Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
ADVANCED RESEARCH AND INVENTION AGENCY
96 EUSTON ROAD,
LONDON
NW12DB
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKI31 - Camden and City of London
Justification for not providing organisation identifier
Not on any register
Internet address(es)
Main address
one.3) Communication
The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at
https://www.aria.org.uk/programme-safeguarded-ai/
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted electronically via
https://www.aria.org.uk/programme-safeguarded-ai/
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
one.5) Main activity
General public services
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Safeguarded AI: Technical Area 3 Applications
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 73000000 - Research and development services and related consultancy services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
ARIA is an R&D funding agency built to unlock scientific and technological breakthroughs that benefit everyone. We empower scientists and engineers to pursue research at the edge of what is technologically or scientifically possible. We will reach across disciplines, sectors and institutions to shape, fund and manage projects across the R&D ecosystem, from startups to universities, to break down silos and discover new pathways.
We are looking for proposals for our Safeguarded AI: Theory programme. For more info see here https://www.aria.org.uk/programme-safeguarded-ai/
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 48000000 - Software package and information systems
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Through TA3, we will look to demonstrate a 'gatekeeper' workflow that could be used to create and maintain decision-support tools and/or safeguard autonomous AI systems to solve specific, economically valuable challenges.
As part of this work, teams will elicit functional and non-functional requirements from customers for a proposed product, then outline simplified versions for very concrete use cases. These specifications will serve as the benchmark evaluations for our entire research programme, as we'll look to develop AI systems specifically tailored to solve them.
A full set of applications will be determined after the TA3 solicitation, but some applications we're currently considering include: energy system optimisation; infectious disease epidemiology, climate and weather prediction; aircraft and spaceflight dynamics; and control systems for robots in human environments.
The solicitation will run in two phases:
Phase one: In the initial phase, we'll distribute funding to deeply understand customer needs and elicit requirements, this may include: sourcing datasets, designing evaluation suites to validate the performance of predictive models and autonomous or semi-autonomous controllers.
Phase two: Successful teams (estimated 2-4 groups total) will then advance to the second phase, where they will receive significant funding to apply the tools developed in the other Technical Areas to their application domain.
Our thesis Safeguarded AI: constructing guaranteed safety (https://www.aria.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ARIA-Safeguarded-AI-Programme-Thesis-V1.pdf) gives a detailed overview of how this workstream compliments the whole programme.
ARIA Creators (recipients of ARIA's funding), gain access to the programme's research community, ARIA's programme leadership and wider community.
You can find out more here https://www.aria.org.uk/programme-safeguarded-ai/
two.2.5) Award criteria
Price is not the only award criterion and all criteria are stated only in the procurement documents
two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months
15
This contract is subject to renewal
No
two.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted: No
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: Yes
Description of options
Additional funding, scope and duration could be added to any contracts awarded.
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Competitive procedure with negotiation
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: No
four.2) Administrative information
four.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number: 2024/S 000-020406
four.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
Date
2 October 2024
Local time
12:00pm
four.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted
English
Section six. Complementary information
six.1) Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement: No
six.3) Additional information
Detailed timelines can be found in the programme call information on ARIAs website: https://www.aria.org.uk/programme-safeguarded-ai/
The deadline for submission of a full proposal is October 2024 (12:00 BST).
The total funding value is the estimated budget available. We expect to fund multiple applicants.
Funding is anticipated to be award via both contracts and grants. For information on how we fund https://www.aria.org.uk/faqs-funding/
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
Not Applicable, see the ARIA Act 2022
London
Country
United Kingdom