Description
The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES) Office of Science and Technology Cooperation (STC) announces a Request for Applications (RFA) for up to $150,000 USD to provide support for the Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) Initiative Network (GIST-Net). GIST-Net is a public-private partnership that includes U.S. private sector, civil society, academia, international organizations, and the U.S. Department of State. GIST-Net's goal is to provide young science and technology innovators with online guidance, advice, and skills to solve the challenges they face as they build their companies into viable commercial enterprises. GIST-Net will provide curated content, access to quality experts and mentors and peer-to-peer social media conversations to support entrepreneurs. GIST-Net focuses on science and technology (S&T) based products and companies that create economic and social value. Led by OES/STC, the GIST initiative, of which GIST-Net is a part, fosters the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems for young science and technology innovators in emerging economies worldwide through training in skills development, networking and connections to financing.Through this RFA, OES seeks an implementer to provide secretariat support functions (e.g., manage partnerships day-to-day operations, partner relations, etc.), manage acquisition of GIST-Net content provided by partners, (e.g., basic HTML, data entry and data extraction), and provide the Steering Committee and the Secretariat with weekly analysis of metrics from the GIST-Net portal and external sources, including press. The recipient will work with the already created GIST-Net portal to upload and manage content; analyze beta testing and work with portal developer/provider to make changes before the global launch at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES, date TBD, fourth quarter 2014); ensure the GIST-Net community has access to quality experts and mentors; foster peer-to-peer virtual conversations to support entrepreneurs; and monitor electronic matching of mentors and entrepreneurs for one-on-one interactions. RFA applicants must demonstrate an expert level understanding of, and significant experience and capability in: innovation education; international entrepreneurship capacity building; public-private partnerships; website content management, program management; analysis of third party messaging (e.g., social and traditional media); and assessment of these activities. Applicants should expect substantial involvement from OES bureau to include, but not limited to, substantive guidance, weekly check-ins (calls and/or meetings), granting administrative rights to social media sites, requests for analytic reports on the website and social media feeds, updates, reviews, and approvals throughout the planning and execution of the GIST-Net and all secretariat support functions. Applications should demonstrate creativity, substance, and relevance to OES's goal to develop a worldwide community of science and technology entrepreneurs who will address local, regional, and global challenges and to promote economic growth.See attached full RFA for details.