2024 GPS Equipment Testing for Critical Infrastructure (GET-CI)

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FOR PARTICIPATION (RFIP) ONLY. This RFIP supports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T) Directorates efforts to identify participants to support the 2024 Global Positioning System (GPS) Equipment Testing for Critical Infrastructure (GET-CI). Documents submitted in response to this RFIP will not be returned. The Government is under no obligation to provide feedback to Respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFIP. There is NO guarantee that any submission in response to this RFIP will result in a Government invitation to participate in the 2024 GET-CI event. The Government may or may not use any responses to this RFIP as a basis for a subsequent project. This RFIP shall not be construed as an obligation on the part of the Government. This is NOT a Request for Quotations or Proposals. No solicitation document exists. The Government will not pay for any response or preparation related costs. All costs incurred, responding to this RFIP will be solely at the interested party's expense. The Government will be paying to host the evaluation event and there will be no registration fees. However, participating organizations are responsible for costs associated with personnel traveling to and attending the event, such as transportation, lodging, and other related costs. Respondents who are selected will be asked to enter into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with DHS S&T in order to participate in the 2024 GET CI event. Any information received will, become the property of the Government and will not be returned to the Respondents. The Government is under no obligation to provide feedback to Respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFIP. I. INTRODUCTION The purpose of this RFIP is to: a) Identify interested critical infrastructure GPS equipment manufacturers and critical infrastructure owners and operations submit applications for participation in the 2024 GET-CI event. II. BACKGROUND The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate is hosting the 2024 GET-CI) event. The intent of this event is to host a series of evaluation opportunities for stakeholders to evaluate equipment in unique live-sky signal environments that are only legally possible to create under controlled conditions authorized by the U.S. Government. DHS S&T invites critical infrastructure GPS equipment manufacturers and Critical Infrastructure Owners and Operators (CI O&O) to submit applications for participation in the 2024 GET-CI event. This event will take place during the second half of calendar year 2024. S&T's GET-CI events are a series of annual evaluation events intended for manufacturers of commercial GPS equipment used in critical infrastructure as well as CI O&O. CI describes the physical and cyber systems, networks, and assets that are so vital to the United States that any interruptions or degradation would adversely impact physical and economic security, as well as public health and safety. Critical Infrastructure systems rely on accurate and precise positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) information; however, recent national risk estimates have determined that PNT services for a majority of CI sectors can be easily corrupted or disrupted. PNT exists in an evolving landscape where multi-PNT ecosystem attack surfaces are larger, the incorporation of PNT dependencies into future technologies is becoming increasingly interdependent, and the scale of impacts are ever extending to be more widespread and longer lasting. It is more critical than ever that the U.S. government focus on improving resiliency against PNT threats. Recognizing the importance to strengthen PNT resiliency against threats, DHS S&T has a dedicated multi-year program to address GPS vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure, with a multi-pronged approach of conducting vulnerability and impact assessments, developing mitigations, exploring complementary timing technologies, developing standards and best practices, and engaging with industry through outreach events and meetings. Through these sustained efforts, the goal of the program is to increase the resiliency of CI to GPS vulnerabilities in the near-term future. Examples of measures that can be taken to enhance resiliency can be found in a DHS issued set of best practices released via cisa.gov, titled "Improving the Operation and Development of Global Positioning System (GPS) Equipment Used by Critical Infrastructure." III. OBJECTIVE Prior vulnerability testing by DHS S&T in both laboratory and live-sky environments have found tested GPS receivers to be vulnerable to jamming and spoofing to varying degrees. While typical commercial testing and data collection are limited to laboratory environments, this event provides a unique environment for manufacturers of commercial GPS receivers used in critical infrastructure and CI O&O the opportunity to perform equipment evaluations in a rarely available live-sky spoofing environment. The intent is that the data collected by participants in such an environment will help to inform the development of mitigations in future equipment revisions and/or firmware updates and to foster adoption of mitigations, standards, and best practices. IV. WHAT TO EXPECT Invitations to participating organizations will be based on availability of space. Please note that due to the nature of the event, it is possible that personal communication devices (smartphones, laptops, etc.) may be unable to reliably receive and send messages. Invitations will be sent out forty-five (45) business days after the deadline for this RFIP. Afterwards, additional information will be collected to begin the process for a CRADA agreement. Completion of the CRADA is required for participation in the event. The agreement will indicate responsibilities and obligations between the Government and the participating organization. In addition, the CRADA will address examples of Government responsibilities (i.e., facility costs and logistics relating to the hosting of the event) and the responsibilities of participating organizations (i.e. paying for their own travel to the event and submitting a summary evaluation report). Participating organizations should come with enough personnel and resources to independently setup and run their equipment during the event. The event is expected to span a week. Information on the location, specific dates, scenarios, site layout, evaluation time windows, and other logistical information will be shared at a later date with participating organizations. There is the potential for the evaluation to occur during the overnight hours. For further questions, please email GPS4Critical-Infrastructure@hq.dhs.gov. If the 2024 GET-CI event is cancelled for any reason, DHS will be unable to compensate Respondents for any funds that may have been expended for the purposes of participating in the event. V. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS/REQUIREMENTS THE DEADLINES FOR PARTICIPANT APPLICATIONS is no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on Friday, October 20, 2023. Review of applications received after the deadline is not guaranteed. All applications must be submitted via email to GPS4Critical-Infrastructure@hq.dhs.gov with the subject of the email (Organization Name) Application - 2024 GPS Equipment Testing for Critical Infrastructure and the body of the email containing: - Organization Name - Primary Point of Contact for the application: o Name o Email o Phone number You will receive an email verifying receipt of your application. Each organization should submit one application. The application form will have space to list out multiple attendees and lines for equipment to be evaluated. You will be notified by email if your application is deemed suitable for invitation to the 2024 GET-CI event. The DHS S&T team will provide the evaluation venue, supporting infrastructure, and personnel running the evaluation scenarios. Costs specific to running the Participating Organization's equipment, as well as the travel costs to the evaluation venue, will be at the Participating Organization's expense. Selected participants must be prepared to independently set up and run their equipment for the evaluation event and cannot be dependent on venue resources or personnel to do so. If you have questions regarding the submittal, please email GPS4Critical-Infrastructure@hq.dhs.gov . CLEARLY IDENTIFY ALL PROPRIETARY INFORMATION in the application. If proprietary information is required to adequately describe equipment, ensure that it is appropriately marked on the application form. If you must submit proprietary information as part of your application, you should be aware that despite all precautions, the Government can only protect the confidentiality of proprietary information contained in applications to the extent that it is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA, 5 U.S.C. - 552). Generally, Exemption 4 of the FOIA [5 U.S.C. - 552(b)(4)] will protect from release information submitted to the Government that constitutes either (1) a trade secret or (2) commercial or financial information which is privileged or confidential. Therefore, any such proprietary information contained in your application form must be clearly marked in accordance with the following directions. 1. Insert the following paragraph in the comments section on page 2 of the application form: - This application includes data that shall not be disclosed outside the Government and shall not be duplicated, used, or disclosed - in whole or in part - for any purpose other than to evaluate this application or develop a subsequent LP-CRADA for the 2024 GPS Equipment Testing for Critical Infrastructure event. This restriction does not limit the Government's right to use information contained in the data if they are obtained from another source without restriction. 2. Application Form: In any equipment descriptions that contain restricted information on page 2, insert "(PROPRIETARY)" at the start of the section of text. DO NOT SUBMIT CLASSIFIED INFORMATION in the application. If classified information is required to adequately describe a technology solution, submit an unclassified application with a request for a classified submission of supporting materials. DO NOT SUBMIT ACQUISITION PROPOSALS. Submit participation applications. No contracts will be awarded based on this announcement, but selected participants will be asked to sign an LP-CRADA. Submitting an application in response to this RFIP does not guarantee an invitation to participate in the 2024 GPS Equipment Testing for Critical Infrastructure event or a LP-CRADA. All submissions shall use the application form Appendix A, 2024 GET-CI Event. Please ensure that all required fields are completed. All application forms shall be submitted in the Microsoft Word (DOCX) file format. VI. BASIS FOR SELECTION TO PARTICIPATE DHS S&T and appropriate supporting Government organizations will review the applications for technical merit, range of capabilities, and applicability. DHS S&T will notify selected participants via an emailed invitation to the original Respondent. No review outcomes or selection criteria will be made available to Respondents. VII. SPECIAL NOTICE While only Federal employees will participate in the final selection process, Government support contractors may provide support during the application evaluation process. Any Government support contractors involved in the evaluation process, including those in support roles, are subject to applicable non-disclosure requirements by virtue of their contractual agreements with the Government. Submission in response to this RFIP constitutes approval to release the applications to the evaluation team that may include Government support contractors. These support Contractors will be bound by appropriate non-disclosure agreements to protect proprietary information. VIII. APPENDICES A. 2024 GET-CI Event - Participant Application Form