Department for Transport, Aviation Security International Operations (ASIO) Division.

Aviation Security International Operations - IM Systems – Design/Delivery-Alpha/Beta

4
Incomplete applications
2 SME, 2 large
8
Completed applications
2 SME, 6 large
Published Wednesday 31 January 2018
Deadline for asking questions Wednesday 7 February 2018 at 11:59pm GMT
Closing date for applications Wednesday 14 February 2018 at 11:59pm GMT

Overview

Summary of the work • Undertake technical design and Agile development of proposed IMS solution, basing development on Discovery outputs, user stories/requirements backlog, and technical documents (in line with DfT Digital Service Architecture standards).
• Including but not limited to, reporting, scheduling, workflow management, resourcing, QA, visualisation/ dashboards, templates, wizards, notifications, and effective fieldware.
Latest start date Monday 5 March 2018
Expected contract length 8-10 months for both Alpha and Beta phases
Location London
Organisation the work is for Department for Transport, Aviation Security International Operations (ASIO) Division.
Budget range Up to £1,100,000 (full solution delivery, lifecycle costs and any assumptions)

About the work

Why the work is being done There has been an increased focus on international aviation security. The government announced a doubling of aviation security resources and, as a consequence, the Aviation Security International Operations (ASIO) Division rapidly expanded. The team within ASIO division require advanced Information Management Systems (IMS) to complement these organisational changes. The IMS will capture, relate, collate and report on observations conducted through overseas engagement; the data will cover contacts management, resource and event scheduling/planning and completion, and enable the input of findings to be analysed, consolidated and compared.
Problem to be solved Current issues include; time-consuming, manual data analysis and scheduling processes, inconsistent report generation processes, inflexible and unreliable IT, and a lack of conjoined working.

We expect the new solution will utilise wherever possible a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) case management solution with an easy-to-use interface, a “single source of truth” database and access to accurate information in real-time. An element of configuration will be required to support specific user needs within ASIO division.

Discovery phase outcomes provide a comprehensive starting point for the design and Agile development of the solution, which will deliver a fully operational IMS in a cost-optimal way.
Who the users are and what they need to do Aviation Officers – both UK and overseas - require intelligent reporting functions and data capture functionality across different IT platforms.

Manager/Policy Officer - require a system which captures/stores accurate information to inform operational strategy and supports key decision-making.

Data Analyst – require advanced analytics (including automated functions) and data visualisation tools enabling greater trend analysis and other analytical products.

Project Manager – requires central register of equipment and capacity development training, activities and project spend delivered overseas.

Deployments Officer - requires intelligent automated and manual scheduling functions to assist in planned overseas deployments.
Early market engagement
Any work that’s already been done DfT commissioned a project in 2016 to review and provide recommendations on how to better structure the expanding organisation, focussing on the current IMS. A high-level requirements specification was produced alongside an ‘As-Is’ report, along with recommendations. This piece of work was internally refreshed in 2017. A thorough Discovery exercise, which concluded in December 2017, captured the user personas, their needs and details of any existing systems. Copies of some Discovery deliverables will be made available at the proposal stage of the tender process however, this should not influence the choice of solution.
Existing team Dedicated support and subject matter expertise provided by Head of Information Management, Data Analysis, Standards and Reporting Team along with support from 1 x SEO and 2x HEO team members (dedicated implementation team resource); further subject matter expertise and support from Deputy Head, ASIO who will act as SRO for the project. Alpha/Beta phase will also be supported by subject matter experts from all sub-teams within the Division to assist the successful suppliers through alpha and beta system development. Discussions are underway to bring in internal Digital support. Support staff members are not dedicated to the project.
Current phase Alpha

Work setup

Address where the work will take place The supplier will split their time between both Department for Transport offices (Horseferry Road and Great Smith Street, Westminster) as well as allowing time for them to work at their own offices where required and agreed with customer in advance.
Working arrangements Close engagement with the Division, as well as external stakeholders (e.g. other HMG stakeholders, IT Security/Digital) to fully meet the requirements is mandatory. This is a full-time, 5 days a week arrangement primarily based at DfT offices. Time can also be spent time at their own offices when required and agreed with the customer in advance. There are no expenses allowances associated with this work. Any adhoc or overseas expenses will require prior approval from DfT and will be treated on a case-by-case basis in compliance with DfT Expenses policy.
Security clearance All contractors’ personnel should be cleared to the authority security clearance level of SC as a minimum and must be available to begin work with immediate effect following contract award. CV's will be required for resource to be assigned to project, evidenced at written proposal stage.

Additional information

Additional terms and conditions

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
  • • Proven, demonstrable experience delivering projects using the Agile project management methodology.
  • • Proven ability to support a flexible way of working, making late changes to plans and re-formulating to maintain project progress against tight timelines.
  • • Demonstrable evidence of excellent planning, coordination, communication and project management skills.
  • • Proven, demonstrable track record of delivering projects at speed with clearly identified deliverables and timescales.
  • • Have demonstrable experience of delivering successful Discovery outcomes to support and shape technical solutions
  • • Have demonstrable experience of complex technical investigation to inform future project stage
  • • Demonstrable evidence of incorporating latest technologies to enhance product specifications, resulting in increased functionality and improved user experience
  • • Demonstrate evidence of successfully implementing Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions
  • • Demonstrable evidence of using clear development methodologies, outlining how this would work in conjunction with a client’s internal development team.
  • • Demonstrable evidence of a robust risk management process, including risk identification, mitigations and governance.
  • • Demonstrate understanding and ability to deliver digital services/products to the Government Digital Service standards
  • • Evidence of working with 3rd parties to develop standard interfaces and data exchange portals
  • • Demonstrate evidence of using NCSC’s cyber security principles and using a risk-based approach.
Nice-to-have skills and experience
  • • Examples of working across multiple government departments, including data-sharing protocol.
  • • Demonstrable evidence where innovative solutions have been applied to assist in project delivery.
  • • Demonstrable evidence of adhering with Customer’s relevant policies and standards.
  • • Demonstrable experience of utilising Open source technologies to affect change.
  • • Demonstrable evidence of successfully managing and assisting in delivering IT projects within public sector organisations.

How suppliers will be evaluated

How many suppliers to evaluate 3
Proposal criteria
  • • Suggested technical solution (5%)
  • • Identify the approach and methodology to the Alpha/Beta project planning and delivery, identifying the main stages and activities proposed at each stage. (10%)
  • • Detailed resource plan – demonstrating how in-house, supplier and external resource will be used and at what stage (8%)
  • • How the approach or solution meets user needs (7%)
  • • How they’ve identified risks and dependencies and offered approaches to manage them (5%)
  • • Estimated timeframes for the work (5%)
  • • Demonstrate value for money (5%)
  • • To protect Governmental information appropriately, classification of data (up to and including OFFICIAL SENSITIVE), Suppliers provide robust security measures appropriate to the nature/use of the information to NCSC standards
Cultural fit criteria
  • • Experience of working as a team with our organisation and other suppliers (2.5%)
  • • Experience of transparent and collaborative decision making (2.5%)
  • • Experience of taking responsibility for their work and resolving problems effectively (2.5%)
  • • Evidence where status quo has been challenged resulting in an improved final outcome (2.5%)
  • • Demonstrable evidence of working with clients with low technical expertise (2.5%)
  • • Experience of working with Government departments (2.5%)
  • • Evidence demonstrating an ability to transfer knowledge & skills to Civil Servant team members (2.5%)
  • • Evidence of strategic thinking striving to deliver best possible solution/concept possible. (2.5%)
Payment approach Capped time and materials
Assessment methods
  • Written proposal
  • Case study
  • Presentation
Evaluation weighting

Technical competence

65%

Cultural fit

10%

Price

25%

Questions asked by suppliers

1. Have you selected a COTS product that you wish a supplier to work with? If yes what is the product? No, we want a solution that meets our requirements fully. We have a preference for commodity products if they save time and money, and provide easier maintenance, portability and ongoing improvement.
2. Have you selected the COTS type product in question or do you wish a supplier to suggest a product? If you want a supplier to propose a COTS product, should this to be done as part of the proposal or an outcome of Alpha? Alpha development phase should define a solution which may be based on a COTS product if appropriate.
3. Please could you clarify what is the highest anticipated protected marking level for this project? Whilst the supplier will have access to- and may be required to handle information that is sensitive, the expectation is that the project protected marking level will be OFFICIAL.
4. In respect of the preference to use COTS solutions, have solutions hosted on public cloud been considered, or would be acceptable to you? Public cloud could be acceptable so long as the overall solution can be shown to be built and managed in line with NCSC Cloud Security Principles.
5. Under user definitions there is a role of" Project Manager – requires central register of equipment and capacity development training, activities and project spend delivered overseas." Are you able to give more detail around the requirements for the register of equipment and the capacity development training requirements at this stage? The Capacity Development team are tasked with assessing entity information and providing aviation security and screening training packages and security screening equipment based on regional team recommendation. Key responsibilities include management of the equipment portfolio and management of the training portfolio, including delivery and financial elements – for example the management for training suppliers and training provided.
6. In the section ‘Security clearance’, it states that ‘All contractors’ personnel should be cleared to the authority security clearance level of SC as a minimum and must be available to begin work with immediate effect following contract award.” If a contractor proposes personnel who may not be Security Cleared at point of contract award, but who would not be deployed on the project until they were cleared, and at no detrimental effect to the project timelines, would this contractor’s bid still be considered, and would DfT be prepared to sponsor such personnel if necessary as part of this engagement? Due to the strict timelines involved in project delivery and with the inherent risks in obtaining the relevant security clearances, the Department will not accept bids from suppliers whose full proposed team are not in possession of SC clearance (as a minimum) from the time bids are submitted
7. If a contractor is unable to start on or before March 5th, would they automatically be excluded from consideration for this work? Given a 14th February submission date for this response, can the department confirm they are expecting to shortlist, invite proposals, read and evaluate returned proposals, take references, have presentations and award a call-off contract with a preferred supplier in 2 and a half weeks? The Department intends to run a full procurement exercise aligned with the Digital Outcomes and Specialists Framework’s guidance. We have calculated the procurement timetable from the date of publication through to the date the supplier will start work. We are comfortable that the deadline date published is achievable and one which we are working towards.
8. Who is the supplier of the Discovery work, please? The Discovery phase was undertaken by Deloitte LLP
9. Is the supplier of the Discovery work allowed to bid for the Alpha phase? The Alpha/Beta Phase opportunity is open to all suppliers on the Digital Outcomes & Specialists Lot 2 (Find a team to provide an outcome).
10. Regarding security clearance, we have some SC cleared staff and other resources with Metropolitan Police NPPV Level 3 clearance. Would the NPPV Level 3 cleared staff be accepted for this assignment? We are unable to accept NPPV3 in place of NSV SC-level clearance. Police vetting differs from National Security vetting so we would expect all individuals to hold SC-clearance as per the requirement.