SPUG: SOW IT Policy Consulting RFI - call for communal response

Fred Morris m3047 at inwa.net
Sat Dec 25 14:41:08 CST 2004


(forwards are o.k.)

All:

I came across the following RFI for IT Research and Consulting Services:

  http://techmall.dis.wa.gov/procurement/procurement.asp?pid=92

This links to a Word document, which I have run through ps2pdf and posted here:

  http://devil.m3047.inwa.net/pub/fwm/procurement-rfi.pdf


To summarize, it seeks vendor information regarding contract services to
assist state and local governmental organizations with IT initiatives,
policy development and project oversight in government organizations.

It's not very specific, which in bureaucratese usually means either they
don't know or that they have a specific vendor that they're trying to hand
it to.


They do call out:

* An Internet-based research and advisory tool that covers a comprehensive
set of topics including: public and private information technology trends;
strategies; and best practices for business and technology initiatives.

* Assistance with policy development - links between IT legislative
initiatives and policy development in public and private organizations.

* On-line consulting resources that include: the ability to send in
questions to a consultant and receive timely responses; conferences calls;
and assistance with specific project oversight issues with subscription
options that include all on-line resources.

They list the following minimum qualifications:

* Demonstrated experience in providing database services, training,
research and consulting support for public information technology
organizations.

* Ability to provide a live demonstration of research and consulting
capabilities to DIS and other agency stakeholders upon request.


I'm not posting this so people can rush out and hash together some
proposals which barely (if at all) meet the stated requirements. In fact
that is my worst nightmare and I think it would reflect poorly on our
community.


I'm posting it because here is an example of our government spending money
and I think an opportunity exists to raise awareness and possibly change
their minds about how they go about some or all of it:

That as a community we already provide the technological foundations of
what they're seeking, in the form of message boards, mailing lists and
wikis. That at the present time there is no effective mechanism within
their organizations to avail themselves of such resources; that with
appropriate interaction between their principals and our communities,
resources could be tailored to more closely fit their needs.

Specifically I am envisioning at the moment some sort of forum or
collection of fora which is tied to and cross-referenced to specific
individuals, and that the individual's curriculum vitae would also be
searchable in this context; we might additionally provide some sort of
vetting process, sort of like the "web of trust" concept behind key
signing. So for instance they could search on a topic, or they could post a
topic and solicit responses from collections of individuals based on
keywords. In fact, they may be working on something like this internally at
the moment. Some sort of "bounty system" might be required to generate
timely responses to complex questions or needs, and therefore a business
entity capable of handling the disbursements might be necessary. However,
couldn't we, as a community, provide this infrastructure as a public
resource? Do you agree with me that that holds the potential to raise
awareness of our extensive and broad pool of talents, particularly with
regard to the many community-based technology options which exist at the
present time?


We need to let them know we're out here. My proposal is that we create a
single cover letter; and that we then individually e-mail it to DIS and our
legislators, with our individual resumes or curriculum vitae attached.

If they invite us to meet with them, we should be ready to do so.

If you are a resident of Washington State, and especially if you are a
licensed business entity, and you are interested in helping to draft such a
cover letter, contact me.

The closing date for this solicitation is 14-Jan-2005.

--

Fred Morris, Seattle WA
m3047 at inwa.net
206.297.6344




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