PRIOR INFORMATION NOTICE FOR CONTRACT IN THE FIELD OF DEFENCE AND SECURITY - OFFICIAL JOURNAL

Section I: Contracting Authority / Entity

I.1)

Name, Address and Contact Point(s)

I.2)

Type of contracting Authority and Main Activity or Activities

Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local sub-divisions National or federal agency/Office Regional or local Authority Regional or local Agency/Office Body governed by public law European Institution/Agency or International Organisation

General public services Defence Public order and safety Environment Economic and financial affairs Health Housing and community amenities Social protection Recreation, culture and religion Education

Section II: Object of the Contract

II.1)

Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority/entity

Application Development and Support

II.2)

Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance

II.3)

This notice involves a framework agreement

II.4)

Short description of nature and scope of works or nature and quantity or value of supplies or services

The Specialist EOD, Exploitation and Counter Measures (SEEC) Delivery Team within Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) is preparing to initiate a competitive procurement for a contract for software development and support for the following:

- Development and continued availability of an application store.

- Development and delivery of multiple Android applications (apps) and integration onto the application store. Applications may be standalone or used to monitor information from in-service sensors and/or equipment.

- Integration of commercial off the shelf (COTS) applications onto the application store.

The suppliers will be required to support DE&S with rapid, insightful, and cost-effective decisions to ensure the sustainment of the UK defence operations.

II.5)

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

II.6)

Scheduled date for start of award procedures and duration of the contract

II.7)

Additional information

Section III: Legal, Economic, Financial and Technical Information

III.1)

Conditions relating to the contract

III.1.1)

Main financing conditions and payment arrangements and/or reference to the relevant provisions regulating them

III.2)

Conditions for participation

III.2.1)

Reserved contracts

Section VI: Complementary Information

VI.1)

Contract related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds

VI.2)

Additional information

1. Description

DE&S requires a contract for the development and continued availability of an application store and multiple apps (both bespoke and COTS). The number of bespoke apps is subject to change but is assumed to be around ~20 over the life of the contract. The applications are to be used by a small Military group only.

The core of the requirement, support and continued availability of a sub-set of apps and the application store, will be known at contract award. The supplier can use a DE&S defined interim application store solution until a bespoke solution is developed. The remainder of the requirement and deliverables shall be defined over the course of the contract to address emerging requirements and shall be contracted through a tasking procedure. This may include tasks such as the development and delivery of additional applications, procurement of hardware for the purpose of testing and maintaining software licences.

The classification of application development is up to and including OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE. However, some apps may require libraries up to an including SECRET UK EYES ONLY meaning that the supplier will be required to hold Facility Security Clearance.

2. Procurement Timescales & Contract Value.

The estimated value range of the Contract is £12M over a 7-year period with potential contract commencing January 2026.

3. Early Engagement and Market Intelligence

DE&S have an aim to identify the level of industry interest, gain feedback to further inform our requirement and understand what method industry deem most suitable for the delivery and running of this contract once awarded. A collaborative model is preferable. Please provide a brief of up to 1000 words answering the following to support DE&S with this procurement:

• Direction on the most suitable contract mechanism for delivery of the requirement detailed in section II.4 i.e. a multi supplier framework, a single prime contractor or other model with supporting explanation.

• An estimated cost for the following contract elements; development and maintainability of an application store and a bespoke Android application.

• Any licencing and/or other factors that must be considered when adding COTS software onto a bespoke platform.

• Any industry standards/processes that must be considered when developing bespoke software.

• Key risks, assumptions and dependencies DE&S should consider for this procurement.

• Any other information you believe DE&S should be aware of when preparing to initiate this contract.

Your brief should be addressed to deslestsp-seec-commercial@mod.gov.uk Please provide your brief no later than 1 July 2024.

This information shall not be used by the Authority to down select but shall help inform the development of the requirement and delivery route only. This is an opportunity for industry to help influence the procurement strategy, any feedback would be gratefully received. Any respondents will be kept updated on any future steps on this procurement.

4. Contract Notice and Pre-Qualification

Based on an estimated schedule, the Authority intends to publish a Contract Notice and initiate Supplier Selection in October 2024. Full details on how to express your interest in this requirement shall be published in the Contract Notice.

5. Further Information

You must not take this announcement to mean confirmation that MOD shall award a contract for this requirement. The MOD is publishing this announcement without any commitment to issue a tender or place a contract. Accordingly, any expenditure, work or effort undertaken before contract award is a matter solely for the commercial judgement of potential suppliers.

VI.3)

Information on general regulatory framework

VI.4)

Date of dispatch of this notice