Published on GEOG 597G: Challenges in Global Geospatial Analytics (https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog597g)

Home > GEOG 597G > Weeks 3 and 4: Proposal Development

Weeks 3 and 4: Proposal Development

Overview

Learning Objectives

At the successful completion of this lesson, you should be able to:

  • identify the general nature of what problem is to be solved
  • describe how geoanalytics could be applied to the present problem
  • explore the database for this situation
  • identify which data attributes are most significant to reach a solution

Lesson Roadmap

Please refer to Canvas for lesson deliverables, including specific timeframes and due dates.

Questions?

If you have any questions about course mechanics, where to do something, or how to do something, feel free to send us a message in Canvas at any time.

Proposal Overview

A non-profit humanitarian based organization called Healing the Health of Humanity International (H3I) has recently been awarded a very large grant. The dictates of the grant state that the funds must be allocated to serving the interests of individuals around the world who have experienced COVID-19. In order to meet the requirements of the grant on how best to meet the needs of those who have experienced COVID-19, H3I realizes that a considerable amount of data collection, processing, and analysis will be required. H3I also recognizes that this project will involve a considerable amount of geospatial data. Various methods (e.g., geospatial analytics) will be required to help visualize patterns, trends, and relationships in COVID-19 geospatial data. H3I also acknowledges that they do not employ staff that have expertise in geovisual analytics. That’s where your business plays a role.

Scope of the Problem

For this week you will be engaged in two tasks.

First, develop a business that focuses on geospatial solutions to COVId-19 data sets. This business plan will include the business name, logo, and staff. In addition, the plan will also include statements regarding expertise and previous completed projects. The specifics of developing this business are listed below.

Second, begin to draft a proposal that responds to H3I’s request. Note that a complete proposal will not be delivered until the end of the course. Over the next several weeks, you are tasked with developing and refining parts of the proposal. For now, this week will introduce you to the proposal idea from H3I and get you started on thinking how your group will respond to the request. The challenge is based on a COVID-19 data set of your choosing. Your group is one of several “clients” that are developing a proposal that presents a geographic visualization solution to a COVID-19 data set. As mentioned, H3I was recently awarded a grant that is directed to the betterment of individuals who have experienced COIVD-19, a topic of which is at its core mission. The challenge is to extract meaningful information from the COVID-19 data set of your choosing and make recommendations to H3I on how best to allocate its grant monies.

Specifically, for this project, H3I is interested in understanding some of the following characteristics about the COVID-19 data:

  • Identifying who are the most disadvantaged groups?
  • What are the anomalies in the COVID-19 data set?
  • Who are the people in most need of the basics?
  • What COVID-19 individuals have been displaced?
  • Some basic demographics include age profiles of the refugees (youngest, oldest), country of origin, GDP of most strickened countries).
  • Are there other mitigating factors contributing to the situation (consider civil-strife, political, ethnic, and religious tensions)?
  • Which countries have the greatest number of cases, deaths, vaccine hesitancy, etc.?
  • How would resource allocation (medicine, health care access, vaccine delivery, etc.) better COVID-19 situation?

Example Proposal

Image Credit: ha11ok [1] from Pixabay [2]

The following is an example of the type of proposal that you will be developing:

Request for Proposal (RFP)
RFP#: 1024

This RFP has four (4) sections. In order to be considered for this project each submitting agency must complete all parts. Instructions on how to complete each section is provided under each section’s header.

FORWARD

This forward must be completed and presented on a separate page.

  1. Project title: “Challenges to Geospatial Data”
  2. Number of staff involved with this project (include management):
  3. Amount requested from H3I (USD$):

The Project Proposal Application for Funding Form has four sections:

  1. Executive Summary
  2. Statement/Scope of Work and Management Plan
  3. Preliminary Project Schedule and Project Budget
  4. Project Monitoring and Evaluation

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

I.A. This section should provide a brief introduction to the current H3I’s RFP. The summary should also describe: (~ one page)
  1. The problem or critical issue which this proposal seeks to resolve
  2. How this proposal relates to other relevant characterizations, recommended relief strategies, and policies on COVID-19
I.B. This section should identify the specific work to be performed: (~ one page)
  1. Describe the relevant experience and capabilities of the enterprise submitting this proposal.
  2. Identify the type and level of resources (personnel expertise and software/hardware) that the implementing enterprise submitting the proposal will provide for project planning, implementation management and follow up.

II. STATEMENT/SCOPE OF WORK and MANAGEMENT PLAN

II.A. Expected Project Results/Deliverables: (~ two pages)

This section should describe the overall results that the project is expected to accomplish.

  1. Discuss the specific data sets and variables that could be used to provide a solution to H3I’s RFP. You should feel free to include data sets and variables that are not present in the COVID-19 data set that you downloaded. But, if you do, please identify specifically how these external data will be used in your solution to the problem.
  2. Present a survey of existing geovisualization/geovisual analytics solutions. This survey should describe key characteristics of existing geovisualizations/geovisual analytics solutions that could be applied to help address H3I’s RFP. Note, these existing geovisualization/geovisual analytics do not necessarily need to examine your COVID-19 data.

The discussion should indicate in quantitative terms, to the extent possible, what the project will produce through its planned activities.

II.B. Detailed Project Activities and Work Plan: (~ two pages)

This section should describe how each immediate project objective will be carried out in terms of planned activities.

  1. Identify which geovisualization/geovisual analytics tools will be most useful in answering H3I’s RFP.
  2. Describe the technical specifications of the proposed solution. This description can include, but is not limited to, the selected programming language, the operating system, the platform, etc.

III. PRELIMINARY PROJECT DEVELOPMENT TIMELINE AND BUDGET (~ two pages)

a. Detail the development timeline of the project. The details could include, but are not limited to, significant milestones that you consider to be achievable within the proposed timeline. 

b. The budget for this proposal should be prepared in U.S. dollars. The budget should include, but is not limited to, a description of each budget line item. The budget should include, but it not limited to, development time, software/hardware, training, consulting, contracting services, and usability studies.

IV. PROJECT MONITORING AND EVALUATION (~ two pages)

This section should discuss proposed mechanisms and procedures for monitoring of project operations to ensure that activities occur as planned, that they remain directed towards stated objectives, and that appropriate corrective action is taken if required.

Specifically, the discussion should indicate who will be responsible for preparing periodic project progress and final technical reports and for the accounting of expenditures.

Project Management

Project Management Tools

Wrike is one project management tool that you can use. Your group can discuss whether or not you would like to utilize this tool as you collaborate on your project. Whether you use Wrike, the group space in Canvas, or some other system, finding a way to communicate with your group members and keep track of all of the moving pieces of your project will be crucial. In order to use Wrike with your group, one group member should visit this URL and start an account [3]. You will then be able to add the rest of your group members. Contact us if you have questions.

Survey and Section I (Executive Summary)

Survey and Section I (Executive Summary) of Your Proposal

See Canvas for assignment details that focus on completion of Section II. Please refer to Survey and Section I (Executive Summary) from the H3I RFP [4] example for specific section requirements.


Source URL:https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog597g/node/240

Links
[1] https://pixabay.com/users/ha11ok-1785462/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=4239772 [2] https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=4239772 [3] https://www.wrike.com/blog/wrike-collaboration-tools-for-students/ [4] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog597g/node/241