AI Matching and Proposal Assistant for Inclusive Business Opportunities

This is a paid opportunity. In order to be eligible to apply for this project, you need to be part of the Omdena community and have finished at least one AI Innovation Challenge.

You can find our upcoming AI Innovation Challenges at https://omdena.com/projects. 

The problem

The current challenge faced by minority-owned, women-owned, and veteran-owned businesses is the difficulty in accessing government and commercial contracting opportunities. The process for discovering relevant Requests for Proposals (RFPs) is often decentralized, inefficient, and not tailored to the unique capabilities and needs of these businesses. This lack of a centralized platform results in these businesses missing potential opportunities, which hinders their growth and limits their competitive presence in the marketplace.

Impact of the Problem:

• Underrepresentation in Federal Contracts: Minority-owned businesses represent 19.9% of U.S. employer firms, but they received only 3% of federal contracts in 2021, highlighting a significant equity gap. Similarly, women-owned businesses, comprising 21.4% of firms, secured just over 5% of federal contracts (Source: DOL chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OPA/blog/equity-in-federal-contracting.pdf) This disparity underscores systemic challenges that limit opportunities for these groups, including barriers int eh application process and access to resources. 
• Time-Consuming RFP Discovery & Increased Operational Inefficiencies:: The decentralized nature of RFP postings forces minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses to spend excessive time searching through disparate platforms, adding operational inefficiencies and limiting their ability to compete effectively against larger companies with dedicated proposal teams (Source: https://www.thirdway.org/report/shut-out-the-dearth-of-opportunity-for-minority-contracting). 
• Economic Contributions vs. Opportunity Gaps: Women-owned businesses generate $1.9 trillion in annual receipts and employ nearly 11 million people, while veteran-owned businesses contribute $926.7 billion annually and employ 3.6 million individuals (Source:https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022/annual-business-survey-characteristics.html). Despite their economic impact, the limited access to contracting opportunities reduces their ability to scale and innovate, perpetuating inequalities in the marketplace. The underrepresentation of minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses in government and commercial contracts perpetuates economic disparities and inhibits the growth of diverse businesses.
• Equity Gaps in Procurement Process: Black-owned business, accounting for 12% of eligible federal contract recipients, secured less than 5% of actual contract awards. This pattern reflects broader trends across minority and women-owned businesses, suggesting systemic challenges in procurement practices (source: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OPA/blog/equity-in-federal-contracting.pdf). Limited access to opportunities restricts the potential for these businesses to innovate and scale, as contracting with government and large corporations can provide crucial revenue streams and partnership possibilities that foster long-term growth.

This project aims to address these challenges by establishing a centralized RFP platform specifically designed to increase the accessibility of government and commercial contracting opportunities for minority-owned, women-owned, and veteran-owned businesses. The planned web scraping engine and core infrastructure will streamline the RFP discovery process, making it more efficient and targeted. This robust base will not only facilitate immediate access to relevant opportunities but also lay the groundwork for future enhancements such as AI-driven matching of businesses to RFPs and automated proposal drafting tools. By simplifying and enhancing the RFP discovery and application process, the platform seeks to level the playing field, thereby fostering greater inclusivity and economic equity within the contracting ecosystem.

The project goals

The primary goal of this project is to develop a centralized platform that enhances the accessibility of government and commercial contracting opportunities for minority-owned, women-owned, and veteran-owned businesses. This initiative will unfold over a series of planned phases, each aimed at automating the RFP discovery process and providing a robust infrastructure to support future technological enhancements, such as AI-driven matching and proposal drafting. The project will involve the following key milestones:

• Development of a Web Scraping Engine: The first phase involves the development of a web scraping engine designed to collect RFPs from specified sources. This engine will serve as the foundational tool for accessing and aggregating RFP data, which is crucial for the subsequent phases of data processing and application functionality.
• Creation of an ETL Pipeline: During this phase, an Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) pipeline will be set up to process and store data collected by the web scraping engine into a backend database. This pipeline will ensure that the data is cleaned, structured, and stored efficiently, making it readily accessible for analysis and retrieval.
• Setup of Basic Web Application: The project will then focus on setting up a basic web application that includes user registration, profile setup, and search and filter functionalities. This phase is critical for user interaction with the platform, allowing businesses to easily access and navigate through the available RFPs that match their specific needs and qualifications.
• Implementation of Basic Security Protocols: Basic security protocols, including user authentication and role-based access controls, will be implemented to ensure the security and integrity of user data and interactions within the platform. This will protect sensitive information and restrict access based on user roles and permissions.
• Implementation of Geo-fencing Capabilities: Lastly, geo-fencing capabilities will be added to the platform for geographic tagging of RFPs. This feature will allow users to search for RFPs based on specific locations, enhancing the relevance and precision of the search results.
• Testing and Deployment: Once developed, the entire system will undergo extensive testing to ensure functionality, security, and reliability under various conditions. This testing phase is crucial to validate the effectiveness of the web scraping engine, ETL pipeline, and the web application in a real-world scenario.
• System Evaluation and Iterative Improvement: Following deployment, the project will focus on continuously evaluating the system’s performance and making necessary adjustments. This includes refining the functionalities based on user feedback and technological advancements, ensuring the platform remains effective and user-friendly.

Thus, this project aims to deliver a sophisticated and user-friendly platform that significantly improves the accessibility and management of RFPs for targeted business groups. By leveraging advanced technologies and structured data management, this initiative is expected to transform the way these businesses find and respond to contracting opportunities, leading to increased participation in government and commercial projects and fostering economic growth among minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses. This strategic approach promises substantial benefits in business development and economic inclusivity, contributing to a more equitable and dynamic market environment.

**More details will be shared with the designated team.

Why join? The uniqueness of Omdena Top Talent Projects

Top Talent opportunities come as a natural next step after participating in Omdena’s AI Innovation Challenges.

Everyone in the community is eligible to participate once they have shown the relevant skills based on the merit of involvement in past Omdena challenges and the community.

If you are looking for the next challenge after participating in one or more Omdena AI Innovation Challenges, then we believe you have made the right choice! With a healthy, pressured environment, you will be pushed to contribute, learn and grow even more.

Find more information on how an Omdena Top Talent Program works