Counter-Disinformation Data Platform Development, Hosting and Maintenance

Tender description

About adding context and requirements test Pre-market engagement A Request for Information "RFI" was conducted with potential tenderers in May 2023 with a view to understand the commercial and operational structure within the market and test some hypothesis made by the business on the approach to the requirements. 3 RFI responses were received from the market, and virtual meetings were held with each supplier that provided a response for further information. Work done so far We have completed a Discovery phase and we are in an extended Alpha phase. Which phase the project is in Alpha Existing team The DSIT team consists of a product manager (owns sprint prioritisation and coordinates user research), programme manager (leads on programme strategy), and a team of analysts (expert users for user research and testing). Address where the work will be done Supplier's location Working arrangements "Supplier will be expected to work from own premises with a mix of virtual and in-person meetings with the customer to include: - Fortnightly sprints with sprint goals set by DSIT during a fortnightly sprint planning session - Twice-weekly 30 minute update meetings - A prioritised product backlog (currently using Notion but this can be easily adapted to another system) - Quarterly in-person workshops (3 hours) to align on strategic priorities, iterate ways of working, and plan upcoming sprints and other work " Provide more information about your security requirements: No security clearance needed Latest start date 2023-10-30 Enter the expected contract length: 1 year Extension period: 6 months Special terms and conditions Any supplier selected to progress through to Stage 2 would be subject to an NDA before receiving full ITT documents. Please note that this contract will contain a 6 month break clause. Are you prepared to show your budget details?: Yes Indicative maximum: 920000 Indicative minimum: 500000 Confirm if you require a contracted out service or supply of resource Contracted out service: the off-payroll rules do not apply Summary of work The Counter Disinformation Data Platform (CDDP) is an innovative technology developed by DSIT. We are seeking a supplier to i) further develop the platform with new prototypes, ii) maintain its operation with bug fixes and minor enhancements, and iii) host the data and manage compute costs. The new supplier will be responsible for: Development: up to 5x ‘Special Projects’, large, discrete pieces of development that deliver prototypes over several weeks or more, such as a new ML model for analysing images, or rebuilding an existing area of the platform to improve its performance. Maintenance: i) some bug fixes (severe and major) that you will address automatically upon detection, and there are some that will be triaged by DSIT on a case by case basis using the same prioritisation processes as used for development (Service Level Agreements are set out below); ii) enhancements to the platform when prioritised by the Buyer in sprint processes, such as additional data visualisations or onboarding a new data pipeline. Hosting: managing the relationship with AWS to host the data and manage compute costs This would not be a managed service, but an additional technical team to support a DSIT-based team that will be using, evaluating and directing the technical priorities for the platform. Where the supplied staff will work No specific location (for example they can work remotely) Who the organisation using the products or services is The Department for Science, Innovation & Technology Why the work is being done The Counter Disinformation Data Platform (CDDP) is an innovative technology developed by DSIT. The CDDP is currently in ‘Alpha’ phase, meaning that it is being tested and evaluated. As a result, we have some flexibility regarding service levels, and our current primary requirement is the speed with which issues are identified and triaged, rather than resolved. The CDDP is currently hosted, maintained and developed by a single supplier (“Faculty AI”), which runs a small team at a regular cost each month. The contract for which will end in March 2024. We are therefore required to hold a procurement exercise to replace the incumbent so that the platform can be transitioned to a new supplier and the CDDP can function after this date. The business problem you need to solve Disinformation analysts need access to public / open source data and advanced analytics, so that they can assess information threats and feed insights into policy and operational decision making. First user type: Analyst Enter more details about this user type: The high level user need is: "As an analyst, I need to identify and assess online disinformation, so that I can write reports that feed into decision-making". It will not be used by anyone external to HMG.