SEVENCS (7CS) ENC (ELECTRONIC NAVIGATIONAL CHARTS) SOFTWARE LICENSE RENEWAL AND SDMS (S-100 DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM) LICENSE PURCHASE

***THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION’S (NOAA) ACQUISITION & GRANTS OFFICE, EASTERN ACQUISITION DIVISION-NORFOLK, NATIONAL OCEAN SERVICE (NOS) MARINE CHART DIVISION (MCD) OFFICE, INTENDS TO NEGOTIATE AND AWARD A PURCHASE ORDER, ON A SOLE SOURCE BASIS, UNDER AUTHORITY OF RFO FAR 6.103-1, WITH TELEDYNE GEOSPATIAL, A BUSINESS UNIT OF TELEDYNE DIGITAL IMAGING, INC OUT OF FREDERICTON NB, CANADA FOR SEVENCs (7Cs) ENC (ELECTRONIC NAVIGATIONAL CHARTS) SOFTWARE LICENSE RENEWAL AND SDMS (S-100 DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM) LICENSE PURCHASE WITH GROUP 4.

 NO SET ASIDE IS TO BE USED FOR THIS SOLE SOURCE REQUIREMENT. THE ASSOCIATED NAICS CODE IS 513210.

***THE SOLE SOURCE DETERMINATION IS BASED ON NOAA’S REQUIREMENT THAT TELEDYNE GEOSPATIAL IS THE ONLY AUTHORIZED RESELLER OF SEVENCs ENC SOFTWARE LICENSES IN THE UNITED STATES. THERE ARE NO OTHER AUTHORIZED PARTNERS OR RESELLERS.

SEVENCS ENC SOFTWARE PACKAGE HAS BEEN UPDATED TO THE LATEST VERSION OF THE IHO S-58 AND S-101 VALIDATION CHECKS WHICH HAS INTRODUCED A NEW ERROR CLASSIFICATION CALLED “CRITICAL”. IF AN ENC IS VALIDATED AND RETURNS A “CRITICAL” ERROR IT MUST BE FIXED PRIOR TO RELEASE TO THE PUBLIC AS IT HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED BY THE INTERNATIONAL HYDROGRAPHIC ORGANIZATIONS THAT ENCS HAVING “CRITICAL” ERRORS MAY NOT WORK PROPERLY WITHIN A NAVIGATION SYSTEM.

THE MARKET FOR THIRD PARTY ENC VALIDATION SOFTWARE TOOLS IS LIMITED TO JUST TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF SOFTWARE – DKART INSPECTOR AND SEVENCS ANALYZER. SEVENCS HAS UPDATED THEIR SOFTWARE TO THE LATEST VERSION OF THE IHO S-58 AND S-101 STANDARDS, THUS ENABLING MCD TO PRODUCE COMPLIANT ENCS. AS NOTED ABOVE, S-58 HAS INTRODUCED A NEW CLASSIFICATION THAT WILL ENABLE MCD TO CATCH “CRITICAL” ERRORS THAT IF UN-CAUGHT MAY CAUSE THE DATA TO LOAD IMPROPERLY IN SHIPBOARD NAVIGATION SYSTEMS. THE DKART SOFTWARE LICENSING IS NOT CONDUCIVE TO THE CITRIX ENVIRONMENT, DKART IS COMPATIBLE WITH CITRIX BUT THE LICENSING DOES NOT PERMIT MORE THAN 10 USERS AT A TIME AND SOMETIMES LESS DUE TO HOW THE LICENSING SOFTWARE DOES NOT RELEASE LICENSES IN THE CITRIX ENVIRONMENT. ONCE MCD JOINED IC-ENC AND RECEIVED REGULAR UPDATES ON S-58 AND S-101, AS WELL AS NOTIFICATION OF NEW VERSIONS OF THE SEVENCS SOFTWARE, IT WAS APPARENT THAT DKART WAS MORE OUT OF DATE THAN WAS ACCEPTABLE FROM A QUALITY CONTROL STANDPOINT. S-58 IS CONSTANTLY UPDATED AND UPGRADED TO THE NEXT VERSION. DKART IS TYPICALLY A YEAR BEHIND THE CURRENT S-58 STANDARD. RELYING SOLELY ON DKART WOULD LIKELY RESULT IN CHARTS BEING REJECTED BY IC-ENC BECAUSE IC-ENC ARE WORKING OFF THE NEW VERSION OF SEVENCS THAT REFERENCES AN UP-TO-DATE S-58 AND S-101 WITH NEW CRITICAL ERRORS THAT MCD COULD NOT SEE BECAUSE OF THE LATENCY OF DKART UPDATES. ANY REJECTION OF ENCS RESULTS IN INEFFICIENCIES, CONFUSION AND POSSIBLE MISSING CRITICAL ERRORS. SEVENCS IS NEVER MORE THAN 3 MONTHS BEHIND THE LATEST VERSION OF S-58 AND S-101.

THE UPDATE CYCLE OF DKART, AS STATED ABOVE, PROVIDES A CONSIDERABLE NUMBER OF LIMITATIONS AND CAN RESULT IN FALSE POSITIVES FOR VALIDATION. THIS CREATES INEFFICIENCY. DKART'S ADVANCED USER INTERFACE WAS THEIR MAIN ATTRACTION. SEVENCS NOW ALSO PROVIDES THAT ADVANCED USER INTERFACE.

SEVENCS SOFTWARE IS UPDATED TO THE LATEST IHO STANDARDS AND THE SOFTWARE AND LICENSES ARE PROPRIETARY.  NO OTHER COMPANY HAS THE SOURCE CODE TO PROVIDE THIS PRODUCT, LICENSES, OR MAINTENANCE SERVICES. MCD ENCs ARE ACCEPTED FOR DISTRIBUTION BY THE INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR ENCS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. THIS ORGANIZATION ALSO USES SEVENCS TO VALIDATE AND RUN OTHER QUALITY ASSURANCE ON OUR ENCS. WITHOUT THE ABILITY TO REPLICATE ANY ERRORS THAT THIS ORGANIZATION FINDS WE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO CORRECT OUR CHARTS PROPERLY WHEN THEY ARE REJECTED FOR DISTRIBUTION.

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: 04/01/2026 – 03/31/2027

***THIS PRESOLICITATION NOTICE IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS AND NO SOLICITATION PACKAGE IS AVAILABLE. HOWEVER, FIRMS THAT BELIEVE THEY CAN FULLY MEET THE GOVERNMENT'S REQUIREMENTS MAY SUBMIT SUBSTANTIATING DOCUMENTATION OR A REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IN WRITING TO THE IDENTIFIED POINT OF CONTACT WITHIN 15 DAYS AFTER PUBLICATION OF THIS PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE. SUCH REQUESTS AND DOCUMENTATION WILL BE EVALUATED SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF DETERMINING WHETHER OR NOT TO CONDUCT THIS PROCUREMENT ON A COMPETITIVE BASIS. A DETERMINATION BY THE GOVERNMENT NOT TO CONDUCT A COMPETITIVE PROCUREMENT, BASED UPON RESPONSES TO THIS NOTICE, IS SOLELY WITHIN THE DISCRETION OF THE GOVERNMENT. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE IN RESPONSE TO THIS NOTICE.