Defence Online

Type of document: Contract Notice
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Ref: (2023/S 000-001643/EN)
Nature of contract:
Procedure: Not applicable

Section I: Contracting authority
I.1) Name addresses and contact point(s):
Ministry of Defence
Spruce 0A, MOD Abbey Wood
Bristol
Postal code: BS34 8JH
United Kingdom
For the attention of: Evan Powell
Phone: +44 3001647471
Email: evan.powell104@mod.gov.uk
Further information can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)
I.2) Type of the contracting authority:
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local sub-divisions
I.3) Main activity:
Defence
I.4) Contract award on behalf of other contracting authorities/entities:
The contracting authority is purchasing on behalf of other contracting authorities: No
Section II: Object of the contract:
II.1) Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority/entity:
Information Activities (IA) Systems Integrator and Innovator (SII)
II.2) Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance:
SERVICES
Service category: Air transport services of passengers and freight, except transport of mail
II.3) Information on framework agreement
The notice involves the establishment of a framework agreement:NO
II.4) Short description of nature and scope of works or nature and quantity or value of supplies or services:
The purpose of this advert is to announce a potential requirement for a Ministry of Defence (MOD) Information Activities (IA) Systems Integrator and Innovator (SII). This is the first PIN as part of an initial preliminary market engagement. The Authority encourages industry to submit Expressions of Interest (EOI).
The Information Activities Programme will deliver infrastructure and services that will exponentially increase the Army’s contribution to Information Activity, meeting the aspirations of Integrated Action as articulated in the Integrated Operating Concept (IOpC). This will be achieved through enabling Army to understand and influence target audiences in both physical and informational environments in support of Army, Defence, and wider UK Governmental objectives e.g.:
o Audience Analysis.
o Messaging in both the Physical and Informational environments.
o Monitoring and Evaluation.
o Innovation and capability development.
o An Online Engagement Service (OES) capability delivering managed attribution digital information activities.
The MOD requires a SII to provide a scalable agile DevSecOps team to develop and maintain bespoke, developed applications, and to integrate together with COTS and existing MOD applications, data sources and enterprise services into one end-to-end Service (SaaS). It will follow a formal Scaled Agile (SAFe) approach for incremental delivery and will both take on and then continue to build upon the development work undertaken by incumbent SII supplier(s). The SII will also provide the service wrap to support the capability in service.
1. The solution will Integrate bespoke, COTS and MOD applications, with Enterprise Services (including hosting, IDAM, and gateways) into an end-to-end service.
2. Integrate the Service with other MOD systems and data sources.
3. Incrementally develop bespoke applications through DevSecOps Teams, leveraging emerging technology including automation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.
4. Identify innovative applications and approaches to deliver against the requirement, from both Industry and within MOD (SaaS).
5. Incrementally develop and maintain architecture, design, engineering, security, safety, and in service support artefacts.
6. Provide the Service Wrap (including incident management, service desk, training, software license management, obsolescence management, patching, security, safety etc).
The IA SII procurement is currently in its initiation phase as the Authority seeks Full Business Case (FBC) approvals. It is anticipated that the contract duration will be for five (5) years with breakpoints at years four (4) and five (5). The estimated total value is £50M.
For guidance purposes only the Authority offer the following indicative dates and activities:
• Request for Information (RFI) published: February 2023
• Early Market Engagement Event: May 2023
• Supplier Demos / Meetings: May – June 2023
• Full Business Case (FBC) Approvals: October 2023
• DPQQ Issue [Procurement formally starts]: December 2023
• ITN Issue: June 2024
• Contract Award: March 2025
The Authority anticipates that any SII contract will be procured with an exemption to the Defence and Security Public Contract Regulations (DSPCR) 2011. The classification of the project is expected to be UKEYO.
Lots: The contract is divided into lots: No
II.5) Common procurement vocabulary (CPV):
72000000, 48613000, 72212500, 72212520, 72227000, 72231000, 72253200, 72261000, 72262000, 72263000, 72264000, 72265000, 72266000, 72268000, 72316000, 72322000, 72611000
II.6) Scheduled date for start of award procedures and duration of the contract
Scheduled date for start of award procedures: 1.4.2025
II.7) Additional information:
Responses to the PIN will support the Authority decision with whether it will invite Industry to participate formally, and early market engagement activities may help to support FBC assurance and requirements development. Organisations must register their interest via the Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP).
Any information (however recorded, preserved, or communicated) relating to the programme or project requirements which is disclosed or made available, directly, or indirectly by the MOD may be subject to change at the sole discretion of the MOD. The MOD does not make any express or implied warranty or representation as to the accuracy or completeness of the information. Neither the disclosure of such information nor any discussion relating to this information, or any application or other communications received in connection with this activity constitutes, the giving of investment advice by the MOD or the creation of a customer relationship with the MOD.
The MOD shall not be liable for any costs, expenditure, work, or effort incurred by you in early engagement activities including if the activity is cancelled or amended by the MOD. Any expenditure, work or effort undertaken in connection with this activity is a matter solely for the commercial judgment of your company.
This opportunity and the activities detailed do not constitute the initialisation or otherwise form part of any official procurement procedure. The MOD may, at its discretion and at any time, choose not to proceed with this procurement, but maintains the right to use any information supplied for the purposes of future procurement.
All communications are to be conducted via the messaging portal within the DSP.

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 governing them:
III.2) Conditions for participation
III.2.1) Information about reserved contracts

Section VI: Complementary information
VI.1) Information about European Union funds
The contract is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: no.
VI.2) Additional information
The Contracting Authority intends to use an e-Tendering system in this procurement exercise, please visit www.contracts.mod.uk for full details and to register your interest in this procurement.
VI.3) Information on general regulatory framework
VI.4) Date of dispatch of this notice: 19.1.2023