As with many CTG projects, private sector expertise was needed to design and develop the prototype. In April 2003, CTG reached out to the corporate community by placing a call for corporate partners in the State Contract Reporter and mailing the call directly to all companies that CTG had contact with in the past. The call stated that all interested vendors must attend an informational meeting to learn more about the Prototype (see Appendix 2). Representatives from eight private sector companies attended the meeting where CTG staff reviewed the goals of the project, the work accomplished thus far, the roles and resources that private sector partners might provide, and the Center's formal policies governing corporate partnerships (see Appendix 3). During the session, questions were answered and attendees were asked to consider all this information and, if interested, to submit a proposal for participation.

In May 2003, four proposals were received. After a review and evaluation, CTG contacted all of the companies and asked each one to play a role in developing the Prototype. After these discussions, three corporate partners, CGI Information Systems & Management Consultants, Inc. (CGI), Keane, Inc. and Microsoft, decided to move ahead in the process and join the Prototype project. CGI and Keane offered to play the leading role in designing and developing the prototype. In addition, CGI offered hardware and software and Microsoft provided additional software for use in development. Table 1 shows the resources each company provided for various aspects of the prototype development.

Table 1. Summary of Corporate Partner Resources

Development Components	CGI Information Systems & Management Consultants, Inc.	Keane, Inc.	Microsoft
Business analysis	X	X
Server hardware + ISP	X
Application development	X	X
Portal (or Framework)	X
Software			X
Development management services	X	X
Project management	X	X
Testing (technical analysis)	X	X

Because CGI offered to provide the portal framework software (gBIZ) and the hardware and hosting components needed for the Prototype, they were asked to design and develop the Gateway - the entry and infrastructure of the Prototype. In addition, CGI was asked to develop the Contact Repository Application and the Parcel Transfer Verification Check Application. Keane developed the Dog Licensing Application and assisted in overall project management throughout all phases of the project.