Frequently Asked Questions

General

Who or what is Digital Square?

Digital Square is a partnership of the world’s leading digital health experts from 40+ organizations working together with countries to strengthen digital health systems. Digital Square offers a new way to invest in digital health—providing a space where countries and members of the global community can gather to think big and do good, together. By convening government officials, technological innovators, donor and implementation partners, and others across borders and boundaries in Digital Square, we can grow possibility into reality by focusing on our common goal: connecting the world for better health. Digital Square works in three key ways:

• Co-investment: We coordinate investments in digital health to maximize the impact of every dollar spent.
• Global goods: We scale tools and technologies that can be adapted to different countries and contexts.
• Digital market readiness: We create digital market readiness by building capacity with governments, local technology developers, and health workers.

For more information, navigate to Digital Square website.

What do you mean by the term [application][subaward][solicitication]?

Please navigate to grants & contracts basics for an introduction to vernacular.

How does Digital Square fund global goods? What type of funding is available?

Digital Square funding comes from United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and other donors who co-invest into Digital Square. Please navigate to the global goods procurement processes for more information. Subawards will be issued to successful applicants from PATH. Please review grants & contracts basics or Global Good Investment Process for more information.

What should my organization expect if our application is funded for investment?

Please review the Global Good Investment Process for more information.

What is a consortium? Does my organization have to be in one?

A consortium is a group with a common goal in which resources are pooled to conduct activities among the group to achieve a common objective. In the spirit of reducing duplication of work and fragmentation, Digital Square encourages collaboration in the concept note and full application phases by identifying a consortium, although this is not a requirement. Note, in the full application, a consortium must have a lead organization who will submit the application. Consortia members must be listed as subawards or consultants in the detailed budget.

Does Digital Square have priority countries for global goods?

No.

Does Digital Square prefer to fund global goods that meet a certain maturity level as assessed in the global good maturity model?

No. If this changes, Digital Square will share that update.

Does Digital Square only invest in health? What about projects that cross into other domains?

Digital Square’s focus is health. If you are looking for support to your global good, it must be deployed to support the health sector (clients, providers, health system etc). Digital Square partners with the Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) who offers catalytic grants to support digital services beyond the health sector.

Open Application Process

What is the difference between the Open Proposal Process & Platform (OPP&P) and Open Application Process (OAP)?

The OPP&P was the first iteration of Digital’s Square’s Open Application Process. Beginning with Notice D, Digital Square updated the term to Open Application Process, which incorporates the process and platform, rather than differentiating between the two. The Open Application Process continues to use the online platform where applicants publicly post concept notes and applications, providing applicants the opportunity to find collaborators and provide and receive feedback from your peers.

What is the Open Application Process?

• An open application process promotes the collaborative development of applications for investments in digital health global goods. The open application process is hosted on an online platform.
• Concept notes and applications will be publicly posted, giving applicants the opportunity to find collaborators and provide and receive feedback from your peers. There are 3 phases with a total of 10 steps in the open application process. Please navigate to global goods procurement processes for more information. The first phase related to concept notes. The second phase related to the full application development. The last phase is related to application review and award. The first two phases occur in the OAP platform.

Is there an open solicitation for the Notice?

• Please review the OAP platform for links to current solicitation(s).

How do I provide feedback on concept notes?

• Visit our OAP Platform and create an account. This will you allow to provide comments and feedback on the posted applications.

At what point in the process do I provide feedback (or expect to receive feedback)?

• In the concept note phase, you should plan to provide (and receive) feedback during the three weeks following the deadline for concept note submission.
• In the second phase, full application, you should plan to provide (and receive) feedback during the two weeks following the preliminary application submission.
• Please navigate to global goods procurement processes for more information.

Will my concept note and application get feedback?

• Digital Square facilitates a process in order for all applications to receive feedback. However, Digital Square does not take responsibility for the amount of feedback provided by other Applicants. The Peer Review Committee commits to reviewing all applications within a cluster per the Prioritization Framework.

Where can I find information on global goods currently being funded by Digital Square?

• Please navigate to Current Investments for a list of approved and funded global goods.

Are global goods specifically software?

• Global Goods are digital health tools that are adaptable to different countries and contexts. There are three types of global goods:
  • Software—A software tool that is free, open source, and used to manage, analyze, or transmit health-related data, with proven utility in several settings.
  • Services—A software tool that is used to manage, transmit, or analyze health-related data that can be freely accessed as a software service and adheres to open data principles.
  • Content—A resource, toolkit, or data standard that is available under an open license and that is used to improve or analyze health data management processes.
• Mature digital health global good software is software that is (usually) Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), is supported by a strong community, has a clear governance structure, is funded by multiple sources, has been deployed at significant scale, is used across multiple countries, has demonstrated effectiveness, is designed to be interoperable, and is an emergent standard application.
• For more information, please navigate to What are global goods?

Where can I find written resources explaining specific global goods?

• Navigate to current investments or review the Global Goods Guidebook (to be launched April 2019).

Concept Note Phase

This is Step 1 of 6 in the broader Open Proposal Process.

1. How and when do you submit concept notes for proposals? Digital Square will release Calls for Proposals which will begin the Digital Square Open Proposal Process, the first step of which is the Concept Note Phase.
2. When Digital Square is ready to accept new concept notes, will you release guidelines or templates on how to develop them? Yes! Concept notes and proposals both have templates that you should follow.
3. Are vendors and consortia submitting new proposals now/in the near future or is the focus solely on existing concept notes? Each open proposals process will have a call for proposals which will specify what global goods may apply (both new and existing).
4. When proposing new concept notes, should this be done as a team or as individuals? In the spirit of reducing duplication of work and fragmentation, we encourage collaboration.
5. How often will Digital Square issue calls for proposals? As often as funding permits. We anticipate twice a year.
6. Are global goods specifically software? Review our definition of global goods.
7. What level of budget detail should be included in proposal budgets? The Governing Board should have an idea of how funding will be spent. The budget should be a line item budget that includes activities, travel, staffing, and LOE.
8. What visibility do other submitters have into my concept note? All concept notes and proposals can be viewed by all other submitters. Digital Square encourages submitters to provide feedback on other concept notes and proposals and look for potential collaborators. Other submitters will not see any budget information. The Peer Review Committee will see high-level budget and LOE only.
9. When - and how - does a concept note become a proposal? Visit the phases of the proposal process.
10. Do all submitted concept notes progress to the proposal phase? Digital Square will not prevent the advancement of any concept notes into proposal phase unless they are clearly out of Digital Square’s scope.
11. Can my organization submit more than one concept note or proposal? Yes.

Proposal co-creation and review phase

This is Step 2 of 6 in the broader Open Proposal Process.

1. What does it mean if a proposal is labeled green-lit, amber-lit, or red-lit? A green-lit proposal meets all criteria for investment through the relevant Digital Square Notice. The proposal demonstrates a global good that aligns with country priorities, can adapt to different countries and contexts, and will scale easily across countries. An amber-lit proposal meets at least one of the criteria for selection for investment and a potential risk has been identified and will need to be addressed by the submitters of the proposal.A red-lit proposal does not meet any of the criteria for investment through the relevant Digital Square Notice, or there is high risk identified in the proposal’s ability to meet its objectives.
2. Who determines if a proposal is green-lit, amber-lit, or red-lit? The PRC.
3. What is the process to move green-lit concept notes forward? Green-lit and amber-lit proposals may be submitted to the Board to be vote on for investment during the Board Review Phase. Once approved by the Board, Digital Square will begin contracting/awarding, according to Board guidance.
4. What are the next steps for green-lit proposals which do not have identified funding? The Digital Square Board can vote to mandate Digital Square to secure funding for the proposal.
5. Will amber-lit proposals that were not approved for investment by the Board be revisited? You can submit an updated amber-lit note. Digital Square can work with submitters to improve their proposal.
6. Can teams revised and re-submit red-lit concept notes? Red-lit notes are out of Digital Square’s scope, so we do not recommend resubmitting a red-lit note unless it has changed significantly in scope.
7. What will the process be to ensure alignment and avoid duplicate HIS investment for concept notes that will be re-reviewed for relevance? Part of Digital Square’s mandate is to avoid this duplication. We are addressing this through the Peer Review Committee and Governing Board.
8. What happens if my concept note or proposal receives conflicting feedback? Digital Square has no control over crowd-sourced comments. Submitters can expect consistent feedback from the PRC and a thorough review at the PRC Review Phase. In the event of conflicting comments, Digital Square can assist submitters to choose the best way to proceed.

Awards and funding

1. View the Governing Board members.
2. How does the Board select which proposals will receive funding? This depends on the investment made by donors for the specific call for proposals. Those parameters will be shared as part of the call for proposals.
3. Does funding come from PATH or USAID? Digital Square funding comes from USAID, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and other donors in the future who co-invest into Digital Square. Awards are issued by PATH.
4. Will awards be subcontracts or subagreements (i.e. grants)? Once the proposal is approved by the Board, the Scope of Work will help Digital Square and the recipient determine the appropriate mechanism.

Currently funded global goods

1. Where can I find written resources explaining components? (Such as the Tech Registry). Visit the current investments page.
2. Are you expecting buy-in from specific countries? Yes. We will share that information when it is announced on this Wiki.
3. Will contracts be with PATH? Yes. Awards will be made by PATH.

Roles and relationships

1. Who sits on the PRC? Visit the PRC Wiki page.
2. What is the relationship between DIAL and Digital Square? Learn more here.
3. Who is Digital Square? Visit the Digital Square website.