Proposal Guide

This document is posted for information only. Proposals are past due.

Proposals for the Demonstration and Evaluation of New Public Alerting Technologies or Products

Table of Contents

1. An Invitation to Participate
2. Objective
3. Background
4. Scope
5. Travel
6. Constraints
7. Schedule
8. Project's Value

Planning your Proposal

Completing Your Proposal

1. Covering Letter
2. Vision / Need / Value Added
3. Description of New Public Technology or Product
4. Result and Performance Measurement
5. Deliverables
6. Contact Information

Submitting your Proposal

Selection Process

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1. An Invitation to Participate

Public Alerting is Important to You and Your Community

Industry Canada would like to invite all levels of government to make proposals for the demonstration and /or evaluation of new public alerting technologies and products. This guide is to help you complete your proposal. Please note that proposal must be submitted by November 30, 2002 . Proposals from a municipality must include a letter of support from its Provincial Emergency Preparedness organization . Should a proposal by a federal government department, municipality or province be chosen, Industry Canada may enter into a contractual agreement with the Municipality through an Intergovernmental Letter of Agreement (ILA).

Please read this guide in its entirety and submit it by November 30, 2002.

1.1 Objective

The objective of this project is to produce evaluation and demonstration reports on a diversity of new public alerting products or technologies and share public alerting information with Emergency Measures Organizations at all levels of government.

The results from the reports will be shared with all interested governments officials.

1.2 Background

Public alerting is primarily the responsibility of public officials authorized to give public direction in emergencies under municipal by-laws and provincial or federal legislative authority. The majority of emergency events occur at the local level and impact upon localized populations.

Public alerting systems are needed to quickly alert the population at risk an imminent danger(s). A diversity of methods are needed to disseminate timely alerts to the maximum number of people at risk including those with special needs.

Industry Canada is the Technical Authority. Under the 1995 Federal Policy for Emergencies, Industry Canada has the lead for coordinating the provision of an emergency broadcasting service, based on the facilities and services of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Environment Canada and, as required, privately owned networks and stations. Industry Canada has working relationships with telecommunications and broadcast industry and other federal government departments interested in public alerting.

1.3 Scope

Industry Canada is inviting organizations from all levels of government interested in public alerting to submit unique proposals for the demonstration and evaluation of a new public alerting technologies or products. Industry Canada is looking for a diversity of unique proposals. Proposals should consider a technology or product that may be used to provide both all hazard and severe weather warnings.

1.4 Travel

Cost for travel will be included in the total dollar amount of the proposal.

1.5 Constraints

Other municipalities and provinces may be interested by your projects and/or may wish to visit demonstration sites. Participants are asked to be ready to share information with other municipalities, provinces and federal departments or agencies, which may take place before, during and/or after the evaluation.

1.6 Schedule

Demonstration and Evaluation Projects may begin in December 2002 or later and may carry over to 2003.

1.7 Projects' value

The maximum dollar value for each proposal does not exceed $200,000.

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2. Planning Your Proposal

A successful proposal is more than facts and figures. A successful proposal provides a clear sense of what the project is expected to achieve and an overview of how the various elements of the proposal will come together to meet the specified deliverables:

All proposals should include a description of the proposal and estimated time lines, expected outcome and deliverables. We invite you to complete the following section 3 called "Completing Your Proposal" and encourage you to provide relevant documentation. Please note that your proposal will be evaluated based on the information you provide. The point rating evaluation grid is found in section 5 called "Selection Process".

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3. Completing Your Proposal

3.1 Covering Letter

Please provide a one page covering letter with your proposal.

It is important that the letter:

• be signed by the authorized representative(s) of your group, and
• state that your organization has full authority and permission to deal with the federal government on contracting matters.

For Municipalities: Please provide a letter of support from your Provincial Emergency Measures Organization.

3.2 Vision / Need / Value Added:

3.2.1 Briefly describe your long term vision for public alerting, your current public alerting needs (repeated 3.2.2) and future public alerting needs?

3.2.2 Briefly describe public alerting systems that your government department, province or municipality have access to and your experience in public alerting?

3.2.3 Partnerships are crucial to the success of your proposal and your public alerting system. The more resources that you can broker into your proposal, the more viable and achievable your project will be. Briefly describe any relevant partnerships from your government department, province, municipality or other partner and how they will be involved in your proposed public alerting demonstration and evaluation project? Please attach letters of support from your partners.

3.2.4 Some government agencies may manage activities that you can integrate with your proposal. You should investigate existing federal, provincial/territorial, regional and municipal government programs from which you may be able to lever resources. Identify support in the form of in-kind or financial participation from all levels of government, private industries associations, communities organizations and businesses.

3.3 Description of New Public Technology or Product

3.3.1 Describe in detail the new public alerting technology or product that you propose to demonstrate and / or evaluate. Please list the titles of any documents that you are providing in attachment and give a brief explanation of their relevance to your proposal.

3.3.2 Which broadcasting facilities, broadcasting distribution (IE cable, DTH) facilities or telecommunications( IE wireline or wireless) facilities may be directly or indirectly involved in the demonstration and / or evaluation project?

3.3.3 Provide geographic, demographic and other relevant information regarding proposed test areas. Include a map and indicate the communities that are involved.

3.4 Demonstration and Evaluation:

It is understood that a diversity of solutions is needed to alert the public at risk. The following table lists some important elements of an effective public alerting system. Please put a check mark on the elements that your demonstration and / or evaluation report will include.

Which elements will your demonstration and /or evaluation report include?	Demo	Evaluate	N/A	Don't know
addressability
ability to state imminent danger, area at risk, message originator and duration of the event
measure time taken to disseminate alerts
ability to alert the population in their homes when they are not watching or listening to radio, television, cable, DTH etc.
ability to alert motorists, commuters and transients in risk areas
ability to alert those with special needs
cost effectiveness
scalability
security and reliability
user friendliness
impact on broadcasting or telecom systems
ability to provide all hazards alerts
ability to provide severe weather alerts
ability to provide additional essential information
overall effectiveness of the public alerting technology or product
overall effectiveness in reaching the public at risk
public reaction
emergency preparedness organization satisfaction
system reporting capability
system GIS integration capability

Others? Please specify____________________

3.5 Deliverables

3.5.1 Work may begin in December 2002 or later and may carry over to 2003. Provide an estimated start date for your project , end date and list milestones.

3.5.2 List and briefly describe your proposed deliverables. They must include several of the following items and may include other items.

1. i) Detailed Project Plan
   1. a) management of the project
   2. b) schedule of events
   3. c) evaluation plan
2. ii)Interim Report(s)
   1. a) interim evaluation report
   2. b) interim technical or field trial report
   3. c) interim comparative studies
   4. d) identify operational or policy issues
3. iii) Final Reports:
   1. a) evaluation of the effectiveness of the public alerting technology or product,
   2. b) technical or field trial report
   3. c)description of related problems and / policy issues
   4. d) evaluation of future implementation (scalability and costs implement )
   5. e) evaluation on the impact on existing infrastructure, such as telephone, cable, radio, or broadcasting networks if applicable
   6. f)report on integration of emergency management tools Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and reporting function
   7. g)comparative studies
   8. h) recommend a process for other communities to follow
   9. i)report on the public's reaction

3.6 Proposal Contact Information

Organization Submitting This Proposal

Name______________________________________
Mailing Address___________________________
City _____________________________________
Province__________________________________
Postal Code_______________________________

Applicant Contact Person

Name (first name, surname)________________
Title ____________________________________
Organization______________________________
Tel.______________________________________
Fax ______________________________________
E-mail____________________________________

Mailing Address (if different from above organization)

P.O. Box _________________________________
Street Name and No._______________________
City _____________________________________
Province _________________________________
Postal Code ______________________________

Alternate Contract Person

Name (first name, surname)________________
Title ____________________________________
Organization _____________________________
Tel.______________________________________
Fax ______________________________________
E-mail ___________________________________

Mailing Address (if different from above organization)

P.O. Box _________________________________
Street Name and No. ______________________
City _____________________________________
Province _________________________________
Postal Code ______________________________

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4. Submitting Your Proposal

Please submit four copies of your proposal package to the address below:

Public Alerting Evaluation Team
Radiocommunication and Broadcasting Regulatory Branch
Industry Canada
300 Slater Street, Room 1490D
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0C8

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5. Selection Process

Evaluation team

Proposals will be evaluated by an evaluation team made up of Industry Canada, the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness (OCIPEP). Evaluations are based on the following point rating evaluation grid table. Each proposal is evaluated and ranked on its own merits, however we will avoid selecting similar proposals as our objective is to evaluate a diversity of solutions. It is possible that not all proposals will be accepted.

Should your proposal be selected Industry Canada will contact your Applicant Contact Person and begin the process to finalize an Intergovernmental Letter of Agreement (ILA) which is a service contract. The final statement of work, and deliverables, along with details on payment schedules and reporting requirements will be included in the contract to be signed by both parties.

As the lead for this public alerting initiative, Industry Canada reserves the right to accept or reject a proposal and to limit the contractual amount provided to a single site or network of sites.