On Newsom’s first day as governor, Jan. 8, he implemented the “Request for Innovative Ideas” (RFI2) protocol, in which vendors play a bigger role in devising and proposing solutions, rather than responding to specific instructions from state officials.
California’s wildfire crises last year and this year prompted the Governor’s Office to designate the “Wildfire Innovation Sprint” as the first IT program to be administered under RFI2. Wednesday’s announcement of the two contract awards marks a milestone in the effort. The first two awardees, according to the announcement, are:
- Technosylva, a company with headquarters in San Diego and Spain, will receive $383,000 to develop a proof-of-concept product that uses a cloud-based subscription service to help jurisdictions predict the path of wildfire. This pilot will be used in four counties — Butte, Monterey, Napa and San Luis Obispo — with oversight locations in Redding and Riverside. Technosylva uses technologies including GIS to assess topography, vegetation and weather forecasts to anticipate the path of a wildfire, which would enable authorities to issue updates, emergency notifications and evacuation orders.
- Northrop Grumman, which will receive $1.6 million for a proof-of-concept product that uses aerial sensors as part of an early-detection system that can directly interface with computer-aided dispatch systems, the goal being to reduce the time it takes for first responders to be alerted.
“This new procurement process leverages one of the things California does best, which is embracing innovation and technology to address some of the most unprecedented challenges California is facing,” Newsom said as part of Wednesday’s contract announcement. “The use of innovative and groundbreaking technology to bolster response to wildfires will help our firefighters and first responders tremendously, and if we can predict the patterns of a fire, we will be able to save lives and property.”
In all, 131 proposals were submitted as part of the first RFI2 solicitation. What makes RFI2 unique is that the state outlines a problem to be solved — in this case, detecting wildfires more quickly – rather than deciding on a solution and asking vendors for bids.
In the Wildfire Innovation Sprint, Cal Fire, the California Department of Technology (CDT) and the Department of General Services (DGS) “collaborated with experts and government leaders to develop a problem statement to address wildfire management, focusing on detection, prediction and notification,” the Governor’s Office explained in its news release. In addition to Technosylva and Northrop Grumman, 10 other applicants from the pool of 131 were chosen “to become part of an innovator pool for future consideration.”
