Under the authority of FAR 6.302-1, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers intends to require, on a sole source basis, services by Amaz Consulting in the new Surgical and Clinical Tower Project at the VA West Haven Campus.

This notice of intent is for the services associated with the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) task of programming the existing SCADA system to digitally incorporate these new components. The installation, equipment, components, and software associated with the SCADA system will not be sole sourced.

The VAWH SCADA system utilizes server-based software to gather electrical data in real time from remote locations to control equipment and conditions across the campus. The VA West Haven campus operates an existing SCADA system which utilizes cutting-edge Industrial Control and Automation technology, specifically designed to enhance operator decision-making. This state-of-the-art system harnesses model-based SCADA software and a high-performance Human-Machine Interface (HMI) to ensure swift response times in support of the VA mission. The electrical equipment installed as part of the Surgical Tower project will need to be integrated with the existing complex SCADA system. This integration does not require proprietary software or equipment but will require expert and experienced programing by the VAWH approved SCADA programmer, Amaz Consulting.

Amaz Consulting is the approved SCADA programmer for the VAWH campus. The existing SCADA system supports mission critical equipment and systems. Any additional equipment and systems that are added to the SCADA system must integrate seamlessly into this production system while maintaining uninterrupted monitoring of existing equipment and systems. For a SCADA system this complex and critical, the programming can only be completed by the pre-approved firm that has the required experience with this unique system.

Programming of industrial control systems such as SCADA is a challenging effort especially when tying into existing production systems that have a true mission impact. This existing SCADA system controls the electrical power distribution and generation systems across the VA campus. Individuals without inherent knowledge of the system, its operations and interconnectivities, as well as programming irregularities, could potentially and unknowingly cause near term (loss of power to critical hospital systems for extended periods) or long term (systems failures months after installation). Control systems have thousands or tens of thousands of invisible moving parts, and as the new components installed as part of this project must be integrated with existing components digitally, existing programming code must be modified in real time on production systems. Bringing in the unknown variable of an outside SCADA integrator will lead to a significantly high chance of one or more system failures during integration and configuration.

An equally important aspect is Cybersecurity. Bringing in an unknown programmer/integrator poses a cybersecurity risk as the government would be exposing the details of a mission critical system to a new service provider. If this were a contractor building a wall or foundation, the government would clearly be able to see the work and provide qualitative feedback in real-time during the construction, however with digital construction the government has limited ability to observe the work or to evaluate whether ethical work is taking place, leaving the system and the VA mission open to the arbitrary actions of a bad actor, and potentially not becoming aware of this until some time in the future, or at the time of a calculated such as when all generators are online, and electrical demand to the operating rooms is high. This is what hackers attempt to do: cause the highest degree of impact at the worst possible time. Or worse, find a way to leave a backdoor open in the system which can be abused at any time. The vendor that ends up receiving this work will have full administrative access to all aspects of the system. By choosing Amaz Consulting, the government benefits from the use of a service provider with experience in the use and operations of this system, and one that is capable of performing the work without damage to the existing SCADA operations.

THIS NOTICE OF INTENT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS. It is a market research tool being used to determine the availability of other qualified sources that can meet the requirements identified above and inherent with the referenced Amaz Consulting. The Government is not obligated to and will not pay for any information received from potential sources as a result of this notice of intent. All responses received within 15 days of the posting of this notice of intent will be considered by the Government. A determination by the Government to require the brand name for the Johnson Controls system for the VA West Haven procurement based on this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determine whether to allow alternate system manufacturers.