TLOT10192 National Travel Survey Digital Travel Diary

Tender description

Work done so far Following recommendations at Discovery in 2019, Alpha tested numerous features in a prototype digital diary. During Beta, the MVP was developed, ready for use with the survey’s participants. The current service includes the main interface for members of the public (survey participants), a dashboard and features for interviewers who manage the data collection and quality assure the data, a feedback centre used by both of these user types and managed by NatCen, and links to NatCen’s system to pull data for each household and individual, and the functionality to export data back to the main NatCen system through an API. The service passed Beta assessment in 2022, along with all other required assurance gates. During the development process, extensive user testing with members of the public and DfT’s NTS delivery partner, NatCen, identified a number of further features and developments which were needed to ensure the digital diary’s successful integration into the NTS. These include the interface for the survey interviewers, the training platform, and the feedback centre. The Beta service has been developed using PHP 8.1 and Symfony 5.4, hosted on Google Cloud AppEngine/CloudSQL (PaaS). All code is open source, utilising open standards and common platforms. Code available on DfT’s public github repository: https://github.com/department-for-transport-public/nts_digital_diary The Discovery, Alpha and Beta reports are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/future-developments-for-the-nts Which phase the project is in Beta Existing team DFT will provide: • a product manager (Head of the National Travel Survey, a statistician) • a service owner (Head of Travel and Environment Data and Statistics, a statistician). • Assurance from digital service. • Hosting environment (Google Cloud Platform). The supplier will provide all resource required to deliver the project. Resource for survey fieldwork (including interviewers, coders and research staff) is provided under contract to the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), who are engaged on integrating the digital diary into their processes and utilising it as a data collection tool. Address where the work will be done The majority of the work will be conducted at the supplier’s own site (or other chosen location). Meetings between the supplier and the DfT NTS team, and the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen; main survey contractor), will primarily be conducted remotely. Conducting user research and attendance to training and briefing events may require travel around the UK. No Travel rates will be incurred within the M25 corridor and for any travel outside the M25 the Department’s Travel Rates will apply. Working arrangements Suppliers should provide their preferred approach within their proposals; exact milestones and Statements of work will be agreed with appointed supplier. Suppliers are, however, expected to use Agile methodologies compatible with government digital standards. Suppliers are expected to manage and maintain the development backlog and risk register, and maintain the service in line with GDS requirements, updating to align with the latest standards when required. The service operates 24/7 and the supplier will need to respond promptly when issues occur, with expectations and timescales managed via a Service Level Agreement to be agreed with the successful supplier. The supplier should provide weekly status updates to DfT. Regular engagement with various staff at NatCen is to be expected, with a schedule and ways of working mutually agreed with all parties to ensure that any developments meet the needs of the NTS and its users, and that technical updates do not create unexpected disruption to the operation of the service. Provide more information about your security requirements: Security Check (SC) Latest start date 2025-07-04 Enter the expected contract length: 2 years Extension period: 1 year Special terms and conditions - DfT Architecture Principles (see uploaded document)   - Technology Code of Practice  (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-technology-code-of-practice) - GDS (https://gds-way.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk/) - Service Manual (https://www.gov.uk/service-manual) - National Cyber Security standards    (https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/risk-management) - Secure by Design (https://www.security.gov.uk/policy-and-guidance/secure-by-design/) - Cloud Security principles (https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/cloud/the-cloud-security-principles) - Open Standards principles (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-standards-principles/open-standards-principles) - Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/helping-people-to-use-your-service/understanding-wcag) Open API Specification - Swagger (https://swagger.io/specification/) - Gov Restful Open API (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/recommended-open-standards-for-government/describing-restful-apis-with-openapi-3) - Open-Source Code (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/be-open-and-use-open-source) - When code should be open or closed (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-source-guidance/when-code-should-be-open-or-closed) Shortlisted suppliers will be requested to complete the DfT’s Risk Ledger Assessment. Write the term or acronym: DfT – Department for Transport (also referred to as “the Department”) Write the term or acronym: MVP – Minimum Viable Product Write the term or acronym: NatCen – National Centre for Social Research (DfT’s survey delivery partner) Write the term or acronym: NTS – National Travel Survey Are you prepared to show your budget details?: Yes Indicative maximum: £800k exclusive of VAT Provide further information: Overall budget includes live services assessment, development of backlog items, new features, and ongoing maintenance. 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 NTS collects data from up to 30k participants annually through face-to-face interviews and a 7-day travel diary. Details on the methodology and operation of the survey are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-travel-survey-2023-technical-report In 2025, DfT launched the Digital Diary, a gov.uk-based tool, as the primary method of travel data collection. Households that cannot or will not use the digital tool receive a paper diary as a backup. Early data shows 65-70% of households opt for digital, which is expected to increase over time. This work concerns the further development and maintenance of the digital diary service, which is currently in public Beta. The digital diary was developed to mirror the paper diaries, aiming to collect data of equivalent or better quality. It also supports interviewers in onboarding respondents, introducing the diary, checking entries, and amending data. The next phase of work focuses on: 1. Enhancing the user experience with new features, and implementing already identified items on the development backlog. 2. Passing Live assessment. 3. Maintaining the existing service. Planned improvements include: • Pre-coding free text boxes for journey purpose. • Enhancing geographical data input, refining origin/destination entries. • Reworking user flow for an intuitive experience, reducing cognitive burden These new features aim to streamline data collection, reduce manual input, and improve annual processing. Other requirements may emerge as further user needs are identified. Successful development and implementation requires collaboration with DfT and NatCen, ensuring seamless integration with NTS operations. The solution, hosted on DfT’s Google Cloud, must align with DfT’s Digital & Technology Strategy and Architecture Standards. Knowledge transfer to DfT ensures long-term resilience, with source code hosted on DfT’s GitHub. Reports for publication must be in accessible format. Where the supplied staff will work No specific location (for example they can work remotely) Why the work is being done The National Travel Survey is one of DfT’s most important data sources. Data from the NTS is used to inform high profile policy development and transport modelling, alongside a range of other applications. Yearly official statistics based on the survey data are published here (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-travel-survey-statistics). The overall objective of the digital diary remains to maintain and develop a service for the NTS which is integrated with wider survey data collection processes (currently managed by NatCen), collects better quality data, reduces burden and increases efficiencies compared to the paper diary. The business problem you need to solve The digital diary is integrated into the live NTS and collecting data from members of the public. It is critical that the service is stable and always available. The service must be maintained in line with the requirements of the gov.uk platform and the DfTs Google Cloud Platform as seen in the Special Terms and Conditions section of this tender A number of further areas of development have been identified to improve and enhance the digital diary and these will need to be implemented to meet the data capture and operational requirements of the NTS, fitting within its schedule and meeting the needs of all users. As the service is in public Beta, it will need to go through live assessment. It is anticipated that this will be done in the latter part of 2025. First user type: Survey participants (diary keepers) (18,000-30,000 per year) First user type: Survey Interviewers (300) First user type: Survey coders First user type: NatCen operational staff and analysts First user type: NatCen Survey Enquiry Team First user type: Data users/analysts Questions and Clarifications 1. Q1 Given no SC clearance requirement can development/support be conducted nearshore/offshore Q2 You suggest the service is currently in Beta, was this conducted by the department or CDDO? (As the report seems to have been compiled by Ghost digital.) Q3 Are you able to shared the CDDO/DfT generated beta report? as opposed to the version summary from Ghost digital Q4: Is there an incumbent supplier supporting beta? Q5: To more align with DfT technology preferences would you be open to moving from PHP to .NET or another aligned technology Q6: Can you confirm the following evaluation criteria: 60% Technical competence 10% Cultural fit 10% Social value 20% Price Q7: Can you confirm the criteria that will be applied to evaluate Price? Q8: Where no character limits are specified is there a general character count for responses and are images/diagrams allowed? Q1: As per the Security and vetting requirements Supplier staff delivering the project will be required to hold SC Clearance. Therefore, development will be conducted onshore. Q2: The assessment was carried out by DfT's Architectural Change Board. Q3: The version from Ghost Digital is the only version the Buyer is aware of. Q4: Yes, the incumbent is currently supporting the beta. Q5: Any additional framework would have to align with the DfT Architecture principles and standards, including Secure by Design. Q6: The evaluation criteria as outlined is correct. Q7: Pricing will be evaluated on the basis of Capped Time and Materials in Stage 2 of this procurement (through use of a rate card which Suppliers will be expected to complete). The Pricing Model will be shared with Suppliers who are successful in entering Stage 2. Q8: Images and Diagrams are permitted. Each essential and nice to have criteria has a limit of 750 characters including spaces. Technical, Cultural Fit and Social Value questions have a limit of 5000 characters for each question including spaces. Last Updated: 16 May 2025, 14:56 2. Q1: Given no SC clearance requirement can development/support be conducted nearshore/offshore Q2: You suggest the service is currently in Beta, was this conducted by the department or CDDO? (As the report seems to have been compiled by Ghost digital.) Q3: Are you able to shared the CDDO/DfT generated beta report? as opposed to the version summary from Ghost digital Q4: Is there an incumbent supplier supporting beta? Q5: To more align with DfT technology preferences would you be open to moving from PHP to .NET or another aligned technology Q6: Can you confirm the following evaluation criteria: 60% Technical competence 10% Cultural fit 10% Social value 20% Price Q7: Can you confirm the criteria that will be applied to evaluate Price? Q8: Where no character limits are specified is there a general character count for responses and are images/diagrams allowed? Q1: As per the Security and vetting requirements Supplier staff delivering the project will be required to hold SC Clearance. Therefore, development will be conducted onshore. Q2: The Buyer will confirm this information as soon as possible. Q3: The Buyer will follow up confirming this point as soon as possible. Q4: Yes, the incumbent is currently supporting the beta. Q5: Any additional framework would have to align with the DfT Architecture principles and standards, including Secure by Design. Q6: The evaluation criteria as outlined is correct. Q7: Pricing will be evaluated on the basis of Capped Time and Materials in Stage 2 of this procurement (through use of a rate card which Suppliers will be expected to complete). The Pricing Model will be shared with Suppliers who are successful in entering Stage 2. Q8: Images and Diagrams are permitted. Each essential and nice to have criteria has a limit of 750 characters including spaces. Technical, Cultural Fit and Social Value questions have a limit of 5000 characters for each question including spaces. Last Updated: 16 May 2025, 14:01 3. Q1. Please confirm the response limit is 750 CHARACTERS including spaces per EACH essential and nice to have criteria? (750 characters to answer 5 questions is not practical) Q2. Please confirm that staff to deliver the project will require minimum BPSS clearance and SC clearance for working on DfT GCP systems? Q3. Question 1 refers to a Live service assessment, though there are very few of these conducted by GDS, as most services run in Public Beta. Can you confirm it is suitable for us to reference instead services of significant scale >1,000 users that have been operating successfully in Public Beta for >1 year with successful GDS assessment? Q4. Can you confirm that other PHP and modern open-source frameworks beyond Symfony could be used to modernise the solution for future maintainability, where these are not aligned to DfT's preferred standards? Q1: The 750 characters including space is per each essential and nice to have criteria. Q2 As per the Security and vetting requirements Supplier staff delivering the project will be required to hold SC Clearance. Q3: Upon internal discussion, the Buyer has decided the question “Demonstrable evidence of successful beta development and live transition in line with GDS standards for a government department, including passing a live GDS service assessment.” will now be evaluated as “Nice-to-have skills and experience” with a weighting of 25%. All other questions in “Nice-to-have skills and experience” will now also carry a weighting of 25% as opposed to 30% or 40%. The remaining four questions in Essential skills and experience will now hold a weighting of 25% each as opposed to 20%. Q4: Any additional framework would have to align with the DfT Architecture principles and standards, including Secure by Design. Last Updated: 16 May 2025, 13:50 4. Is use of Google Cloud mandatory or would the customer accept AWS or MS Azure? The service is currently in operation and is hosted on DfT’s Google Gloud platform. As change to this would be disruptive, the use of Google Cloud is a mandatory requirement. Last Updated: 12 May 2025, 14:13 5. Was the solution built in house or was it with an external supplier – if external who was it? How is pricing evaluated – capped price or rate card? The solution to date has been built by an external supplier, Ghost Digital Limited. For information only, Discovery, Alpha and Beta reports from this solution can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/future-developments-for-the-nts Pricing will be evaluated on the basis of Capped Time and Materials in Stage 2 of this procurement (through use of a rate card which Suppliers will be expected to complete). The Pricing Model will be shared with Suppliers who are successful in entering Stage 2. Last Updated: 12 May 2025, 12:44