Dstl
1000151266 Software Development & Support of CBRN Modelling and Information Systems
7 Incomplete applications
5 SME, 2 large
4 Completed applications
3 SME, 1 large
Important dates
- Published
- Friday 14 February 2020
- Deadline for asking questions
- Friday 21 February 2020 at 11:59pm GMT
- Closing date for applications
- Friday 28 February 2020 at 11:59pm GMT
Overview
- Summary of the work
- The supplier will be asked to price software development requirements on a task by task basis through the duration of the contract. A tasking form will be issued with details of the specific task and a proposal requested on a capped time and materials basis, using a pre-agreed rate card.
- Latest start date
- Friday 1 May 2020
- Expected contract length
- 2 years plus an optional 6 months extension
- Location
- South West England
- Organisation the work is for
- Dstl
- Budget range
- The anticipated spend under this call off contract is £500k to £1M per annum. Please note that there is no guarantee of any spend level under this call off contract. These figures should be seen as an estimation to guide suppliers of the likely level of work under this call off contract.
About the work
- Why the work is being done
- The Chemical, Biological and Radiological (CBR) division have over the last 20 years developed a set of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear models and tools. The underpinning approaches of these tools are the subject of continued research and thus there is a requirement to develop, modify and update the software, as well as resolve any bugs and issues that are identified.
- Problem to be solved
- Maintenance and feature development for CBRN software and tool as and when required.
- Who the users are and what they need to do
- The user will typically be a Dstl research scientist or analyst. The tools will be used to generate evidence based assessments and acquire data which may be used to support policy and procurement decisions for CBRN related programmes. Occasionally, the user may be Dstl peer or customer organisations or front line military units.
- Early market engagement
- Any work that’s already been done
- This requirement builds upon existing tools and software owned by Dstl. Statistical tools include Sensor Placement Tool (SPT), for optimising the placement of CBRN sensors (C++), and Source Term Estimation (STE), for estimating the location of a release based on sensor and observation data (C++). Modelling tools include LUCBR for simulating the consequences of a CBR event within the London Underground (C#, C, C++, Fortran, Java, Python, SQL). The wider set of tools include sensor interface and control software and frameworks for combining models.
- Existing team
- For each task the supplier will have access to the appropriate and agreed in-house scientific, statistical, mathematical, software and wider expertise within the CBR division at Dstl. It is anticipated that the team would not have to work with other suppliers. Any cases where this may be required will be discussed with the contractor at the proposal of that task.
- Current phase
- Not applicable
Work setup
- Address where the work will take place
- Development anywhere in UK. Demonstration at Porton Down.
- Working arrangements
- The contractor will supply an hourly rate for the duration of the contract. For each task a request form will be sent to the contractor who will supply a costed response. For each task, once agreed by both sides, there should be a kick-off meeting to agree the approach. A standard short weekly update document will be required for each task and a teleconference every two weeks should be scheduled to discuss progress and issues (although different timescales can be decided if both sides are in agreement for a task). All tasks will require a task-specified level of software documentation.
- Security clearance
- SC clearance is required for most aspects of the work, but some aspects can be done by non-SC cleared staff with approval from Dstl. DV clearance is not required.
Additional information
- Additional terms and conditions
- Details of additional terms that shall be applied will be in the Invitation to Tender.
Skills and experience
Buyers will use the essential and nice-to-have skills and experience to help them evaluate suppliers’ technical competence.
- Essential skills and experience
-
- Software development within a scientific domain
- Knowledge of dispersion modelling
- Software development using C++
- Knowledge of Boost libraries
- Software development using Java
- Knowledge and use of the Java Native Interface (JNI)
- Software development using Fortran
- Software development using C#
- Software development using Qt
- Software development using GPUs
- Software development for, and deployment of software onto High Performance Computing (HPC) systems
- Software development adhering to the requirements set out in ISO9001 and ISO12207
- Developing software for offline security restricted domains
- Use of Windows and Linux Operating Systems
- Database systems, in particular SQLite
- Hold or working towards Cyber Essentials accreditation before start of contract
- Use of container technologies (in particular Docker and Singularity)
- Nice-to-have skills and experience
-
- Software development using R
- Software development using Matlab
- Software development for Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality
- Understanding of cyber security
- Ability to adapt changing requirements
- Use and understanding of Open Source libraries and licenses
How suppliers will be evaluated
All suppliers will be asked to provide a written proposal.
- How many suppliers to evaluate
- 5
- Proposal criteria
-
- How well the approach meets our requirement
- Suitability of the provided work plan, identifying relevant tasks, staffing, technical and management approaches
- Evidence that the organisation have the technical skills and experience to undertake the types of tasks expected
- Evidence that the organisation have a suitable approach to risk and dependency management
- Evidence that the organisation understand and adheres to Software Quality Assurance (QA) best practice
- Evidence that the organisation has the capability and capacity to work flexibly to respond to shorter notice requirements and short deadlines
- Evidence that the organisation has the capacity to work on multiple tasks simultaneously
- Cultural fit criteria
-
- Working as a team with our organisation and other suppliers
- Being transparent and collaborative when making decisions
- Having a fail-fast and no-blame culture that encourages people to learn from their mistakes.
- Providing "government-source" software, with sufficient documentation such that others can enhance/maintain it
- Being open to challenging our approaches and suggesting alternatives that could provide benefit
- Payment approach
- Capped time and materials
- Additional assessment methods
- Evaluation weighting
-
Technical competence
55%Cultural fit
5%Price
40%
Questions asked by suppliers
-
1. Clarification question we have received :
Is there an incumbent supplier for this project? If so, can you provide their name please? -
Dstl answer to the clarification question :
Thank you for the question, Dstl can confirm that there is an incumbent supplier however Dstl do not wish to provide their name or point of contact details. -
2. 2 ; Can you clarify whether the Development/Test environments, and software development tooling will be provided as GFX.
If not, and you require the supplier to stand-up Development/Test environments – are there any restrictions in using data, datasets, libraries etc? - Source code, bespoke build system, associated in-house and third party libraries and any available test data will be supplied as GFX. Development and test environment and tools will not be provided.
- 3. 3 : Do you have a view of the proportion of work anticipated for 'maintenance' as opposed to ‘feature development’?
- It is estimated to be around 80% feature development and 20% maintenance.
- 4. Can you advise whether there are an IP restrictions or charges associated with the current software (as developed by the incumbent)?
- There are no IP restrictions or charges associated with the software covered by this contract.
- 5. Will there be a handover period between the incumbent and any new supplier?
- To be discussed and agreed between Dstl & the award winner.
- 6. Please could you provide an approximate date by which we must supply the written proposal?
- As defined in the advert 28/02/2020.
- 7. Please could you provide an approximate date by when the statement of requirement and invitation to tender documents will be issued to suppliers selected for evaluation?
-
The planned dates will be :
ITT submitted via DOS :
06/03/2020
Tender Submission deadline :
20/03/2020