Digital Twin Outcomes: Target Architecture, Data Baselines and DAMA Assessment

Tender description

About adding context and requirements test Work done so far 1. Development of a first draft work in progress Digital Twin Strategy. This is listed and a copy provided in the additional documentation section. 2. Development of early packages of work that will aide the development of approach to Digital Twin and Data Factory including the OBC. These are listed and provided in the additional documentation section. 3. Development of Strategic Outline Business Cases for a Digital Twin and Data Factory. These are not provided due to sensitive content. Most relevant information and more is available in the strategy and early works packages. Which phase the project is in Discovery Existing team Defra Digital Data and Technology Services (DDTS), Environment Agency (EA), Digital Asset Data and Information Programme (DADI) Team. Address where the work will be done Virtual Working arrangements Virtual and Face to Face meetings. The supplier staff will keep Environment Agency hours in order to maximise knowledge transfer and integrate with team development processes: Monday to Friday starting work by 9.30am, 7.5 hours per day + lunch time. Provide more information about your security requirements: Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) Latest start date 2024-04-15 Enter the expected contract length: 1 year Extension period: 6 months Special terms and conditions Please note that any outputs from this work are the property of the Crown and all IP is owned by the Authority. These outputs should be handed over to the Authority in a position that these can be shared with other external parties and internal stakeholders in the event of follow on procurements. Write the term or acronym: Digital Asset Data and Information (DADI) Write the term or acronym: Flood Coast Risk Management (FCRM) Write the term or acronym: Digital Data Technology Services (DDTS) Write the term or acronym: EA Business Write the term or acronym: Outline Business Case (OBC) Write the term or acronym: AIMS AMP Explain the term or acronym: Programme of work delivering multiple projects associated with maximising efficiency and capability associated with digital and data capability improvement. Overview video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE-9DWKieRs) Explain the term or acronym: Department within the Environment Agency Explain the term or acronym: Department within Defra. Explain the term or acronym: Scope of the requirements is supporting delivery of a Digital Twin / Data Factory within the scope of Asset Management / FCRM of the Environment Agency. Effectively the data management strategy for Asset Management. Explain the term or acronym: Environment Agency follow the treasury green book approach issued by HM Treasury on how to appraise policies, programmes and projects. OBC is part of this. Explain the term or acronym: Project to support the broader asset management planning landscape and asset valuation within the Environment Agency with consistent asset management planning processes that complies with the ISO-55001 standard. Are you prepared to show your budget details?: Yes Indicative maximum: 150000 Indicative minimum: 0 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 1. Capture the current business architecture as a baseline. 2. Develop a target architecture definition. 3. Undertake a DAMA maturity assessment. 4. Update of Digital Twin Strategy. It should be noted that although the contract length will initially be one (1) year with further options, it is anticipated that the requirement will be finished within nine months. Where the supplied staff will work No specific location (for example they can work remotely) Who the organisation using the products or services is Environment Agency Why the work is being done To support the strategic planning and transformation of the Asset Management function of the Environment Agency in data management. These activities form part of delivering the Digital Twin strategy and the development of the Outline Business Case for a Data Factory and Digital Twin. They will also provide direction and support to other projects already in flight with immediate needs relating to data. The outputs will be used to inform the update the digital twin strategy. The business problem you need to solve Delivery of the outcomes defined in the summary. First user type: Digital Asset Data and Information First user type: SME provider (additional OBC activities) First user type: AIMS AMP Project Enter more details about this user type: Requires this output to support subsequent activities in development of the outline business case for both Digital Twin and Data Factory Requires key users identified in the strategy and early works output engaged and bought in to the output produced. Support the update of the strategic approach and its associated roadmap of enablers. Enter more details about this user type: Development of a Digital Twin and Data Factory Proof of Concept which will utilise the outputs from this work. Development of a business change impact assessment which is dependent on the business architecture baseline and target architecture from this work to inform the scale of change expected. Enter more details about this user type: Use of the outputs from this work to inform the development of a data approach that aligns to the Digital Twin and Data Factory approach. Questions and Clarifications 1. We noticed that the scope statement document is dated July 2021 and have reviewed the list of outputs you provided. We would to confirm if all of these outputs are expected to be covered by the £150k budget within the 6-month timeframe, considering our experience that the budget may be insufficient for the requested deliverables. If there is no flexibility in the budget, we would to discuss potential adjustments to the scope to ensure that we can achieve your digital twin strategic objectives within the available resources. The Authority has considered the concerns raised around the maximum budget and has decided to raise this to £300,000 (ex VAT). It should be noted however that the Authority will expect Suppliers to provide their most competitive price for this work. Last Updated: 9 February 2024, 12:40 2. been closely involved in the SOC development for both your digital twin and data factory projects, and with a good understanding of the challenges that will be involved in delivering this piece of work, we would ask that the budgetary limit is adjusted to £400,000. We are concerned that the current limit of £150,000 is not sufficient for the scale and complexity of this project and will not result in a successful outcome for EA. The Authority has considered the concerns raised around the maximum budget and has decided to raise this to £300,000 (ex VAT). It should be noted however that the Authority will expect Suppliers to provide their most competitive price for this work. Last Updated: 9 February 2024, 12:38 3. Is it acceptabledesirable to reference private sector work for the essential skills and experience? It would be ok to reference private sector work, the closer and more relevant the experience is to the criteria will score higher. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 16:46 4. Is it acceptabledesirable for a partner to use Eastern European development teams? For the reason stated in question 23 it would be desirable that the teams are based in the UK. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 16:42 5. For face-to-face meetings stated in the working arrangements - Is it acceptabledesirable for the partners development team to be based in Eastern Europe and account management team in the UK with the account management team attending the face-to-face meeting and the development team attending virtually? To deliver this effectively and efficiently the delivery team will need to be physically present at Face-to-Face meetings. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 16:41 6. Is there any flexibility around timelines? Ideally delivery within 6 months however there is flexibility up to the 9-months. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 16:40 7. Will the Agency accept a submission that proposes to deliver within a shorter period of time (e.g. 4 months) or allow for dynamic “on-off” resourcing where there will be periodic cooling period during various review points throughout the 6-9 month period? A proposal that can deliver in a shorter time would be considered. Deliverability in terms of approach to resourcing and time required to engage those in the Environment Agency would need to be demonstrated. This would include for reviews as mentioned. Ideally delivery within 6 months would be achieved. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 16:39 8. We understand that the requirements in this ITT pertains to mainly the FCRM data. However, under work package (WP) 3 under DAMA assessment, there is a reference to scope definition as part of the assessment plan. To what extent does the Agency require the Supplier to conduct a scan across the agency to define the data in scope, or is it a of reviewing FCRM-specific data and fine-tuning the scope? This piece of work is being led by the Asset Management community but there are considerations of the wider organisation in terms of approaches that impact on this. Examples might be metadata management, data maturity etc. As such it would be expected that a wider scan would be required to confirm the data in scope. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 14:54 9. For the DAMA assessment, to what extent will the Supplier be supported by EA Digital Twin team and other relevant teams to get the relevant data? It will be expected that the supplier will be the lead in undertaking this activity including engagement to gather the relevant information. However, there will be members of the team from Defra Digital Data and Technology Services (DDTS) that will be available to support. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 14:53 10. In the Digital Twin Phase 1 Scope Statement v0.4 Jan24 Section 2.1, it suggested that among the four objectives is “Developing the Outline Business and support the Environment Agency to achieve stakeholder buy-in”. However, there is no reference to Outline Business within any of suggested five work packages. Please can the Agency clarify if developing the Outline Business is part of scope in this contract? The project objectives in 2.1 of the scope are to provide the context of the project objectives for the stage it is at and the dependencies of this service to those. We can confirm that developing the outline is not part of the scope of this contract. The subsequent services that may be procured will be a further separate piece of work. This is further confirmed in the scope in section 2.2 of the scope. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 14:52 11. Scope: 1. In the Digital Twin Phase 1 Scope Statement v0.4 Jan24, it is suggested that the final Output is the “Updated Digital Twin Strategy” which is to be delivered in 6 months from contract award. However, Attachment 1 Statement of Requirements suggests that the Agency expects that the contract is to be finished in 9 months. Please can the Agency clarify the timeline within which they would the Supplier to complete the work? Ideally, we would to see delivery within those timescales within the scope. However, the 9 months is allowing for items that may take longer than the 6 months indicated by the scope. Any programme should align to these output dates with agreement to be reached should itional time be required which may use up to the 9-month period. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 14:50 12. Are there any dependencies critical milestones associated with delivery of this work? Yes. Milestones are described in the output section of the scope. The dependencies are that this work is delivering the intial requirements that will support further activities to be undertaken to conclude the Outline Business (OBC) for Digital Twin. This will include the building of a PoC, Business Change Impact Assessment and planning, use development and design standards development. The combination of the activities of this work and these will be used to update and author the outline business . Other dependencies are for the development of the Data Factory OBC which is described further in the Digital Twin strategy attached. Also, outputs from this will be used to support other projects in delivery such as the use AIMS: AMP. This is described as one of the use s on the last slide of the Data Factory PoC attachment. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 14:50 13. Does this project fit into a wider programme of work? Yes. This is covered in the background and introduction section of the scope document attached. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 14:45 14. Please confirm if there is an incumbent provider and whether there is time allowance for a transition (if required)? There is no incumbent currently contracted on this work and as such there is no time allowance allowed for a transition. All work to date has been attached to provide as much information as possible. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 14:41 15. Can you please confirm if you are currently working with a consultancy firm on this digitaldata agenda and, if so, who? We can confirm we are not currently working with a consultancy firm on this. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 14:37 16. Can you please clarify what you consider in scope for ‘business architecture’ e.g. process, data, info flow, tech…? This is included within the Scope document attached. Section 3.1 covers business architecture activities. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 14:37 17. The structure of the response document has one box to answer Essential skills and experience (comprising of 5 questions with different weightage) and one box to answer Nice-to-have skills and experience (comprising of 2 questions with different weightage). Can you kindly clarify if the responses are expected per question or only for the 2 boxes called out in the Supplier Response section. The Authority would expect a response per question to ensure clarity for evaluation. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 14:35 18. We noticed that the scope statement document is dated July 2021 and have reviewed the list of outputs you provided. We would to confirm if all of these outputs are expected to be covered by the £150k budget within the 6-month timeframe, considering our experience that the budget may be insufficient for the requested deliverables. If there is no flexibility in the budget, we would to discuss potential adjustments to the scope to ensure that we can achieve your digital twin strategic objectives within the available resources. The Authority is discussing this internally and will provide a response as soon as possible. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 14:34 19. Have external organisations been involved in the work so far and are they permitted to bid for this piece of work? Yes external organisations have been involved in some elements to support the initial business and some supporting activities. All suppliers on Lot 1 for DOS6 can bid for this piece of work. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 14:32 20. Please can we request an extension of up to 1 week? We can agree to an extension to 12:00 on the 19th February 2024 for Stage 1 Bids to be returned. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 14:30 21. As we delve into the preparatory phase of our proposal, our aim is to ensure that our submission not only aligns with DEFRA’s objectives but also shows the innovative approaches for which we are known. To this end, we have been conducting a thorough review of our methodologies and studies to best tailor our proposal to meet the projects needs. Given the significance we place on accuracy and detail, and in light of our commitment to excellence, we find that a slight extension of the proposal deadline would enable us to present a more comprehensive and considered proposal. Therefore, we respectfully request an extension to 20 February 2024, which we believe will afford us the necessary time to refine our proposal to show our best solution for DEFRA. We can agree to an extension to 12:00 on the 19th February 2024 for Stage 1 bids to be submitted. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 14:29 22. The requirement states working hours of 09:30-17:00 Mon-Fri, Would there be any flexibility? The completion of this work requires the supplier to lead and manage the resources required to meet the requirements. This will involve collaboration as a team with Defra Data, Technology and Data Services (DDTS) and Environment Agency individuals who will be working core hours between 09:00 – 17.00. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 14:27 23. Are there specifics on roles and numbers of individuals for the requirement? There are no specifics on role numbers. However, we are looking for the supplier to confirm the roles and numbers to meet the timescales and technical requirements. It would be anticipated that roles and individuals details would be provided to support both Stage 1 and 2 requirements where assessment will be made against the skills and experience defined. In ition, this would support assessment of deliverability in answering some of the questions in the technical and cultural criteria. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 14:26 24. What is the resource demand? There is no resource demand. We are looking for the supplier to confirm the resource demand that is appropriate to meet the timescales and technical requirements. Deliverability will be assessed against this. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 14:25 25. Please could you confirm whether the expected duration of the work is 6 or 9 months? The documentation states both. To confirm the expected duration to complete the work is up to a maximum of 9 months. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 14:24 26. been closely involved in the SOC development for both your digital twin and data factory projects, and with a good understanding of the challenges that will be involved in delivering this piece of work, we would ask that the budgetary limit is adjusted to £400,000. We are concerned that the current limit of £150,000 is not sufficient for the scale and complexity of this project and will not result in a successful outcome for EA. The Authority is discussing this internally and will provide a response as soon as possible. To be clear, although some suppliers have been involved with aspects of the digital twin and data factory Strategic Outline development, this requirement has no incumbent supplier. All information from previous activities has been provided. Last Updated: 7 February 2024, 14:23 27. Please confirm that the responses to both Essential and Nice to Have Questions are 750 character (including spaces) for each question or 750 character (including spaces for each section. To confirm the 750 character count (which includes spaces and equates to a maximum of approximately 150 words) relates to both the Essential and Nice to Have criteria against Stage 1. This is against every question for the Essential and Nice to Have criteria at Stage 1. Last Updated: 31 January 2024, 11:04