National Biosurveillance Network Discovery (Ref C113285)

Tender description

Summary of the work Part of the Biological Security Strategy refresh is this discovery phase of the National Biosurveillance Network - to assess current biosecurity programmes across government, identify where the gaps in capability are, and identify projects to meet the needs of the network, design a systems operating model and business case. Expected Contract Length 3 Months Initially Latest start date Tuesday 3 January 2023 Budget Range Up to £2,500,000 (excluding VAT) Why the Work is Being Done The NBN is a government initiative, supported by Cabinet Office, brought about by the re-evaluation of the biosecurity risk landscape, which considers the evolving priorities since COVID-19 and the rapid advances in science and technology. Whilst investment in biosecurity, science and technology remains high across government departments this challenge is in building a connected network around these programmes that enables the fast detection of threats in our environment as and when they occur. UKHSA want to understand the picture across Government, where the gaps are, how we fill them and create a coherent network to deliver functional biosurveillance. Achieving this understanding through NBN discovery will allow for business case creation (for alpha, beta and final phases that will span this FY and the next two), explaining how we get from where we are now, to where we need to be. Problem to Be Solved NBN discovery, and its business will provide the roadmap to achieving BSS. This discovery will solve the problem by articulating… what the critical path is what the gaps in that critical path are how we propose to fill those gaps how existing capabilities are to be extended or continued what validation (scientific or technological) we need to do to be assured that the proposal fill those gaps (aka the pilots) the business cases for the alpha and beta pilots the operational design of the NBN how NBN will transform situational awareness through enhanced threat management the benefits of NBN working across Government the business case for the delivery Who Are the Users This is a cross government programme. As such, stakeholders and users are from; UKHSA, DEFRA, APHA, EA, the NHS, Devolved Administrations and other supporting partners from across the government landscape. A range of professions will be involved in the Discovery including scientists, clinical programme specialists and data/digital technical expertise. There will also be engagement with… subject matter experts research bodies industry – across the environmental space, including; sample collection providers and sample collection technology organisations technology developers policy and decision makers across central and devolved Government clinical scientific Public Health critical national infrastructure disciplines who are involved in managing new, emerging, or existing national risks/threats. those who control infection and disease outbreaks in a range of medical settings Early Market Engagement None Work Already Done None Existing Team The successful supplier will be working with: A core project team, comprising: programme sponsors; programme manager, steering group, SMEs and scientific leads, data engineering, science and architecture leads, project support officer and engagement/comms lead. An advisory/steering group of senior internal and external stakeholders. Other Government departments and Devolved Administrations Academic partners Technology and testing partners Current Phase Not started Skills & Experience • Recent (within 3 years) and demonstrable experience of conducting the discovery phase within scientific programmes involving a broad range of scientific and other stakeholders. • Recent (within 3 years) and demonstrable experience of conducting the discovery phase that has led to the design (and implementation) of operational systems. • Recent (within 3 years) and demonstrable experience of conducting the discovery phase relating to the use of digital solutions and technology, using data from large databases across the UK. • Recent (within 3 years) and demonstrable experience of designing and implementing systems that perform data linkage between multiple data sources within different organisations. • Recent (within 3-years) and demonstrable experience of applying the principles of user-centred design to the development of digital solutions for users that meet Accessibility standards level AA of WCAG 2.1. • Recent (within 3 years) and demonstrable experience of designing systems to manage personally identifying information under General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). • Recent (within 3 years) and demonstrable experience of designing systems able to work with high performance cluster computing. • Recent (within 3-years) and demonstrable experience of delivering agile, discoveries and Alpha phase to and/or on-behalf of Government Agencies meeting the Government Service Standard and technology code of conduct • Recent (within 3 years) demonstrable experience of developing business cases with strategies and project plans for new and innovative large-scale projects • Recent (within 3 years) demonstrable knowledge of appropriate data protection standards relevant to the sharing and linking of government data, both for policy/research and operational purposes • Recent (within 3 years) demonstrable experience of working effectively and collaboratively and at pace with multi-disciplinary client teams of science, policy, operational and analytical personnel. Nice to Haves • Recent (within 3 years) experience of working with organisations, particularly relating to public health or disease surveillance. • Recent (within 3 years) experience of working with a range of users and stakeholders including scientific experts, technical and digital development team. • Recent (within 3 years) experience of working with interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary project teams with varying experience of Agile methods • Recent (within 3 years) experience of exploring system architecture, hardware platform and open-source software options to meet performance and scalability requirements. • Recent (within 3 years) experience of advanced methods for data linkage such as machine learning. • Recent (within 3 years) experience of working in a Linux environment. • Recent (within 3 years) experience of working on projects with IPA controls Work Location The work can be performed from any location and will be coordinated by UKHSA staff currently working remotely but may be based at UKHSA sites. Work may be carried out from multiple locations, including the Supplier’s offices. Attendance at UKHSA offices in London may be required for meetings. Supplier staff may be expected to be on-site at UKHSA locations to manage relationships with the project team, end-users, and stakeholders from other organisations. For the Discovery phase, suppliers may have to travel within England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales to gather requirements from users and stakeholders. Working Arrangments The supplier will be expected to work using Agile methodologies with all ceremonies will be open to the UKHSA project team, with a wider set of stakeholders expected to attend ‘show and tells’. The supplier will follow a 'one team' approach with the programme manager and may include SMEs attending all daily stand-ups and participating fully in the work of the team. Security Clearance BPSS is required and some elements may require SC. Additional T&Cs None No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria • Proposed approach to conducting the Discovery phase of a NBN big data linkage project including working within the constraints of existing organisational services and technologies (max score 10) • Proposed approach to applying the principles of user-centred design/user insights to assess the needs of scientific users for all phases of the project (max score 10) • Proposed approach to data analysis, transformation and migration (max score 15) • Proposed approach to working with information governance and system performance requirements for all phases of the project. (max score 15) • Proposed approach to conducting writing the business case and the alpha, beta and final phase including open-source solutions for linking and handling large volumes of data (max score 10) Cultural Fit Criteria • The shortlisted suppliers will be required to demonstrate cultural fit through a presentation to a panel that should summarise their proposal and demonstrate how they propose to: • Work within the constraints of budgets and existing services and technologies already used within the programme (max score 5) • Demonstrate communication and collaboration skills and your approach to translating complex issues to different stakeholders including knowledge sharing/transfer to stakeholders throughout the project duration (max score 5) • Please give details of how this contract may result in employment, training or education that may challenge workforce inequality and reduce the disability employment gap (max score 10). Payment Approach Fixed price Assessment Method • Case study • Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. In the question regarding “designing systems able to work with high performance cluster computing” could you please give an example of, or elaborate on, what you mean by “high performance cluster computing”? Many surveillance systems require the manipulation and processing of large, complex, data sets at speed and in consultation and connection with other systems. Surveillance systems will have existing capabilities in place, and the discovery partner will need to be able to understand how these operate and can interface with other systems. 2. In the question regarding “experience of working on projects with IPA controls” could you please explain what “IPA” refers to? The Infrastructure and Projects Authority, the part of His Majesty's Government responsible for the control and assurance of the Government Major Project Portfolio. It is likely that the NBN will be of sufficient size and scale to be governed by GMPP rules, and therefore the discovery partner should have an understanding of what these requirements may be (and therefore how they may impact the business case). 3. Please can you confirm if there is an incumbent supplier and if so, who that is please? There is no incumbent supplier in place as this is a new programme for His Majesty's Government. 4. Would the appointed provider be required to use any existing tooling? If so, what tooling is currently available? Existing surveillance programmes across government are numerous, complex and often disparate. Each department, and potentially each surveillance programme, will use its own tooling depending on the requirements set by the programme. However, the discovery partner is not expected to provide technological capability during the discovery period and therefore whilst an understanding of the different toolings used is useful it is not an essential need. 5. Would the appointed provider be required to use any existing tooling? If so, what tooling is currently available? Existing surveillance programmes across government are numerous, complex and often disparate. Each department, and potentially each surveillance programme, will use its own tooling depending on the requirements set by the programme. However, the discovery partner is not expected to provide technological capability during the discovery period and therefore whilst an understanding of the different toolings used is useful it is not an essential need. 6. Would the appointed provider be required to use any existing tooling? If so, what tooling is currently available? Existing surveillance programmes across government are numerous, complex and often disparate. Each department, and potentially each surveillance programme, will use its own tooling depending on the requirements set by the programme. However, the discovery partner is not expected to provide technological capability during the discovery period and therefore whilst an understanding of the different toolings used is useful it is not an essential need. 7. Could you please clarify – is the budget for this first 3-month stage £2.5m? If not, what is the envisaged budget for it? That is correct, up to £2.5m is available for the Discovery period 8. Please can you confirm the size of team you are anticipating from suppliers? Additionally, the size of the supporting/project team from UKHSA/DEFRA and other partners? Our supporting UKHSA project team will likely comprise c20 people, spanning project, science, data science and comms disciplines. Addtionally we will have a panel of SMEs (scientific), an advisory board, and a programme board. Our discovery suggests that there will need to be parallel engagement with multiple government departments and devolved administrations, so the supplier's team would need to be able to support this approach. We do not have 'size of supplier team' in mind. 9. Please can you provide clarity on the breakdown of the proposed budget for the Discovery phase of work? We note up to £2,500,000 (excluding VAT) is available – is this anticipated for the whole project or just this Discovery phase? The discovery phase budget is up to £2.5m (excl VAT). This budget is for the discovery phase only. 10. How is existing biosurveillance information currently shared between government departments? At this point we cannot be more specific other that different government departments and devolved administrations may be sharing information with others. Since the UK left the EU, we have lost data to formalised EU data sharing, such as via TESSy. We know that currently, surveillance capabilities are disparate and fragmented, and there is no uniform data sharing; instead, collaboration relies on good relationships between teams. 11. Could you please clarify the scope or definition of ‘operational systems’ in the second essential skills and experience question. By 'operational systems' we mean systems intended to be, or are live systems that are holding data and supporting analysis/reporting/data sharing. 12. Are suppliers permitted to use multiple examples in their answers to questions? Yes 13. Have specific threats of interest within the scope of biosecurity/ biosurveillance been defined and agreed at this stage for programme assessment? In its delivery phase, the NBN is intended be capable of monitoring all possible biological threats, including those that have not yet emerged, but we recognise that the Discovery will need to focus on specific - known - threats to demonstrate the value-add of an NBN. Part of the discovery will include agreeing the number of priority threats to consider, but these are likely to be those identified in statutory legislation and those identified in the National Security Risk Assessment. 14. Have specific threats of interest within the scope of biosecurity/ biosurveillance been defined and agreed at this stage for programme assessment? In its delivery phase, the NBN is intended be capable of monitoring all possible biological threats, including those that have not yet emerged, but we recognise that the Discovery will need to focus on specific - known - threats to demonstrate the value-add of an NBN. Part of the discovery will include agreeing the number of priority threats to consider, but these are likely to be those identified in statutory legislation and those identified in the National Security Risk Assessment. 15. What is the scope of threats that the national biosurveillance network will help to protect against? In its delivery phase, the NBN is intended be capable of monitoring all possible biological threats, including those that have not yet emerged, but we recognise that the Discovery will need to focus on specific - known - threats to demonstrate the value-add of an NBN. Part of the discovery will include agreeing the number of priority threats to consider, but these are likely to be those identified in statutory legislation and those identified in the National Security Risk Assessment. 16. How does this work relate to the UKHSA Big Rocks programme? NBN discovery is separate to UKHSA big rocks. It may prove helpful during discovery to explore other programmes that might impact NBN discovery; the discovery partner will work with UKHSA, DEFRA, APHA and EA colleagues to identify appropriate targets for engagement. 17. How many different organisations are estimated to be in scope of this piece of discovery work? Part of the Discovery will involve mapping out the existing biosurveillance mechanisms that exist across government so we cannot give an exact figure but organisations will span the UK Government, Devolved Administrations and potentially other partners. 18. Can you clarify your expectations for exemplars for each of the proposal requirement criteria : One example of work, or multiple examples per criteria? More than one examplar would be ideal. 19. Are you able to clarify the range of threats to be assessed in the discovery phase of this project? In its delivery phase, the NBN is intended be capable of monitoring all possible biological threats, including those that have not yet emerged, but we recognise that the Discovery will need to focus on specific - known - threats to demonstrate the value-add of an NBN. Part of the discovery will include agreeing the number of priority threats to consider, but these are likely to be those identified in statutory legislation and those identified in the National Security Risk Assessment. 20. Cluster computing: Is there a specific reason this type of computing infrastructure has been mentioned, as opposed to grid / cloud / virtual? It's imagined that there will be a variety of cloud intrastructure's in use and the term 'cluster' is meant being able to use all clouds. 21. Please could you provide details on the UKHSA business case standard; or if this is not possible, please highlight any significant deviations from Better Business Case and HMT Green Book business case standards. There will be further information in the request for proposal. Worth noting that the business case will be in line with HMG guidelines. 22. What is approx. volume of data in scope, mix of data modalities and number of databases? This is difficult to answer at this point. Allow for at least three devolved administrations and their data, plus further data bases in a further five/six government department. 23. What are the priority workforce inequalities they are seeking to address through this work? We are interested is suppliers approach to equality, diversion and inclusion overall and don't have any specific inequalities we are seeking to address outside of our own EDI policy. 24. We understand that the National Biosurveillance Network (NBN) Discovery phase forms part of the wider Biological Security Strategy (BSS) Refresh. What has been the main driver of this Strategy refresh? Post pandemic implications, length of time since BSS was published, elevated security risks? The UK has faced a number of significant biological threats since the 2018 strategy, including three public health emergencies of international concern - the 2018-20 Ebola epidemic, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and 2022 monkeypox outbreak - as well as an ongoing avian influenza outbreak, serving as a reminder that the risk to our biological security remains an immediate one. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that we must strengthen our foresight and response to biological threats, improving our preparedness across the whole risk lifecycle and adopting a whole of the UK and international approach to speed up our responses reducing catastrophic impacts. 25. To what extent has progress been made to refresh the BSS? Would the Strategy Refresh (for example, the post-pandemic strategic landscape, refresh of the 4 cross-govt. pillars) be considered part of the NBN Discovery scope? As a key deliverable of the BSS, we would expect the Discovery to be mindful of the refreshed strategy and its ambitions. 26. We understand that one of the objectives of the NBN discovery is to design a systems operating model that enables the fast detection of threats in our environment as and when they occur. Is there a primary area of value that HSA is interested in driving through this work? For example, speed of detection of threats, extent of cross-organisational collaboration, cost efficient methods of detection. The Discovery partner will be exploring the value add of any proposed system and as part of the Discovery should consider all these factors. 27. Is there a particular area of focus for the systems operating model design? For example, a focus on technology (use of high performance compute capabilities), or organisational ways of working (e.g., governance structures). Our meaning of systems operating model design is of an overall nature, taking account of people, process, technology and science. 28. We understand that one of the objectives of the NBN Discovery is to articulate how existing capabilities can be extended or continued. To what extent has progress been made on mapping and baselining existing capabilities? Part of the Discovery will involve mapping out the existing biosurveillance mechanisms that exist across government so we cannot give an exact figure but organisations will span the UK Government, Devolved Administrations and potentially other partners. 29. To what level of detail does UK HSA expect the business cases for the alpha pilots, beta pilots and delivery to be completed to? It is our assumption that this will be to Outline Business Case (OBC) level of detail given the timelines specified. The business case is intended to demonstrate funding requirements, value and benefits for each of two years of pilot phases, and give an indication of potential end state. The business case will be in line with current HMG standards. 30. Does UKHSA expect the business cases for the alpha pilots, beta pilots and delivery to be aligned to the Green Book 5 Case method? Yes please. 31. We understand that the NBN Discovery will help set out the roadmap to delivering the BSS Refresh. Is UK HSA looking for supplier support in designing the roadmap only, or also support in delivering the roadmap? For example, this would include Transformation Portfolio, Programmes and Projects definition and approaches to governance, manage and deliver the roadmap. At this stage we have funding for the discovery phase only. The business case will evidence the costs, value, benefits and resources to deliver each further stage. 32. We understand that the NBN Discovery needs to align with the Government Service Standard user-centred methodology and standard. Would the scope of Discovery also include a formal submission of the Discovery for GSS review? We envisage GSS review at some stage during NBN and imagine that our discovery would form part of that review. 33. Are deep dive application vendor assessments part of the discovery? If so, how many applications are expected to be assessed in detail? This is a good question. Our business case will need to reference the end-state costs with an assessment of variance. The pilots that are to be identified will further inform the end-state. NBN discovery is not looking for a end-state technology final recommendation, more indicative. 34. Is benchmarking against similar organisations to NBN, globally in scope of the Discovery? If so, is there an expectation of the number of similar organisations to be explored? As part of the mapping of existing surveillance capabilities, there is the opportunity to explore global standards and capabilities e.g. USA, EU 35. In the question regarding “Recent (within 3 years) experience of working in a Linux environment.” Is there a specific Linux environment in-scope? E.g. RedHat We have no specific Linux environment in mind, we are anticipating that there might be one/some. 36. In the question regarding “Recent (within 3 years) and demonstrable experience of designing systems able to work with high performance cluster computing.”, would distributed cloud computing examples be relevant? E.g. Databricks. Yes they would 37. What are the expected data sources/systems for review and are there any data sharing agreements will need to be agreed? E.g. NDA. There are a number of data sources and systems to review along with many data sharing agreements. At this point we cannot be definitive - allow for several per devolved administration and each other government department in scope. 38. Here follows the questions from the Q&A session :Could you please give an example of what you mean by high performance cluster computing? We mean the ability to manipulate large data sets and process them in a way that would need to do as part of the surveillance work. We're not expecting this capability to be delivered during the Discovery phase. There are various elements of teh programme that will lean on existing programmes in both UKHSA and DEFRA and part of the discovery is to bring these together. The challenge will b to bring the greatest of these insights together to be able to inform and determine what a rapid detection would look like from a biosecurity perspective. 39. What do 'IPA controls' refer to? Infrastructure Projects Authority - the NBN (not the Discovery) would probably fall under the government major programmes portfolio and therefore there will be governance arrangements imposed by the IPA - it would be useful to have an awareness of these. 40. Is there an incumbent supplier? No, this is new programme of work stimulated by the refresh of the Biological Security Strategy starting from scratch. 41. What is the business case format? How much of the business case will be guided by you? The business case we're expecting to be delivered will take us into alpha. It will require the definition of projects or alpha protoypes that would be created over the next couple of years. The programme would then deliver from the output of that. 42. Is there an expectation or desire that the winning bidders or consortium will progress from Discovery into alpha or pilot delivery if the business case if successful or are we just looking at the Discovery for now? The contract is for the Discovery period. 43. Is there any expectation (and to what degree) are we expected to do any technology developments during this phase as well (e.g. products or prototypes)? There is no expectation of build of products or prototypes during the Discovery phase. 44. Would there be any engagement with the potential users of Biosurveillance data? There is no expectation of build of products or prototypes during the Discovery phase. 45. Would there be any engagement with the potential users of Biosurveillance data? Yes – the developments of the use cases will be very important as well as the mapping of capabilities. We need to understand the different stakeholders that are involved. Whether we need to go to field-based stakeholders is to be discussed, but within Government departments and their specialist teams, engagements will be required. The scope will be broadened out as the programme develops. 46. When will the BSS be published? Realistically this will be published after Christmas. 47. How much funding is there for the business cases (i.e. the work from 2023 onwards)? We don’t know, and the Discovery should explore this. We think delivery will cost somewhere in the region of £150m. However, the Discovery will explore fully what the future programme will look like and how long it will take to deliver it. 48. Can you provide any examples of silo-ing of data sets we might come across? This project is a joint effort between DEFRA and UKHSA and it important that it reflects a One Health approach. Where we might gain efficiencies from a National Biosurveillance Network is by looking for synergies and opportunities across different applications and different surveillance mechanisms and approaches and doing that in a joined up and holistic way. So it's not just about data sets; it's also about systems and processes which is why we require a cross-cutting and One Health approach. 49. What SME (subject matter expert) support will be available? Access to SMEs is critical to the success of this project. Science and research is key; understanding the gaps and next steps. We are working to ensure there is good access to SMEs as and when it is required. 50. What happens if the project is delayed? The contract may be awarded slightly later but the funding is in-year. We cannot proceed with the project without having completed a robust Discovery. 51. Do the business cases need to be in a specific format? Yes, and the selected partner will receive more detail on this. The tender documentation will contain some of this information. 52. What will the Governance look like? This is currently in draft format and we are finalising it over the next week. It's likely but not certain to include a strategic board, a delivery board and an advisory (SME) group, as well as the agile framework of governance associated with project delivery. 53. Does this apply to just post-analysis data or does it include designing centralised sample collection/processing? There is an open question around what we're talking about here - whether it is the output of programmes across government we're interested in or whether we're talking about the collection of samples and the stored samples that exist as a historical archive. We need to explore what's feasible. However, we need to consider the role of NBN as we move towards a pathogen-agnostic detection landscape. As an interim stage we might want to include central collation of samples, or at least agreements in place to ensure we can access samples from across Government, even if there's no central storage. 54. Could you please provide a timeline for the remainder of procurement? Deadline for Applications - 25th NovemberThe 5 Shortlisted suppliers will be notified on or before 2nd December and further details will be provided regarding the written requirement and presentation.Written requirement to be submitted by 12th December.We are planning to hold Presentations on or around 14th December.Please note that these dates may be subject to slight changes, but updates will follow where necessary. 55. Are you able to share the recording from the Q&A Session Yes, this is available to anyone who would like to request a copy. Please email direct to clare.cosgrove@ukhsa.gov.uk to request a copy of the recording, using the below reference in the subject title. National Biosurveillance Network Discovery (Ref C113285)