Federated Marine Spatial Data Infrastructure Pilot: Data Integration at the Land-Sea Interface - Call for Participation (CFP)

Building on a real-world application scenario, this pilot will specifically discuss and, where possible, illustrate through practical demonstrations the following issues:

The pilot project will develop a proof-of-concept design that accomplishes cross-community/agency data integration. The following figure illustrates this process.

The data sets made available in this pilot represent the modeling specific to the respective domain. These data sets are first examined in terms of their expressive power. If there is not enough information to transform the data "as is" into the respective other model, then semantic uplifting is carried out first. In this process, the data is enriched with the necessary information to clearly define the feature types and their respective characteristics (i.e., their permitted value ranges).

This is followed by the respective transformation into the target model, which follows mapping rules to be defined in advance. As a result, the original marine data is now represented following the land community modeling standards and vice versa. In the final step, the transformed data is examined in relation to further integration parameters. These include, for example, the regulations and quality models applied for data creation, the temporal and spatial resolution, etc. All experiments and lessons learned will result in a Best Practice document that describes how data from both domains can be best integrated.

All efforts will specifically explore developing and using modern geospatial standards frameworks, such as OGC Web API standards, to facilitate oceanographic geospatial data integration using OGC Building Blocks. Work will evaluate whether existing modern standards frameworks are sufficient to support all requirements related to geospatial data integration and use. If current standards approaches are determined not to be sufficient, the project will outline recommended standards-development activities.

The project scenario will be agreed upon with all sponsors during the Call for Participation development process during the first phase of the project. A UK-based case study will be included in the pilot.

If we imagine Best Practices for the modeling of data with support for both the land and the sea perspective, how would this Best Practice look like? What needs to be part of such a Best Practice that applies to the national and international level, where we talk about thousands of kilometers of coastlines? This second part of the OGC FMSDI pilot addresses these aspects. By evaluating current practices in several countries, e.g., UK, Indonesia, Canada, USA, Australia, or Singapore, participants will be made aware of the particular problems of modeling, data acquisition, analysis, and visualization within the intertidal zone. This pilot will identify the essential elements that could lead to a best practice document that sets international standards in the future. The following list contains only initial ideas and is neither complete nor intended to be fully supported. It merely provides a starting point and helps to understand the complexity of such a best practice document.

By considering these elements, you will be able to establish a comprehensive and robust best practice for geospatial data handling within the tidal zone, tailored to its unique and dynamic characteristics.

The OGC welcomes proposals to participate in its initiatives from organizations and individuals active in developing, managing, and using geospatial data, technologies, and systems. Proposers may be active in industry, government (national, regional, local), research, non-profit, community, or other sectors. Past participants have included providers of services and platforms, modelers, end users of platforms and data, researchers, and other stakeholders in relevant domains.

You do not need to be a member of the Open Geospatial Consortium to propose to participate. However, if your organization’s proposal is selected, you or your organization must become an OGC member if you are not already one. This ensures all participants have equal access to the tools and documentation developed and shared throughout the project phase.

The initiative is designed to enable interested organizations to participate in various ways. Every organization is invited to submit a proposal for the work items and deliverables defined in this Call for Participation, but other forms of participation also exist. These range from simple involvement in the co-design process without resources other than the participants' time, providing funding, in-kind contributions, paid services, or providing resources such as data sets or access to infrastructure. Mechanisms for engagement include:

The following table provides an overview of all deliverables to be provided. Special funding conditions define if any restriction may apply. In principle, however, all organizations can apply for each deliverable on an in-kind basis.

The funding status defined if funding will be made available to the participant. "Available" means that funding has been secured by OGC and will be provided to the participant. "Pending" indicates that OGC expects funding to be made available by sponsor(s), but contract(s) between OGC and the sponsor(s) are not signed yet. "None" means that only full in-kind proposals can be accepted.

Responding to the Call For Participation (CFP):

To respond to the CFP as a bidder, you will submit an Online Form in which you describe your proposal. This proposal should include your (the bidder’s) technical solution(s) for each deliverable, cost sharing request(s) for funding, and proposed in-kind contribution(s) to the initiative.

The CFP includes a description of the deliverables against which bidders may submit proposals. Bidders may address technical deliverables, such as implementing a component of an infrastructure, or participatory deliverables, such as contributing to meetings and to writing documents. The timeline for completion of the deliverables is set out in the Master Schedule.

Proposal Evaluations will take place on a per-deliverable basis. Therefore, it is important that all proposals should all be entered into the form on a per-deliverable basis.

Proposals in response to the CFP should be submitted by the deadline listed in the Master Schedule.

Participant Selection and Agreements: Following the submission deadline, OGC will evaluate received proposals, review recommendations with Sponsors, and negotiate Participation Agreement (PA) contracts, including statements of work (SOWs). Participant selection will be complete once PA contracts have been signed with all Participants.

Required attendance at the Kickoff: The Kickoff is a meeting where Participants, guided by the Initiative Architect, will refine the Initiative architecture and settle on specifics to be used as a baseline for prototype component interoperability. Participants will be required to attend the Kickoff, including breakout sessions, and will be expected to use these breakouts to collaborate with other Participants.

Required attendance at Regular Telecons and Meetings: After the Kickoff, participants will meet frequently via weekly telecons (videoconferencing) and in person at OGC Member Meetings. As a minimum, participants are required to attend virtual meetings regularly.

Requirements for Development of Deliverables: Development of Components, Engineering Reports, Change Requests, and other deliverables will commence during or immediately after the Kickoff meeting.

Under the Participation Agreement contracts, ALL Participants will be responsible for contributing content to the documents / Engineering Reports (ERs), particularly regarding their component implementation experiences, findings, and future recommendations. Each participant will be required to provide at least one bullet point per week to the ER on work, progress, technical conversations and decisions, etc., while the ER Editor will be the primary compiler and author on the shared sections such as the Executive Summary. The ER editor is further responsible for capturing all design decisions and lessons learned during the whole initiative execution phase. Compiling the whole report at the end of the initiative does not work!

More detailed deliverable descriptions appear under Types of Deliverables.

Final Summary Reports, Demonstration Event and Other Stakeholder Meetings: Participant Final Summary Reports will constitute the close of funded activity. Further development work might take place to prepare and refine assets to be shown at webinars, demonstration events, and other meetings.

Assurance of Service Availability: Participants selected to implement service components must maintain availability for a period of no less than twelve months after the Participant Final Summary Report milestone.

Questions and Requests for clarification: Bidders have the opportunity to submit questions about the CFP for an initial Q&A Webinar. Questions can be submitted using this Q&A Form.The Bidders Q&A Webinar will be held on the date listed in the Master Schedule. The webinar is open to the public, but anyone wishing to attend must register using the provided link. Questions are due on the date listed in the Master Schedule Question submitters will remain anonymous, and answers will be compiled and published in the CFP clarifications.

After the initial Q&A Webinar bidders may submit further questions using the same Q&A Form. Again, question submitters will remain anonymous. Ongoing updates and answers to questions will be added to the CFP Corrigenda Table and the CFP Clarifications Table. The HTML version of the CFP will be updated automatically and appear at the same URL as the original version. The PDF file online will be updated following each revision. You should download a new copy for offline work regularly to ensure you are referring to the latest version.

This initiative will be conducted within the policy framework of OGC’s Bylaws and Intellectual Property Rights Policy ("IPR Policy"), as agreed to in the OGC Membership Agreement, and in accordance with the OGC COSI Program Policies and Procedures and the OGC Principles of Conduct, the latter governing all related personal and public interactions. Specifically:

Several key requirements are summarized below for ready reference:

The roles generally played in any OGC COSI Program initiative include Sponsors, Bidders, Participants, Observers, and the COSI Program Team. Explanations of the roles are provided in Tips for New Bidders.

The COSI Team for this Initiative will include an Initiative Director and an Initiative Architect. Unless otherwise stated, the Initiative Director will serve as the primary point of contact (POC) for the OGC.

The Initiative Architect will work with Participants and Sponsors to ensure that Initiative activities and deliverables are properly assigned and performed. They are responsible for scope and schedule control, and will provide timely escalation to the Initiative Director regarding any high-impact issues or risks that might arise during execution.

All activities in this pilot will result in a Deliverable. These Deliverables generally take the form of a persistent demonstrator capability, Documents or Component Implementations.

Proposals are expected to be brief, broken down by deliverable, and precisely addressing the work items of interest to the bidder. Details of the proposal submission process are provided under the General Proposal Submission Guidelines.

Proposals will be evaluated based on criteria in two areas: technical and management/cost.

This section presents general guidelines for submitting a CFP proposal. Detailed instructions for submitting a response proposal using the {proposalSubmissionForm}[Bid Submission Form] web page can be found in the Step-by-Step Instructions below.

Proposals must be submitted before the deadline indicated in the Master Schedule.

Information submitted in response to this CFP will be accessible to OGC and Sponsor staff members. This information will remain in the control of these stakeholders and will not be used for other purposes without prior written consent of the Bidder. Once a Bidder has agreed to become a Participant, they will be required to release proposal content (excluding financial information) to all initiative stakeholders. Sensitive information other than labor-hour and cost-share estimates should not be submitted.

Bidders will be selected for cost share funds on the basis of adherence to the CFP requirements and the overall proposal quality. The general initiative objective is to inform future OGC standards development with findings and recommendations surrounding potential new specifications. Each proposed deliverable should formulate a path for (1) producing executable interoperable prototype implementations meeting the stated CFP requirements and (2) documenting the associated findings and recommendations. Bidders not selected for cost share funds may still request to participate on a purely in-kind basis.

Bidders should avoid attempts to use the initiative as a platform for introducing new requirements not included in Technical Architecture. Any additional in-kind scope should be offered outside the formal bidding process, where an independent determination can be made as to whether it should be included in initiative scope or not. Out-of-scope items could potentially be included in another OGC COSI initiative.

Each selected Participant (even one not requesting any funding) will be required to enter into a Participation Agreement contract ("PA") with the OGC. The reason this requirement applies to purely in-kind Participants is that other Participants will likely be relying upon the delivery of their work. Each PA will include a Statement of Work ("SOW") identifying specific Participant roles and responsibilities.

Once the original CFP has been published, ongoing updates and answers to questions can be found in the CFP Corrigenda Table and the CFP Clarifications Table

Bidders may submit questions using the Questions Form. Question submitters will remain anonymous, and answers will be regularly compiled and published in the CFP clarifications.

A Bidders Q&A Webinar will be held on the date listed in the Master Schedule. The webinar is open to the public, but anyone wishing to attend must register using the provided link. Questions are due on the date listed in the Master Schedule.

The process for a Bidder to complete a proposal is set out in the online Bid Submission Form.

The Bid Submission form will be made available shortly after the CFP release. It will include a series of web forms, one for each deliverable of interest. Bidders should remember to submit one form for each deliverable for which they wish to submit a proposal.

New users must create an account before completing a form.

Once an account is established, the user may log in and will be taken to a home page indicating the "Status of Your Proposal." The user can return to this page at any time by clicking the OGC logo in the upper left corner.

Any submitted bids will be treated as earnest submissions, even those submitted well before the response deadline. Be certain that you intend to submit your proposal before you click the Submit button on the Review page.