Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
The Minister for the Cabinet Office acting through Crown Commercial Service
9th Floor, The Capital, Old Hall Street
Liverpool
L3 9PP
ai-automation@crowncommercial.gov.uk
Telephone
+44 3450103503
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UK - United Kingdom
Internet address(es)
Main address
one.2) Information about joint procurement
The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body
one.3) Communication
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority
one.5) Main activity
Other activity
Public Procurement
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
AI and Automation
Reference number
RM6201
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
Crown Commercial Service, as the Authority, intends to put in place an agreement for the provision of artificial intelligence and automation for use by Central Government and UK public sector bodies.
It is intended that this commercial agreement will be the recommended vehicle for all artificial intelligence and automation required by UK Central Government Departments.
The lotting structure of this framework will be determined as a result of the market engagement. The indicative lot structure is:
• Lot 1: AI Consultancy Research and Support
• Lot 2: Augmented Decision Making
• Lot 3: Automation
• Lot 4: Natural Language Processing
• Lot 5: Imaging and Computer Vision
Further information is included in the Additional Information section VI.3.
two.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT: £200,000,000
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 72212000 - Programming services of application software
- 72221000 - Business analysis consultancy services
- 72243000 - Programming services
- 72246000 - Systems consultancy services
- 72262000 - Software development services
- 72263000 - Software implementation services
- 72266000 - Software consultancy services
- 72300000 - Data services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
The UK Government is seeking to support public sector adoption of artificial intelligence and automation services by government departments, in compliance with industry standards and guidelines.
The commercial agreement is to be utilised by Central Government Departments and all other UK bodies, including but not limited to Central Government Departments and their agencies, non departmental public bodies, Devolved administrations, NHS Bodies and providers of services to the NHS, local authorities, police, voluntary sector, charities and/or other private organisations acting as managing agents or procuring on behalf of these public sector bodies. The proposed agreement is expected to be a framework agreement. This is to be confirmed within Government following market engagement. The Authority considers that this opportunity may be suitable for economic operators that are Small or Medium Enterprises (SME’s).
two.3) Estimated date of publication of contract notice
20 January 2023
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
This Prior Information Notice is to signal an intention to commence market engagement with those within the artificial intelligence market.
Crown Commercial Service intends to hold market engagement sessions during October with industry experts and suppliers interested in potentially bidding for the resulting framework contract. If you are interested in attending a market engagement session please express your interest by emailing ai-automation@crowncommercial.gov.uk no later than midday on 22 September 2022. Further details will be provided to you.
Your email must clearly state:
1. Organisation name
2. Contact name
3. Job title of contact (including responsibility within your organisation)
4. Contact phone number
5. Contact email
6. Organisation website link
Crown Commercial Service (CCS) will use an eSourcing system for this competition and reserves the right to use an electronic auction. The eSourcing system we will use is https://crowncommercialservice.bravosolution.co.uk.
Please note that, to register, you must have a valid DUNS number (as provided by Dun and Bradstreet) for the organisation which you are registering, who will be entering into a contract if invited to do so.
The value in II.1.5 is an indicative value over 4 years
The date in II.3) is the estimated date of publication, please refer to the CCS website page https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/agreements/upcoming for updates and monitor Tenders Electronic Daily for the publication of the contract notice.
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/36511b69-3c2a-438d-903e-b094f3459743
The Cyber Essentials scheme is mandatory for Central Government Contracts which involve handling personal information and providing certain ICT products and services. The Government is taking steps to further reduce the levels of cyber security risk in its supply chain through the Cyber Essentials scheme. The scheme defines a set of controls which, when properly implemented, will provide organisations with basic protection from the most prevalent forms of threat coming from the internet.
To participate in this procurement, bidders will be required to demonstrate that they are Cyber Essentials certified for the services under and in connection with the procurement.
The bidder may be awarded a contract but shall not enter into any call off contracts with buyers until they are able to demonstrate to CCS that they meet the technical requirements prescribed by the Cyber Essentials Scheme for services under and in connection with this procurement.
The service that arise from this framework will involve the supplier holding material that has been assigned a protective marking under the Government Security Classifications Scheme (April 2014) of OFFICIAL/SENSITIVE. Bidders will be required to implement their solution in accordance with the AI and Automation Framework Schedule, “Security Requirement and Plan”, to meet AI and Automation Framework requirements. This will be released at the ITT stage.