Gridded Data User Interface

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done The Met Office has invested a significant amount of effort over the years to build a world class capability in weather modelling. However, as the complexity of models increases, so does the volume of the data exposed and the associated cost of data transfer. To address this challenge the Met Office has defined a requirement to break down, or subset, our model data to meet specific customer needs. A technical capability is in development that will perform this data sub-setting and a capability needs to be developed to allow the customer to interact with this back end service. Problem to Be Solved • Availability of Met Office Public Sector Data for re-use • Make available large-scale model data to our internal and external users, customers and partners. • Significantly reduce the human effort of the current team to increase throughput for data selection and consumption thereby improving internal user experience and increasing team efficiencies . • Grow market share for our data by making it accessible and consumable. • Research, define, develop, deliver and support a customer facing capability that will allow users to describe and retrieve subsets of our large-scale gridded datasets on request, via scheduled ftp and via API. Who Are the Users This solution is targeted at 3 key market areas which have been identified as part of a user research activity. These are; • Large weather services – take our data at scale and blend it with output from other sources to provide downstream solutions. • Consultant / Innovation partners – Require adhoc whole or subsets of current or historic data for exploration and discovery of new opportunities. • Sector-specific product developers – Require small to medium subsets of our data regularly to ingest or use in products for customers, or within their own solutions Early Market Engagement Work Already Done Work to refine and build the underpinning capability that will serve the data is underway and will run ahead of the user interface to that data. Targeted and ad hoc user research has taken place and is ongoing. Wireframe prototypes have been created and shared with sample customers as part of the research. Existing Team Project Manager, Business Analyst, Product Manager, Product Owner, Business Owner, Solutions Architect. (All development resources are expected to be provided as part of this tender) Current Phase Discovery Work Location This work will be cloud hosted on AWS, therefore any location is suitable. Some research and liaison will be expected to take place at Met Office HQ at Exeter. Working Arrangments Several phases are envisaged Discovery - Supplier to review all current materials and work done so far to form a plan for delivery. This phase will include a costed proposal for the next phase which will be reviewed for variance from the original tender. Following a review Met Office may decide a) Withdraw altogether b) Revisit the discovery process with another supplier c) Retender for Phase 2 with the discovery outputs provided. D) Carry on to Phase 2 with appointed supplier Delivery to MVP delivered via agile sprints Support and iteration Post-MVP, the solution will remain with the supplier Security Clearance SC security clearance is preferred but not vital Additional T&Cs Skills & Experience • Demonstrate experience of the development of complex user facing interfaces. • Demonstrate experience of customer facing API development including security, user metrics and onboarding • Experience of developing data exposing capabilities on cloud platforms • Evidence of a strong capability to deliver user experience design, ideally aligned to GDS principles • Evidence of capabilities to engage with users via user research and testing throughout the development process and post MVP • Strong capabilities in cloud solution design, ideally on AWS including AWS WAF • Evidence of a capability to implement solution aware FINOPS optimisation for AWS • Experience in building, deploying, managing, supporting solutions on public cloud, ideally based on using AWS capabilities including serverless implementations. • Strong evidence of an ability to work using agile principles and techniques • The ability to supply a capable technical leader who would be responsible for deliverables with assured continuity from outset to at least MVP. • Evidence of organisational capability to integrate with 3rd party solutions, specifically MS Dynamics, ServiceNow and Azure B2C • Strong evidence of expert level development skills in key languages, specifically Java, Python and any other relevant AWS and front end capabilities pertinent to the agreed implementation • Skills in web services (RESTful APIs and microservices) • The ability to reach back into the organisation for any skills identified by the solution approach or that may be required to overcome issues that are exposed during implementation. • An ability to provide ongoing support and development outside of the initial delivery, • The ability to offer 24/7 fix response for business-critical incidents. Nice to Haves • Some experience of the weather market and gridded weather data specifically • A strong and ongoing relationship with AWS • An awareness of market trends and likely technologies in AWS and related technologies • Experience of working with the public sector No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria Overall perceived quality of proposed Technical Solution Quality of evidence provided to support proposed solution and provide assurance of technical capability Approach and methodology How the approach or solution meets user needs Value for money Ability to meet security requirements included in Cyber Security Questionnaire Good ability to communicate clearly with IT and non-IT specialisms to share their knowledge and experience with Met Office staff and other third parties Quality of 2 Examples given and how closely they reflect capability to meet our requirements Technical resources offered/quality proposed of proposed resources to meet requirements Cultural Fit Criteria Work as a team with our organisation and other suppliers Be transparent and collaborative when making decisions Share knowledge and experience with other team members Have a defined knowledge transfer process and be prepared to share knowledge with internal and external individual at the end of the agreement Payment Approach Time and materials Assessment Method Written proposal Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 40% Cultural fit 20% Price 40% Questions from Suppliers Budget range