U.S. Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/OFA/AGFS/AMD -- OFA51, 1305 East West Highway -- Station 7604, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910

D -- REQUEST FOR INFORMATION CONCERNING ELECTRONIC NAVIGATIONAL CHART (ENC) DATA BASE DUE 080499 POC Mike Brown, NOAA ENC Product Manager (301) 713-2712 WEB: Click here to order a copy of IHO Standard S-57, www.iho.shom.fr. E-MAIL: Click here to contact the NOAA/ENC Product Manager, mike.brown@noaa.gov. D -- REQUEST FOR INFORMATION CONCERNING ELECTRONIC NAVIGATIONAL CHART (ENC) DATA BASE. The Department of Commerce (DOC)/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is investigating alternative means of creating the electronic navigational chart (ENC) Data Base for U.S. waters. One such alternative involves using commercial data providers experienced with ENC production to take chart feature information that has been compiled by NOAA nautical cartographers from original source documents and combine it with the remaining features from the current edition of the nautical chart to produce a complete ENC. The deliverable would be an ENC that conforms to the International Hydrographic Organization Standard S-57, Transfer Standard for Digital Hydrographic Data, Edition 3.0 including Appendix B.1, the ENC Product Specification and the most current version of Appendix B.1 Annex A, Use of the Object Catalog for ENC. Information on how to order a copy of this standard can be found at the IHO Web site at: www.iho.shom.fr. The only exception to the ENC Product Specification will be that the delivered files will be in the sounding and distance units of the corresponding nautical chart (typically non-metric). The deliverable would be required to pass error free through at least one commercially available ENC validation software package yet to be determined (e.g., CARIS ECView, dKart Inspector, HSA DXaminer, etc.). The deliverable would also be required to load error free into the Laser-Scan Automated Map Production System 2 software that is used by NOAA for ENC production. It is anticipated that a multiple vendor, indefinite delivery contract would be used under FAR Part 15 and a fixed price for each ENC cell to be collected would be negotiated. NOAA will own the deliverable and the contractor will not retain any rights to the ENC data. Firms interested in discussing the above or providing practical or technical information to enable NOAA to better assess the feasibility of this alternative are encouraged to contact Mr. Michael Brown, NOAA ENC Product Manager. His address is DOC/NOAA, National Ocean Service (NOS), Code N/CS2X2, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 7724, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3282. His telephone number is (301) 713-2712; his facsimile number is (301) 713-4516. His e-mail address is mike.brown@noaa.gov. Interested firms may submit written expressions of interest to the above individual; such expressions of interest should include a description of past experience in ENC production, estimated pricing, and a digital copy of sample ENC data produced by the firm. All submissions and input will be treated as proprietary information and will be utilized to determine the feasibility of this approach and availability of commercial ENC data and will not bind the submitting company or the Government. All submissions/contacts are due by COB, August 2, 1999. Posted 06/30/99 (W-SN348777). (0181)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0028 19990702\D-0008.SOL)