Opportunities for New FBI HQ Tech on the Horizon

A contributing factor to the uptick in the Justice Department’s requested budget for FY 2017 stems from $1.4 billion slated to fund the new Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) headquarters facility. The total would combine resources from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the General Services Administration (GSA). Roughly 46 percent ($646 million) is sought through the DOJ’s budget, and the other 64 percent ($759 million) would come through the GSA’s Federal Building Fund. The search for a new headquarters’ location began several years ago, and activities related to move are beginning to ramp up.

In December 2015, $390 million was secured for the project in through the 2016 omnibus bill, which will fuel preparation to break ground on a new site in the capital region. Three sites across Virginia and Maryland have been identified as the possible new home for the 11,000 FBI personnel throughout the Washington metro area. As the maintenance and repairs required at the J. Edgar Hoover Building continue to accumulate, FBI leadership have expressed concern that the outdated systems and building inefficiencies are beginning to hamper their ability to fulfill mission areas and that the facility’s decline carries security implications. In that light, having a modern headquarters equipped with state-of-the-art technologies is essential to combatting international terrorism and cyber crime.  

According to the request for information released at the end of March 201, vendors will need to address the full technology lifecycle for a range of capabilities at the new facility. Specific technology requirements will include “network architecture design; backbone/distribution cabling design & construction; data center design & construction; advanced PDS solutions; satellite communication systems; fully integrated audio visual systems, Cable television (CATV) systems; security networks including access control & building management systems; wireless technologies; and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone networks.” The bureau is particularly interested in feedback from vendors with expertise in ‘cradle to grave’ IT facility design and construction as well as experience with large scale work environments. The contracting approach will be shaped by responses to the solicitation, but work on the headquarters IT is expected to begin January 1, 2017.