Provision of Resources for developing DIT's Data services, prj_542

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done "The DIT Data team builds and operates data services to support the department's objective to become a data-driven organisation. The team is constantly developing new services and infrastructure to meet emerging priorities. As our range of products grows, we need to supplement our in-house teams with data specialists, including: - Data scientists - Data engineers - Python developers - Data and technical architects - Data analysts - Other ancillary data-focused roles, including data governance specialists This will allow us greater flexibility to enhance existing services, while also delivering against urgent priorities as they arise." The evaluation process will be undertaken over 2 rounds in accordance with the DOS buyers guide in order to seek to identify the most economically advantageous tender. The 3 highest scoring bidders from round 1 will be invited to submit proposals for round 2 and participate in the presentation. The Call-Off contract terms and conditions cannot be changed. Problem to Be Solved We need to deliver both long- and short-term data projects, to meet emerging priorities for the department. At the same time, we need to ensure our existing services are maintained and enhanced to ensure they remain best-in-class. We have a range of services in discovery, alpha and beta phases of development. The supplier will work on a number of different work packages, including new feature development for our in-house data platform and customer relationship management system, developing an application to manage the UK tariff, data infrastructure development and data science projects. Who Are the Users Our services include both staff-facing and public-facing products. Staff-facing services are used by ~4,000 DIT staff and partners around the world to record, view and analyse data, enabling our teams to support UK exporters and overseas investors and to inform UK trade policy. DIT's public-facing digital services are used by those same UK exporters and overseas investors to support them in their international trade journey. Early Market Engagement None Work Already Done None Existing Team The DIT Data team consists of a range of multi-disciplinary product teams, working within four areas - Data Science, Data Infrastructure, Tariffs and Data Hub (our customer relationship management system). The supplier will deliver work packages either by supplementing existing teams to deliver specific features/enhancements or by delivering new short- and long-term projects in teams together with in-house staff (for example a Product or Delivery Manager overseeing delivery). There is no incumbent supplier. Current Phase Not applicable Work Location Windsor House, 50 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0TL Working Arrangments Mixture of remote and office-based working as required. The service is being delivered against the GDS Service Manual. Statement of Works (SOW) will be issued to define the outcomes of each project phase and typically span circa three months. The suppliers team will be required to work with DIT's staff. All reasonable travel and expenses costs shall be met in accordance with Cabinet Office travel and subsistence policy. All expenses will require prior approval from DIT. Security Clearance Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) as a minimum. Given the level of access to data, it is expected that most roles will require SC clearance. For further guidance see: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels DIT is willing to sponsor the SC clearance process at the supplier's expense. Additional T&Cs Liability Insurance: minimum level of cover £5,000,000 Professional Indemnity: minimum level of cover £1,000,000 Suppliers must be able-to-provide resources within a 2-week notice period (not including duration for security-clearance) with the necessary skills to-minimise-impact-on delivery. The initial SOW will be agreed-with-the-successful-supplier-following award. DIT reserves the right to treat any bid which is caveated by reference to the UK's relationship with the EU and / or COVID 19 as non-compliant and, as with any procurement exercise, a bidder in submitting its prices for evaluation does so in acceptance of all business risks and circumstances arising from time to time. Skills & Experience Experience and excellent technical competence developing Python Django applications, using Postgres databases and developing user-facing forms using Node.js and React (10%) Proven experience delivering new services and components which are integrated into existing digital services, particularly including API integrations (10%) Proven expertise in key data science, analysis and engineering skills, including natural language processing, sentiment analysis, machine learning and data visualisation (10%) Nice to Haves Experience in the planning and delivery of user-centred, agile projects, following the Government Service Standard and Technology Code of Practice (3%) Experience delivering similar projects within the public sector (2%) No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria Explain how for the contract duration you will provide flexible resourcing, including your approach to onboarding and retaining key resources within changing market conditions (5%) Explain how you'll-meet DIT's need-for appropriately-skilled data-specialists - what internal tests/processing will-you-undertake to ensure these specialists meet-our-requirements? How will-you-measure-and-manage the quality and speed of delivery? (5%) Provide three client-focused case studies where your company have provided similar services, please identify any proposed team members that were part of the delivery team (5%) Presentation-question - Delivery approach - Present-an-example delivery plan-for-development and integration of-a-new microservice, which consumes-data-from-multiple-sources and applies data-science-and engineering-techniques to produce new insights (5%) [assessing-cultural-fit-criteria-1] Presentation-question - Explain-how-you-will-ensure DIT staff are ready to take on operational control and support upon completion of work (5%) [assessing-proposal-criteria-1] Cultural Fit Criteria Demonstrate your ability to work with multiple teams on the same platform, sharing components, reviewing each others work and promoting a collaborative working environment (5%) Demonstrate your ability to deliver in an open, collaborative, agile way according to the principles outlined in the Government Service Design Manual (5%) Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Case study Work history Reference Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 10% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers No questions have been answered yet Budget range a range of work packages will be available, up to a maximum of £2m, including vat, over 2 years. this value excludes any extension options. pricing submission documents will be issued to suppliers who pass round 1 and pricing will be evaluated out of 30% (in round 2). in accordance with the dos criteria, the lowest-price-attracts-the-highest-score. although capped-time-&-materials (t&m) has been selected as the pricing-mechanism for the contract / sows, the buyer reserves-the-right, in the contract to use-alternative-payment-mechanisms such as fixed price or t&m to enable dit to have flexibility to choose the most appropriate-pricing-model based on each sow.