Invitation 98/17Respond by 29 May 1998 Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs): Bids for funds 1998-99
Executive summaryPurpose 1. This publication invites bids for funds to provide Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) -high-speed electronic links between institutions in a region. Key points 2. We will allocate up to £7.5 million over two years, and will contribute 75 per cent of the total costs of successful proposals. 3. Proposals can be to develop new MANs or improve existing ones. 4. All institutions are eligible to bid, whether or not they have been funded under previous MAN initiatives. Action required 5. Bids should be sent to the HEFCE, to arrive by midday on 29 May 1998. Background6. We are providing £7.5 million for a third phase of the MAN initiative, £4 million in the 1998-99 academic year and £3.5 million in the 1999-2000 academic year. 7. The aim of this phase is to enable institutions to develop new MANs, and to enhance facilities within existing MANs. 8. We will consider all bids solely on the basis of the evaluation criteria set out in paragraph 19. We will not distinguish between institutions which received funds in previous phases and those which did not. 9. Since the initiative will probably be over-subscribed, institutions should not expect a disproportionate share of the funds available. Relationship between the HEFCE, the JISC and UKERNA10. This is a HEFCE initiative administered on our behalf by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). The United Kingdom Education and Research Networking Association (UKERNA) will provide technical advice by assessing each bid against the technical evaluation criteria, but will take no part in the funding decisions. 11. Institutions are encouraged to contact UKERNA to discuss the technical aspects of any proposals. However, consultation with UKERNA will not necessarily improve their bid's chance of success, which will depend entirely on its performance against the evaluation criteria. Metropolitan Area Networks12. We hope that the initiative will enable the development of a number of new MANs. 13. Where a MAN already exists, we would expect proposals to build on it. We will only consider a proposal to develop an alternative infrastructure in exceptional cases and where significant additional benefit can be demonstrated. 14. The JISC will meet the cost of a single connection to each HEI within a MAN where this is technically and financially sensible. MAN consortia should therefore only bid under this initiative for funding to develop the MAN beyond the connection funded by the JISC. Consortia wishing to establish a new MAN should discuss their proposal with the JISC to ensure that it builds upon any funding they are likely to receive from the JISC. 15. MAN consortia may, exceptionally, wish to submit a bid with a limited number of options - for example, a lower bid to connect a small number of institutions, and a higher bid to connect a greater number. Consortia wishing to do this should seek advice from Joseph Hutcheon, JISC Secretariat, before finalising their proposal. 16. In all cases, institutions must show that significant additional benefits would be provided by funding under this initiative. In particular, institutions must, as a condition of funding, provide evidence of collaborative ventures with other members of their consortia. 17. We accept that MAN proposals will make use of innovative and developing technology, and do not wish to prescribe particular approaches. Therefore awards are likely to specify the locations to be connected to the MAN and to give collaborating institutions a fair degree of freedom in the way the MAN is configured. However, it will be a condition of all MAN awards that the consortium reaches contractual agreement with UKERNA on the provision of SuperJANET services across the infrastructure. The bid must be technically sound. 18. MAN proposals should be submitted from one lead institution, which should undertake to co-ordinate communication with UKERNA on behalf of the consortium. Evaluation criteria19. All bids will be evaluated by scoring them against the criteria below. Although a bid may meet all the criteria, it will not be successful if the initiative is oversubscribed and other bids score more highly. The criteria are: a. The strategic importance of the bid to the institutions connected to the MAN, and to other higher education institutions in the region. b. Examples of existing and planned collaboration between the institutions forming the MAN. This criterion is particularly important for bids to expand existing MANs. c. Whether the proposal uses reliable technology that is appropriate to the needs of the institutions and the applications proposed for it, has an adequate projected useful service life, and can work with current and likely future SuperJANET technologies. d. Whether the costs are reasonable compared with alternative methods of connection, and whether the bid offers good value for money. Eligible and ineligible costs20. Funding under this initiative relates only to activities funded by the Council under section 65(2) of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. In particular it excludes costs relating to services which should be self-financing under paragraph 60 of the Financial Memorandum between the Council and institutions (Circular 15/97). Any costs for which an institution has previously received specific public funding are also ineligible for funding under this initiative. The cover sheet for the bids includes a declaration that the bid does not relate to self-financing activities or to costs for which the institution has previously received specific public funding. This declaration must be signed by the head of the institution. 21. The following costs are also ineligible: a. All recurrent charges, such as recurrent charges for telecommunications services, and maintenance contract charges. b. Staffing costs and associated training. c. Applications software, including network management software. d. Equipment dedicated to video services and telephony services. e. Free-standing computer systems, including servers, workstations, network interface cards, peripherals. f. Costs relating to a site which was not part of an institution within the consortium on 1 April 1998. 22. Subject to these exceptions, all costs, plus the irrecoverable VAT incurred by institutions on those costs, are eligible for funding. 23. MAN consortia may bid for project management costs only if they can demonstrate that they do not have the necessary knowledge and experience within the consortium. 24. Institutions may bid for funding for any project where contracts have not been signed. However, they are unlikely to be able to demonstrate that Council funds would provide significant additional benefits to a project that is in an advanced stage of development. Extent of HEFCE contribution25. We will fund 75 per cent of the cost of the total proposal. The contributions from collaborating institutions to a MAN will be a matter for the institutions to agree between themselves. This information should be disclosed in the bid. 26. In deciding whether to support a proposal, we will also assess whether the institutions in the consortium can afford both their share of the 25 per cent contribution and the recurrent costs of the project. 27. We may attach conditions to any funds awarded under this initiative if, for example, the proposed solution depends on any external factors, or if there are any uncertainties in the total financial package. Timetable28. The deadline for the receipt of bids is midday on 29 May 1998. No proposals will be accepted after this date. Recommendations will be made to the HEFCE Board at its meeting on 16 July 1998. Institutions will be informed of the outcome as soon as possible after that meeting. Structure and submission of bids29. The lead institution should submit a concise, structured bid which addresses all the points in the evaluation criteria. Not all the evaluation will be done by UKERNA, therefore the bid must be explained in non-technical language so that the non-technical criteria can be evaluated. 30. Bids should have the following structure:
31. The bid must not exceed 12 sides of A4, including a one-page cover sheet. However it can be supported by the following appendices:
32. The bid should also include a summary table of costs incurred against the following categories of equipment/services, with an estimate of the annual recurrent cost (including maintenance and any rental charges) associated with each category:
33. Institutions should submit six copies of their bid to Joseph Hutcheon at the HEFCE, Northavon House, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol BS16 1QD, to arrive by midday on 29 May 1998. Faxes and e-mails will not be accepted. Further information34. Enquiries on the running of the initiative should be addressed to: Joseph Hutcheon, tel 0117 931 7251, Enquiries relating to the technical content of a proposal should be addressed to: Stephen Percival Annex AHEFCE MAN Initiative 1998-99 - Cover sheetName of lead institution
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