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GeoConnections
Announcement of Opportunity
for
Canadian Organizations
2007 Announcement of Opportunity for CGDI User Communities
UC/IC-Announcement code: IAO2007xxxxx1
Announcement Summary
WHAT IS THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT OF OPPORTUNITY?
The objective of this announcement of opportunity (AO) is to solicit letters of intent for projects that will ultimately account for, build and draw upon distributed sources of geospatial information over the Internet. Projects will 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 People. Projects should assess and make use of the policies, standards, technologies, services and datasets that comprise the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI) and facilitate information sharing in support of decision making. Furthermore, projects funded through this announcement of opportunity will build capacity within user groups, and also promote, expand, and increase the use of the CGDI.
WHO CAN APPLY?
Proposals will be accepted from end-users1 or enablers2 . Suppliers3 and developers4 are encouraged to collaborate with end-users and enablers to complete projects. Suppliers of authoritative data may also be eligible for applying, depending upon the type of project.
WHAT CAN BE APPLIED FOR?
GeoConnections is soliciting letters of intent for initiatives comprised of one or more of the following projects:
Category 1 - Strategic Planning:
Projects funded under this category support the development of strategic and
business plans for the use of sustainable, collaborative geomatics strategies
that leverage the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI).
Category 2 - Capacity Building:
Projects funded under this category support the building of internal, sustainable
capacity (e.g. hardware/software, data, training) to use geomatics for decision-making
within regional partnerships and support preparations to take advantage of the
CGDI.
Category 3 - User Needs Assessments:
Projects funded under this category support the research of users’ needs
for data, geospatial decision support systems, and regional atlases that make
use of standards endorsed by GeoConnections and technologies that form part
of the CGDI.
Category 4 - Publishing Thematic Data:
Projects funded under this category support the publishing of geospatial data
online through the CGDI by closest to source data suppliers. Projects must make
use of standards endorsed by GeoConnections.
Category 5 - Thematic Data Standards:
Projects funded under this category support thematic geospatial data content
standards through the development of best practice guides, data exchange guides
and/or data models.
Category 6 - Regional Atlases for Community
Awareness:
Projects funded under this category support the collaborative development of
online atlases that use the CGDI to enable access to integrated, distributed,
regional-scale, inter-jurisdictional geospatial information as thematic views,
relevant to specific end-users. Regional atlases will increase community awareness,
and support the decision-making needs of actively engaged end-user communities.
Category 7 - Geospatial Decision Support
Systems:
Projects funded under this category support the development of Geospatial Decision
Support Systems that process and analyze essential data and information, including
geospatial data and information that is required by decision makers. The systems
must make use of standards endorsed by GeoConnections, and technologies which
form part of the CGDI.
Note that the letters of intent may request funding for multiple linked projects.
For example a letter of intent may request funding for a user needs assessment,
followed by development of a regional atlas with thematic data publishing linked
to content within the regional atlas. Or, a letter of intent may request funding
for a strategic planning project followed by a capacity building project.
Projects must support specific issues within one of the following priority areas:
- Public Health: Facilitating Population Health Surveillance
or Health Emergency Response and Inter-Emergency Planning
- Public Safety and Security: Facilitating Critical Infrastructure
Identification or Situational Awareness & Management
of Consequences
- Environment and Sustainable Development: Facilitating Land-Use
Planning or Environmental Assessment within a context
of Integrated Ecosystem Management
- Matters of Importance to Aboriginal People: Facilitating Land and Resource Management/Community Planning.
HOW MUCH CAN BE APPLIED FOR?
GeoConnections funding and project length varies depending on the type of project(s) applied for. The maximum funding per project is as follows.
- Category1 - Strategic Planning: $40,000
- Category 2 - Capacity Building: $70,000
- Category 3 - User Needs Assessments: $40,000
- Category 4 - Publishing Thematic Data: $75,000
- Category 5 - Thematic Data Standards: $75,000
- Category 6 - Regional Atlases for Community Awareness: $100,000
- Category 7 - Geospatial Decision Support Systems: $150,000
WHAT IS THE PROCESS?
GeoConnections is soliciting letters of intent (LOI) which are no more than five pages long. The template for LOIs is the same, no matter which projects are being applied for. These letters will be evaluated against defined criteria 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 for the first project of their initiative. These proposals will be reviewed against the criteria required for each project. Note that proposals should be written and must be submitted by the proponent, and not a collaborator or private contractor. Full proposals are accepted by invitation only. Invitation to submit a full proposal is not a guarantee of funding.
See the full announcement for more detail.
WHAT ARE THE DEADLINES?
The deadlines are as follows:
Round 1 |
Round 25 |
Round 35 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Announcement Released | June 6, 2007 |
Sept 17, 2007 |
January 7, 2008 |
| Letter of Intent deadline | July 6, 2007 |
October 12, 2007 |
February 1, 2008 |
| Proposal deadline | August 31, 2007 |
December 7, 2007 |
March 28, 2008 |
| Project start | December 1, 2007 |
April 1, 2008 |
June 30, 2008 |
For additional funding opportunities, please refer to http://www.geoconnections.org/en/opportunities
For all deadlines, documentation must be received no later than midnight (2400) Pacific Standard Time.
WHO DO I CONTACT FOR MORE INFORMATION?
Categories 1-3, 7
Craig Stewart,
Coordinator, CGDI User Capacity
GeoConnections
Telephone: (613) 996-3012
Facsimile: (613) 947-2410
Email:
Categories 4-6
Paula Rojas
Program Coordinator, CGDI Data Content
GeoConnections
Telephone: (613) 947-2174
Facsimile: (613) 947-2410
Email:
Footnotes
1 End-users consume geospatial data or information derived from geospatial data for decision making or business operations. They may conduct analysis or receive its results to address issues.
2 Enablers/Facilitators are typically government departments or agencies, programs, institutes and NGOs (but can be a private sector company) that do not necessarily form decision-environments but which provide support to end users. They may provide geospatial products, services or applications as a service to their community of users.
3 Suppliers provide geospatial data and web services to the CGDI. This category of user operates at the core of the CGDI, providing the content necessary for the regional atlases.
4 Developers create and implement the technologies which form the building blocks of the CGDI. They also contract with end-users and enablers, developing products and services that take advantage of the CGDI. Developers build applications on 'web services'.