- ICE OCIO is seeking industry information across AI, data and technology strategy
- Industry responses to the notice are due Oct. 16
- The 2026 Homeland Security Summit on Nov. 10 will explore AI, data and more
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of the Chief Information Officer has issued a request for information seeking industry input on capabilities spanning AI, data, and technology strategy and architecture.
ICE is seeking industry input on AI, data and technology strategy—including its STELLA platform, enterprise data capabilities and planned Agentic Software Factory. Get the inside scoop at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Homeland Security Summit on Nov. 10 when POC brings together DHS and industry leaders to explore how emerging technologies can strengthen mission readiness and homeland defense. Register now to hear directly from senior leaders across DHS, ICE, CBP, CISA, the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Secret Service, as well as technology and industry executives, through keynote addresses, expert panels and networking opportunities.
In a SAM.gov notice posted Friday, ICE said the RFI is intended to support acquisition planning, requirements development and the evaluation of potential industry capabilities.
Responses are due Oct. 16.
What Information Is ICE Seeking From Industry?
ICE is seeking information on vendors that can provide services across the three functional areas. Vendors should also operate in a modular, multi-vendor environment in which the government retains control over architecture, mission priorities, authorization and risk acceptance.
The agency is exploring an enterprise agentic software factory designed to support AI-enabled software delivery. It intends to expand the existing STELLA platform and DevSecOps capabilities while maintaining separation among generation, assurance and authorization functions.
What Existing AI and Data Capabilities Would Vendors Support?
The RFI identifies several production capabilities that ICE anticipates requiring full operations and maintenance, sustainment and continuous monitoring.
The STELLA platform, described as a production-ready, multi-cloud AI platform operating across Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services, is first on the list.
ICE also identifies STELLA Chat, an enterprise GenAI chatbot with web-grounding capabilities and retrieval-augmented generation knowledge bases, including a portfolio of 12 AI applications supporting operational and investigative missions.
Other capabilities identified in the RFI include CORE/TBM operations, a data lakehouse and associated pipelines, a Collibra-based data governance environment, API management and governance, and processes supporting ICE’s AI Use Case Inventory and high-impact AI assessments.
How Does ICE’s STELLA Platform Fit Into Its Broader AI Strategy?
ICE’s current RFI builds on the agency’s ongoing development of the STELLA platform. Fedscoop reported that STELLA provides developers with containerized environments and tools for retrieval-augmented generation. It also provides authentication and authorization, security and code scanning, AI guardrails, logging and analysis, and access to large language models through a secure ICE cloud environment. ICE has identified STELLA in its AI use case inventory as the ICE Enterprise AI Assistant, with the platform intended to support additional AI use cases as development teams adopt it.
What Recent Data Analytics Investments Signal About ICE’s AI Strategy?
Recently, Thomson Reuters Special Services won a five-year blanket purchase agreement valued at up to $125 million to provide data analytics support services to ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations, covering screening, vetting, lead development and criminal analysis.
