We are seeking pre-commercial innovative prototypes that can be tested in real life settings and address a variety of priorities within the Government of Canada.
Funding mechanism:
Contract
Opening date:
September 12, 2023
Closing date:
October 3, 2023, 14:00 Eastern Time
Overview
The Testing Stream aims to procure, test and evaluate innovative late stage pre-commercial prototypes.
The purpose of these calls for prototypes (CFPs) is to create pools of conditionally qualified innovations that Canada may select from to address a broad range of the Government of Canada organizations' requirements.
Each call includes a Standard Component and Military Component:
Standard component: $1,150,000 CAD
Military component: $2,300,000 CAD
If you meet the eligibility criteria and have a prototype that can respond to one of the problems below, apply now!
Problem statements
Advanced Sensors Technologies
Advances in data capture, and real-time and post-event processing and analysis for the application of data underscore a new need to deploy technologies that can perform an array of functions related to the acquisition and interpretation of data. In focus, are technologies that can perform novel sensing and surveillance functions.
The Government of Canada is interested in testing sensor and surveillance technologies, as they relate to addressing needs identified within the below sub-groups.
Sub-Group 1: Novel Surveillance Technologies
In order to maintain persistent surveillance over the vast and heterogenous geography of Canada, the Government of Canada requires a diverse and complementary set of surveillance technologies along with new applications, enabled by advanced sensor data exploitation methodologies.
The Government is seeking operation-ready sensor technologies that enable novel surveillance, with usage on Earth and in space. We expect to see technologies addressing challenges posed by year-round, persistent surveillance of the Canadian Artic, territorial waters, and air space.
The relevance of proposed innovations will be assessed according to how they address and resolve the Problem Statement above. Innovative processes will be accepted and constitute an innovation for the purpose of the outcomes below.
Definitions:
- EO/IR sensor system:
- Electro-Optical/Infra-Red systems are imaging systems which include both visible and infrared sensors.
- Operation-Ready:
- the solution is ready to deploy, operate, and maintain without significant issues.
Outcomes:
Innovations must meet at least ONE of the following outcomes to meet the requirements of SC4 Evaluation Grid.:
- Visible and near-infrared sensor systems, for extremely low-light applications such as passive imaging during night-time;
- Sensor systems for single-photon detection;
- EO/IR sensor systems with full-well capacity greater than 1Me-;
- EO/IR sensor systems with time-of-flight capacity;
- Event-based EO/IR sensor systems;
- Technologies for real-time, embedded sensor data exploitation;
- Space-qualified versions of any of the above-mentioned technologies; or
- Sensor technologies with satellite applications that can provide data on co-orbital proximity, real-time detection, and interference events.
Sub-Group 2: Novel Sensor Technologies
Canadian Armed Forces members employ a number of sensors on the battlefield to aid in observation, these detections generally range from the visual to thermal portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, but can include others for the purpose of maintenance and material detection applications.
The Government of Canada is interested in testing miniaturized fused devices that can exploit multiple frequency bands to aid in observation and target detection. These hyper-spectral devices (that are not limited to two portions of the spectrum, necessarily) can give Canadian Armed Forces members a technological advantage. The Government is also interested in the application of advanced sensor technologies for the maintenance and support of material assets. With a growing need to detect material property deficiencies, such as corrosion and material fatigue, advanced sensor technologies can provide significant advantage for in-service and through-life applications.
The relevance of proposed innovations will be assessed according to how they address and resolve the Problem Statement above. Innovative processes will be accepted and constitute an innovation for the purpose of the outcomes below.
Definitions:
- Hyper-spectral devices:
- hyperspectral sensors acquire imagery in hundreds of narrow, contiguous spectral bands, which facilitates fine discrimination between different features on the Earth's surface
- Multi-sensor fusion and analysis:
- solutions capable of combining information from several sources, in order to form a unified picture or data set for analysis
Outcomes:
Innovations must meet at least ONE of the following outcomes to meet the requirements of SC4 Call for Proposals Evaluation Grid. Identify in your proposal which Outcome(s) you have selected..
- Hyper-spectral sensors, three or more different sensors;
- Miniaturized fused viewing devices suitable to be helmet mounted or affixed to a weapon;
- Fused sensors with some form of image enhancement and on-board processing to improve the image quality;
- Fused sensors with built in artificial intelligence, to aid in target recognition or detection;
- Multi-sensor fusion and analysis technologies;
- Multipurpose sensors capable of material property detection, to support maintenance and operations; and
- Advanced surveillance, material property detection, and multipurpose sensors to support maintenance and operations.
ISC will not accept (out of scope):
- Devices that include low generation imagers (i.e. 2nd Generation Image Intensifiers).
Uncrewed autonomous system including uncrewed and remotely piloted underwater and surface vehicles and related infrastructure
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) will be using uncrewed and remotely piloted systems for a variety of combat and non-combat operations such as: surveillance, reconnaissance, target acquisition, inspections of facilities/infrastructure or ships, remote response, support for search and rescue, emergencies, and natural disasters. These technologies will fill a critical need of surveillance in the Canadian Arctic and maritime regions. As the Northwest Passage becomes more navigable, water traffic is expected to increase and the ability to monitor remote waterways and landmasses will be crucial in maintaining Canadian sovereignty. We invite Bidders to propose innovative uncrewed and remotely piloted systems of various types, sizes and operational capabilities.
The proposed systems should be able to improve the situational awareness and decision making of the members in operation, and, when deployed in remote locations, provide autonomous means of detection, tracking and position reporting of object of interest. The Government of Canada is also seeking uncrewed and remotely piloted infrastructure that will allow rapid deployment, remote maintenance and resupply of civilian and military technologies for such operations.
The relevance of proposed innovations will be assessed according to how they address and resolve the Problem Statement above. Innovative processes will be accepted and constitute an innovation for the purpose of the outcomes below.
Definitions:
- Novel fuel technologies:
- Novel fuel technologies refer to transportation fuels that are produced using innovative processes, including fuel cells and fuels produced from non-traditional feedstocks.
Outcomes:
Innovations must meet at least ONE of the following outcomes to meet the requirements of SC4 Call for Proposals Evaluation Grid. Identify in your proposal which Outcome(s) you have selected..
- Complete uncrewed and remotely piloted systems for uses including, but not limited to: long-range cargo (payload > 5kg and range > 50km), search and rescue (area > 5km2), and infrastructure inspection (as close to 1M of structure);
- Uncrewed and remotely piloted systems with a variety of fuel and battery types including, but not limited to: electric, gas, petrol, aviation, and hydrogen combustion fuels;
- Remote operation centers and fire resistant drone operations centers;
- Forward-operating bases for conducting remote uncrewed and remotely piloted system operations and maintenance;
- Live uncrewed and remotely piloted system-based computing and/or meshing of infrastructure models;
- Artificial intelligence or machine learning systems for uncrewed and remotely piloted system infrastructure monitoring
- Smart hangars/depot and remote uncrewed and remotely piloted system delivery;
- Persistent surveillance with real time alerts;
- Vehicle-launched and recoverable uncrewed and remotely piloted systems (e.g. truck bed drone boxes, ship launched systems, micro platforms);
- Tethered drones and drones fixed to buildings for monitoring;
- Small drone swarms and the accompanying software for operation of ground, surface, or underwater swarms;
- Small rugged uncrewed and remotely piloted systems that can operate in a GPS-denied and complex environment (e.g. indoor, forest rubbles);
- Airspace Management Systems;
- Solutions capable of multi-domain operations including: ground and air, ground and surface, surface and underwater, air and surface, air and underwater;
- Heavy cargo transportation solutions with complete systems that enable an uncrewed and remotely piloted system to be flown from ships at a remote location;
- Uncrewed and untethered technologies that support hull inspection, corrosion detection, cleaning and painting applications;
- Solutions capable of launching or monitoring sonobuoys, including those launchable from ship or aircraft
- Counter-UAS systems (c-UAS)
- Solutions that are deployable to, or from, land and sea origins;
- Rapidly deployable solutions capable of set-up and deployment within 60 minutes;
- Solutions capable of regularly updating to address threats posed by emerging commercial drone technology;
- Solutions capable of detecting, tracking, jamming, and intercepting enemy uncrewed and remotely piloted systems;
- Solutions capable of combatting and protecting assets from drone and swarm technologies;
- Solutions capable of being integrated easily with command and control software;
- Solutions capable of using AI for classification to reduce the false alarm and reduce the operator workload;
- Solutions capable of being distributed and controlled remotely;
- Solutions capable of communication (video, data and command transfer) between all distributed assets and sensors;
- Solutions capable of mitigating LTE, 5G uncrewed and remotely piloted systems;
- Uncrewed Underwater Vehicles (UUVs)
- Solutions that can be launched from ships at a remote location (e.g. limited connectivity/bandwidth and space in which system & infrastructure occupies on a ship);
- Solutions that have multiple uses (e.g. an uncrewed and remotely piloted system that can conduct Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance or Mine Detection);
- Solutions capable of either autonomous operation, manual operation, or a combination of autonomous and manual;
- Solutions that can run on electric or renewable energy, or those that can run on innovative or novel fuel technologies (i.e. hydrogen fuel cells);
- Solutions capable of communicating back to the ship/control station (although not necessarily continuous)
- Underwater infrastructure technology including underwater charging, docking and download stations
- Uncrewed Surface Vehicles (USVs)
- Solutions that can be launched from ships at a remote location (e.g. limited connectivity/bandwidth and space in which system & infrastructure occupies on a ship);
- Solutions that can be launched from shore;
- Solutions that have multiple uses (an uncrewed and remotely piloted system including, but not limited to one that can conduct Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, Target drone or Mine Detection);
- Solutions capable of either autonomous operation, manual operation, or a combination of autonomous and manual;
- Solutions that can run on electric or renewable energy, or those that can run on innovative or novel fuel technologies (i.e. hydrogen fuel cells);
- Solutions capable of communicating back to the ship/control station (although not necessarily continuous);
- Infrastructure technology including charging, docking, support facilities and download stations.
ISC will NOT accept (out of scope):
- Individual components or incomplete systems that cannot be integrated into existing operations; and
- Incomplete systems that do not include a full technology stack. All requisite hardware and software must be appropriately integrated to be considered for qualification into the program.
Digital Enablers
Increasing the Canadian Armed Force's (CAF) cyber capabilities and expertise are critical to defending Canada against 21st century threats. The engagement and application of digital technologies are critical for the success of future force capability. Despite the fact that personnel lives have become increasingly IT-enabled, the militaries of the world continue to rely heavily on manual and analog as trusted systems.
Advances in technology have made it possible to automatically track, record, and analyze almost every aspect of daily life. Transitioning the CAF enterprises into the digital age is instrumental to make use of increasingly beneficial technologies, such as machine learning, and artificial intelligence.
The Government of Canada is seeking solutions that can digitally enable operations, and solutions aimed at exploiting opportunities for integrating digital technologies and sciences into the fundamental operations of the Canadian enterprise.
The relevance of proposed innovations will be assessed according to how they address and resolve the Problem Statement above. Innovative processes will be accepted and constitute an innovation for the purpose of the outcomes below.
Definitions:
- AR:
- Augmented Reality
- Artificial Intelligence (AI):
- Computers and robots that are capable of interacting in ways that both mimic and surpass human capabilities when performing tasks in simulated and real-world environments.
- Digital technologies:
- The provision and the use of electronic technologies required to install and integrate STEM, and other technology systems. Digital technology involves working principles, processes, and standards which apply to the technology industry.
- Defense Wide Area Network (DWAN):
- The DWAN is a secure and reliable network that. Innovative solutions proposed to address DWAN will require the ability to integrate with higher classified systems.
- Machine Learning (ML):
- Refers to the technologies and algorithms that enable systems to identify patterns, make decisions, and improve themselves through experience and data. ML is primarily used to process large quantities of data very quickly using algorithms.
Outcomes:
Innovations must meet at least ONE of the following outcomes to meet the requirements of SC4 of the Call for Proposals Evaluation Grid. Identify in your proposal which Outcome(s) you have selected..
- Variety of wireless communication(s) solutions for routine activity, updates, or future remote sensing and operation(s);
- Technologies to help process, analyze and optimize the data pipeline, including those that can assist with the real-time analysis of military relevant data;
- Solutions that expand network command and control integrated situational awareness capabilities;
- New and future generations of devices, systems machinery, and actuators;
- Information Management (IM) tools that can ensure collected data can be processed, exploited, filtered, and disseminated to facilitate decision making processes tactically, operationally and strategically;
- AR for situational responsiveness designed to enhance human information availability (i.e. AR environments that simulate real-world environments that can enable operators to perform responsive functions, including damage control, systems diagnostics, and repairs);
- AR for use in engineering design review and design collaboration;
- Solutions to enable automated and collaborative review, including approval and archiving solutions for data, such as 3D data and visualization models for online and offline collaboration;
- Complete, DWAN-integrated software package to collate, manage, share all data types or partial, DWAN-integrated software that collates, manages, shares some data types
ISC will NOT accept any of the following (out of scope):
- DWAN-integrated software that does not provide searchable textual information;
- DWAN-integrated software that does not provide machine transcribed audio/video;
- Communications-only tools; and
- Innovations that cannot function in a closed-network or secure environment as a result of being entirely reliant upon external cloud services.
Eligibility and evaluation
Mandatory Criteria (MC)
MC1: Canadian Bidder
The Bidder must meet the definition of a Canadian Bidder. A Canadian Bidder is defined as a Canadian person or entity submitting a proposal on its own behalf and having a place of business in Canada where the person or entity conducts activities on a permanent basis that is clearly identified by name and accessible during normal working hours.
MC2: Canadian Content
80% of the financial proposal costs, the total proposal price to Canada stated in "Section –G Financial Proposal", must be Canadian goods or Canadian services. For the complete Canadian content definition please refer to the Canadian Content Definition A3050T (2020-07-01) at Part 1, General Information, Article 1.5 of the solicitation documents:
- Solicitation for small or medium enterprises
- Solicitation for large business, not-for-profit or academic institution
MC3: Ownership
The Bidder must be the owner of the Intellectual Property (IP) for the proposed innovation, or have a licence to the IP rights from a Canadian licensor for the proposed innovation and not be infringing on any IP rights.
MC4: Pre-Commercial Status
The proposed innovation must not be openly available in the marketplace, and must not have been previously sold on a commercial basis as of the date of this bid submission. Refer to the definitions of Pre-Commercial Innovation and Commercial Sales at Appendix 2 of the solicitation documents:
- Solicitation for small or medium enterprises
- Solicitation for large business, not-for-profit or academic institution
MC5: Previously Pre-qualified Innovation
The proposed innovation or any other versions of the proposed innovation must not have been previously awarded a contract in the Build in Canada Innovation Program (BCIP) or its predecessor, the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program (CICP), nor under the Innovative Solutions Canada (ISC) Testing Stream.
The proposed innovation or any other versions of the proposed innovation must not currently be active in a pool of pre-qualified innovations. A proposed innovation that is currently active in a pool will be accepted only once the bid validity period for that proposal has expired or the Bidder has withdrawn their innovation from the relevant pool, prior to solicitation closing date.
Bidders may submit multiple proposals, ensuring that each proposal is for a different Innovation.. The same or similar proposals may not be submitted twice for different problem statements. If the proposed innovation is similar or identical to an innovation previously submitted by the bidder that is currently active in a pool and has not been withdrawn prior to solicitation closing, the following assessment will be used to determine sufficient difference to proceed.
| Pass |
Sufficiently Different
|
|---|---|
| Fail |
Not Sufficiently Different
|
MC6: Maximum Funding
The Bidder's Financial Proposal must not exceed $1,150,000 CAD in the Standard Component, or $2,300,000 CAD in the Military Component, not including applicable taxes, shipping costs, and travel and living expenses, where applicable. Refer to Section G – Financial Proposal.
MC7: Program Eligibility
The Bidder's proposal must be aligned with the mandate of the ISC Testing Stream where Canada procures, through a Contract, the Bidder's Innovation with the purpose of testing it in an operational environment.
The following criteria only applies to Small Businesses
MC8: Small Business
The Bidder must be a for-profit person or entity, with 499 or fewer full-time equivalent (FTE) employees. This calculation must take into account and include affiliated businesses, such as parent companies and subsidiaries that are either in or outside of Canada.
MC9: Bidder Presence in Canada
The Bidder must meet the following minimum requirements: 50% or more of the Bidder's FTE employees have Canada as their ordinary place of work; 50% or more of the Bidder's annual wages, salaries and fees must be paid to employees and contractors who spend the majority of their time working in Canada; and 50% or more of the Bidder's senior executives (Vice President and above) have Canada as their principal residence. These calculations must take into account and include affiliated businesses, such as parent companies and subsidiaries that are either in or outside of Canada.
Stage 1 Technical Evaluation – Screening Criteria (SC)
SC1: Innovation
The proposed innovation must meet one or more of the ISC definitions of innovation below:
- An inventionFootnote 1, new technology or new process that is not currently available in the marketplace.
- Significant modifications to the application of existing technologies/components/processes that are applied in a setting or condition for which current applications are not possible or feasible.
- An improvement in functionality, cost or performance over an existing technology/process that is considered state-of-the-art or the current industry best practice.
| Pass | The proposed innovation meets one or more of the ISC definitions of innovation. |
|---|---|
| Fail |
|
SC2: Operational Readiness Validation
The Bidder must demonstrate that at the time of proposal submission, the proposed innovation is ready for testing in an operational environment, i.e. at minimum TRL 7 per the ISC Technology Readiness Level Scale.
| Pass |
|
|---|---|
| Fail |
|
SC3: Safety Considerations
The Bidder must demonstrate that they have obtained or possess, at the time of proposal submission, the licences, and approvals required to safely deploy the proposed innovation, and that it poses no risks to individuals or Government of Canada organizations involved in an operational demonstration.
This is to ensure that a Government of Canada organization and personnel are not exposed to safety or privacy risks during the conduct of the operational demonstration.
| Pass |
At the time of proposal submission:
|
|---|---|
| Fail |
At the time of proposal submission:
|
SC4: Scope – Outcomes
The Bidder must demonstrate that the proposed innovation provides a solution to the selected Problem Statement by the Bidder. In addition, the Bidder must demonstrate that the proposed innovation meets one or more of the Outcomes identified in the selected Problem Statement by the Bidder. Proposed innovations that possess characteristics and functionalities cited in the out of scope Outcomes will not be accepted
| Pass |
|
|---|---|
| Fail |
|
Stage 2 Technical Evaluation – Point-Rated Screening Criteria (PS)
PS1: Advance on State of the Art
The Bidder must demonstrate that the proposed innovation improves upon current approaches and state of the art, or current practices relevant to its purpose or application, in a manner that yields competitive advantages.
| 2 points |
|
|---|---|
| 12 points |
|
| 24 points
Minimum |
|
| 40 points |
|
PS2: Intellectual Property (IP) Strategy
The Bidder must demonstrate a suitable Intellectual Property (IP) strategy, relevant to protect IP generated by the proposed innovation and to protect the Bidder. This criteria also assesses the degree to which the strategy is appropriate to support successful commercialization.
| 0 points |
The Intellectual Property (IP) strategy is insufficiently rationalized or substantiated, and is poorly suited for background IP or generated IP as they pertain to the proposed innovation. |
|---|---|
| 8 points
Minimum |
|
| 12 points |
|
Stage 3 Technical Evaluation – Point Rated Criteria (PR)
PR1: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Benefits
This criterion is intended to assess the degree to which the Bidder has sufficient measures to effectively achieve and maintain diversity, inclusivity and gender equity within; their business, supply chain, or business ecosystem.
Score levels reflect the number of the following elements the Bidder addressed in their answer:
- Anti-discrimination policies;
- Recruitment strategy and hiring process;
- Training available to educate the Bidder's workforce on diversity and inclusion;
- How diversity and inclusion are factored into Bidder's supplier selection methods.
| 0 points |
Policies regarding diversity, inclusivity and gender equity are not identified, are insufficient, or do not appear genuine. |
|---|---|
| 4 points |
Information provided clearly demonstrates that the Bidder is implementing some measures (two (2) elements) to achieve and maintain diversity, inclusivity and gender equity. |
| 8 points |
Information provided clearly demonstrates that the Bidder is implementing most measures (three (3) elements) to achieve and maintain diversity, inclusivity and gender equity.. |
| 12 points |
Information provided clearly demonstrates that the Bidder is implementing all measures (all four (4) elements) to achieve and maintain diversity, inclusivity and gender equity. |
Maximum available points from Stage 2 and Stage 3 : 64 points
Minimum Total ScoreFootnote 2 from Stage 2 and Stage 3 to pre-qualify: 38 points
Pathway to commercialization (PTC)
Enabling the Government of Canada to buy what it tries – a Pathway to Commercialization for eligible Canadian SMEs
Our new pilot project gives small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) the opportunity to sell your innovation directly to the Government of Canada.
Through the PTC under ISC's Testing Stream, eligible SMEs can receive commercial contracts based on the successful testing and market-readiness of your pre-commercial prototype. It is important to note that this pathway will only be available to eligible Canadian SMEs, which represent over 97% of all businesses in Canada, a percentage that mirrors past participation in the program.
How will it work?
- Once your initial ISC testing contract is completed, you may be eligible for the Pathway to Commercialization if your innovation is market-ready above technology readiness level (TRL) 9
- You will have up to 12 months following the end of your initial ISC Testing Stream contract to apply to the Pathway to Commercialization, at which time you will be be assessed against the PTC entry criteria to determine if your innovation will be placed on a PTC source list where government departments can browse and purchase your successfully-tested innovations for up to three years
Important considerations
- You must be selling the same innovation from your initial Testing Stream contract
- If you participate in the PTC, you will no longer be eligible for additional testing through the Testing Stream. Unlike PTC contracts, additional testing contracts are still considered R&D contracts, similar to the initial Testing Stream contract. Additional testing opportunities are open to all program participants, SMEs and non-SMEs.
- The requirements for commercial contracts will reflect the operational needs of client departments, the nature of the innovation, as well as input from Public Services and Procurement Canada, the program's Contracting Authority.
How will SMEs be assessed?
A number of criteria will be used as part of the assessment process, including:
- Financial capacity
- Technology readiness
- Certifications
- IP strategy
- Company size
- Scalability
- Innovation test performance
Please read the call for proposals (CFP) for more information on the Pathway to Commercialization.
Frequently asked questions
All incoming questions regarding this specific call for proposals should be addressed to TPSGC.PASICVoletessai-APISCTestingStream.PWGSC@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca.
You can also consult the Frequently asked questions about the Innovative Solutions Canada Program.
A glossary is also available.