The Technology

The fastest and surest path to success in garnering support from our customers will be demonstrable technical excellence (as indicated by track record) of the development team members. That point has been emphasized elsewhere on this site. Other attractive criteria follow.

Additional Criteria

Existing Government Contracts

If a candidate member has existing government contracts, the performance on those contracts should serve as good reference for that organization.

Contracts With Appropriate Agencies

If existing contracts are with government agencies that have a stated mission to protect U.S. citizens from disasters such as wildfire, then there is obviously an additional bonus.

Agencies with such missions include the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Northern Command (formerly NORAD). Other agencies such as the Air National Guard and the U.S. Forest Service may also be potential sponsors.

Business Size

A business should be large enough so that it can perform on a RAIN System development contract without growing excessively. A rule of thumb: maximum annual growth of 20%. If a subproject is large enough to exceed this rule of thumb for a otherwise qualified member then our management will seek teaming arrangements with other potential members to create an organization of sufficient size.

At the other side of the revenue spectrum, experience has shown that access to management can become problematic. It is important that early discussions can occur with management personnel in a potential member business who have the authority to bind the business to contracts and to allocate sufficient funds for such activities as bids/proposals and independent R&D projects. Whether or not this becomes an issue with a particular business depends on many things besides size, including management structure and culture, etc. The metric will be how quickly access to sufficient levels in a business is established.

Political Contacts

Some businesses have contacts with politicians in the Federal Government, particularly in Congress. Such contacts can be great assets in helping the project gain access to people in the government who agree to be briefed on the project and who might subsequently offer support.