Institutions, associations, and individuals are invited to submit their comments as soon as possible, and no later than August 15, 1999. In order to maximize the return on its investment and to ensure consistency in the assessment of proposals, the CFI formed Task Forces to look at the infrastructure needs in these specific research areas and to recommend strategies for the first and subsequent competitions. The Committee also considers that Canada's megasequencing needs in universities, hospitals and other research institutions are such that dependence on the private sector to meet all, or even a large proportion of those needs would not now be appropriate. The degree of innovation contained in the proposals is quite varied and tends to relate to the level of current facilities. The Task Force sees both pros and cons regarding the option of leasing rather than purchasing the equipment.
Some applicants appear to have achieved better pricing from equipment suppliers than others have.
These can be vehicles for recovering a portion of the discounts given on the equipment itself. With CFI and other funding in hand, the successful applicants can probably improve the pricing of the equipment being proposed. In any event, given the passage of time, and the rapid pace of change in this technology, the applicants should explore carefully the new options for providing the desired computing power. However, this observation should not detract from the fact that, in most cases, the discounts negotiated by the applicants have been quite good. Collective procurement at the 64 to 128 CPU levels might improve the discount levels, but it should be noted that an agent charged with collective procurement often does not have the same level of commitment for the best deal as does an individual from the host institution.