Thank you for participating in the Technology Innovation Challenge. The County of Los Angeles is seeking to collaborate in new ways with the technology sector, academia, civic-technology, start-ups, and other new potential partners on delivering operationally-proven, human-centered solutions to prevent and combat homelessness in Los Angeles County.

Your application will be shared with others during the evaluation process. Portions of your application may be published online including, but are not limited to, Organization Name, Solution Title, One-Sentence Description, Executive Summary, and Video Pitch. All responses are considered public record – any trademarked or confidential information must be clearly marked in the response to that effect. A blanket statement of confidentiality is not acceptable.

Applications must be submitted in English. Please contact [email protected] with questions or technical issues. The application saves automatically and the status of your application is available to view on your dashboard (you will not receive any automated emails).

Prior to submission, confirm all the information provided on the Registration Form is correct. Be sure to review your application as it will appear after it’s been submitted (link at the bottom of the page). When you have completed all requirements, a message will be displayed on the screen with the option to submit your application. Once you have submitted the application, you will no longer be able to make changes.

Applications are due no later than Tuesday, February 25, 2020 at 3:00 PM Pacific.

A. QUICK PITCH

Make a strong first impression with a succinct and compelling overview of your solution. This pitch should include which challenge will be addressed by the solution and illustrate your understanding of the County’s challenges in that solution area. The information in this section is likely to be made publicly available in a variety of online settings.

SOLUTION TITLE (10 words)

Provide a title for your solution that easily identifies your solution and distinguishes it from others.

ONE-SENTENCE DESCRIPTION (25 words)

Provide a short description for your solution in one sentence.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (75 words)

Provide a concise summary of the most powerful aspects of your solution. This should be a stand-alone statement of the problem and solution.

SOLUTION AREA

Confirm that the solution area you selected in your Registration Form best describes your proposed solution for the Technology Innovation Challenge. Go to Profile then Edit Registration Form to make any changes prior to submission – once you submit your application, you will not be able to make changes to these forms.

B. THE PROBLEM

PROBLEM STATEMENT (250 words)

Set the stage for your solution and explain why you have committed to help solve this problem. Identify real and potential challenges, and describe specific needs and/or inefficiencies that your solution will address. Include data to demonstrate your knowledge of the solution area you selected, as well as information to describe your understanding of the currently relevant systems and local conditions which affect your plans.

C. SOLUTION

Showcase the operational and technical aspects of the proposed solution. The County of Los Angeles anticipates launching awarded solutions 3-6 months from the signing of the contract.

SOLUTION OVERVIEW (250 words)

Describe the solution you plan to develop, expected benefits for the users, and ways in which it meaningfully addresses your Problem Statement and the technical specifications identified by the County of Los Angeles. Share how your solution improves services and/or enables stronger outcomes in a bold, practical, and more cost-effective way.

HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN (200 words)

As a deeply embedded philosophy for this competition, we aim to support the creation of solutions and technologies that are based upon human-centered design principles and approaches. Describe how you have engaged beneficiaries of your technology to inform the user experience that you plan to deliver. Focus on those beneficiaries who stand to make the greatest projected impact on the movement to end homelessness in Los Angeles County. Demonstrate an understanding of stakeholders and your plans to engage and work with them on an ongoing basis.

USER PERSONAS (150 words)

Describe up to three (3) personas for potential users of the solution you propose.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS (250 words)

Explain how your solution works. If you are building on an existing technology, describe the baseline and specific changes you intend to make. This is an opportunity to highlight your technical knowledge of the solution, including but not limited to explanations of those issues which would concern any interested party, such as data security, safety, stability, scalability, and durability. 

TECHNICAL FEATURES (150 words)

Identify and describe features of the solution, including any data management and/or reporting capabilities available to users. Highlight unique features and any information demonstrating creativity and innovation in your approach.

REQUIREMENTS GATHERING (150 words)

Explain your process for gathering requirements for your solution, including your connection to homelessness and the way(s) you have involved those who will be using this technology. Describe any support from the impacted community that you intend to serve, including endorsements from key decision-makers, local leaders, residents, media, and others.

USE CASES (250 words)

Describe the main flow of action(s) this solution will support.

ALTERNATIVE USE CASES (150 words)

Describe the non-main flow of actions your solution will support.

USER INTERFACE (upload)

We are prioritizing user-friendly, intuitive, human-centered solutions. A solution that meets the technical requirements could still be very challenging to use. Upload a design of the user interface that your technology will have. This must be a single PDF no more than 10MB in size.

USABILITY & FUNCTIONALITY TESTING (150 words)

Describe any usability and/or functionality testing you’ve completed to-date on your solution, highlighting any iterations and/or agile development completed.

APPLICABLE ENVIRONMENTS (100 words)

Describe operating systems, platforms, mobile devices and other environments that work with your solution.

INTEGRATION (150 words)

Operating under a 3-6 month project period, explain how you’ll build upon and integrate within the existing systems or technologies currently serving the needs of those facing homelessness in LA County. Show your efforts to understand both current local conditions that these systems represent and a future state that includes the projected benefits that you plan to deliver.

SUPPORT (100 words)

Describe the plan for ongoing maintenance and upgrades for your solution should you be selected as a Winner of the Technology Innovation Challenge.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (100 words)

Explain any and all issues related to the intellectual property that underlies your technology. Identify the owner(s) of the intellectual property. If you are building on an existing or off-the-shelf technology, detail the permissions you have secured to utilize that technology.

SCALABILITY (150 words)

Identify how your solution differs from, improves upon, and/or bolsters existing methods or practices to meet needs of service-providers and those experiencing homelessness in LA County. Share your vision and describe plans to scale your solution as a model that can be applied or adapted to meet the diverse, growing needs of Los Angeles County’s many communities.

D. YOUR TEAM

Help us capture a basic understanding of the structure, capacity, and leadership of your organization.

OPERATING BUDGET

Provide the principal organization’s total annual operating budget by selecting one of the options below.

• <$1M
• $1M-$5M
• $6M-$10M
• $11M-$25M
• >$25m

CREDIBILITY (250 words)

Emphasize the ways in which you have the right leadership, capabilities, partnerships, and commitment to execute your solution, including experience creating solutions that are both practical and innovative. Explain how you are uniquely positioned to deliver results within an existing infrastructure and/or systems. While we understand some applicants may not have experience in the homelessness sector, please share specific qualifications you have to address the problem illustrated above and the rationale for committing talent and resources to support this movement. 

E. PROJECT PLAN & BUDGET

Illustrate your plan and the resources required to successfully implement your solution.

PROJECT PLAN (250 words)

Provide a detailed implementation plan against a timeline of a 3-6-month period from the start of a contract with County of Los Angeles. Describe the chronological sequence of key tasks and identify important milestones, including the ways in which the proposed solution will integrate with existing county systems and the current homeless services system.

RISK MANAGEMENT (150 words)

Identify any specific operational or tactical hurdles, principal risks or challenges to the short- and long-term success of the project and your plans to address them. Explain your understanding of the necessary operations or tactics critical to overcoming implementation challenges, as well as any potential unintended consequences, and your plans to mitigate them.

FUNDING REQUEST BY SOLUTION AREA

Select one of two award sizes upon which you have built your project plan and budget.

• $200,000 for Geo Mapping Hub & Resources or Operational Reporting of Performance Outcomes
• $500,000 for Centralized Customer Portal or Customer-Driven Mobile Digital Services

TOTAL PROJECTED COSTS

Provide the total projected cost of your solution, including expenses to be covered by sources other than the Technology Innovation Challenge award, if applicable.

BUDGET NARRATIVE (200 words)

Offer a narrative overview of how you would use Technology Innovation Challenge funding, including the projected needs by budget category. Please list and describe items and administrative costs of your solution within a 3-6 month timeline and specify what portion of the budget is expected to be spent on measurement and evaluation of results.

DETAILED BUDGET

Using the following table, present a clear, compelling budget identifying cost categories described in your previous project plan and budget narrative and within your specified duration (up to six (6) months). This budget should not exceed your selected Funding Request by Solution Area of either $200,000 or $500,000. If you submit for more than the funding levels identified for your Solution Area, your application will be deemed ineligible.

While your Budget Narrative may identify or describe any additional costs and funding sources secured by the time of the award, your Detailed Budget may not. Your application should read as one unified narrative, and the detailed budget must clarify the efficiency with which you intend to use resources to achieve your goals, as previously described. While administrative expenditures are eligible, please note that we do not accept general line item descriptions, like “Overhead.” You must specifically describe the incurred costs as part of each line item. 

FINANCIAL LEVERAGE (150 words)

Please describe any potential to leverage additional resources to realize or scale your solution. Expand upon any descriptions of additional sources of funding identified in your Total Projected Costs and Budget Narrative, if applicable. Explain how those additional resources will improve feasibility, scalability, and adaptability of your technology. Include the name(s) of any current other funder(s), amounts, and type of resources (cash or in-kind). If you have not secured and/or do not plan to secure additional resources, please enter “Not Applicable.”

CONTINGENCY (150 words)

If the total costs to implement your solution exceed the amount provided in your Detailed Budget, explain your plan to secure those funds. Describe how the solution may be impacted if full funding is not secured.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS (150 words)

This is your opportunity to raise any other considerations. Here, you may emphasize or expand upon a previous point or provide new information, as necessary.

F. VIDEO PITCH

You are required to submit a video that captures your solution and why it should be funded. The video is an opportunity to showcase your passion and pitch your story to a broad audience. Share your vision with the judges in a way that is different from the written proposal format. This DOES NOT need to be a professionally produced video.

In order to complete this part of your application, you will upload a short digital film using YouTube.

Set the Privacy Settings on your video to Public or Unlisted – do not set them to Private. Your video may be extracted from your submission and made available to the public and other donors. Video submissions should follow these guidelines. Failure to do so will render the application ineligible:

• A length of no more than 90 seconds.
• Your pitch must be primarily in English. If it includes segments in another language, those segments should be subtitled in English.
• Your video must be captioned. See these instructions on how to use You Tube automatic captioning.
• Your video should not contain identifiable children without parent consent.

Here are general suggestions for delivering a high-quality video pitch:

• Introduce yourself and your organization(s) and/or team.
• Describe the solution and how it addresses homelessness.
• Explain your solution.
• Explain what is unique about your solution.
• Describe how you plan to measure success and achieve meaningful impact.

G. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The County of Los Angeles will execute contractual agreements which will outline the terms of the award provided to ant grantee awarded through the Technology Innovation Challenge and will also monitor the project. Please review our Rules and Terms & Conditions for more details.

If chosen as a Winner by County of Los Angeles, you will be required to provide additional information to enter into a contractual agreement for the Technology Innovation Challenge. The following list is intended to illustrate some basic requirements, and County of Los Angeles reserves the right to require other information, as necessary.

• Articles of Incorporation, Charter, or similar documentation
• A more detailed work plan, timeline, and/or evaluation plan.
• Evidence of additional funding and resources secured to implement the proposed technology.
• Existing policies, if any, addressing conflicts of interest, whistleblower, internal controls, anti-money laundering, intellectual property, code of conduct, ethics, gifts, and any similar policies governing the principal organization and/or partners.

The County of Los Angeles reserves the right to perform background checks on key individuals associated with the proposal, and the refusal by key individuals to provide necessary authorizations will be a reason to reject any application for further consideration. Background information and the results of any background checks will be kept confidential.