opportunities

Entire Site Developers Search

• About GeoConnections
• About CGDI
• Developers
• News & Media
• Resource Library
• Subscribe
• My Subscription

Download this document (PDF: 310KB)

 
 

GeoConnections

 

Announcement of Opportunity

for

Canadian Organizations

 

Developing Geospatial Applications
for
Decision-Making

 

UC-Announcement code: 06-AUC-200

 

 

Announcement Summary

 Who Can Apply?

Proposals will be accepted from end-users in government departments or agencies (local, provincial/territorial, or federal), Crown corporations, academic institutions, private sector organizations, non-government organizations, and Aboriginal communities and organizations. See section 4 of this AO for more detail.

 What can be Applied for?

GeoConnections is soliciting proposals to develop geospatial applications which access geospatial data and information from distributed sources over the Internet. The applications must make use of standards endorsed by GeoConnections, and technologies which form part of the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI). See sections 2 and 6 of this AO for more detail.

Geospatial applications must support decision-making in one of the following priority areas:

• Public Health: Facilitating Disease Surveillance or Population Health Analysis
• Public Safety/Security: Facilitating Situational Awareness and assisting with the Management of Consequences
• Environment/Sustainable Development: Facilitating Integrated Land/Water/Marine Management including Land-Use/Resource Planning, Environmental Assessment and Indicator Monitoring
• Matters of Importance to Aboriginal Peoples: Land and Resource Planning and Community Response Systems.

 How much can be Applied for?

GeoConnections will fund up to 50% of a project's cost up to a maximum of $150,000 exclusive of GST, PST, and HST. See section 8 of this AO for more detail. Projects should take place between January 2007 and March 2008.

What is the Process?

GeoConnections is soliciting letters of intent which are three to four pages long. These letters will be evaluated against the criteria found in Appendix B and will form the basis for discussions with GeoConnections' staff and for subsequent screening. On the basis of this evaluation and screening, a select number of applicants will be invited to submit full proposals. These proposals will be evaluated against the criteria found in Appendix D. Note that proposals should be written and must be submitted by the proponent, and not a collaborator or private contractor. GeoConnections aims to fund at least three projects in each priority area. Full proposals are accepted by invitation only. Invitation to submit a full proposal is not a guarantee of funding. See section 3 of this AO for more detail.

 What are the Deadlines?

Letters of Intent must be received no later than midnight (2400) Pacific Daylight Time, September 15, 2006. Once invited, proposals must be received no later than midnight (2400) Pacific Standard Time, November 21 ^st , 2006.

Who do I contact for more information?

Julie Béland
Project Coordination Officer
Value Management Office
GeoConnections
Telephone: (613) 947-5009
Facsimile: (613) 947-2410
Email: jbeland@nrcan.gc.ca

Table of Contents

1 Objective

2 Background

2.1 GeoConnections

2.2 Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI)

2.3 CGDI Geospatial Applications

2.4 Project Proponents

2.5 Priority Areas and User Groups

2.5.1 Public Health

2.5.2 Public Safety and Security

2.5.3 Environment and Sustainable Development

2.5.4 Matters of Importance to Aboriginal Peoples

3 Submission Process

3.1 Letter of Intent Preparation and Submission

3.2 Letter of Intent Evaluation and Response

3.3 Proposal Preparation and Submission

3.4 Proposal Evaluation and Project Selection

3.5 Development of a Formal Agreement

4 Roles and Responsibilities

4.1 GeoConnections

4.2 Project Proponent

4.3 Collaborating Organizations

4.4 Contractor(s)

5 Responding to Users Needs

6 Using the CGDI

6.1.1 CGDI-endorsed Standards and Specifications

6.1.2 CGDI Services

Some examples of CGDI Services are as follows:

6.1.3 Alignment with the CGDI Architecture

6.1.4 CGDI Development Network

7 Risk Assessment

8 Financial Information

8.1 Funding

8.2 Eligible Project Costs

8.2.1 Labour

8.2.2 Software

8.2.3 Data Publishing

8.2.4 Training

8.2.5 Travel and Living Expenses

8.2.6 Subcontracts for services

8.3 Ineligible Project Costs

8.3.1 Profit

8.3.2 Taxes

8.3.3 Pre-project

8.3.4 Data

8.3.5 Background Intellectual Property

8.3.6 Hardware

8.3.7 Intangibles

8.3.8 Other

8.4 Total Allowable Federal Assistance

8.5 Quebec Projects

8.6 Private-sector Involvement

9 Reporting and Monitoring

9.1 Project Authorities

9.2 Meetings

9.3 Milestone Reports

9.4 Payment Schedule

9.5 Final Report

9.6 Registration of Results

9.7 Public and Stakeholder Communications

10 Rights of GeoConnections

11 Contact

APPENDIX A: Letter of Intent Template

APPENDIX B: Letter of Intent Evaluation Criteria

APPENDIX C: Proposal Template

APPENDIX D: Proposal Evaluation Criteria

APPENDIX E: Form to be completed with respect to Bill M-30

1 Objective

The objective of this announcement of opportunity (AO) is to solicit proposals for developing and deploying geospatial applications (hereafter referred to as "applications") that draw upon distributed sources of information over the Internet. They will be built collaboratively to address specific issues within one of four priority areas: public health, public safety and security, environment and sustainable development, and matters of importance to Aboriginal peoples. The applications should make use of the standards-based technologies and datasets that presently comprise the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI) and facilitate information sharing in support of decision making.

Furthermore, applications developed through this announcement of opportunity will build capacity within user groups, and also promote, expand, and increase the use of the CGDI.

2 Background

2.1 GeoConnections

GeoConnections is a national partnership program led by Natural Resources Canada to build the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI). The CGDI is an on-line resource that enables Canadians to use and combine geographic information (e.g., maps, satellite images) over the Internet to gain new insights and aid in decision making.

2.2 Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI)

The Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure strives to provide Canadians with on-demand access to geospatial information through an interoperable, standards-based network built by a host of data, services, and technology suppliers. The infrastructure is designed to break down information silos by encouraging sharing, in pursuit of particular policy and business requirements. Through the infrastructure, users can discover, visualize, access and apply geospatial data and services. Therefore, replication of data is reduced and decision-making is streamlined because people can access authoritative data with ease.

The CGDI comprises the following four key components: 1) national framework data?the base layers required to develop applications; 2) common data policies to make data easier to access,3) technical standards that allow users to share data; and 4) technologies that enable people to develop geospatial applications. With these four key components, the CGDI serves as a common foundation for key government information systems, as well as for third-party service delivery.

2.3 CGDI Geospatial Applications

This announcement of opportunity seeks proposals for projects that will enable geospatial applications. In general, an application is the use of CGDI technology and data by a given user group to address a specific problem or issue and aid them in decision making. Therefore, applications must address the specific needs of users and must be developed through a user-centered design process. Specific user consultations must be demonstrated. See section 5. of this AO for more information on user needs.

Applications sought under this opportunity must be enabled through existing (or forthcoming) CGDI data, services, standards and/or specifications. If the application requirements are not achievable with existing CGDI data and services, these gaps must be identified along with potential solutions. GeoConnections may work with successful applicants and other collaborators to address them.

Applications do not have to operate through a web browser but they should still draw upon distributed content over the Internet in order to provide current or real-time perspectives. Applications and their content are not required to be publicly available.

Applications are to be built according to the principles of the CGDI: providing access to data that is closest to the authoritative source via interoperable and distributed online services.

2.4 Project Proponents

GeoConnections is mandated to support decision making and address the needs of users in the four priority areas. For the purposes of this announcement, end-users, who are consumers of geospatial data and information, are targeted. End-users use geospatial information or data for decision making or business operations and may conduct analysis or receive its results to address specific issues.

Project proponents must be end-users, however, suppliers and developers from the private sector are encouraged to collaborate with end-users to complete the project. Please refer to sections 4.3 and 4.4 of this announcement for further details.

2.5 Priority Areas and User Groups

Applications must be built to satisfy the specific requirements of a group of users. In particular, as mandated by the 2005 Federal Budget, GeoConnections will support decision making on a broad range of issues within four priority areas: public health, public safety/security, environment and sustainable development, and matters of importance to Aboriginal peoples.

Within each of the four priority areas, this announcement of opportunity seeks applications that respond to the issues described below. Note that proponents must specify one priority area only, to which their application best corresponds.

2.5.1 Public Health

Effective partnerships are needed to develop and apply the CGDI in a manner that serves public health professionals across the country. Public health is a GeoConnections priority for several reasons. First, health and well being are significant in the everyday lives of Canadians. Second, geomatics offers tremendous potential to improve the efficiency with which different health jurisdictions across the country interact. And third, there is a spatial component to the majority of health data, and an appreciation of associating health data with other types of data (e.g. environmental data, socio-economic data). The use of geomatics by epidemiologists, population health specialists and others within this community is still nascent. However, specific areas within the public health arena could use geomatics and the CGDI to improve delivery and bridge information silos.

This Announcement of Opportunity solicits geospatial applications that support decision-making in two areas, Disease Surveillance and Population Health:

Disease Surveillance: Within the realm of disease surveillance, geospatial capabilities are limited due to a lack of both information sharing and standardized data. CGDI applications are required to help coordinate the use of integrated, geospatial health information. Public health officials would analyze this information to make informed decisions.

Population Health: Multiple factors (such as socio-economic status, demography, and environment) shaping the public health paradigm are important to decision-makers in addressing the health of populations. With these varied information needs, the public health community requires access to integrated, timely and relevant geospatial information to effectively address, prioritize, and manage populations at risk.

2.5.2 Public Safety and Security

To prepare for threats in an all-hazards environment, which have the potential to undermine our safety and security, Canadians must co-ordinate resources and efforts within our communities, neighbouring regions, and other countries. There is an increasing need for inter-jurisdictional co-operation and horizontal sharing of information to deal effectively with public safety and security. Location-based information is a key resource for co-ordinating and assisting agencies in making crucial decisions related to the planning for and response to events affecting public safety and security.

The key areas of interest for this GeoConnections AO, within the public safety and security field are situational awareness and assisting with the management of consequences.

Situational Awareness: Applications in this area will provide situational awareness to enable the user community to predict, detect, prepare and respond to threats to public safety and security. Situational Awareness can be provided either from resources on the ground, (typically local residents/first responders/media), imagery sources, or sensor systems in the field. An example of a situational awareness application would be a flood event decision support system which incorporates new sensor information that is superimposed or compared to existing or archived information. This would permit change detection and flood predictions to facilitate decision making in response and recovery by providing access to near real-time flood information.

Assisting with the management of consequences: Applications in this area must focus on enabling inter-jurisdictional information flows, as public safety and security agencies need to exchange location-based information with neighbouring jurisdictions and other levels of government (local, provincial, federal, international) to deal effectively with emergencies. The applications must provide location-based information for decision support.  An example of an application assisting with the management of consequences is one that would facilitate the exchange of a common operational picture across the broad user community to facilitate co-ordination of mitigation and response activities.  The common operational picture would include a current representation of the incident and related events that are occurring, such as road closures, evacuation areas, ingress and egress routes, and other mitigation measures.

2.5.3 Environment and Sustainable Development

There is growing recognition that integrated approaches are necessary to effectively manage Canada's lands and waters in an environmentally sustainable manner. An integrated approach has many of the following characteristics:

• It is based on an geographic region such as an ecosystem, landscape, watershed, coastal zone, administrative area, planning region or zone, or proposed development site;
• It contains specific objectives for the state of a region at a future point of time often emerging from a visioning exercise;
• It may contain provisions for assessing cumulative effects of various land/water/marine use options with resultant benchmarks or thresholds providing a context within which environmental assessments of projects may take place;
• It may involve the use of environmental or sustainable development indicators based on data from monitoring the landscape or seascape. These indicators may provide a way to evaluate the state of land and water components against established benchmarks and may contribute to evaluating progress towards meeting future objectives.

GeoConnections aims to support decision-support applications that facilitate integrated approaches in any of these areas, from visioning/setting objectives, supporting cumulative effects modeling and management, undertaking environmental assessments of site specific projects and/or strategic/regional environmental assessments of a suite of related projects, land/resource planning, and the monitoring of indicators.

These applications must make use of the CGDI as an integrating/delivery system. Candidate applications typically involve the following:

• they require the combining of diverse economic, social, and/or environmental data sets obtained from diverse, authoritative sources
• they use CGDI-compliant on-line display and analysis of data to assess impacts and trade-offs;
• they involve,end-users of the application who require the information to improve decision-making and achieve environmental sustainability. Typically decision-making is supported by legislative, policy or regulatory, and planning requirements.

The CGDI is a mechanism that can support all stages of implementing integrated land/water approaches and applications.

This announcement is aimed at user communities who represent aspects of the environment and sustainable development priority area. Specifically, this announcement solicits interest to develop CGDI compliant applications that contribute to:

• Integrated approaches to land/water/marine management. This includes applications that support integrated community sustainability visioning/planning at the local or regional level. In particular GeoConnections is interested in applications that use integrated management approaches to addess the following thematic areas: climate change impacts and adaptation; ocean and coastal management; freshwater quality and quantity; air quality; land sustainability (quality, productivity, land use planning); and, valuation of ecosystem services. Integrated land/water modelling is an accepted activity provided it is supporting an established planning framework.
• Cumulative effects modelling/management
• Environmental assessments; including strategic and regional environmental assessments
• Monitoring through the use of environmental or sustainable development indicators.

Proponents should demonstrate that their CGDI compliant application will support one or more of these management activities and the legislative, policy, regulatory or planning requirements that underpin them. Proponents are encouraged to describe and justify the requirement for their application in the Anticipated Benefits section of the proposal template. When evaluated whether the application will successfully support decision-making, GeoConnections will consider:

• the geographic area to be addressed must be rich in data sources already, i.e. primary collection is not required for success
• there is strong regional/provincial interest in addressing pressures/conflicts in the geographical area to be addressed
• there is interest by key authorities in taking an ecosystem-based approach
• management indicators have been or will be identified
• there is an ongoing management program/process that can be leveraged
  

2.5.4 Matters of Importance to Aboriginal Peoples

Aboriginal Matters: Land and Resource Planning and Community Response Systems

Aboriginal communities in Canada are facing increasing pressures with respect to lands (including traditional lands and territories) and resources. These pressures and demands are a result of devolution under self-government initiatives, resource exploration activities, and the need to provide opportunities for their members while ensuring that lands will continue to be productive in the future. Balancing the needs of today with those of tomorrow requires communities to take advantage of modern technologies to assist in their planning and development. Due to the geographic location of many Aboriginal communities, and the constraint on human and financial resources, there is also a corresponding need to exchange, or share information across jurisdictions. Thus the key areas of interest to GeoConnections with respect to matters of importance to Aboriginal people in this Announcement of Opportunities Land and Resource Planning and Community Response Systems.

Land and Resource Planning for many Aboriginal communities includes the recognition and incorporation of traditional value systems into land management practices and systems. At the same time, there is an increasing need to co-operate with private industry either through a consultative process or as partners in co-ventures. With self-government agreements, comprehensive and specific land-claim agreements, and other federal initiatives such as the First Nations Land Management Act, being negotiated regularly between Aboriginal communities and Canada, land and resource management is becoming increasingly important. Sound practices for incorporating both traditional and western knowledge systems are vital in assisting decision making in Aboriginal communities.

Community Response Systems in Aboriginal communities such as those required for emergency response or for health surveillance often cross jurisdictional boundaries. For these systems to work effectively, they require accurate and timely information to be shared across jurisdictions. Effective and efficient Community Response Systems are a necessity as Aboriginal populations are increasing or otherwise changing which in turn impact on community resources. For Community Response Systems efforts to be effective, information must be assembled in a manner that is reliable, cohesive, and consistent. With infrastructure data for Aboriginal communities residing with various agencies, it is a serious challenge for communities to find appropriate means of integrating required data in order to make informed decisions.

3 Submission Process

Project development consists of the following principal stages:

3.1 Letter of intent preparation and submission

3.2 Letter of intent evaluation and response

3.3 Proposal preparation and submission

3.4 Proposal evaluation and project selection

3.5 Development of formal agreement for selected projects

3.1 Letter of Intent Preparation and Submission

GeoConnections requires that an authorized officer, on behalf of the project proponent, submit a letter of intent (LOI) using their organization letterhead. The letter of intent is required to establish a common vision and understanding early in the project discussions and to avoid unnecessary effort on behalf of both parties. Proponents must follow the Letter of Intent template that is attached as Appendix A to ensure they meet the requirements of this AO.

Letters of Intent should be submitted by e-mail to Julie Béland at the GeoConnections Value Management Office: jbeland@nrcan.gc.ca.

Letters of Intent must be received no later than midnight (24:00) Pacific Daylight Time, September 15 ^th , 2006.

3.2 Letter of Intent Evaluation and Response

The letter of intent will be reviewed by GeoConnections to determine if the proposed project has the potential to meet the requirements of this AO. LOI will be evaluated separately, according to priority area (as per section 5) and will follow the evaluation criteria as set out in Appendix B of this AO.

GeoConnections will respond by e-mail to each letter of intent. The response will indicate if a proposal is requested.

3.3 Proposal Preparation and Submission

Selected project proponents will be invited to submit a project proposal for consideration under this AO. Unsolicited proposals will not be entertained. The intent of the project proposal is to explain the project in sufficient detail to allow GeoConnections to evaluate the proposal comprehensively. An invitation to submit a proposal is not a guarantee of funding under this AO.

Project proponents are responsible for preparing and submitting the proposals. However, project proponents may consult GeoConnections staff for advice during this process.

Proposals may be submitted in either English or French.

Proposals must follow the proposal template that is attached as Appendix C of this AO.

The proposal should stand alone as it will be evaluated on its merits only. This may include additional information as annexes to the proposal.

Proposals must be received no later than midnight (24:00) Pacific Standard Time, November 21 ^st , 2006.

3.4 Proposal Evaluation and Project Selection

A team of evaluators will evaluate project proposals. Evaluations will be based on the criteria listed in Appendix D of this AO. GeoConnections will invite the proponents of at least the three highest ranking proposals (providing they score above the passing mark) within each priority area (public health, public safety/security, sustainable development and the environment, and matters of importance to Aboriginal peoples) to negotiate formal agreements.

3.5 Development of a Formal Agreement

GeoConnections will work with the selected project proponents to discuss formal agreements. These contribution agreements will describe the terms of the collaboration with GeoConnections and set out mutual expectations such as project duration, deliverables, tasks, milestone dates, human resources (organization, team member name, role/title, per diem & days effort/person), a communications plan, and financial details.

4 Roles and Responsibilities

GeoConnections promotes collaboration, particularly those that support project delivery through the private geomatics sector and, to a lesser extent, academia and non-government organizations. This section details roles and responsibilities of all potential collaborators on projects.

4.1 GeoConnections

GeoConnections supports projects by providing funding and expertise. GeoConnections is responsible for evaluating proposals, developing agreements, providing advice, monitoring progress, evaluating deliverables, and authorizing payments. GeoConnections, shall work in collaboration with the project proponent, to promote and communicate about the project and its results.

4.2 Project Proponent

The project proponent assembles the project proposal, leads and coordinates all project activities, and acts as a single point of contact with GeoConnections on project issues. The project proponent may be a government department or agency (local, provincial/territorial, or federal), Crown Corporation, academic institution, private sector organization, or a non-government organization. Project proponents must be end-users of geospatial data (or information derived from geospatial data), and they must have clear business or policy requirements for fulfilling these roles. The project proponent should have both a mandate and the resources to coordinate the project and to sustain the CGDI application beyond the project's completion. Project proponents are responsible for any contracting for this project. Project proponents will work collaboratively with GeoConnections to promote/communicate about the project and its results.

4.3 Collaborating Organizations

Collaborating organizations contribute specific resources to the project and should have some vested interest in the project. Collaborators may be government departments, Crown corporations, academic institutions, non-profit organizations, or private-sector companies. Every project should include at least one collaborating organization in addition to the project proponent. The collaborator's commitment must be specified in a Letter of Collaboration, and must be included with the proposal submission.

4.4 Contractor(s)

Every project should include at least one contractor from the private sector, academia, or non-government sector. The exact role of the contractor will be specific to each project. In general, a contractor will provide specific services or deliverables needed to complete the project successfully. A contractor cannot be a project proponent. Project proponents are responsible for all aspects of contracting and are therefore governed by any contracting rules and restrictions of their own organizations.

5 Responding to Users Needs

A user group is a group of people who share an interest in a topic (or an "issue domain"), who continually interact, and who accumulate and disseminate knowledge. GeoConnections defines a "user group" as a group of users who share common concerns or problems and who might have common requirements of the CGDI. For the purpose of this announcement of opportunity, users are equated with end-users - the people/organizations that will benefit directly from the project and use of the information it integrates in order to make informed decisions.

These end-users- or a subset of them-must commit to participate in the project, have an ongoing need for the proposed application, and possess the resources to use the application when the project finishes. The user group should define the requirements and should lead the project.

Project proponents should have a clear mandate to lead development of and maintain the proposed application and to serve the intended end-users. Ideally they will have a governance model / organizational structure that is stable and suitable for housing and maintaining the application.

User groups must be able to use the proposed application as intended once GeoConnections funding ends. Therefore, the project proponent or at least one of the collaborating organizations should commit to maintaining the application. Proponents should demonstrate a plan for sustaining the project results.

Furthermore, to ensure that the demand for the proposed application extends beyond the project, the following should be demonstrated:

• The organization sustaining the application has an existing, active governance structure and mandate to maintain the application;
• The organization has demonstrated its commitment by earmarking resources and/or personnel to sustaining the application;
• That where a third party undertakes the long-term implementation of a proposed application on behalf of an enabling body or end-user, a binding agreement ensuring the application's sustainability should be in place.

GeoConnections will favour projects that result in operational implementations as quickly as possible. If applications will not be operationally deployed to end-users by the end of the funding period, plans must be detailed in the proposal on how this will be achieved in the near term.

Project proposals should clearly describe the issue that the application addresses and demonstrate how the application responds to the needs of end-users. The best way to ensure that an application is user-driven is through the completion of a user needs assessment. Proponents must have a user needs assessment completed before the submission of a project proposal.

A user-needs assessment (UNA) is a process for discovering and assessing the needs of users and developing solutions for meeting identified needs. Needs assessments can produce information about individual's ideas, attitudes, their needs, wants and preferences. User-needs assessments submitted to GeoConnections must include input from users about their needs, wants and preferences regarding a particular application. Project proponents are responsible for costs incurred in gathering user requirements. Note that an opportunity will be coming up requesting business/strategic plans or user requirements gathering.

A user-needs assessment must be undertaken for the following reasons:

• To ensure that the project is successful and sustainable.
• To engage those that will use a program, service, application or system, to ensure that the new product will meet their actual needs.
• To discover who uses a product(s), application/system, service(s) or program.
• To explore the demand for a product(s), application/system, service(s) or program.
• To help define, explore and solve problems.
• To help decision makers and planners set priorities to determine requirements and offerings. To prove accountability in the allocation of public resources.

A GeoConnections' User Needs Assessment involves three interlinked processes:

1) Identification of the main users of an application. Examine their roles, responsibilities, qualifications, key tasks, context of use, knowledge, motivation, etc. In order to truly be user-driven, the idea for the application or system must come from the user; hence the idea for a land-use planning application should come from a land-use planner and not a data supplier, application developer or software vendor.

For example, users of a land-use planning application could include land-use planners, consultants, non-government organizations, or resource extraction industry. Each of these will have different requirements and questions. User profiling narrows the audience for a particular application to ensure it is relevant to a particular community.

2) Assessing the needs of the user group: This process typically uses both qualitative methods (e.g. focus groups, interviews) and quantitative methods (e.g. surveys, questionnaires) to determine what questions end-users need the application to answer and how they would like those answers delivered.

3) Applying a User-Centered Design (UCD) process to engage users throughout the application design, testing and implementation to ensure it is meeting the users' needs.

User-centered design examines the needs, wants, and limitations of users in designing an interface. User-centered design explores how an interface is used by testing the interface design (structure and functionality) with actual users. UCD seeks to answer/confirm the following:

• Confirm who are the users of an application, system or product
• Identify what are the users' tasks and goals
• What are the users' experience levels?
• What functions do the users need?
• What information might the users need, and in what form do they need it?
• How do users think this application, system or product should work?

(http://www.stcsig.org/usability/topics/articles/ucd%20_web_devel.html ).

Benefits of UCD include:

• Increased user satisfaction;
• Enhanced productivity;
• More effective and efficient use of time resulting in higher satisfaction and motivation;
• Reduced redesign time resulting in more efficient product development;
• Tasks accomplished more rapidly with fewer user errors (HR cost-savings);
• Reduced costs for developing training materials and providing training and support since it is more user intuitive, and
• Diminished stress because of ease of use.

UCD is the preferred choice of application development by GeoConnections.

Processes 1 and 2 of the user-needs assessment (process described above) must be submitted as an Appendix to the proposal in order to be considered for GeoConnections funding. GeoConnections expects project proponents to undertake user-centered design in developing the proposed application. This should be reflected in the implementation plan with specific tasks and activities.

6 Using the CGDI

Projects should take advantage of the CGDI's capabilities. This includes leveraging existing and emerging CGDI technology, data, and services. The CGDI is, by its nature, very technical. However numerous resources exist to support proponents in taking advantage of it. If you should have any questions about this section, you are encouraged to contact the GeoConnections program office.

Projects should build on investments in the CGDI that early contributors and developers have made. Proposals should demonstrate how a project will extend and/or be integrated within the CGDI.

6.1.1 CGDI-endorsed Standards and Specifications

Applications should use technology that is based on the endorsed and emerging standards and specifications of the CGDI. Some of these standards are identified in the table below:

Standard or Specification	Acronym	Function(s)
Web Map Service	WMS	Data visualization from distributed data stores in a variety of formats and projections
Web Feature Service	WFS	Data access, insertion, update, and extraction
Geographic Markup Language	GML	Data encoding allowing neutral data exchange
Styled Layer Descriptor	SLD	Data presentation
Filter Encoding	FE	Data query
Geodata Discovery Service	n/a	OGC Catalogue Service 2.0, Z39.50 Geo Profile
Geodata Resource Registry	n/a	Metadata registry (ISO 19115: 2003 geographic information – Metadata), FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata
Web Map Context Document	n/a	Provide default views for users and applications

Emerging standards such as Sensor Web, Web Coverage Service (WCS) and Web Processing Service (WPS) can also be used. Letters of intent should describe and proposals should demonstrate how a project will integrate and be interoperable within the CGDI using one or more of these endorsed standards and specifications.

Details on the latest specifications are available on the GeoConnections website at http://www.geoconnections.org/en/communities/developers/standards.

GeoConnections may require that applications be tested for interoperability and conformance with CGDI standards and specifications.

6.1.2 CGDI Services

Web services provide the basis for interactions across the Internet that allow users to contribute, access and exchange geospatial data. CGDI-endorsed standards provide the basis for deployment of services and applications. Applications use one or more Web services to view, publish, edit or discover geospatial data from Web servers. Web Services based on open standards provide the basis of a distributed architecture enabling independent systems to communicate and collaborate with one another.

Some examples of CGDI Services are as follows:

• Services to assist with discovering and accessing information;
• Web Map Service (WMS), to generate rendered maps from feature data stores using Web Feature Services;
• Web Feature Service (WFS), to support retrieval or editing of individual geospatial features and their properties over the Internet from any data stores;
• Web Coverage Service (WCS), to provide delivery of data coverages such as digital elevation data and other fixed or variable sized matrix data;
• Map Styling Service, and services to access Map Symbol Libraries, to support styling of geographic features in an encoding form parsable by a Web Map Service;
• Geodata Discovery Service, to provide a mechanism to search metadata for geodata and retrieve detailed information that describes a geodata resource;

The GeoConnections Discovery Portal enables people to find geospatial Web services and identifies those services that conform to CGDI-endorsed specifications.

The following link provides a listing of example CGDI Services:

http://geodiscover.cgdi.ca/gdp/search?action=executeSearch&entryType=service
&portal=gdp&language=en&serviceType=IsoCgdiWebServices

6.1.3 Alignment with the CGDI Architecture

The CGDI architecture is based upon a three-tier model of data, services, and applications. The data tier consists of distributed geospatial information, such as metadata, feature data, or map layers. The services tier consists of web services compliant with CGDI-endorsed standards, which enable access to data or data processing. The third tier consists of the CGDI applications that address a specific problem or issue.

In the three-tiered CGDI architecture, applications are enabled by services that provide access to the required data and processing, as illustrated below:

Description Example 1 Example 2 An application for a given user group … An emergency response application that identifies forest fire locations and helps plan resource allocations dispatched to address it… A watershed management application that provides an interjurisdictional planning context… …uses existing, distributed CGDI-compliant services (e.g., WMS, WFS)… …uses a metadata service and web map services from multiple organizations… …uses a gazetteer service from one organization, a web feature services, and a web map services from conservation authorities, municipal, regional, provincial/ territorial and federal authorities and NGOs … …to access and/or process metadata and data. …to find and access current water sources, airfields, other access routes, topography and local communities who might be affected.. … to access current point sources for contaminants, water quality testing results, key drinking water supplies and recreational areas, topography, aerial photos and other relevant datasets.

For detailed information on the architecture of the CGDI, refer to the documents available at: http://www.geoconnections.org/en/communities/developers/fa=architecture.welcome.

A technical manual and on-line training on the CGDI is available at: http://www.geoconnections.org/publications/training_manual/e/index.htm and a developers' guide at: http://www.geoconnections.org/publications/Technical_Manual/html_e/cgdiindex.html.

6.1.4 CGDI Development Network

Project teams should participate in and make use of the CGDI Development Network for technical communications of issues/challenges and to seek advice and support when required. Project teams are also encouraged to contribute concepts and information to the CGDI Development Network for use by other members of the Network, to demonstrate the project results in workshops and seminars, and to promote the use of the CGDI within their communities of practice. Information about the CGDI Development Network is available at http://www.geoconnections.org/en/communities/developers/index.html.

7 Risk Assessment

Proponents should use a risk assessment to show that the project is feasible and has a legitimate chance of success. This assessment can also include references to published research, contract reports, previous experience, and other supporting material.

A thorough risk assessment will identify all potential risks and problem areas and demonstrate mitigation strategies for each. Potential risk areas can include but are not limited to technology, resources, access to data, commitments, project dependencies, and policies. Proposals should describe the potential impact of each risk.

8 Financial Information

8.1 Funding

GeoConnections will fund only cost-shared projects. In cost-shared projects, the proponent and its partners agree to either contribute cash towards the work or absorb part of the project cost by contributing in-kind. The proponent's financial contribution (cash and in-kind) to the project must be at least 50% of the total project costs (cash and in-kind).

The maximum funding requested from GeoConnections per project must not exceed $150,000 and must not exceed 50 percent of the total project cost.

A proposed project can depend on another funding program, pending written confirmation from that program that funding has been approved.

8.2 Eligible Project Costs

8.2.1 Labour

For the purposes of this announcement, labour costs represent the actual salaries paid to personnel. Staff already employed by an organization is considered an in-kind contribution. New personnel hired for the project are considered a cash contribution. Labour also includes employee benefits up to a maximum of 20 percent.

Each participating organization is required to explain how it calculates per diem rates. A typical way to calculate labour is to use the labour-rate formula: reasonable annual salary, plus reasonable overhead and benefits, divided by a reasonable number of billable days in a year. Labour rates for the proponent organization must be exclusive of profit. In the case of government personnel, official labour rates approved by the government organization or classification level should be used.

8.2.2 Software

Costs for software essential to the project will be considered amortized over the life of the software and the project duration.

8.2.3 Data Publishing

Costs associated with publishing data to CGDI services will be considered. These costs may include those to implement data servers, to prepare data for publishing, or both. These costs cannot include charges to collect data or value for data.

8.2.4 Training

Training, as part of technology transfer activities, may form part of the total estimated project cost. It should not, however, exceed 15 percent of the total project cost. Training costs must be fully explained and justified in the project proposal.

8.2.5 Travel and Living Expenses

Travel and living expenses will be considered with justification. Proposals should detail the basis and cost of all required travel.

Travel costs must be in accordance with the current Treasury Board Travel Directive, or, if applicable, in accordance with the project proponent's own travel guidelines (but not exceeding the Treasury Board Directive). The Treasury Board Travel Directive is available at http://publiservice.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/hrpubs/TBM_113/td-dv_e.asp.

8.2.6 Subcontracts for services

For any subcontractors, cost-breakdown information should be detailed in the proposal. GeoConnections may request a copy of contracts with subcontractors or consultants.

8.3 Ineligible Project Costs

8.3.1 Profit

Profit, including profit on labour, is an ineligible expense and cannot be included when determining the total estimated project cost.

8.3.2 Taxes

Goods and Services Tax (GST), Provincial Sales Tax (PST) and Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) are ineligible for GeoConnections funding or as an in-kind contribution.

8.3.3 Pre-project

No payment shall be made for costs incurred to prepare or submit a project proposal or project agreement in response to this AO. No costs before receipt of a signed agreement or specified written authorization from GeoConnections can be charged to any resulting agreement.

8.3.4 Data

Costs related to the purchase, acquisition, or to the value of data being contributed by the proponent, are not eligible. Costs associated with any activities related to the collection of data are ineligible.

8.3.5 Background Intellectual Property

Background intellectual property consists of intellectual property developed prior to the proposed project. Costs related to background intellectual property are ineligible.

8.3.6 Hardware

GeoConnections funds cannot be used to purchase hardware such as computers, GPS, etc.

8.3.7 Intangibles

Costs in the form of knowledge, goodwill, or other such intangibles are ineligible.

8.3.8 Other

Purchase of land or payment of property taxes and capital costs are ineligible.

8.4 Total Allowable Federal Assistance

The proponent shall provide a list of all federal departments participating in the proposed project and shall ensure that the total federal government assistance, including the amount requested from GeoConnections, does not exceed 75 percent of the total cost of the project. Funding from another GeoConnections-funded project cannot form part of the total project costs or leveraged funds.

8.5 Quebec Projects

An organization in Quebec whose operations are partially or fully funded by the province of Quebec may be subject to the Act Respecting the Conseil exécutif (L.R.Q., chapter M-30).

Under sections 3.11 and 3.12 of An Act respecting the Ministère du Conseil exécutif (hereinafter referred to as Act) certain entities, as defined in the meaning of the Act, such municipal bodies, school bodies or public agencies, must obtain an authorization, indicated by the Act, before signing any agreement with the Government of Canada, its departments or agencies, or a federal public agency.

Consequently, any entity that is subject to the Act is responsible for obtaining such authorization before signing any agreement with the Government of Canada. The form in Appendix E must be completed and included with project proposals from Quebec. If you answer "yes" to one of the three questions, you must, on behalf of your organization, take the necessary measures to obtain the proper authorization from the Government of Quebec before obtaining funding from the Government of Canada. You should contact the representative from the agency or institution in Quebec that provides you with funding, after-which GeoConnections will send an unsigned copy of the contribution agreement.

If you answer "no" to all three questions on the form, your organization is not subject to the provisions of Chapter M-30 and the proposal evaluation process can move forward.

8.6 Private-sector Involvement

GeoConnections is committed to spending 50 percent of its total budget within the private sector. Government proponents who receive GeoConnections project funding are required to contract work to the private sector wherever possible, rather than hire new internal staff to work on project activities. Project financial reports must detail this flow-through to the private sector.

9 Reporting and Monitoring

9.1 Project Authorities

A GeoConnections project authority will be assigned to monitor each project. This project authority will be responsible for approving milestone payments. Milestone reports and corresponding deliverables will be submitted to the project authority for evaluation.

9.2 Meetings

9.2.1 Orientation Meeting

Project proponents should arrange an initial orientation meeting involving all key project participants and the GeoConnections project authority.

9.2.2 Interim Progress-review Meetings

Interim progress-review meetings should be scheduled to demonstrate project progress and to discuss any relevant project issues. These meetings may or may not be tied to milestones.

9.3 Milestone Reports

At the conclusion of each milestone, the project manager shall provide a brief report to the GeoConnections project authority. These reports will be required before any payments are made and shall contain at minimum, but not be limited to:

• a title page
• a summary of the work accomplished in comparison to the work plan, including URLs of prototype and operational results
• an explanation of any problems encountered and their solution
• any changes to the work plan for the next milestone
• financial report, if requesting payment
  

9.4 Payment Schedule

Payment schedules will be specific to each project and will be outlined in the resulting agreement. In general, payment schedules will be based on milestones and their associated deliverables. Invoices are to be submitted after deliverables are received.

9.5 Final Report

At the end of the project, the project team must provide a final report. The final report is required before the final payment can be made. This report should do the following:

• Describe the project outcomes compared with planned objectives;
• Assess the project's success in meeting end-users needs;
• Discuss challenges (technical and policy) encountered;
• Discuss CGDI content, standards, and technology that were utilized;
• Discuss any gaps that were identified in the CGDI;
• Provide recommendations for CGDI development and direction;
• Outline plans for follow-on activities and projects; and
• Describe communications activities, including public and internal (strategic) communications undertaken to date and planned.

9.6 Registration of Results

Any new CGDI services and/or data products resulting from this project must be registered, using metadata standards, with the GeoConnections Discovery Portal which can be found at http://geodiscover.cgdi.ca/gdp/.

9.7 Public and Stakeholder Communications

All projects that receive funding from GeoConnections will promote project results and publicly acknowledge the GeoConnections contribution by displaying the GeoConnections logo and link on media, public, and stakeholder news releases; presentations; websites; brochures; and other publications or documentation that describes the project and its outcomes.

Where only text is allowed, the acknowledgement will include the following wording: "?with financial support from GeoConnections, a national partnership initiative led by Natural Resources Canada. GeoConnections and its partners are working to enhance the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure, an on-line resource that enables decision-makers to access, combine, and share geographic information over the Internet and gain new insights into social, environmental, and economic issues."

Where logos of supporting agencies are included in a product, the GeoConnections logo and the Canada wordmark shall be used.

Where both text and logos are used, both the text and logo forms of acknowledgement must be used.

GeoConnections would appreciate the opportunity to review communications material and will offer a link to project news releases and articles from its website, and may otherwise promote the projects successes in consultation with the project proponent and collaborators.

10 Rights of GeoConnections

GeoConnections reserves the right to:

• reject any or all letters of intent or proposals received in response to this AO;
• seek clarification and verify any or all information provided;
• enter into discussions with project proponents on any or all aspects of a proposal;
• accept any proposal in whole or in part;
• clarify/confirm intellectual property rights;
• promote and communicate the project and its results;
• cancel and/or re-issue this AO at any time; and
• administer, approve, and allocate funding based on the sole discretion of the GeoConnections program

The contents and requirements of this document are subject to change. Before proceeding with a proposal submission, be sure to obtain the latest version of this document from the GeoConnections website: www.geoconnections.org.

11 Contact

All enquiries and other communications related to this AO should be directed in writing, preferably by e-mail, to:

Julie Béland
Project Coordination Officer
Value Management Office
GeoConnections Government of Canada
Room 626, 615 Booth Street
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0E9
Canada
Telephone: (613) 947-5009
Facsimile: (613) 947-2410
Email: jbeland@nrcan.gc.ca

APPENDIX A: Letter of Intent Template

Note

This template is meant to assist proponents in writing a Letter of Intent (LOI) and will help GeoConnections in evaluating it. The LOI is required to establish a common vision and understanding early in the project discussions and to avoid unnecessary effort on behalf of both parties. It should be no more than four pages long. The LOI must follow this template and should be submitted on the lead organizations' letterhead and signed by an authorized officer. LOI that do not follow this template will not be evaluated.

Text in italics denotes instructions and should be replaced with your text while regular text identifies section headings and required text.

The letter of intent will be reviewed by GeoConnections, by priority area, and will follow the evaluation criteria as set out in Appendix B of this AO. GeoConnections will respond by email to each letter of intent. The response will indicate if a proposal is requested and may include advice on issues to address in the proposal.

Projects should be no longer than 15 months in duration and must finish no later than March 15 ^th , 2008. The maximum amount of funding from GeoConnections is $150,000 and must not exceed 50 percent of the project cost.

If you wish to be considered for GeoConnections funding under this opportunity, you must ensure that your LOI is received by GeoConnections no later than midnight (24:00) Pacific Daylight Time, September 15, 2006.

Title of Proposed Project:
Lead Organization:
Project Manager's Name:
Proponent Contact Information:	Full mailing address:
	Telephone number:
	Fax number:
	Email address:
Project Start Date:
Project End Date:
Project Duration:	in months

 

Project Description:

Briefly describe the project and the intended results. Define the geographic region that the application will serve (name of community, township, province(s), etc.) Identify the priority area (from below) and explain how the project results will address specific issues within the priority area. Public Health: Facilitating disease surveillance or population health analysis Public Safety: Facilitating situational awareness and assisting with the management of consequences Environment/Sustainable Development: : Facilitating Integrated Land/Water/Marine Management including Land-Use/Resource Planning, Environmental Assessment and Indicator Monitoring Aboriginal Issues: Facilitating land and resource planning or community response systems

 

Identification of Users & Their Needs:

Identify the main users of your application and how they will use it to make decisions. Give an outline of the users' requirements and how this proposed application addresses their needs.

 

Anticipated Benefits:

Explain the importance of the application as a means to share information and make better decisions. Include anticipated benefits for the project proponents organization, the collaborating organizations and beyond.

 

Organization Description:

Describe your organization: your mandate, organizational structure and functions, factors that influence your business, and current products and services and how they relate to the project. Explain how and why you need to share information within and outside of your organization.

 

Using the CGDI:

Projects must be based on the use of the CGDI. Explain what CGDI-endorsed standards, specifications, services and technologies will be leveraged and how they will enable the application. See the GeoConnections website under Developers' Corner for more information on CGDI-endorsed standards: (http://www.geoconnections.org/en/communities/developers/standards )

Project Cost	Total project cost, in Canadian dollars
GeoConnections Funding	Total amount of requested GeoConnections funding, in dollars Total amount of requested GeoConnections funding, as a percentage of the total project cost
Anticipated Project Collaborators	Possible Financial Contribution (Cdn $)
	Cash Contribution	In-Kind Contribution
Organization A
Organization B
Organization C

APPENDIX B: Letter of Intent Evaluation Criteria

	Required Criteria Proponents must pass all 6 of the following criteria in order for their letter of intent to be evaluated.	Pass or Fail
A	Is the lead organization Canadian, and does it have the business mandate to lead the project and support/sustain the geospatial application?   Yes = pass No = fail
B	Does the project result in the development of a geospatial application?   Yes = pass No = fail
C	Does the project support decision making in one of the identified priority areas: Aboriginal Matters: Land and Resource Planning and Community Response Systems Environment/Sustainable Development: Integrated Land, Water, or Marine Management, Environmental Assessments, and Indicator Monitoring. Public Health: Disease Surveillance, Population Health analysis. Public Safety: Situational Awareness and assisting with the Management of Consequences. Yes = pass No = fail
D	Is the proponent an end-user? Yes = pass No = fail
E	Are the users identified? Yes = pass No = fail
F	Are the proponent and collaborators contributing at least 50% towards the total project cost? Yes = pass No = fail

	Scored Criteria At least 6 of the top scoring organizations from each priority area will be invited to submit a proposal.	Score/19
G	Are the Users’ Needs or requirements identified? 0 = the users’ needs or requirements are not identified 1 = the users’ needs or requirements are poorly identified 2 = The users’ needs or requirements are well identified
H	Decision Making The proposed project: 0 = will result in an application that will not enhance decision making. 1 = will result in an application that will somewhat enhance decision making 2 = will result in an application that will enhance decision making 3 = will result in an application that will enhance decision making beyond its priority area
I	Using the CGDI The project proponent: 0 = will enable an application that does not utilize any CGDI services. 1 = will enable an application that utilizes only one CGDI service. 2 = will enable an application that utilizes two CGDI services. 3 = will enable an application that utilizes three or more CGDI services and uses only data sources that are accessible via the CGDI.
J	Standards and Specifications The proposed project: 0 = does not involve the use of CGDI-endorsed or emerging standards and specifications. 1 = mentions CGDI-endorsed or emerging standards but does not indicate how they are to be applied or only part of the application is based on CGDI-endorsed standards and specifications. 2 = is based on the use of CGDI-endorsed or emerging standards and specifications and describes how they are to be applied in the application. 3 = based entirely on the use of CGDI-endorsed or emerging standards and specifications and clearly demonstrates how they are to be applied.
K	Benefits The proposed project: 0 = will result in an application that has little or no benefits to the project proponents working unit 1 = will result in an application that has benefits for the project proponents organization only 2 = will result in an application that has benefits for the project proponents organization and the collaborating organizations 3 = will result in an application that has benefits beyond the project proponents organization and the collaborating organizations

 

L	Information Sharing The proponent: 0 = has no need to share data or information products 1 = has a need to share data or information products only within the project proponents organization 2 = has a need to share data or information products outside the project proponents organization 3 = has a need and is mandated to share data or information products outside the project proponents organization
M	Collaborating Organizations The proposed project: 0 = does not involve the collaboration of other organizations. 1 = involves the collaboration of one or two organizations. 2 = involves the collaboration of more than two organizations.
	Total If less than 11/19 (58%)=fail	/19

APPENDIX C: Proposal Template

Important Notes

Refer to the Announcement of Opportunity associated with this proposal at the GeoConnections website: http://www.geoconnections.org (see section 8 of this AO for financial information including eligible and ineligible project costs).

Development of the proposal should only start after GeoConnections has accepted the Letter of Intent and requested a proposal. Proposals may be submitted in either English or French. GeoConnections is available to assist proponents in the development of their proposals.

If you wish to be considered for GeoConnections funding under this opportunity, you must ensure that your proposal is received by GeoConnections no later than midnight (24:00) November 21 ^st , Pacific Standard Time, 2006.

The proposal should stand alone, as it will be evaluated on its own merits, based on criteria described in Appendix D of this Announcement of Opportunity. Project proponents should provide all the necessary information to allow for a full and fair evaluation of their proposed work.

Proposals must follow this template. Proposals that do not follow this template will not be evaluated.

Text in italics denotes instructions and should be replaced with your text while regular text identifies section headings and required text.

8. Budget Summary

This budget summary table identifies the project costs and the contributions per collaborating organization. The table conveys eligible expenses incurred by each organization and classification of each expense as a cash or in-kind contribution. A description of each 'Project Expense' item should be provided in the 'Project Expense and Description' cell. Additional columns can be added for more organizations.

The maximum amount of funding from GeoConnections is $150,000 and must not exceed 50 percent of the project cost.

Notes:

• Total federal government assistance cannot exceed 75% of the total cost of the project. However, for Aboriginal organizations INAC funding for core services should not be counted as Federal.
• An organization in Quebec whose operations are partially or fully funded by the province of Quebec may be subject to the Act Respecting the Conseil exécutif (L.R.Q., chapter M-30). Certain entities, such municipal bodies, school bodies or public agencies, must obtain an authorization, before signing any agreement with the Government of Canada. See Appendix E of this Announcement for the form related to Bill M-30.
• Ineligible Project Costs Include:
• Costs related to the collection, purchase, acquisition, or value of existing data.
  Data collection activities cannot be claimed as in-kind even if the data is deemed critical to the success of the project and the data collection takes place within the project time frame.
• Proponent Profit
• Pre-project costs
• Background Intellectual Property
• Hardware. Computers, GPS and surveying equipment cannot be amortized over the life of the project.

Budget Summary
Project Expense and Description	Organization A		Organization B		GeoConnections	Total Project Costs Taxes (GST, PST and HST) not eligible
	In-kind	Cash	In-kind	Cash	Cash
Labour (including benefits — max 20%) 'In-kind' is for people already employed by an organization 'Cash' is for new contracts; people hired for this specific project
Software List all the software to be used and its purchase price/licensing amortized over the life of the software and the project duration. For example GIS software cost = $5,000. Life of 5 years. Duration of project 1 year = $1,000 allowed. 'Use only if you are buying the software for this project=cash. Cannot be used for existing software.
Training Explain who is taking the training, why the training is required, who is providing the training, and the number of days/hours of training Place it under 'Cash' if you are paying for the training from an organization not financially contributing towards the project Note: Training should not exceed 15% of the total project cost.
Materials, Supplies, Components In-kind costs cannot be on-going operational costs; for example if your organization pays rent (or electricity or gas) for its office as part of on-going operations, it cannot be claimed as an in-kind contribution since the cost would be incurred regardless of this project. Administrative costs (postage, courier, photocopying), costs for telecommunications (fax, telephone), meeting rooms, etc. can be claimed. Overhead costs should be explained as they may be operational costs.
Travel and Living Travel expenses should be detailed. Invoices for transportation and accommodation will need to be provided for repayment. Meals and incidentals will be reimbursed as per Treasury Board Travel Directive at http://publiservice.tbs- sct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/hrpubs /TBM_113/td-dv_e.asp. A kilometric rate which includes gas and vehicle usage is used for private transportation.
Subcontracts Identify the subcontractor. Tasks and days effort should be identified in the work breakdown.
Other
TOTAL COSTS
Percentage	%		%		%	100%

APPENDIX D: Proposal Evaluation Criteria

Proposal Evaluation

Proposals will be evaluated according to the evaluation criteria below. Each section from the proposal template will be evaluated: Numbers in brackets refer to the section in the proposal template.

The evaluation will be based on the selection of the most appropriate statement, from a list of statements ranked 'A' through 'D', which best describes how the proposal addresses that particular criterion. These statements are described, for each of the criteria, below under 'Evaluation Criteria'.

Note: The proposal evaluation committee will assess proposals using only the information provided in the proposal. No information from other sources will be considered during the evaluation.

'A' statements correspond to the minimum acceptable or minimum assessable conditions for a given evaluation criterion, whereas 'D' statements correspond to the most desirable condition for that particular evaluation criterion, and thus the maximum possible assessment.

When the proposal does not meet all the conditions and elements to satisfy a particular evaluation statement, evaluators are instructed to select the next lowest statement and its associated letter score. For example, if the proposal does not satisfactorily address all the conditions and elements in statement 'C' for a particular evaluation criterion, then statement 'B' is selected. When a particular criterion cannot be assessed, due to confusing or missing information, an 'N' score is assigned.Letter scores are associated with percentage values according to the table below:

Letter Score	Value
N	-
A	3%
B	33%
C	67%
D	100%

Individual scores for each of the evaluation criteria are summed and an average is calculated. The maximum possible score for a proposal is 100% and the minimum possible score is 0%.

Proposals that do not achieve an average score of at least 50% will not be considered for funding. In addition, certain evaluation criteria require a minimum of a 'B' to pass. Hence, proposals that do not receive at least a 'B' score in User Needs, Decision Making, Sustainability and Commitment, Using the CGDI, Standards and Specifications, Risk Assessment, and Collaborations will not be considered for funding.

Evaluation Criteria

1 Priority Area (section 1)

The proposed project addresses a priority issue within one of the four priority areas.

Yes= pass; the proposal will be evaluated.

No=fail; the proposal will not be evaluated.

2 User Needs Assessment (section 1.1)

Minimum B to pass

Requirements of a needs assessment are outlined in section 5 of this AO.

The proposal:

A. is not based on a real user needs assessment. Does not show proof of consultation with users (interview or moderator guide, questionnaire or survey) nor does it provide a report explaining results.

B. provides an incomplete user needs assessment. Is missing one or more of the following components: target audience, business requirements, user requirements

C. provides a complete user needs assessment but includes only a brief description of the target audience, business requirements and user requirements

D. provides a thorough user needs assessment. Includes a detailed description of the target audience, business requirements and user requirements and links to the proposed application

 

3 Decision Making (section 1.2)

Minimum B to pass

The proposed project:

A. will result in an application that will not enhance decision making*

B. will result in an application that will somewhat enhance decision making within the proponent organization

C. will result in an application that will enhance decision making for the proponent organization and collaborators

D. will result in an application that will enhance decision making beyond the proponent organization and collaborators

 

* Enhance decision making means the proposed application will improve organizational business practices and/or the decision making process

4 Benefits (section 1.2)

The proposed project:

A. will result in an application that has little or no benefits to the project proponents working unit

B. will result in an application that has benefits for the project proponents' organization only

C. will result in an application that has benefits for the project proponents' organization and the collaborating organizations

D. will result in an application that has benefits beyond the project proponents' organization and the collaborating organizations

5 Sustainability and Commitment (section 1.3 & 2)

Minimum B to pass

The project proponent:

A. has no real plan or mandate for the maintenance and operation of the application beyond the end of GeoConnections' funding.

B. has the mandate and a plan for the maintenance and operation of the application; identifies plans for maintenance and development for years 1-5 but does not identify the resources (money and human resources) responsible for maintaining the application

C. has the mandate and a plan for the maintenance and operation of the application; identifies plans for maintenance and development for years 1-5 and identifies resources (money and human resources) responsible for maintaining the application

D. has a strong mandate and detailed plan for the maintenance and operation of the application; identifies plans for maintenance and long-term development (years 1-5) and identifies resources (money and human resources) responsible for maintaining the application beyond 5 years

 

6 Communications Plan (section 1.4)

The project proponent

A. does not share and disseminate project results

B. shares and disseminates project results within its user group

C. shares and disseminates project results with the general public and with the user group

D. shares and disseminates project results and identifies approaches that will be used to involve the entire user community and ensure an iterative process from which users can receive and give feedback

7 Using the CGDI (section 3)

Minimum B to pass

The proposed project:

A. will enable an application that does not use any CGDI services

B. will enable an application that uses only one CGDI service

C. will enable an application that uses two CGDI services

D. will enable an application that uses three or more CGDI services and uses only data sources that are accessible via web services

8 Standards and Specifications (section 3)

The proposed project:

A. does not involve the use of CGDI-endorsed or emerging standards and specifications.

B. mentions CGDI-endorsed or emerging standards but does not indicate how they are to be applied or only part of the application is based on CGDI-endorsed standards and specifications.

C. is partially based on the use of CGDI-endorsed or emerging standards and specifications

D. is entirely based on the use of CGDI-endorsed or emerging standards and specifications and clearly demonstrates how they are to be applied

 

9 Information Sharing (sections 1.2, 2 & 3)

The proponent:

A. has no need to share data or information products.

B. has a need to share data or information products only within the project proponents' organization

C. has a need to share data or information products outside the project proponents' organization

D. has a need and is mandated to share data or information products outside the project proponents' organization

10 Risk Assessment (section 4)

Minimum B to pass

The project proposal:

A. has limited or no risk identification, and an unrealistic or no mitigation strategy

B. has few risks identified and a limited mitigation strategy

C. has comprehensively identified risks but has a limited mitigation strategy

D. has comprehensive risk identification and outlines reasonable mitigation strategies

 

11 Project Team (section 5)

The proposed project team:

A. is incomplete

B. does not have clearly defined roles and responsibilities to deliver project results

C. has clearly defined roles but do not link to the responsibilities needed to deliver project results

D. has clearly defined roles that match the skills and responsibilities required to deliver project results

 

12 Collaborating Organizations (sections 6 & 7)

Collaborators may be government departments, Crown corporations, academic institutions, non-profit organizations, or private-sector companies that have a vested interest in the project and contribute to it with cash or in-kind (from AO section 4.3).

Minimum B to pass

The proposed project:

A. does not include the collaboration of another organization (does not include supporting documentation)

B. includes the collaboration of one or two organizations, contributing under 10%, of total project cost, towards the project (includes supporting documentation)

C. includes the collaboration of more than two organizations, contributing 15%, of total project cost, towards the project (includes supporting documentation)

D. includes the collaboration of more than two organizations, contributing over 20%, of total project cost, towards the project (includes supporting documentation)

 

13 Project Feasibility & Project Implementation Plan (sections 1, 4 & 7)

The proposed project:

A. has an incomplete project plan

B. has a feasible project plan but with major flaws relating to schedule, level of effort and deliverables

C. has a complete and feasible project plan with only minor problems related to schedule, level of effort and deliverables

D. has a complete and feasible project plan and has reasonably outlined schedule, level of effort and project deliverables

14 Cash Leverage (section 7 & 8)

Review the financial information provided in the proposal. Taking into account both the requested GeoConnections contribution (as a percentage of the total project cost) and the cash contribution (as a percentage of the total project cost) to be made by the project proponent and collaborators, select the value type (I, II, III, or IV) in the following table that best represents the combination of the GeoConnections share and the cash leveraged for the project.

		GeoConnections Contribution (% of total project cost)
		50 - 45	45 - 35	35 - 20	< 20
Proponent and Collaborators Total Cash Contribution (% of total project cost)	0 - 10	I	II	II	II
	10 - 25	II	II	III	III
	25 - 35	II	III	III	IV
	> 35	III	III	IV	IV

Select the statement below that best reflects your evaluation of the proposed project.

The proposed project shows:

A. leverage of type 'I'

B. leverage of type 'II'

C. leverage of type 'III'

D. leverage of type 'IV'

Appendix E

Form M-30 to be completed with respect to projects
originating from the province of Quebec

 

 

Form M-30 to be completed with respect to, An Act respecting the Ministère du Conseil exécutif, R.S.Q., c. M-30.

See section 8.5 of the AO for information regarding this form. Bill M-30 pertains to any project proponents residing in Quebec. This form must be completed by the person representing the organization. It must be used for funding applications pertaining to the Government of Canada's programs and initiatives. Please review the relevant provisions of the Act, complete and sign this form, and return it to us.

Project Title:
Name of Entity (Organization):
Program:

1) Under section 3.11, is the applicant (proposed payee) a municipal body or school body (defined below) within the meaning of 3.6.2 of the Act?

Yes ___ No ___

2) Under section 3.12, is the applicant (proposed payee) a public agency within the meaning of section 3.6.2 of the Act?

Yes ___ No ___

3) If an agreement is signed between applicant and the Government of Canada, will the agreement affect a government agency, municipal body, school body or public agency within the meaning of the Act?

Yes ___ No ___

If you answered “No” to all three questions, please sign this form and attach it to your application along with any appropriate supporting documents.

If you answered “Yes” to any question, you must do the following:

• Contact (as soon as possible) the program officer in charge of your project for advice on how to proceed.
• Obtain the authorization from the Quebec government or the Minister of Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs (as the case may be) before signing the contribution agreement.
• Provide a copy of this authorization.

I, Name and Title of representative, certify that I have read and understood all the information above, and that the information I have supplied is accurate. Signature of representative: _____________________________________________ Date: _____________________________________________

 

Excerpts from An Act respecting the Ministère du Conseil exécutif R.S.Q., c. M-30

3.6.2. In this subdivision,

"government agency" means a legal person or agency that, under its constituting Act, is empowered to make inquiries, issue permits or licences or make regulations for purposes other than its internal management and, if it is a legal person, has one of the following characteristics:

(1) it is the mandatory or agent of the State or of another government in Canada;
(2) it enjoys the rights and privileges of a mandatory or agent referred to in paragraph 1;

"municipal body" means

(1) a municipality;
(2) a metropolitan community;
(3) a legal person or body that has one of the following characteristics:
       (a) a majority of its members are appointed by one or more municipal bodies;
       (b) more than half of its financing is provided by one or more municipal bodies;
(4) a group of municipal bodies;

"school body" means

(1) a school board;
(2) the Conseil scolaire de l’île de Montréal;
(3) a legal person or body that has one of the following characteristics:
       (a) a majority of its members are appointed by one or more school bodies;
       (b) more than half of its financing is provided by one or more school bodies;
(4) a group of school bodies.

“public agency” means

(1)a legal person or agency that, although not a government agency, a municipal body or a school body, has one of the following characteristics:
       (a) a majority of its members come from the Québec public sector, that is, are appointed by the Government, a minister, a government agency, a municipal body, a school body or another public agency;
       (b) its personnel is appointed in accordance with the Public Service Act (chapter F 3.1.1);
       (c) more than half of its financing is derived from Québec public funds, that is from the consolidated revenue fund, a government agency, a municipal body, a school body or another public agency;

(2) a group of public agencies;

3.11. Except to the extent expressly provided for by law, no municipal body or school body may, without the prior authorization of the Government, enter into any agreement with another government in Canada or one of its departments or government agencies, or with a federal public agency.

The Government may attach such conditions as it determines to the authorization.

Any contravention of the provisions of the first paragraph or any failure to comply with the conditions referred to in the second paragraph entails the nullity of the agreement.

The Minister, concurrently with the minister responsible for or the minister who subsidizes the municipal or school body, shall see to the negotiation of the agreement.

3.12. No public agency may, without the prior authorization of the Minister, enter into any agreement with another government in Canada or one of its departments or government agencies, or with a federal public agency.

The minister responsible for or the minister who subsidizes the public agency shall give an advisory opinion on the draft agreement to the Minister before the decision on the application for authorization is made.

The Minister may attach such conditions as he or she determines to the authorization. The Minister may, in particular, fix as a condition that the financing obtained under the agreement referred to in the first paragraph will not be subsequently taken into consideration to determine whether or not the agency is subject to this section.

Any contravention of the provisions of the first paragraph or any failure to comply with the conditions referred to in the third paragraph entails the nullity of the agreement.

The Minister, concurrently with the minister responsible for or the minister who subsidizes the public agency, shall see to the negotiation of the agreement.

3.12.1. No government agency, municipal body or school body may, without the prior authorization of the Government, permit or tolerate being affected by any agreement entered into between a third person and another government in Canada or one of its departments or government agencies, or a federal public agency.

The Government may attach such conditions as it determines to the authorization.

The first paragraph also applies to a public agency which, in that case, must obtain prior authorization in writing from the Minister, who may attach such conditions as he or she determines to the authorization. The minister responsible for or the minister who subsidizes the public agency shall give an advisory opinion to the Minister before the decision on the application for authorization is made.

For the purposes of the first paragraph, an agency or body is permitting or tolerating being affected by an agreement when, for instance, it enters into an agreement that is related to an agreement referred to in that paragraph.

Any contravention of the first or third paragraph or any failure to comply with the conditions referred to in the second or third paragraph entails, for the agency or body, the nullity of any stipulation or agreement having any effect whatever in its respect.

3.13. The Government, to such extent and subject to such conditions as it determines, may exempt the whole or a part of an agreement or class of agreements which it designates from the application of this division.

Government of Canada