Industry Insider — California regularly spotlights such endeavors in its Opportunities section. Here’s a look at several public-sector governmental entities with technology or innovation-related initiatives:
- The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD), the nation’s largest supplier of treated water, has released a request for qualifications (RFQ) seeking on-call grant application and administrative services to help with identification, application and administration relative to supplemental external funding, potentially including grants and low-interest loans. MWD supplies water to 26 member agencies that serve 19 million people in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties. MWD plans to award a three-year contract to one or more companies. The RFQ spans categories including administrative consulting — but also applications software for mainframe, and for “minicomputer systems.” The RFQ was posted Thursday. An online Q&A will be held at 11 a.m. Sept. 21; responses are due by 11 a.m. Oct. 12.
- The county of El Dorado’s Chief Administrative Office, Procurement and Contracts Division, acting on behalf of the Planning and Building Department, has issued a request for information (RFI) seeking to hear from Internet service providers interested in collaborating with the county to improve broadband services to El Dorado’s remaining areas that are now unable to get Internet services at speeds of at least 100/20 megabits per second (Mbps). The RFI came out Monday; questions are due by Sept. 18 with answers coming on or about Sept. 22 and responses due by 3 p.m. Sept. 25.
- El Dorado County’s Chief Administrative Office, Procurement and Contracts Division, acting on behalf of the Planning and Building Department, has also issued an RFQ, looking to create a list of qualified consultants capable of providing broadband network design and engineering services on an as-needed basis. The county plans to name roughly four or more successful respondents to its qualified list, which will be valid for three years after the award date. The RFQ came out Friday; questions are due Sept. 21 with answers coming Sept. 28. Responses are due by 3 p.m. Oct. 6
- Fresno Unified School District (FUSD) has issued an RFI seeking a K-12 education customer experience and service platform. FUSD is looking to partner with a company capable of providing a customer service and communication tool to simplify district communications and improve responses to feedback from stakeholders. The tool should more easily enable parents, students, staff and community members to ask questions, seek information and share feedback. It will be used to allow the district to respond quickly to community feedback, cutting its response time and helping identify problems before they become crises. The RFI was released Sept. 6; questions are due by 5 p.m. Wednesday. Responses are due by 2 p.m. Sept. 21.
