IFB 54-12224152-KWT Soten Survey Bundle Plus Drones

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA INVITATION FOR BIDS NO. 54-12224152-KWT
Title: SOTEN - Survey Bundle and Drones
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Division of Aviation Bid Opening Date: August 31, 2026 at 10:00 am ET
Issue Date: August 19, 2026
Refer all inquiries to:
Commodity Number: 431915
Kim Tart
Using Agency: NCDOT - Aviation Division
kwtart@ncdot.gov
Requisition No.: 12224152 / PR34347
OFFER AND ACCEPTANCE
The State seeks offers for the goods, software, and/or services described in this Invitation for Bids (IFB). The
State's acceptance of any offer must be demonstrated by execution of the acceptance found below and any
subsequent Request for Best and Final Offer (BAFO), if issued. Acceptance shall create a contract having an
order of precedence as follows in cases of conflict between documents comprising the contract: (1) special terms
and conditions specific to this IFB; (2) specifications; (3) NC Department of Information Technology Terms and
Conditions of this IFB; and (4) the agreed portions of the awarded Vendor's offer. No contract shall be binding
on the State until an encumbrance of funds has been made for payment of the sums due under the
contract.
EXECUTION
In compliance with this IFB, and subject to all the conditions herein, the undersigned offers and agrees to furnish
any or all Services or goods upon which prices are offered, at the price(s) offered herein, within the time specified
herein. By executing this offer, I certify that this offer is submitted competitively and without collusion.
Failure to execute/sign offer prior to submittal shall render offer invalid. Late offers are not acceptable.
OFFEROR
STREET ADDRESS PO BOX, ZIP CODE
CITY, STATE, ZIP CODE TELEPHONE NUMBER
NAME and TITLE OF PERSON SIGNING
AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE DATE E-MAIL
Offer valid for ninety (90) days from date of offer opening unless otherwise stated here: ____ days
ACCEPTANCE OF OFFER
If any or all parts of this IFB are accepted, an authorized representative of the NC Department of Transportation
(NCDOT) shall affix a signature hereto. A copy of this acceptance will be forwarded to the Vendor.
FOR STATE USE ONLY
Offer accepted and contract awarded on this date as indicated on the attached certification,
by ___________________________________________________________________ ________________________
Authorized representative of NC Department of Transportation Date

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 INTENT, USE, DURATION AND SCOPE .............................................................................................. 3
2.0 GENERAL INFORMATION .................................................................................................................... 3
2.1 SITE VISIT. ........................................................................................................................................ 3
2.2 VENDOR QUESTIONS ...................................................................................................................... 3
2.3 ADDENDA ......................................................................................................................................... 3
2.4 ELECTRONIC OFFER SUBMITTAL .................................................................................................. 3
2.5 BASIS FOR REJECTION ................................................................................................................... 4
2.6 LATE OFFERS................................................................................................................................... 4
2.7 NON-RESPONSIVE OFFERS ........................................................................................................... 4
2.8 NOTICE TO VENDORS ..................................................................................................................... 5
2.9 NC ePROCUREMENT SYSTEM ....................................................................................................... 5
2.10 DISTRIBUTORS AND RESELLERS .................................................................................................. 5
2.11 POSSESSION AND REVIEW ............................................................................................................ 5
2.12 BEST AND FINAL OFFER (BAFO) .................................................................................................... 6
2.13 CONTRACT AWARD ......................................................................................................................... 6
2.14 POINTS OF CONTACT ...................................................................................................................... 6
3.0 SPECIFICATIONS ................................................................................................................................. 7
3.1 VENDOR STANDARD AGREEMENTS.............................................................................................. 7
3.2 VENDOR UTILIZATION OF WORKERS OUTSIDE U.S. ................................................................... 7
3.3 E-VERIFY .......................................................................................................................................... 8
3.4 BRAND SPECIFIC PRODUCT ........................................................................................................... 8
3.5 SECURITY SPECIFICATIONS .......................................................................................................... 8
3.6 ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE SPECIFICATIONS ......................................................................... 8
3.7 PRODUCT RECALL ........................................................................................................................ 10
3.8 WARRANTY .................................................................................................................................... 11
3.9 MAINTENANCE ............................................................................................................................... 11
3.10 CONTRACT TERM .......................................................................................................................... 12
3.11 DELIVERY ....................................................................................................................................... 12
4.0 FURNISH AND DELIVER .................................................................................................................... 12
5.0 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. ............................................................................................................. 13
6.0 NC DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INSTRUCTIONS ......................................... 13
7.0 NC DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TERMS AND CONDITIONS ........................ 15
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1.0 INTENT, USE, DURATION AND SCOPE
NCDOT's Division of Aviation seeks to procure SOTEN brand drones and accessories as well as the
applicable software maintenance and support as described in further detail in Section 4.0 Furnish and
Deliver Table of this IFB, to enhance its ability to manage day-to-day operations, flight missions, use
cases, and disaster response efforts.
Goods and Services will be provided in accordance with the terms and conditions of this IFB.
2.0 GENERAL INFORMATION
2.1 SITE VISIT - Reserved.
2.2 VENDOR QUESTIONS
All inquiries regarding the solicitation specifications or requirements must be addressed to the
contact person listed on Page One of this solicitation. Vendor contact regarding this Solicitation with
anyone other than the contact person listed on Page One of this Solicitation may be grounds for
rejection of said Vendor's offer.
Written questions concerning this Solicitation will be received until August 25, 2026 at 10:00 am
Eastern Time. They must be submitted to Kim Tart at kwtart@ncdot.gov.
Please enter "Questions - IFB 12224152-KWT" as the subject for the message. Questions should
be submitted in the following format:
REFERENCE VENDOR QUESTION
IFB Section, Page Number
2.3 ADDENDA
The Agency will issue an Addendum to provide a response to all questions received in accordance
with Section 2.2 above.
The Agency may issue additional Addenda as needed to modify the specifications/requirements,
terms and conditions, etc.
All Addenda will be posted on the electronic Vendor Portal (eVP) website at https://evp.nc.gov and
will become Addenda to this IFB.
Critical information may be included in these Addenda. It is important for Vendors to
periodically check the website for any and all Addenda that may be issued prior to the bid
opening date.
2.4 ELECTRONIC OFFER SUBMITTAL
Due Date: August 31, 2026
Time: 10:00 am Eastern Time
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Sealed offers, subject to the conditions made a part hereof, will be received by the time and date
specified above and then opened for furnishing and delivering the commodity as described herein.
It is the Vendor's sole responsibility to submit its offer by the specified time and date of opening.
The Vendor shall bear the risk for late electronic submission due to unintended or unanticipated
delay including, but not limited to, internet issues, network issues, local power outages, or application
issues. No offers are able to be uploaded in Ariba after the deadline/bid opening date and time.
a) Submit one (1) signed, original electronic offer via the Ariba Sourcing Module. The Vendor
must include the signed Execution Page 1 WITH the remaining pages of the solicitation in
one PDF. The Execution Page 1 must be signed and dated by an official authorized to bind the
Vendor's firm. Failure to return a signed offer shall result in disqualification.
b) File names should identify the Vendor, solicitation, and document in that order (Vendor Name -
Solicitation Number - Offer, etc.).
c) Files must not be password protected. They must be in .PDF, .JPEG, .DOC or .XLS format and
capable of being copied to other sources. The Vendor's offer may be deemed non-responsive if
the Agency is unable to open the file(s).
d) If the offer contains any confidential information (as defined in the NCDIT Terms and Conditions,
Section 7, Paragraph 18) "Confidentiality", the Vendor must provide one (1) redacted electronic
copy in addition to the original copy.
2.5 BASIS FOR REJECTION
Pursuant to 9 NCAC 06B.0401, the State reserves the right to reject any and all offers, in whole or
in part by deeming the offer unsatisfactory as to quality or quantity, delivery, price or service offered;
non-compliance with the specifications or intent of this solicitation; lack of competitiveness; error(s)
in specifications or indications that revision would be advantageous to the State; cancellation or
other changes in the intended project, or other determination that the proposed requirement is no
longer needed; limitation or lack of available funds; circumstances that prevent determination of the
best offer; or any other determination that rejection would be in the best interest of the State. Vendor
contact regarding this IFB with anyone other than the person listed on Page 1 may be grounds for
rejection of said Vendor's offer.
2.6 LATE OFFERS
Regardless of cause, late offers will not be accepted and will automatically be disqualified from
further consideration.
2.7 NON-RESPONSIVE OFFERS
The Vendor's offer will be deemed non-responsive by the State and will be rejected without further
consideration or evaluation if statements such as the following are included:
* "This offer does not constitute a binding offer"
* "This offer will be valid only if this offer is selected as a finalist or in the competitive range"
* "Vendor does not commit or bind itself to any terms and conditions by this submission"
* "This document and all associated documents are non-binding and shall be used for discussion
purposes only"
* "This offer will not be binding on either party until incorporated in a definitive agreement signed
by authorized representatives of both parties" or
* A statement of similar intent.
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2.8 NOTICE TO VENDORS
The State objects to and will not be required to evaluate or consider any additional terms
and conditions not previously agreed to by the State and submitted with the Vendor's
response. This applies to any language appearing in or attached to the document as part of
the Vendor's response. By execution and delivery of this solicitation and response, the
Vendor agrees that any additional terms and conditions, whether submitted purposely or
inadvertently, shall have no force or effect.
2.9 NC ePROCUREMENT SYSTEM
The State utilizes the NC eProcurement (NCEP) system to process requisitions and issue purchase
orders. See http://eprocurement.nc.gov/ and Section 7, Paragraph 47 of the NCDIT Terms and
Conditions for more information.
a) It is the Vendor's responsibility to read these provisions carefully and to consider them in
preparing the offer. By signature, the Vendor acknowledges acceptance of all provisions related
to NCEP.
b) The transaction fee addressed in Section 7, Paragraph 47 a) and b) applies to the purchase of
goods (including the initial purchase of software). It does not apply to SaaS, software
maintenance/support services, or any other type of services.
c) If not already registered in NCEP, the Vendor selected for contract award must register within
two (2) days after notification of contract award.
d) The Vendor must be current on all NCEP fees prior to submitting an offer. Otherwise, the State
may disqualify the Offeror from participating in this IFB.
2.10 DISTRIBUTORS AND RESELLERS
"Resellers" as used herein, refers to businesses that routinely sell or distribute Vendor's Products,
and may include "Distributors," "Value Added Resellers" (VARs), "Original Equipment
Manufacturers" (OEMs), Channel Partners, or such other designations. These businesses must be
approved by the State prior to placement of any orders. Any contract established will be subject to
this solicitation and any resulting Agreement(s), and to the terms and conditions of the State's
competitive bidding process.
The Agency acknowledges that the Reseller has merely purchased the Third-Party Items for resale
or license to the Agency, and that the proprietary and intellectual property rights to the Third-Party
Items are owned by parties other than the Reseller ("Third Parties"). The Agency further
acknowledges that except for the payment to the Reseller for the Third-Party Items, all of its rights
and obligations with respect thereto flow from and to the Third Parties. The Reseller shall provide
the Agency with copies of all documentation and warranties for the Third-Party Items which are
provided to the Reseller. The Reseller shall assign all applicable Third-Party warranties for
Deliverables to the Agency.
2.11 POSSESSION AND REVIEW
During the evaluation period and prior to award, possession of the bids and accompanying
information is limited to personnel of the issuing agency and to the committee responsible for
participating in the evaluation. Vendors who attempt to gain this privileged information or to
influence the evaluation process will be in violation of purchasing rules and their offer will not be
further evaluated or considered.
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After award of contract, the complete bid file will be available to any interested persons with the
exception of trade secrets, test information or similar proprietary information as provided by statute
and rule. Any proprietary or confidential information which conforms to exclusions from public
records as provided by N.C.G.S. 132-1.2 must be clearly marked as such in the offer when
submitted.
2.12 BEST AND FINAL OFFER (BAFO)
The State may establish a competitive range based upon evaluations of offers and request BAFOs
from the Vendor(s) within this range (i.e., Finalist Vendors). If negotiations or subsequent offers are
solicited, the Vendor(s) shall provide BAFO(s) in response. Failure to deliver a BAFO when
requested shall disqualify the non-responsive Vendor from further consideration. The State will
evaluate BAFO(s), oral presentations, and product demonstrations as part of the Vendors'
respective offers to determine the final rankings.
2.13 CONTRACT AWARD
It is the general intent to award this contract to one Vendor. As provided by statute, award will be
based on Best Value Analysis, Lowest Price Technically Acceptable Source Selection Method in
accordance with N.C.G.S. 143B-1350(h) , which provides that the offer must be in substantial
conformity with the specifications herein, and 09 NCAC 06B.0302.
Contract award information will be posted in eVP at https://evp.nc.gov/. Results may be found by
searching by IFB number or agency name. This information may not be available for several weeks
depending on the length of time to complete the evaluation process.
2.14 POINTS OF CONTACT
Contact with the persons shown below for contractual and technical matters related to this IFB is
only permitted if expressly agreed to by the person listed on page 1 or upon award of contract:
Vendor Contractual Point of Contact Vendor Technical Point of Contact
Contact Name: Contact Name:
Address: Address:
Email: Email:
State Contractual Point of Contact State Technical Point of Contact
Kim Tart, Procurement Specialist Riley Beaman, Program Manager
NCDOT - IT Business Office NCDOT - Aviation Division
1020 Birch Ridge Dr 5505 Barbados Blvd
Raleigh NC 27610 Castle Hayne NC 28429
itbusinessoffice@ncdot.gov jrbeaman@ncdot.gov
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3.0 SPECIFICATIONS
3.1 VENDOR STANDARD AGREEMENTS
The terms and conditions of the Vendor's standard services, license, maintenance or other
agreement(s) applicable to Services, Goods, Software and other Products acquired under this
Agreement may apply to the extent such terms and conditions do not materially change the terms
and conditions of this Agreement. In the event of any conflict between the terms and conditions of
this Agreement and the Vendor's standard agreement(s), the terms and conditions of this
Agreement relating to audit and records, jurisdiction, choice of law, the State's electronic
procurement, application of law or administrative rules, the remedy for intellectual property
infringement and the exclusive remedies and limitation of liability in the NCDIT Terms and
Conditions herein shall apply in all cases and supersede any provisions contained in the Vendor's
relevant standard agreement or any other agreement. The State shall not be obligated under any
standard license and/or maintenance or other Vendor agreement(s) to indemnify or hold harmless
the Vendor, its licensors, successors or assigns; nor arbitrate any dispute, nor pay late fees, legal
fees or other similar costs.
The "North Carolina Department of Transportation Addendum to the ACSL, Ltd. Software License
Agreement" will be finalized by and between ACSL, Ltd. and NCDOT and will be applicable to this
IFB and incorporated by reference to this IFB via a Best and Final Offer (BAFO).
3.2 VENDOR UTILIZATION OF WORKERS OUTSIDE U.S.
In accordance with the Statewide Information Security Manual (SISM), the State restricts the
location of information systems that receive, process, store, or transmit State and Federal data to
the United States which includes the following areas: US States, US Territories, US Embassies,
and US Military installations (stateside or overseas). This restriction applies to the Vendor and to
any subcontractors engaged to provide Services under this Agreement or with access to State Data.
The Vendor must ensure that its subcontractor agreements contain these same restrictions and will
be responsible for monitoring and enforcing subcontractor compliance at all times.
Pursuant to N.C.G.S. 143B-1361(b), the Vendor must provide the following information with its
offer. The Vendor may attach additional pages to its response if needed. The State of North Carolina
will evaluate Disclosure Statement Attachments for additional risks, costs, and other factors
associated with its service prior to making an award for any such Vendor's offer.
a. The location of work performed under a state contract by the Vendor, any subcontractors,
employees, or other persons performing the contract and whether any of this work will be
performed outside the United States.
Vendor to answer:
b. The corporate structure and location of corporate employees and activities of the Vendor, its
affiliates or any other subcontractors.
Vendor to answer:
c. Vendor agrees to provide notice of the relocation of the Vendor, employees of the Vendor,
subcontractors of the Vendor, or other persons performing Services under a state contract
outside of the United States in the event such relocation occurs during the contract term.
Vendor Agrees? YES NO
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d. Vendor agrees that any Vendor or subcontractor providing call or contact center Services to the
State of North Carolina shall disclose to inbound callers the location from which the call or
contact center Services are being provided.
Vendor Agrees? YES NO
e. Will any work under this contract be performed outside the United States?
YES NO
The use of resources or workers located outside the United States is a critical security exception
that must be escalated to the State Chief Information Officer for review pursuant to N.C.G.S.
143B-1376(c) and -1320(c). These critical security exceptions are approved only in rare and
extenuating circumstances. The Vendor should account for this when preparing its response.
3.3 E-VERIFY
Pursuant to N.C.G.S. 143B-1350(k), the State shall not enter into a contract unless the awarded
Vendor and each of its subcontractors comply with the E-Verify requirements of N.C.G.S. Chapter
64, Article 2. Vendors are directed to review the foregoing laws. Any awarded Vendor must submit
a certification of compliance with E-Verify to the awarding agency, and on a periodic basis thereafter
as may be required by the State.
3.4 BRAND SPECIFIC PRODUCT
Manufacturer's name and product descriptions used in this solicitation are product specific. The
items offered in response to this solicitation must be the manufacturer and type specified. Failure
to comply with this requirement will result in rejection of the offer.
3.5 SECURITY SPECIFICATIONS
3.5.1 SOLUTION HOSTED ON STATE INFRASTRUCTURE
Vendors must provide a Vendor Readiness Assessment Report - State-Hosted Solutions
with their offer. See https://it.nc.gov/documents/vendor-readiness-assessment-report
The Solution will be required to receive and securely manage data that is classified as
internal risk. Refer to the North Carolina Statewide Data Classification and Handling policy
for more information: https://it.nc.gov/document/statewide-data-classification-and-handling-
policy
To comply with the State's security standards and policies, State agencies are required to
perform annual security/risk assessments on their information systems using NIST 800-53
controls.
3.5.2 SOLUTION NOT HOSTED ON STATE INFRASTRUCTURE - Reserved.
3.6 ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE SPECIFICATIONS
3.6.1 ARCHITECTURE DIAGRAMS
The State utilizes architecture diagrams to better understand the design and technologies
of a proposed Solution. The two (2) diagrams are Network Architecture and Technology
Stack. Details on these diagrams can be found at https://it.nc.gov/resources/statewide-it-
procurement/vendor-engagement-resources#Tab-Architecture-1192
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The provision of these two (2) diagrams is a preferred at offer submission. If they are not
supplied at that time, the State will ask for them again and if they are not supplied within one
(1) calendar week, the Vendor's offer will be considered non-responsive and will not be
evaluated.
There may be additional architectural diagrams requested of the Vendor after contract
award. This will be communicated to the Vendor by the Agency as needed during the project.
3.6.2 SOLUTION ROADMAP
A Solution Roadmap defines the vision and strategic elements of the Solution and is a plan
of action for how the Solution will evolve over time.
Describe the roadmap for your Solution including, at a minimum:
* Vision for the Solution
* Release strategies and high-level functionality for each release into the production
environment
* High-level timeline
* How customer feedback is collected and incorporated into Solution enhancements
* Scalability plan
* Technical architecture
Describe the solution roadmap for your product. Include content on release strategies for
functionality, roadmap for technical architecture, how scalability of solution is planned.
3.6.3 IDENTITY AND ACCESS MANAGEMENT
The proposed Solution must externalize identity and access management. Describe how
your Solution supports the State's Identity and Access Management protocols and makes
them available for application integration/consumption:
https://it.nc.gov/services/vendor-engagement-resources#Tab IdentityAccessManagement-
1241
3.6.4 INTEGRATION APPROACH
Describe your Solution's capabilities in interoperating with other solutions. Identify the
standards supported, integrations platforms, adaptors, APIs, and the like.
3.6.5 DISASTER RECOVERY AND BUSINESS CONTINUITY
Describe the proposed Solution capabilities related to the following areas:
Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) - describe how proposed solution supports Recovery Point
Objectives (RPO) and Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) metrics.
System Backup - describe backup plan capabilities.
Disaster Recovery Testing - describe the frequency and test procedures for end-to-end
disaster recovery testing.
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Business Continuity Plan (BCP) - describe capabilities proposed solution can provide in
support of agency's continuity of operations and incident responses.
3.6.6 DATA MIGRATION
Describe your approach for data conversion and/or data migration to load current data into
the proposed Solution.
3.6.7 APPLICATION MANAGEMENT
Describe how the proposed solution monitors and reports the metrics on system
performance.
Describe how the proposed solution manages user administration.
Describe the audit capabilities of proposed solution related to management of the
application.
3.6.8 ACCESSIBILITY
Describe how the proposed Solution complies with industry accessibility standards.
Provide product documentation that demonstrates how the proposed solution is digitally
accessible or if not fully accessible, provide the roadmap with timeline for remediation.
Standards include:
* State of North Carolina Digital Accessibility & Usability Standard
* W3C Web Accessibility Initiative - Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1:
https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/
* Section 508: https://www.section508.gov/
* Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT(R)):
https://www.itic.org/policy/accessibility/vpat
ENTERPRISE, SERVICES, AND STANDARDS
Agencies and vendors should refer to the Vendor Resources Page for information on North
Carolina Department of Information Technology regarding architecture, security, strategy,
data, digital, identity and access management and other general information on doing
business with state IT process.
The Vendor Resources Page found at https://it.nc.gov/vendor-engagement-resources. This
site provides Vendors with statewide information and links referenced throughout the
solicitation. Agencies may request additional information.
3.7 PRODUCT RECALL
The Vendor assumes full responsibility for prompt notification of both the contract administrator and
purchaser of any product recall in accordance with the applicable state and federal regulations.
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