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Guidelines and Template for the Preparation of an Outline Proposal

for IAP Feasibility Studies

Prepared byReference TAF-EST-TPL-001Issue 1Revision 0Date of Issue 13th October 2011StatusDocument Type Template

Table of Contents

0 SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THIS GUIDE 4

1 INTRODUCTION TO THE PROPOSAL 5

1.1 Scope 5

1.2 Background 5

2 USER NEEDS AND CONDITIONS 6

2.1 User Description 6

2.2 Current situation 6

2.3 User needs 6

2.4 Stakeholders and Constraints 7

3 SOLUTION 8

3.1 Service Description 8

3.2 Integrated Solution 8

4 SERVICE ASSESSMENT 9

4.1 Added Value 9

4.2 Viability 9

4.3 Risks 9

4.4 Roadmap 10

5 PROPOSED STUDY 11

5.1 Study logic and content 11

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5.2 Consortium and partners 11

5.3 Scheduling 11

5.4 Project risks 12

5.5 Cost and price 12

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0 SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THIS GUIDE

This document relates to the continuously open “Call for Proposals for IAP Feasibility Studies / Demonstration Projects” as it is available on ESA's electronic tendering system EMITS (http://emits.esa.int) under the Announcement of Opportunity AO6124.Organisations interested to engage in Feasibility Studies under the IAP (Integrated Applications Promotion) programme are requested to submit as a first step an Outline Proposal to the ESA IAP email account: iap@esa.int.The purpose of the document is to provide guidelines and a template form in order to assist organisations in generating such an Outline Proposal in compliance with the requirements of the ‘Special Tender Conditions’ of the call for proposals (AO 6124).All of Sections 1 to 5 must be answered in the Outline Proposal. Please note that as a rough guideline Outline Proposals are typically of length about 25 pages.

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1 INTRODUCTION TO THE PROPOSAL

1.1 Scope

Objective and Guideline: This section shall provide the “elevator pitch” of the proposed study, a very concise summary, indicating and naming at least the proposed service, the intended end user(s) and the minimum of two space assets envisaged to contribute to the service provision.

Answer by bidder:

1.2 Background

Objective and Guideline: This section shall provide the context and significance of the proposed service. Following this, it shall describe the following: The background trend, or global issue in which the proposed service will be positioned. The specific context (e.g. local setting, current situation, particular focus) where the proposed service applies. The challenge(s) in this specific context which will be addressed by the proposed service(s).

Answer by bidder

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2 USER NEEDS AND CONDITIONS

2.1 User Description

Objective and Guideline: This section shall introduce and describe the user communities and the users expected to be involved in the study for which the proposed service is intended. The description shall include a short overview of the market position of the users involved in the study.A short overview shall be given related to the status of the user interest, and commitment to participate in the proposed study. Letter(s) of interest from the major user(s) shall be included indicating why they are interested, how they intend to contribute to the study and to which tasks, and if they are interested to engage in a potential follow-on demo project in case that the study shows satisfactory results. If such letters cannot be provided upfront, then the process and timescale for confirming their interest must be indicated.

Answer by bidder

2.2 Current situation

Objective and Guideline: A short description should be provided of how the users currently handle the issues that the proposed services would address. An overview of the shortcomings and challenges vis-à-vis the present situation shall be provided, as well as opportunities for improvements. This can be related to improvement of service, performance, quality, economic, commercial, legal or other factors. This effectively includes an analysis of existing services with which the proposed new service will compete.

Answer by bidder

2.3 User needs

Objective and Guideline:

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This section shall describe the essential and driving user needs, based on the shortcomings of current practices, and new opportunities for innovative services. It may be summarised as an answer to the question: “What are the user needs in terms of service functionality, quality of service, price, performance, etc ?”

Answer by bidder

2.4 Stakeholders and Constraints

Objective and Guideline: This section shall identify the major stakeholders that need to be involved in the development of a sustainable service (i.e. during the feasibility study, pre-operational demo project, and operational service).It shall provide an overview of the relevance of the stakeholders to the proposed services and relevant user communities, as well as any constraints or boundary conditions put forward by the stakeholders, e.g. regulatory, economic, policy, safety, technological, legal, environmental. It shall describe the current relation of the consortium partners with the users and other stakeholders, and at which point they are expected / planned to be involved.

Answer by bidder

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3 SOLUTION

3.1 Service Description

Objective and Guideline: This section shall provide a preliminary description of the proposed services, information product or capability which will be provided to the end user(s).A good balance is required in the combination of space assets, for instance a proposal which is primarily satellite navigation without the demonstrable need for satellite communications and/or earth observation will not be accepted. Projects should include information from existing space assets, though where new satellite information may become available in the lifetime of the project this can also be considered. In all cases, the user-driven nature of the service must be demonstrated.The service provision value chain shall be described. It shall be indicated to what extent the key players in the service provision value chain are (or will be) engaged in the proposal. It shall be shown where and how the proposed service meets the user needs. The process of getting service requirements from user needs shall be described at a general level.

Answer by bidder

3.2 Integrated Solution

Objective and Guideline: This section shall present the high level architecture of the integrated solution describing how the service(s) will be provided to the end user(s). The section shall describe how the solution integrates the space and (where applicable) terrestrial assets. At least two space assets must be involved. A short description of the space assets introduced in the solution shall be included, and a justification for their introduction in terms of feasibility, sustainability and added value. The description of the high level architecture shall also show the main

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interfaces of the solution.

Answer by bidder

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4 SERVICE ASSESSMENT

4.1 Added Value

Objective and Guideline: This section shall describe the rationale from a user perspective for adopting the proposed service(s), both with respect to the existing situation as well as alternative solutions for providing the envisaged service(s). Alternative available solutions, i.e. the competitive situation, shall also be described.

Answer by bidder

4.2 Viability

Objective and Guideline: An overview shall be included of the most important issues influencing the viability of the service(s). What are the critical success factors towards implementing a sustainable service ?In the course of the feasibility study a viability analysis will be undertaken. The Outline Proposal shall explain how the bidder intends to do this in relation to at least the following factors: Size of the market opportunity. Extent of the competition. Role of stakeholders. Elements of the value chain. Pricing strategy and costing of the service. Financial projections.

Answer by bidder

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4.3 Risks

Objective and Guideline: This section shall identify the main risks which could endanger the sustainability and viability of the proposed service(s), and shortly describe them. The risks should cover a variety of aspects, i.e. commercial (e.g. loss of a major customer, or entry of a new competitor in the same market), technological (entrance of competing technology), regulatory (e.g. entrance into force of new legal hurdles), etc.A short description towards the mitigation of the identified risks shall be provided.

Answer by bidder

4.4 Roadmap

Objective and Guideline: The Outline Proposal shall include a roadmap presenting the major milestones towards the successful implementation of an operational service. These milestones represent when the critical success factors (e.g. partnership agreement, patent filing, fund raising, etc) or mitigated risks will be met. An estimation of the time and financial efforts required to realise these milestones needs to be indicated. Based on this, the Outline Proposal shall indicate the schedule for implementation of a demonstration project. A target for the timeline of the service’s operational deployment shall be indicated if possible.

Answer by bidder

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5 PROPOSED STUDY

5.1 Study logic and content

Objective and Guideline: Following the Management Requirements of the Special Conditions of Tender, the Outline Proposal shall provide an overview of the tasks planned for the project. This should be in line with the study logic of Figure 2 of the Management Requirements. However, the study logic in the ITT is not compulsory; it reflects the elements to be covered. In case alternative study logic and tasks are proposed, this needs to be clearly justified. For each of the tasks, the Outline Proposal shall identify what are the most critical and important issues to be addressed, and what are the major activities per task.

Answer by bidder

5.2 Consortium and partners

Objective and Guideline: This section shall introduce the consortium, including prime and subcontractor(s). User and stakeholder organisations which participate in the project shall be listed. The capabilities and experience relevant to this Feasibility Study of the consortium need to be demonstrated.

Answer by bidder

5.3 Scheduling

Objective and Guideline: The Outline Proposal shall include the initial planning of the proposed study, presenting the overall study duration, the planning and duration of the activities, and the major milestones.

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Answer by bidder

5.4 Project risks

Objective and Guideline: The main risks to an adequate implementation of the study shall be identified and described, together with the approach to mitigate these risks (e.g. funding, involvement of users, missing expertise within the consortium, withdrawal of a partner).

Answer by bidder

5.5 Cost and price

Objective and Guideline: The Outline Proposal shall indicate the total costs of the proposed study, and the contribution asked from ESA. A distribution of the costs and ESA contribution per consortium partner and per country needs to be included.It shall be noted that work carried out by universities and research institutes involved as contractors or subcontractors and justifying no further commercial interest in the service or product may be funded 100% by the Agency.The source of co-funding needs to be indicated. In case of third party funding, the status of the availability of this funding, and actions to arrive at a formal agreement for this needs to be described.

Answer by bidder

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