CANARIE - Green IT Program

Why has CANARIE established the Green IT Pilot Program?

ICT, especially cyber infrastructure and advanced networks, provide an important set of tools that, applied appropriately, can help to reduce the GHG emissions associated with the world's ICT infrastructure. The tools used in network-enabled research platforms, including grids, virtualization, web services, Web 2.0 and workflow tools, can also be used as middleware for linking the resources and supporting their use in a zero-carbon architecture. Developing these tools is an important objective of CANARIE's current funding from Industry Canada.

What is a Comprehensive Zero-Carbon Pilot?

A Comprehensive Zero-Carbon Pilot, which is one type of proposal invited under this call for proposals, refers to an infrastructure consisting of networks, equipment at the edge of the network and the services and tools that make these resources useable by a distributed community of collaborators, where all the infrastructure components are powered by renewable energy sources that produce little or no carbon. The biggest challenge in building such an environment is that the equipment is all dependent on intermittent power sources, so the network must enable not only the sharing of data and equipment, but in many cases must allow data and to be quickly redistributed to different nodes on the network based on the availability of renewable power. This presents difficult technical challenges, so before such environments will become widely adopted, the underlying technologies must be tested and demonstrated. Hence the need for a pilot.

 

How should applications be submitted?

Lead contractors are asked to submit an initial 5-10 page initial proposal, by no later than June 29, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. (EDT).

Proposals should be submitted using the online application form.

Can applications be submitted by email?

No. Proposals must be submitted by completing the online application form and attaching the proposal files. All applicants will receive an online confirmation and a follow-up email from CANARIE within 24 hours of the application being submitted. If you do not receive a confirmation email within 24 hours of submitting your application, kindly contact green@canarie.ca.

What is the closing date for applications?

CANARIE will accept initial proposals up to June 29, 2009 at 5:00 pm (EDT).

Some of the information requested as part of an application could be considered proprietary. How will security and disclosure of such information be handled by CANARIE?

CANARIE protects information provided as part of an application in the same manner as its own proprietary information, and the information provided will be used only for purposes of the Green IT pilot Program. Access to this information will be restricted to CANARIE's staff and the Board of Directors, all of whom are subject to confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements.

Is there a second stage in the application process?

Yes. The submission for the first round of review is considered a "draft" proposal, and will be used for competitive assessment and review. It will be evaluated relative to the criteria defined in the call for proposals. Based on the initial proposals, CANARIE will issue a limited number of invitations to submit more detailed proposals. If approved for funding, the SOW and budget from this second round will form a part of the project agreement between the lead contractor and CANARIE Inc.

What are the Timelines for the Green IT pilot Program?

Announcement and Call for Proposals	June 1, 2009
Submit Initial Proposal	June 29, 2009
Invitation to Submit Final Proposal	July 09, 2009
Deadline for Submission of Final Proposal	September 10, 2009
Notification of Approved Projects	October, 2009
Optimal Project Start Date	January 1, 2010
Latest Project End Date	December 31, 2011

 

Who may apply for funding?

Each application or proposal must be submitted by a single organization that will act as the lead contractor for the project. The lead contractor must carry on business in Canada and be a Canadian corporation, or other Canadian entity having legal status before the law, with whom CANARIE can enter into a binding legal contract. Applications are encouraged from research, education, administrative, public and private sectors.

Who cannot apply for funding?

CANARIE's funding agreement with Industry Canada prohibits Federal Government institutions (federal department, agency, or Crown corporations including their research facilities) from receiving any portion of the contribution paid to the project. As a result, CANARIE will not accept applications from these entities. CANARIE can also not accept applications from foreign-located organizations.

Are applications on behalf of or from real or virtual organizations with established or emerging network-enabled platforms that have received significant funding from other sources eligible?

Yes. Applications on behalf of or from established or emerging platforms with significant funding from other sources are eligible.

Can Federal Government institutions (federal department, agency, or Crown corporations including their research facilities) participate in a project?

Yes. CANARIE recognizes the national leadership and valuable contributions that such organizations have made and will be making to the formation of network-enabled research platforms in Canada. However, since CANARIE's funding agreement with Industry Canada prohibits Federal Government institutions (federal department, agency, or Crown corporations including their research facilities) from receiving any portion of the contribution paid to the project, they must participate on a self-funded basis. This exclusion does not apply to fee-for-service contracts with federal labs that have the authority to collect revenue. A complete listing of federal labs with the authority to collect revenue is available online http://data.fptt-pftt.gc.ca/fedlabs/main_e.cfm.

Can foreign-located organizations be project participants?

Yes. International participation in funded projects is encouraged. However, foreign participants cannot be reimbursed for costs incurred and must participate on a self-funded basis. It should be noted that travel costs to enable Canadians to participate in international meetings related to platform development are eligible for funding.

Are single-organization projects eligible?

Yes. However, all projects should bring together complementary participants to achieve results that individual organizations cannot achieve independently.

What is the role of the lead contractor?

The lead contractor will act as the single point of contact with CANARIE for the submission of the application, development of the final Statement of Work, and negotiation of the project agreement. The lead contractor will manage the participants and project activities including the submission of progress reports and financial claims. If the lead contractor is a university or college, the contracting process would normally be handled through a research services office or its equivalent.

Who receives the funding from CANARIE?

The lead contractor receives and disburses the CANARIE contribution.

Should an organization be a member of CANARIE to apply?

All participants are encouraged to become members of CANARIE if they are not already.

 

What is the proposal review process?

All applications submitted under the call for proposals will be reviewed by the CANARIE Board of Directors. CANARIE will review the proposals against the criteria defined in the call. Evaluation of proposals relative to these criteria will constitute the basis for the decision whether or not a project is to receive CANARIE funding.

What are the possible responses by CANARIE to the submission of a proposal?

CANARIE has three options in terms of responding to proposals:

1. It may reject outright a proposal as not complying with the requirements of the program; or
2. It may recommend that an applicant's proposal be approved for funding; or
3. It may recommend that an applicant's proposal be given a conditional funding approval subject to further clarification and additional information from the applicant.

Who makes the final decision on CANARIE funding awards?

The CANARIE Board of Directors approves final awards on the recommendation of CANARIE management. Decisions of the Board of Directors are final.

 

What are the "mandatory" selection criteria?

Projects must meet all of the mandatory criteria detailed in the Call for Proposals. In brief they are:

1. The project must be innovative;
2. The project must be based on a viable funding model;
3. The applicants must be capable of undertaking the project;
4. The project must respond to specific user needs and bring together the required players to identify requirements, create the collaborations needed and undertake the specific development activity being proposed;
5. The lead applicant must be a Canadian corporation or other legally recognized Canadian entity;
6. The project must be technically sound and methodologically feasible;
7. The work envisaged by the project must be performed in Canada (i.e. funds cannot be allocated to foreign-located participants);
8. CANARIE funding must be required to deliver the results of the project or to ensure the timeliness of the delivery; and
9. The project must use the CANARIE Network.

What are the other selection criteria?

Proposals submitted under CANARIE's Green IT Pilot Program should also contribute to CANARIE's funding agreement objectives to some substantial degree (see Appendix B) and to the two Green IT Pilot Program objectives defined in the call for proposals. The degree of contribution to the costs of the project from other sources and the extent to which other initiatives have been approached and are providing funding to the project will also be taken into account in assessing the merit of proposals.

Are proposals that focus exclusively on middleware development acceptable?

No. The best way to ensure sustained take up of middleware by a distributed community of users is by involving them and focusing on their needs from the outset.

Can commercial IP be developed, e.g. relating to middleware?

Yes. Commercializable middleware is welcome. However, it should be noted that almost all popular middleware, even from large companies like IBM and Microsoft is open source. These companies have recognized that the commercial value is not in the software itself, but in how it is used.

Is off-the-shelf middleware sufficient for a platform under this program?

Yes. Off-the-shelf middleware is sufficient.

What is the expected project duration?

Approximately two years. Funded projects will ideally be able to start in January, 2010 and the project must be completed by December 31, 2011.

 

How much total funding is available through the program?

The current Green IT Pilot Program competition has been allocated up to $3 million. The CANARIE Board of Directors reserves the right to alter this commitment depending on the responses to the call for proposals.

How much funding will CANARIE provide to a project?

A typical CANARIE contribution to a project is expected to be up to $2 million for Comprehensive Zero-Carbon Pilot Projects (type (i) projects) and up to $100,000 for Business Plans or Smaller Projects (type (ii) projects). CANARIE can support up to 100% of incurred incremental eligible project costs. Overhead and indirect costs, however, are not treated as eligible (see below), so the total funding provided will clearly be less than the total of all costs associated with a project. This approach of covering 100% of direct costs and no overhead has several advantages over other alternative weightings.

What is the limit of total government assistance to a project?

The total assistance from all levels of government and their agencies cannot exceed 100% of eligible costs. R&D tax credits, government grants, and CANARIE contributions are considered government assistance.

How are projects funded?

CANARIE's contribution to the project will be paid to the lead contractor on the basis of financial claims demonstrating eligible costs incurred and paid. CANARIE's contribution will not exceed the amount or the ratio of funding agreed to in the Statement of Work and project agreement. CANARIE will retain 10% of each contribution payment, to be released upon the successful completion of the project and final reporting requirements.

What constitutes an eligible cost?

Eligible costs are governed by a detailed Schedule of Eligible Costs, which is available at /templates/programs/green/docs/Schedule_of_eligible_costs.pdf.

Are direct labour costs for the grantee or for faculty considered eligible costs?

No. These costs are not eligible costs. Please refer to the detailed summary of eligible costs which can be found at: /templates/programs/green/docs/Summary_of_eligible_costs.pdf.

Are in-kind contributions considered eligible costs?

No. In-kind expenditures are NOT eligible project costs. Example: If a participant provides labour to the project and is not reimbursed by the lead contractor for work performed, then it is considered in-kind and not eligible.

Are overhead or indirect costs eligible costs?

Aside from the direct labour cost associated with the preparation of claims and related project oversight, for example by the Research Services Office of a university, overhead and indirect costs are not eligible costs. CANARIE appreciates that the funding of 100% of incurred incremental eligible project costs does not constitute the funding of all costs associated with a project. However, our funding agreement with Industry Canada would not allow the funding of 100% of project costs if that were taken to include overhead. In examining such options as, for example, the funding of 75% of direct costs plus overhead, we concluded that 100% of eligible project costs but no overhead was the optimal approach.

Is Special Purpose Equipment an eligible cost?

Yes, but the major portion of most project budgets is expected to be for personnel and software.

At what date do costs become eligible for reimbursement?

CANARIE will only support project costs that are incurred after the project is approved by the CANARIE Board of Directors. That date will be the recognized project start date for the purposes of claiming eligible costs. Approval announcements are expected to occur during the late fall of 2009.

Is the duration of a project limited?

Yes. Projects supported by this competition must be completed by December 31, 2011.

 

What is CANARIE's position on rights to Intellectual Property developed under a project?

The rights to Intellectual Property remain with the lead contractor and participants. CANARIE encourages the non-confidential publication of research results relating to the project. In the case of projects that involve the development of products with commercial potential, CANARIE expects to participate in revenues arising from the project via a royalty agreement. For projects not involving commercializable Intellectual Property, CANARIE reserves the right to exploit the Intellectual Property via non-commercial licensing, where appropriate. Ownership or sharing of Intellectual Property rights among participants is a matter of internal arrangement among project participants.

 

What are the public communications requirements for funded projects?

Lead contractors should not issue any release or publicity concerning a funded project or its subject matter except with prior written approval of CANARIE. An initial public announcement by or on behalf of CANARIE and/or the Minister of Industry in the form of a news release may be undertaken upon execution of a project agreement. This would be a collaborative effort between CANARIE and the lead contractor.

All materials produced with respect to any funded project (including, but not limited to, publicly accessible websites) shall reference CANARIE's role in the project. The right to display and otherwise use CANARIE's corporate name, corporate identity, and logo will be granted upon request, with respect to funded projects.

All communications related to projects and project funding must be made in both official languages for any nation-wide communication aimed at the general public and for any communication aimed at the general public residing in bilingual regions.

 

What is CANARIE's Network?

CANARIE's Network is the one, essential national network infrastructure to support advanced research in Canada and to maintain Canada's leadership in the development of advanced research networks. In partnership with advanced research networks in every province, this ultra high-bandwidth network connects Canadian research facilities, educational institutions, hospitals, and private research labs to each other and to their international peers, and is becoming an essential tool for researchers and educators engaged in collaborative work.

The design of the network also supports high-bandwidth, private connections known as lightpaths, which can be controlled by end-users without the intervention of a network operator. The result is an effective, cost-efficient infrastructure that keeps Canada at the leading edge of communications technology while delivering the benefits of that leadership position to Canadian researchers and businesses.

This research network infrastructure interconnects to virtually all international research networks. The global reach of this network of networks helps Canadian researchers stay at the forefront of research in fields like bioinformatics, high-energy physics, genomics, astronomy, e-learning, and the performing arts. It also provides Canadian businesses with a direct competitive advantage wherever new products can be designed and tested using the network.

How do I get connected to the network?

Any organization doing high performance meritorious research or applications development can connect to CANARIE's Network. Detailed information on how to get connected is available on CANARIE's web site.

• How to get connected: /en/network/connected/connected-process
• How to get a Lightpath /en/lightpaths/how-to-get

Are funded projects required to use the CANARIE Network?

Yes.