Home Office Enrolment of Facial Image and Document Identification Verification Digital Services

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done In accordance with the GDS agenda the Home Office (HO) is seeking to continually enhance and refine interactions with users. Part of this journey is making greater use of emerging technologies in the digital, mobile and app markets to improve the customer journey for individuals accessing HO services. The HO is seeking to streamline services by reducing the need for manually inputting data and automating steps in the process wherever possible. In this initiative the HO is seeking to extend this thinking into the areas of user information capture, including images and information stored digitally on official documents. Problem to Be Solved The HO is considering how to streamline services to reduce burdens on individuals and systems. We are seeking to provide a digital solution for the aspects of identity and document verification along with an element of biometric facial matching, based on a user taken image being compared to an official image in the document. The HO is seeking to partner with a delivery organisation to understand what technology exists in the market and how it could be incorporated into its digital processes. If trialling is successful, the HO would expect to proceed with the supplier to develop a live service. Who Are the Users User groups for this service will vary, but conceivably they could be anyone seeking to access any UK immigration and citizenship process. An early output of this work will be identifying suitable users groups to trial new solutions and developing a broader roadmap that allows for a solution to be rolled out more widely over time, understanding whether the solution needs to be able to flex for certain customer groups. Early Market Engagement N/a Work Already Done Some research into the development of similar front end processes by other countries has been conducted, and availability of existing products in the market to help define the HO requirements at a high level. Existing Team The HO is creating a small team within its Digital area to co-ordinate both the initial proof of concept work and any subsequent deliveries with the wider organisational delivery roadmap. The HO will be seeking to procure a multi-disciplined team that supports both the early stages of the work and integration into the wider HO Architectural and technological landscape. The solution will need to fit within a number of technological constraints and scale to provide a secure, performing and resilient end to end service. Current Phase Discovery Work Location The HO team will be based in London, Hounslow and/or Croydon Working Arrangments The preferred option is for the successful supplier to provide a team that can be co-located with teams involved in the wider end to end delivery, most likely based in Croydon. This will support close collaborative working and reduce the risks around integration into the wider end to end because the new service cannot be standalone. Demonstrable experience of integrating solutions into wider technical deliveries will be required. Security Clearance Staff must have or must be capable of obtaining SC Clearance. Additional T&Cs Expected timetabling for these phases is as follows:- Final date for returns 8/9/17 Second phase tender document issued to (maximum) 10 highest scoring suppliers 13/9/17 closing date 27/9/17. Evaluation including a potential for supplier presentations taking place 9,10,11 October. Decision and contract award w/c 16/10 Skills & Experience Recent and demonstrable experience of deploying facial image matching software as part of a live service. Recent and demonstrable experience of capturing a secure, high quality facial image of an actual person, either user taken or by others, and then transferring this data into a datastore. Provide experience of incorporating optical character recognition and image analysis into an application, e.g. capturing a secure scan/photograph of a document and pre populating a form with the details. Recent and demonstrable experience of developing web services, smartphone & tablet based applications over a short period produced to include account high volumes, NFR’s, security and support aspects. Recent and demonstrable experience of Near Field Communications data reading to access data from identity documents. Recent and demonstrable experience of designing systems to manage personally identifying information under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Nice to Haves Experience of working within GDS guidelines and delivering services that have been through the formal assessment process. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 10 Proposal Criteria Quality of technical solution Ability to build a service that meets the GDS Digital Service Standard The resilience, performance, stability and security of proposed solution, including the tools and engineering techniques used. Approach to providing a supported service. Estimated delivery timeframes Cultural Fit Criteria Proposed approach and methodology throughout the delivery lifecycle, including team structure, key roles and professional profiles. Payment Approach Time and materials Assessment Method Written proposal Case study Work history Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers Budget range tbc