An RFP or ‘Request For Proposal’ is a well-established term in the corporate world, where an organization requests quotes from multiple parties for their envisioned solution. This enables them to compare offers (not just monetary aspects, but also project approach, expertise, lead times, etc.) and select the best fit. Such RFPs are often lengthy documents with detailed requirements, to ensure that the agency will be able to make a good estimate and to avoid that the agency will invoice additional costs once the assignment has been awarded for what they will categorize as ‘new requirements’.
We adopted this RFP process in DFR3, but with very concise and high-level RFPs, to give direction to a few desired proposals. This turned out quite successful and promising, and going forward, the RFP concept could be an engine for getting high-quality proposals out, and motivating professional teams collaborating in the Deep Funding program. RFPs would not only give more direction to the allocation of funds; they could also have a function in defining and developing future frameworks that allow multiple teams to collaborate on joint solutions, instead of developing overlapping functions that will digress into a dispersed landscape of half-baked solutions.
While the first RFPs are defined by the SingularityNET team and Deep Funding Staff, we are working on a process to enable and facilitate the community to ideate and develop RFPs in their own right. We see a lot of potential in this process, leading not only to high value projects but also driving Ideation, knowledge sharing, and collaboration throughout the Deep Funding Community