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The purpose of this Request for Quotation and Call for Participation is to solicit proposals in response to a set of requirements for the OGC Arctic Spatial Data Pilot Interoperability Program (IP) initiative.

Understanding and responding to the impacts of climate change and human activities in the Arctic, a unique area among the Earth’s ecosystems, requires accessible and reliable data to facilitate monitoring, management, emergency preparedness and decision making. The Arctic region is home to indigenous communities and other residents, along with unique flora and fauna, and this region is of increasing interest to the world as a result of their linkage to global climate systems, opportunities for economic development, geopolitical strategic importance, and their environmental importance.

Arctic data are required by residents, the scientific community and other stakeholders to make informed decisions and support research on topics such as climate, atmosphere, land, oceans, ecosystems, ice and snow, permafrost, and social systems; and by the operations community to support impact assessments, engineering design, safe navigation and operations, risk management, emergency response, weather forecasting, and climate change adaptation. These activities contribute to environmental protection, heritage preservation, economic development, safety of life and property, or national sovereignty

The goal of the OGC Arctic Spatial Data Pilot is to demonstrate the power and efficiency of distributed online environments for the exchange of geospatial Arctic data. It can be shown that a software architecture featuring distributed online web services using open standards allows for an efficient and powerful working environment that supports processing, visualization, and representation of Arctic data in distributed systems

At the same time, this pilot helps in gathering further insights into experienced obstacles and difficulties, such as low, or no, bandwidth situations, while using available systems to foster system-wide improvements and adaptations to specific users’ needs in the Arctic. Results of this pilot are also being gathered in support of the Data and Technical Interoperability Objectives of the Arctic SDI Strategic Plan.

The Arctic SDP RFQ builds on the preceding Concept Development phase which included a Request for Information. Results from the RFI have been published in a report publicly available on the Arctic SDP website, which also provide access to individual RFQ parts. Participation in this Arctic SDP offers a prime opportunity to be at the forefront of the technological advancement and guide the standards process to achieve more and effective interoperability.

The OGC, on behalf of the project sponsors, USGS and NRCan, will provide cost-sharing funds to partially offset expenses uniquely associated with the initiative, thus the solicitation is for quotations from bidders wishing to receive cost-sharing. However, not all proposals are expected to seek cost-share funding. OGC intends to involve as many participants in the initiative as possible; to the extent each participant can enhance and/or contribute to the initiative outcomes. Responses to the RFQ are requested by June 17, 2016. The RFQ includes instructions on how organizations can respond to and submit questions about the RFQ.