City Case Studies in Successful Stimulus Communications (Aug 5, 2009 Webinar) Questions & Answers

Q: It sounded like VS just stated that funding for this software could be included as a EECBG project? Reporting is a requirement, but not sure how it qualifies as one of the eligible activities.

A: Visible Strategies has qualified as a specific project for EECBG under Activity 2 “Technical Consultant Services” as well as Activity 14 “Any Other Appropriate Activity” (which may be specifically described as, “Software for reporting/ management/ communication”).
In addition, SEE-IT may also be procured using the 10% allotment for EECBG administration. This allows recipients to utilize up to 10% of their total Energy Block Grant allotment for costs associated with the management of the Block Grant Funds and oversight of specific projects the funds are being invested in.

 

Q: I wanted to see how the See It software and data that is entered will interface with the OMB Reporting software that was recently announced. 

A: We are supporting reporting to the federal government and will have more details on this specific interface in the near future. Watch this space for further updates in this regard.

 

Q: Is the separate City website part of the See It product?

A: The city websites we explored during the webinar were created and hosted by the cities themselves. SEE-IT is a stand-alone tool that is designed so it may be viewed seamlessly through these websites, or through a link from these pages.

 

Q: What was the cost?

A: SEE-IT is a web-hosted Software-as-a-Service offering that has an annual subscription fee that is based on a sliding scale; the smaller the community or city, the lower the annual SEE-IT Subscription. We offer an introductory Stimulus-based SEE-IT for those cities with less complex stimulus tracking needs at $7,500 per year. A comprehensive SEE-IT site with much higher complexity and customization for the largest of cities can range up to $80,000 per year.

 

Q: Please show more SEE-IT so I can get a better idea of how it looks and functions.

A: To get a better understanding of the how SEE-IT looks and feels, we would be happy to arrange a personal demonstration for you and your colleagues. This would provide an opportunity to review relevant client SEE-IT sites that relate to the work you are undertaking. To get a quick glimpse of SEE-IT, please feel free to browse the examples on the main page of our website, or take a few minutes to watch our Online Demo Video here.

 

Q: How much did it cost you to set this up and how much staff time did it take?

A: SEE-IT requires very few staff resources to input the information and keep it up-to-date: for example, in the case of Albuquerque there are 4 people (including Danny) who oversee and maintain SEE-IT. In the case of Richmond, there is 1 full-time person in the Finance Department who's job is to enter and update information - and this only takes a portion of her overall time.

 

Q: How is the data input?

A: During the session, Danny explained that the information can be input in several ways: the most popular is by receiving an email from the SEE-IT back-end platform asking the owner of the scorecard to enter in their current data point(s) and a quick summary of how they achieved this level of progress. Then the user just hits reply and the SEE-IT system does all the rest.
Data can also be input by accessing the SEE-IT back-end editor, which allows users to type data and info directly into the system.

 

Q: I've developed an XML based reporting system with the City of Minneapolis IT department.  We will be able to take contract manager data input and display it graphically.  Will be updating www.minneapolisrecovery.us in September with new interface. 

A: SEE-IT is an open-source technology that can communicate with most reporting and database systems. We are happy to meet to discuss how we can help your existing systems communicate with SEE-IT in order to communicate and manage both your specific progress and your long-term vision for the community in one unique tool.

 

Q: What program are you using to collect the criteria data from the Program Managers to populate See It??

A: The enterprise-grade platform that drives SEE-IT is designed to accept data from a variety of sources, including excel spreadsheets, direct input into the back-end SEE-IT Interface, and the most popular format - email updates – which are automatically sent to those users in charge of scorecards and which ask for current data to be entered into an email reply.

 

Q: What program or method are you using to calculating your job creations or job retention.  Do you distinguish between the two??

A: Our clients typically will measure these outcomes using other tools, and report out the progress using SEE-IT. For example, the Department of Energy has provided several calculator tools for these specific metrics, which can be found by clicking here.