The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is seeking technical capabilities to help the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), through its insurance directorate the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA), improve preparedness and response efforts after flooding occurs.
“With reliable sources of real time flood data, DHS can improve its forecasting capabilities and aid programs designed to mitigate against future losses,” said Melissa Oh, Managing Director of S&T’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP). “These innovations could allow for a higher level of accuracy in analyzing data and determining impact without the need for physical inspections.”
SVIP’s Flood Data Collection & Analysis solicitation seeks technology that can deliver real-time information about where and how deep flood water is, how long it lasts and the amount of structural damage. The data should be in near real time, with a high level of certainty and accuracy, without the need for in-person data collection. The data will be used to anticipate, interpret, and learn from floods to implement mitigation strategies.
“FEMA is pleased to work with S&T, through their SVIP program,” said Paul Huang, Assistant Administrator for Federal Insurance within FEMA. “We look forward to exploring cutting-edge technologies and looking into innovative ways to help our agency and the National Flood Insurance Program meet one of its operational needs of having real-time data and analysis on a variety of flooding scenarios. These efforts can help our teams better support disaster survivors and advance our goals of building a climate resilient nation and posturing FEMA to meet current and emergent threats. Programs like this have the power to reduce disaster suffering.”
Applications must align to at least one of the following technical topic areas:
- Data Sources: providing a variety of data related to flooding (e.g., named and unnamed storms, coastal flooding, overflow of inland or tidal waters, mudslides)
- Data Analytics: capabilities for both situational awareness and predictive analytics (e.g., near real time image of flooding event; past and current data for forecasting capabilities)
Applicants have two opportunities to respond to the solicitation. The first deadline is on May 4, 2022, and the second deadline is on September 2, 2022, with submissions due at 12:00 p.m. PT on both dates.
A virtual Industry Day is set for March 31, 2022, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. PT for technology developers and venders to discuss the solicitation and operational needs. Visit S&T events to register.
