Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Online Harms Data Transformation

UK-London: Development consultancy services.

Section I: Contracting Authority

   I.1) Name, Addresses and Contact Point(s):
       Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
       100 Parliament Street, London, SW1A 2BQ, United Kingdom
       Tel. +44 2072116000, Email: commercial@dcms.gov.uk
       Contact: DCMS Commercial
       Main Address: www.gov.uk/dcms, Address of the buyer profile: www.gov.uk/dcms
       NUTS Code: UKI

   I.2) Joint procurement:
      The contract involves joint procurement: No          
      In the case of joint procurement involving different countries, state applicable national procurement law: Not Provided
      The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body: No

   I.4)Type of the contracting authority:
      Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local subdivisions

   I.5) Main activity:
      Recreation, culture and religion

Section II: Object Of The Contract

   II.1) Scope of the procurement

      II.1.1) Title: Online Harms Data Transformation            
      Reference number: 102155

      II.1.2) Main CPV code:
         73220000 - Development consultancy services.


      II.1.3) Type of contract: SERVICES

      II.1.4) Short description: This project will explore how best to remove these data barriers in order to support the development of technologies that keep users safe online.
We will contract a provider to work with public and private sector stakeholders to gather existing information and explore/test innovative ways of addressing these barriers. Work will fall into two main phases:
●Phase 1 - Data infrastructure discovery. To produce a report outlining the current data landscape, and the economic and social benefits of opening up online harms data. The report will set out how online harms data can be made available to a wider number of companies for the purposes of developing innovative online safety technologies.
●Phase 2 - Prototype development and testing. The provider will work with stakeholders to trial and evaluate a set of practical and innovative data and social science projects, based on the shortlist developed in phase 1.

      II.1.6) Information about lots
         This contract is divided into lots: No
            
      II.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
          Value: 2,380,490
                  
         Currency:GBP            

   II.2) Description

      II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s):
            79400000 - Business and management consultancy and related services.


      II.2.3) Place of performance
      Nuts code:
      UK - UNITED KINGDOM
   
      Main site or place of performance:
      UNITED KINGDOM
             

      II.2.4) Description of the procurement: The lack of adequate data infrastructure is hindering the emergence of a competitive UK market in innovative products and services that detect and address online harms. There is an urgent need to support the development of a more mature safety tech market, in which organisations of all sizes have access to the tools they need to keep users safe online. This will help to ensure companies are able to comply with the new statutory duty of care with the lowest possible burden.
The sector, however, remains at an early stage of development. Multiple interviews and consultations with stakeholders have consistently underlined that lack of access to high-quality data is among the most significant constraints to the growth of a mature and competitive market.
This project will explore how best to overcome the barriers outlined above and better enable the innovative use of data to support the development of technologies that keep users safe online. It will help move us from a data landscape where data is not shared effectively to one that supports competition, innovation and improved online safety for UK citizens.
It will primarily do this by appointing a provider to work with public and private sector stakeholders to gather together existing information, and explore and test innovative ways of addressing these barriers. Work will fall into two main phases:
●Phase 1 - Data infrastructure discovery. To produce a report outlining the current data landscape, and the economic and social benefits of opening up online harms data. The report will set out how online harms data can be made available to a wider number of companies for the purposes of developing innovative online safety technologies. It will develop a longlist of SMART projects in which enhanced cross-sector working could have most impact, and then work with stakeholders to develop a shortlist of projects which the provider will deliver in Phase 2.
●Phase 2 - Prototype development and testing. The provider will work with stakeholders to trial and evaluate a set of practical and innovative data and social science projects, based on the shortlist developed in phase 1. This may include testing the feasibility of the two most promising solutions we are currently aware of: the use of common data taxonomies to help data interoperability, and the use of data trusts and federated learning to address issues of data sharing. The output of this work will be a series of open-source prototypes, a report setting out the findings and conclusions, and a set of practical pathways to scale successful approaches beyond the end of this project.

The provider will be required to deliver its work through a multidisciplinary project team, including deep data science and social science expertise. It will be essential to consult with a variety of UK-based and international stakeholders to deliver the project, including commercial ‘Safety Tech’ companies and wider public sector organisations, to ensure that all solutions developed will be based around a deep understanding of stakeholders’ needs, and will be ready for implementation in the real world.

      II.2.5) Award criteria:
                  
      Cost criterion - Name: Case Study / Weighting: 5
      Cost criterion - Name: Skills, Expertise and Capacity / Weighting: 20
      Cost criterion - Name: Methodology / Weighting: 25
      Cost criterion - Name: Project Management and Delivery / Weighting: 15
      Cost criterion - Name: Understanding of the Sector / Weighting: 15
      Cost criterion - Name: Pricing / Weighting: 20
            

      II.2.11) Information about options
         Options: No
         

      II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
         The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No
         

      II.2.14) Additional information: Not Provided


Section IV: Procedure

IV.1) Description

   IV.1.1)Type of procedure: Open


   IV.1.3) Information about a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system
      The procurement involves the establishment of a framework agreement: No       
      

   IV.1.6) Information about electronic auction
      An electronic auction has been used: No

   IV.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
      The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes

IV.2) Administrative information

   IV.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
       Notice number in the OJEU: 2020/S 219-539058
      
   

   IV.2.9) Information about termination of call for competition in the form of a prior information notice
      The contracting authority will not award any further contracts based on the above prior information notice: No

Section V: Award of contract

Award Of Contract (No.1)

   Contract No: 102155    
   Lot Number: Not Provided    
   Title: Online Harms Data Transformation

   A contract/lot is awarded: Yes


   V.2) Award of contract

      V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract: 11/01/2021

      V.2.2) Information about tenders
         Number of tenders received: 8
         Number of tenders received from SMEs: Not Provided          
         Number of tenders received from tenderers from other EU Member States: Not Provided          
         Number of tenders received from tenderers from non-EU Member States: Not Provided          
         Number of tenders received by electronic means: 8

      V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor

      The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
         
         Contractor (No.1)
             Faculty Science Ltd, 08873131
             54 Welbeck Street, London, W1G 9XS, United Kingdom
             NUTS Code: UKI
            The contractor is an SME: No

      V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)
         Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot: 2,435,250          
         Total value of the contract/lot: 2,380,490
         Currency: GBP

      V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
         The contract is likely to be subcontracted: No
         
Section VI: Complementary information

   VI.3) Additional information: To view this notice, please click here:
https://www.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=567917184

   VI.4) Procedures for review

      VI.4.1) Review body
          Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
          100 Parliament Street, London, SW1A 2BQ, United Kingdom
          Tel. +44 207212088, Email: commercial@culture.gov.uk

      VI.4.3) Review procedure
         Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures: Not Provided

      VI.4.4) Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
         Not Provided

   VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice: 05/02/2021