FAQs for ediscovery CFC * added on 6 Nov 2012 and 14 Nov 2012

Transcription

1 FAQs for ediscovery CFC * added on 6 Nov 2012 and 14 Nov 2012 Funding / Incentives CFC Award Technical Solution General Requirements Marketing Proposal Submission Data Privacy Others Funding / Incentives Q1: What incentive schemes are available for law firms to participate in this ediscovery initiative? Ans: There are 2 types of incentives available for consideration by eligible law firms, the (a) isprint (only for law firms which qualify as SMEs) and (b) Productivity & Innovation Credit (PIC) schemes. The isprint scheme, which runs from April 2010 till Mar 2016, provides grant support for a wide range of infocomm adoption by the SMEs, from simple solutions to improve business operations to innovative use of technology to transform the business. The isprint scheme is a collaboration between IDA and SPRING. The PIC scheme, introduced in Budget 2010, provides tax benefits for investments by businesses in a broad range of activities along the innovation value chain. The tax benefits under PIC will be effective from Years of Assessment (YA) 2011 to YA Q2: What incentives will be offered under isprint for ediscovery adoption? Ans: As individual grant applicants, eligible 1 law firms subscribing to the ediscovery SaaS would be able to enjoy grant support of up to 70% of the qualifying costs that include up to 1 year s subscription, training and consultancy costs, subject to grant conditions being met. As a sectoral project under the ediscovery CFC, which aims to encourage early adoption, eligible law firms would be able to enjoy higher funding support (for up to 2 years subscription costs) during the pilot phase (3 months) and the first year (Year One) of the mass adoption phase, with support of up to 70% of qualifying costs. 1 SMEs with at least 30% local shareholding AND (the organization's group annual sales turnover is less than S$100 million OR the organization s group employment size is not more than 200 workers).

2 Funding support may be available in the subsequent years, subject to availability of funding and the fulfillment of grant conditions. Q3: Should a law firm apply for isprint or PIC or both? Ans: Eligible law firms are encouraged to first apply for the isprint scheme through SAL, and follow up with seeking tax benefits during their corporate tax filing. Q4: How can a law firm benefit from both isprint and PIC? Ans: isprint will reimburse the eligible law firms up to 70% of the qualifying costs, which include the subscription, training and consultancy cost incurred for ediscovery. Dependent on the nature of the remaining cost, eligible law firms may be able to seek tax credits up to 400% of the remaining amount from IRAS. Q5: Where can we find out more about the incentives that are applicable for this CFC? Ans: You can find out more about the isprint and PIC schemes via the website address below (including the TIP grant). Scheme isprint PIC *TIP grant Website Address Q6: Will there be funding for the development of system? Ans: *The CFC does not include a funding component that directly addresses development, but the TIP (Spring administered funds) is applicable to SaaS-enable existing software modules. Please refer to above links on TIP grant for details. Participants are to note that obligations arising from the use of the development funds will have to be managed separately from the obligations of the ediscovery programme. Q7: What happens if there is an overwhelming response in Year One and the number of law firms exceeds the target? Ans: SAL will put up a request to IDA for additional funding to cover the additional law firms who come onboard the programme. The request is subject to approval by IDA.

3 Q8: How is the funding from isprint different from PIC? Ans: The isprint funding is based on reimbursement of expenses incurred by the law firms when embarking on ediscovery. Eligible law firms will seek reimbursements directly from IDA. On the other hand, PIC is in the form of tax credit to offset the liable tax incurred by the law firms. The law firm will have to handle this with its accountant when it is preparing its annual tax returns. Q9: Is the grant available during the pilot period? Ans: Yes, the grant will be available during the pilot period. The number of supported law firms will be 10, as listed under paragraph *Q10: How is the Consortium role able to assist in the claim process in which SAL would undertake the claim co-ordination between IDA and Law Firm? Ans: On the consortium s end, the billing and bill report mechanism will have to be flexible to aid in the claim process by law firms. The consortium is advised to have personnel familiar with the claim process and policies, so that proper advice may be rendered to the law firms. *Q11: How will the billing arrangements affect the claim process and what is the processing time required? Ans: The claim can only be submitted after the service has been rendered, and it is recommended to be claimed on quarterly basis. The processing time is dependent on the clarity of the items to be claimed and the amount of supporting documents. The procedures for claim reimbursement can be discussed and confirmed after award of the CFC. *Q12: The grant covers subscription costs, training and consultancy costs, will it cover costs to purchase more storage? Ans: If the law firm intends to bill the client for the space that is consumed as a result of case management or ediscovery, then the grant will not cover the cost. *Q13: Is the grant able to cover consultancy on a project basis, eg the law firm needs assistance to ingest or produce data for a particular case? Ans: Consultancy claims should only cover what is necessary for the Law Firm to get on the ediscovery system. If the Law Firm intends to recover the cost for a case from the client, the cost should NOT be claimed from the grant. Law Firms should not be claiming from both clients and grant.

4 *Q14: The targets you have set are on a yearly basis. Does it mean that if claims are processed quarterly, and at that time it is unknown whether we have hit the targets, that you will first disburse based on 50%, followed by a possible later disbursement of the balance 20% if the targets are hit? Ans: Upon hitting the minimum claim target, the claims would be reimbursed at the higher funding level. Prior to hitting the minimum claim target, the claims would be reimbursed at the lower funding level. Details of the disbursement milestone and amount are to be determined on a case by case basis with IDA, who is administrating the isprint funding. *Q15: Assuming that the grant term is 1 Oct 2013 to 30 Sep 2015 and the availability is 1 year from 1 Oct Sept 2014, does it mean that subscribers would have to sign on before 30 Sept 2014, and thereafter, there would not be entitled to the grant. But if they had signed up before 30 Sept 2014, they could enjoy the grant up to 30 Sept 2015? Ans: The grant eligibility period (referred to as grant term in your query) is the period in which subscribers will be able to apply for the grant. In the example you have given, subscribers must apply for the grant before 30 Sept 2015 to receive grant. The funds disbursement period which the grant will be given to subscribers will be dependent on a) whether the minimum targets were achieved by the contracted service provider b) and the remaining period of isprint funding availability CFC Award Q16: For the CFC, will 1 or more vendors be awarded? Ans: The consideration for single or multiple awards is dependent on the proposals received. Q17: Must it be a consortium to submit proposals to the CFC? Will proposals from single entity organisations be entertained? Ans: As long as the proposals are able to fulfil the objectives in the CFC document, the proposal will be considered regardless whether the proposal is from a single entity organisation or consortium. Q18: What are the qualifications required for a company to participate in this CFC? Ans: The company is qualified to participate in this CFC as long as it is registered in Singapore with the Accounting & Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA). Q19: With this CFC, the vendor will potentially provide e-discovery services for both plaintiff and defendant of a suit. Potentially, this will open to allegations of conflict by either party. In the event this happens, how would the issue be address?

5 Ans: The CFC is for the provision of the platform, BPR services and bureau services, and not for e-discovery services. That is something that the legal entity that is the successful provider should not provide. However, other service providers can provide such services and make use of the platform. *Q20: With reference to the answer to question 17, would this mean that the successful company could not offer first pass legal review services to their clients? Ans: This is a commercial decision best made by the successful provider, bearing in mind that it has to address any possible conflicts of interest which may arise out of this. Technical Solution Q21: If not all of the required features/functionalities are ready, will the proposal be accepted? Ans: Participants can propose phased implementation schedule, however they are reminded that their proposal will be assessed against any other proposals received by the committee. Q22: How can the provision of network connectivity be addressed? Ans: Participants can consider including any internet service provider as part of their consortium packaged offerings and thus provide network connectivity capability to subscribers. The entire proposal will be assessed against the published evaluation criteria such as the ability to position proposed SaaS as the preferred platform for litigation-related practice. Whilst there is no direct isprint funding for network connectivity, there are provisions to claim tax credit under PIC scheme. Q23: Is there a need to integrate the ediscovery solution with existing systems? Ans: Participants can include such proposals for consideration by the evaluation committee. However there should be sufficient implementation and integration details for in-depth assessment. There should also be an overview of how the integration be used to encourage subscription take up. Q24: To make available on-line evidence management and discovery tools with an on-line repository of client and case related documents, who are the cloud services providers currently available? Ans : The cloud services providers are as follows : Amazon Web Services

6 Fujitsu Asia Pte Ltd Microsoft Singapore NewMedia Express Pte Ltd PTC system (s) Pte Ltd ReadySpace (SG) Pte Ltd Salesforce.com Savvis Singapore Company Pte Ltd Singapore Telecommunications Limited StarHub Ltd Tata Communications International Pte Ltd Q25: In the table in Para of the CFC, which aspect of the documents would require versioning? Ans: Versions refer to the reviewer s notes and possible multiple versions of same document, which may not have been discarded from the mass upload. General Requirements Q26: Please elaborate further your expectations/requirements in relation to: Service Availability and Performance: System administration functionalities such as generation of online reports, management of user accounts and review of access logs shall be provided to SAL. Ans: The intent is for the Contracted Service Provider to substantiate it is able to meet the Service Level Availability and Security Requirements. Q27: Is it mandatory for both the primary and disaster recovery data centres to be physically located in Singapore? Ans: Both data centres have to be located in Singapore to enable the ediscovery services to qualify for isprint funding. Marketing Q28: After the vendor is awarded, can the vendor claim that the solution is endorsed by SAL, Supreme Court or IDA? Ans: No, being awarded does not equate endorsement of solution. The plan is to provide a solution that every law firm has access to but it is not intended to be mandatory or the only permissible solution. Law firms are likely to choose a full-service electronic discovery service provider for the larger cases. The cloud-based solution is useful for law firms who want to use it for mid- to smaller cases and run it in-house (i.e. accessing the cloud-based services

7 in-house). Having said that, for any communication messages where there is mention of SAL, Supreme Court or IDA, or any Government agencies, the vendor is required to seek clearance via the respective parties. *Q29: The target number of firms to get to subscribe to the service is a challenge. What support is available from SAL to help achieve these targets? Would SAL consider extending the mass deployment phase to three years, e.g. Year 1, 100 firms; Year 2, 150 firms and Year 3, 150 firms? Ans: The vendor can propose what assistance would be required from SAL and this can be discussed after submission. As for the extension of the mass deployment phase to three years, we suggest you can propose an alternative plan based on your own schedule in addition to the plan following the prescribed schedule, with substantiations on why the alternative schedule would be more beneficial to the programme. Q30: Can this ediscovery service be a LawNet service without being endorsed by SAL? Ans: SAL is a partner with the ediscovery service provider and carries their service as a LawNet service to show its support. However, SAL does not endorse in the sense of giving official approval or permission to use it as a solution for the legal industry. Proposal Submission *Q31: Which other parties will have access to the information submitted, as some of the data requested for, including technical and financial information is of a confidential nature? Ans: The data may be assessed by the evaluation committee, which comprises of members from Singapore Academy of Law, Supreme Court, Subordinate Courts, IDA and members of Law Society. *Q32: With reference to Para of the CFC, is this the same chart as what has been referred to in (i) Part III Item 4 of the CFC Proposal Form (Company/Consortium Structure), as well as (ii) Part IV, item 10 (Project Team)? Ans: For para 6.5.1, Participants are encouraged to provide a more detailed structure (at operational and strategic levels) to ensure there is proper governance to achieve success of programme. If the Project Team structure under Part IV, Item 10 is able to achieve the outcome, then the same chart can be re-used. *Q33: On the Financial Report Requirement, as the contract is entered into with the consortium lead only, can the vendor request that the necessity for this requirement be waived in relation to consortium members who are not the contracting party (lead)?

8 Ans: As the composition and members of the consortium would play a crucial role in ensuring the successful execution and operation of the programme, provision of the financial reports would be beneficial for assessment of the consortium s ability to be self sustaining on long term basis. *Q34: For declaration of consortium members, how can the members declare their involvement in each company owned by them? Ans: In the case when we have a consortium member (A) owns 55% in a company (C), and the other 45% is owned by another company (B), the consortium member would have to declare as such. *Q35: Are you requesting for details of the subsidiaries owned by the consortium members in reference to Corporate Relations section in Part III of the CFC Proposal Form? Ans: Yes, it is required to provide the details of the subsidiaries owned by the consortium members. Data Privacy Q36: Ownership and Integrity of data: Data in the system belongs to the respective law firms and/or their clients. Prior approvals from law firms and SAL shall be sought before any disclosure or extraction of data. Please clarify the scenarios in which SAL approval is required. Ans: Any request for extraction of data made by any party be it from subscriber (other than the owner of the data), service provider, any local or foreign government agency (other than SAL) should be made known to the law firm and cc to SAL. *The intent behind this requirement is to ensure any extraction of data is done with the consent of the owner. *Q37: With reference to the answer to question 34, the owner of the evidence is the law firm's client, and the law firm is the authorised custodian of the same. However the law firm will be the entity that instructs the service provider to extract the data. Is the vendor supposed to receive instructions from the law firm's client? Ans: Any request for extraction of data made by any party should be made known to the law firm and that any party does not include the law firm because this request is to be made known to the law firm. *Q38: How can data segregation help to minimize data loss in the event of unauthorized or uninformed data extraction?

9 Ans: The intent of data segregation is to ensure that data management will be simplified and ensure segregation will minimize data loss in the event of unauthorized or uninformed data extraction by entities other than the subscribers. The issue of grant eligibility is not tied to the manner in which the data is organized. Others Q39: Can foreign law firms subscribe to the ediscovery solution? Ans: Foreign law firms can subscribe to the ediscovery solution but there would not be any isprint funding incentives for the foreign law firms, unless the local branches or subsidiaries of the foreign law firm meet SME eligibility criteria (see footnote 1). Participants are reminded to ensure data that belong to local law firms should be managed separately from those of other entities, such as corporate counsels and foreign based law firms. Q40: How many ediscovery cases have there been since the publication of the PD on an annual basis? If possible it would also be helpful to know the number of documents that have been filed in relation to these matters. Ans: The use of electronic-based Discovery is on a voluntary basis, and statistical information is currently not available. Participants should note that there are 2 major modules requested for under this CFC Evidence Management and ediscovery, and law firms are expected to access both modules. Q41: Please clarify when the deployment period to Pilot start-up time is. Ans: The schedule of activities is as follows: 3 months for SaaS setup 3 months for UAT/Ops start up Pilot to start after the 6 th month