services.
The FAA is also interested in industry experience with application of modern software methodologies and architecture approaches (i.e. Agile, DevSecOps, Service Mesh, Cloud Native/Well-Architected Framework). In particular, examples of how these methodologies have been applied while addressing integration at scale as well as application of enterprise governance while ensuring that performance and availability requirements are met across end-to-end service threads (see also Services Integrator topic).
Inputs on recommended approaches for transitioning legacy systems and processes (i.e. waterfall acquisition model to modern software methodologies) to the envisioned Service-Based Architecture Mission Layer is also of interest. In particular, contracting approaches needed to adopt an agile acquisition framework. Recommendations and methodologies for deprecating legacy software and reducing technical debt while continuing service delivery is of special interest to the FAA.
The FAA is seeking input on enterprise data management solutions (to include master data management, local, as well as enterprise shared data) for a Service-Based Architecture, including relevant technologies, architectural solutions, and applications that include the following areas of interest:
• Data Access: How best to provide layered, flexible, efficient, simultaneous data access to external and internal end users and services.
• Data Consistency: Optimal solutions to maintain data consistency across different operating environments.
• Performance: Ensure scalable performance to handle concurrent requests and high volumes of data.
• Disaster Recovery: Ensure data is not lost in the event of a failure.
• Data Security: Support for securing data of various levels including ensuring data integrity and protecting sensitive data from unauthorized access while maintaining privacy.
• Integration: Integration of the data management capabilities with other technologies including enablement of a unified data integration architecture that accounts for metadata to integrate and govern data across different environments.
The FAA is interested in industry experience with providing enterprise platform solutions that can be used for development, integration, testing, and production operations. The platform should support the Mission Layer and Data Management functions described above, including tools to support modern software methodologies and should insulate application and services in the mission layer from the underlying enterprise-wide compute environments. The FAA also seeks industry experience in deploying a Platform as a Service (PaaS) approach.
The FAA is also seeking industry experience with architecting, providing, and operating the underlying compute solutions, to include hybrid off-premise (e.g., commercial and Gov cloud) and on premise compute environments. In addition, information on industry experience with government systems that have been deployed and are operating in GovCloud is also of interest. The FAA is especially interested in industry experience with technical and business requirements analogous to those of the NAS that includes the need to provide high availability, low latency, high throughput, secure computing with data sources and FAA personnel performing critical functions at locations widely distributed across United States Controlled Airspace.
More information can be found at https://sam.gov/opp/3158fdd42ea54662bb89f24a70340c12/view. The contact for this inquiry is David Reynolds, who can be reached via phone at 202-267-0795, or [email protected].
