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Request for Proposal: Website Design & Knowledge Exchange Planning For the Period March 22 to June 30, 2021

General Information

  1. Purpose:  This request for proposal (RFP) is to contract services to assist with development of a Mock up of a public facing website that supports knowledge sharing with a plan for development of a functioning site, and a supporting comprehensive Knowledge Mobilization Plan/Strategy.  The services are to be provided to the Praxis Spinal Cord Institute (hereinafter referred to as Praxis) for the term March 22 to June 30, 2021
  2. Who May Respond:  Canadian website strategy and development professionals with experience in digital platform design, health care communication, and knowledge translation/mobilization.
  3. Instructions on Proposal Submission:
    1. Key Dates
      1. Intent to Bid Notice:  Notice must be submitted no later than February 12, 2021 at 5:00 pm PST.
      2. Closing Submission Date:  Proposals must be submitted no later than February 26, 2021 at 5:00 pm PST.
    2. Inquiries.  Inquiries concerning this RFP should be directed to:
    3. Instructions to Prospective Contractors.  Proposal should be addressed as follows:
      • Attn:  Charlene Yousefi
      • Subject Line: Proposal for website
      • Email: funding@praxisinstitute.org
      • It is the responsibility of the Offeror to ensure that the proposal is received by Praxis, by the date and time specified above. Late proposals will not be considered.
    4. Conditions of Proposal. Costs incurred in the preparation of a proposal responding to this RFP will be the responsibility of the Offeror and will not be reimbursed by the Praxis.
    5. Right to Reject. Praxis reserves the right to reject any and all proposals received in response to this RFP.
    6. Notification of Award.  A decision selecting the successful candidate will be made within eight business days of the closing date for the receipt of proposals.  Once the contract is awarded, all Offerors will be informed, in writing of the decision.  A contract for the accepted proposal will be drafted based upon the factors described in this RFP.
    7. Term of Engagement. The engagement will be for a period of three months.  The engagement is anticipated to commence on March 22, 2021.
  4. Description of Our Organization. Praxis Spinal Cord Institute is a Canadian-based not-for-profit organization that drives innovation in spinal cord injury (SCI) research and care.  By facilitating an international network of researchers, health care professionals, entrepreneurs, investors, individuals with SCI, and their supporters, we strive to improve the lives of people living with SCI in Canada and around the world.

Scope of Services

The Offeror shall be readily available to perform the following services within the following scope of services, as requested by Praxis:

In support of the Praxis Strategic Goal: Achieve evidence‐informed equitable care for all Canadians sustaining a SCI and address gaps in knowledge that will advance SCI care and facilitate future SCI cure(s). 

Project Objectives

  1. To design a Mockup of a Public Facing Website (including Content Outline, Site Map, and Wireframes) and plans for development and sustainability of the site. The scope of this project does not include development and sustainability of this website; however, applicants are encouraged to include in the development and sustainability plan their capacity as well as budget and timeline to move the mockup to a full functioning website.  The goal of the website is to strengthen knowledge exchange and networking across Canadian SCI communities.  Supported by a comprehensive plan for identifying, capturing, and disseminating relevant SCI activities and resources (see Objective 2 below), the website will systematically coordinate promotion, linking, and sharing of a comprehensive and cohesive set of Canadian SCI resources across the continuum of care.  Resources include but are not limited to:
    • general updates and information
    • resources, tools, videos
    • research activities and findings/evidence
    • best practices and clinical practice guidelines
    • information about Canadian SCI networks and their activities
  2. To develop a Knowledge Mobilization plan that recommends innovative and effective strategies to utilize the website for mobilizing knowledge, fostering engagement with a broad range of stakeholders and creating connections among and across stakeholder groups seeking collaborative opportunities.  An evaluation plan with a focus on long-term sustainability and adaptation of the website and associated knowledge mobilization strategies must be included.

Background

Working towards achieving evidence-informed equitable care for Canadians with SCI, Praxis aims to ensure the latest resources are disseminated broadly and effectively.  Such dissemination is intended to enhance access to information, facilitate connections and opportunities for alignment and collaboration, and support implementation, spread and sustainability of best practices.

Praxis has conducted a mapping of existing Canadian SCI knowledge sharing platforms including websites/social media channels/digital platforms, networks/consortia/community of practice/interest groups and their associated knowledge sharing vehicles.  This mapping exercise revealed that, while valuable resources exist across the country, sharing of resources is limited to regions, within disciplines of practice, or areas of interest where established and well-connected networks exist.  There is a gap in the linking between these regions and disciplines to allow for cross-Canada sharing of resources.

Given the importance of access to latest resources for individuals with SCI to better understand the injury and manage their health, as well as for informing care, research, and service planning across stakeholders, disciplines, regions, and provinces, there is an opportunity to coordinate sharing and linking of resources so that members of the SCI community can have access to a comprehensive and cohesive set of resources in Canada.

This website shall not duplicate existing SCI communication and knowledge sharing platforms.  It shall enhance their reach and engagement with the Canadian SCI community and create linkages to provide a comprehensive and coordinated repository of SCI resources.

The Canadian SCI community includes persons with SCI, their families and caregivers, community service providers, consumer service/advocacy organization representatives, operational leaders, health care providers, SCI researchers and innovators, and other persons involved in SCI research, care, and treatment, funders, government officials, and policy-makers.

Outputs / Deliverables

  1. A Mockup of a website with a plan for site development including budget and resource to develop, operationalize, and sustain a functional site.  Content Outline, Site Map and Wireframes are required.  Desired features and functions include but not limited to:
    • Ability to share and link to existing and future resources for use by the SCI community
    • Ability to host Visual illustration and interactive tools to show distribution of initiatives/resources across Canada (e.g. an interactive map)
    • Ability to advertise and promote knowledge exchange events happening across the network, such as a calendar to post events in the SCI community (e.g. conferences, stakeholder events, non-network/non-SCI specific activities that would be of interest to our community members)
    • Ability to allow for end-users to submit resources for posting on the platform
    • Ability to automate or facilitate a peer review process for the submitted resources to support scientific merit and quality assurance of the platform
    • A membership database for members to connect ensuring compliance with Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) (see Office of Privacy Commissioner of Canada Guidance web-page)
    • Adherence to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and standards
    • Scalable and be able to amend platform structure to support emerging partnerships and content
    • Content management system that is non-customized (i.e. readily-available such as WordPress)
    • May utilize existing software solutions/knowledge-sharing tools to facilitate the knowledge exchange functions of this website
    • The ability to host French translation of content (both language existing on the same page) to increase accessibility and inclusiveness
  2. A knowledge mobilization (KMb) plan to support the successful implementation, evaluation, and sustainability of the website.  The KMb plan will be developed in in consultation and collaboration with Praxis Knowledge Exchange Lead and must address the following elements:
    • Objective(s)/Goal(s)/Impacts that can be achieved through the KMb plan (WHY)
    • Identified knowledge (i.e. evidenced-informed resources and examples of best practices across Canada) to be mobilized (WHAT)
    • Knowledge users’ profile (WHO)
      • Overview of their context or needs
      • Level of engagement/interest in KMb
    • Planned KMb activities (HOW)
      • Description of activities
      • Appropriateness/effectiveness for knowledge users
      • Timeline
    • Budget and resources needed to implement the KMb plan
    • Expected impact of KMb
      • Description of KMb evaluation strategy
      • Evaluation indicators
    • A sustainability/adaptation plan for the platform and associated KMb Strategies

Budget and Tasks

The budget to complete this work is a maximum of CAD $25,000.

TaskSchedule (TBD by Offeror and to be included in proposal)
Participate in weekly meetings with Praxis Team and to co-create the website and successful KMb strategies relevant to the SCI community 
Review and become familiar with all existing SCI knowledge sharing platforms (an initial mapping exercise has been completed and will be shared as a resource) 
Consult up to 10 national stakeholders and leads of existing platforms to:
a) Explore their level of interest/willingness to partner and include resource in the proposed website
b) Identify value of such a website to them and how the website can support them with promotion, sharing, and creating linkages with other groups
c) Identify what and how resources maybe shared in the proposed website with the broader SCI community

A summary report is required.		 
Conduct/compile a national landscaping of resources, and key national and provincial SCI action plans, strategies, and frameworks.  This stage is about mapping the content and can be identified through consultation with Praxis Team and the leads of existing knowledge sharing platforms that are consulted above. 
Synthesize all resources and tacit knowledge gained through consultations and draft a work plan for development of a) a website, and b) a KMb plan 
A Mockup of the website with a plan for site development including budget and resource to develop, operationalize, and sustain a functional site.  Content Outline, Site Map and Wireframes are required. 
Develop a KMb plan for the proposed website. 

Praxis will consider variations to the proposed elements listed above.

Offeror shall be prepared to submit detailed monthly billing statements for all services billed at an hourly rate, if any, broken down into time increments of no more than a quarter hour. Offeror shall also include summaries of work performed and time spent on services performed, as discussed below.

Proposal Contents

The Offeror, in its proposal, shall, as a minimum, include the following:

  1. Approach to Scope of Services. The Offeror should describe its proposed approach(es) to the work outlined in the Scope of Services above.  This should include strengths of the proposed approach(es), potential challenges (and solutions to them) as well as proposed milestones and deliverables.
  2. Experience. The Offeror should describe its website development experience, including the names, addresses, contact persons, telephone numbers and emails of at least three client references, preferably including clients similar to Praxis.  Experience should include the following categories:
    1. Experience advising non-profit or charitable organizations.
    2. Experience advising clients conducting similar initiatives and government or donor‐funded services – with digital platform design and development, health care communication, and knowledge translation.
  3. Organization Information. If the Offeror is an organization, it should describe its organization type, size, structure, areas of practice, and office location(s).
  4. Staff Qualifications and Experience. The Offeror should have experience in digital platform design and development, health care communication, and knowledge translation.  The Offeror should describe the qualifications of staff to be assigned to the project. Descriptions should include:
    1. Education and employment of staff.
    2. Overall supervision to be exercised.
    3. Prior experience of the individuals with respect to the required experience listed above.  Only include resumes of individuals likely to be assigned to the project. Background, position in the organization, years and types of experience, and continuing professional education will be considered.
  5. Price. The Offeror’s proposed price should include information on the billing rates of each staff who is expected to work on this project and charges for expenses, if any, such as, research and copies.  Praxis reserves the right to negotiate with the Offeror on the structure of the billing.
  6. Confidentiality. The Offeror must ensure the confidentiality of information obtained as a result of their involvement with Praxis matters is maintained.
  7. Independence. The Offeror must provide a statement confirming their independence from Praxis.

Proposal Evaluation

  1. Submission of Proposals. All proposals shall be submitted electronically.
  2. Evaluation Procedure and Criteria. A review committee will review the proposals and may request an interview or meeting with some qualified Offerors prior to final selection.  Proposals will be reviewed in accordance with the following criteria:
    1. Proposed approach to scope of services – activities, deliverables, and workplan
    2. Experience with similar clients and matters – digital platform design and development, health care communication, and knowledge translation
    3. Response from references
    4. Price
    5. Value in kind
    6. Interviews, if conducted

Resources

  1. Office of Privacy Commissioner of Canada Guidance (https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/)
  2. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/)
  3. Knowledge Mobilization (KMb) Plan (https://research.uottawa.ca/writing-knowledge-mobilization-kmb-plan)

    Example websites with features that this project hopes to achieve:
  4. Global Dementia Observatory (GDO) – WHO’s online data and knowledge exchange platform. (https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/16-01-2020-new-platform)
  5. WHO – A global hub for resources, practices and collaborative learning (https://www.integratedcare4people.org/)
  6. Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (https://www.partnershipagainstcancer.ca/)
  7. Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health (CanPath – Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health)

Questions

Please contact funding@praxisinstitute.org for questions regarding this RFP.

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