Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Technical analysis and comparison of approaches to bias identification and mitigation in decision making algorithms

UK-London: Research consultancy services.
Section I: Contracting Authority
      I.1) Name and addresses
             Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
             100 Parliament Street, London, SW1A 2BQ, United Kingdom
             Tel. +44 2072116000, Email: commercial@culture.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.3) Communication
      The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at: https://www.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-UK-London:-Research-consultancy-services./M4T973ZQ3F
      Additional information can be obtained from: the abovementioned address
      Tenders or requests to participate must be sent electronically via https://www.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-title/M4T973ZQ3F to the abovementioned address       
      Electronic communication requires the use of tools and devices that are not generally available. Unrestricted and full direct access to these tools and devices is possible, free of charge, at: https://www.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-title/M4T973ZQ3F
      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
II.1) Scope of the procurement
      II.1.1) Title: Technical analysis and comparison of approaches to bias identification and mitigation in decision making algorithms       
      Reference Number: 101579
      II.1.2) Main CPV Code:
      73210000 - Research consultancy services.

      II.1.3) Type of contract: SERVICES
      II.1.4) Short description: With particular reference to approaches within financial services and recruitment, The Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) is commissioning a piece of research analysing, assessing and comparing the various approaches to bias mitigation as well as providing detailed technical standards which could be used to identify bias and means for mitigating bias. We will use the outputs produced through this work to develop our recommendations for Government themed around the areas of tools, data and governance which will be published in March 2020. We will provide an initial list of tools and approaches to guide the assessment and standards development, however further work will be needed to ensure this has sufficient coverage to capture all the key approaches available. The focus of our work in this space is financial services and recruitment. Therefore, we would expect this work to provide good coverage and analysis of tools that are explicitly aimed at these two sectors.       
      II.1.5) Estimated total value:
      Value excluding VAT: 125,000       
      Currency: GBP
      II.1.6) Information about lots:
      This contract is divided into lots: No       
   
II.2) Description
      
      II.2.2) Additional CPV codes:
      73110000 - Research services.
      
      II.2.3) Place of performance:
      UKI LONDON
      
      II.2.4) Description of procurement: With particular reference to approaches within financial services and recruitment, The Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) is commissioning a piece of research analysing, assessing and comparing the various approaches to bias mitigation as well as providing detailed technical standards which could be used to identify bias and means for mitigating bias. We will use the outputs produced through this work to develop our recommendations for Government themed around the areas of tools, data and governance which will be published in March 2020.
We will provide an initial list of tools and approaches to guide the assessment and standards development, however further work will be needed to ensure this has sufficient coverage to capture all the key approaches available.
The focus of our work in this space is financial services and recruitment. Therefore, we would expect this work to provide good coverage and analysis of tools that are explicitly aimed at these two sectors. However, we would also want tools included which had a more general applicability. Throughout the analysis, we would expect commentary on how these approaches may differ depending on the sector in which they are applied.
Drawing on the comparison and overall assessment of tools, the Supplier should then provide separate detailed technical standards for analytical products or services, which are used to identify bias and means for mitigating bias. We would expect these standards to take into account the different decision-making contexts that bias may occur in, specifically in relation to financial services and recruitment.
      II.2.5) Award criteria:
            Price is not the only award criterion and all criteria are stated only in the procurement documents            
      II.2.6) Estimated value:
      Value excluding VAT: 125,000       
      Currency: GBP       
      II.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system:
      Start: 25/11/2019 / End: 31/01/2020       
      This contract is subject to renewal: No       
      Description of renewals: Not provided
      
      II.2.10) Information about variants:
      Variants will be accepted: Yes
      II.2.11) Information about options:
      Options:       No             
      Description of options: Not provided
      II.2.12) Information about electronic catalogues:
      Tenders must be presented in the form of electronic catalogues or include an electronic catalogue: 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       
      Identification of the project: Not provided             
      II.2.14) Additional information: Not provided       


Section III: Legal, Economic, Financial And Technical Information
   III.1) Conditions for participation
      III.1.1) Suitability to pursue the professional activity, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers
      List and brief description of conditions:          
      Not Provided       
      III.1.2) Economic and financial standing          
      Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents       
      List and brief description of selection criteria:       
      Not Provided    
      Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required (if applicable) :       
      Not Provided    
      III.1.3) Technical and professional ability    
      Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents
      List and brief description of selection criteria:       
      Not Provided      
      Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required (if applicable) :          
      Not Provided   
      III.1.5) Information about reserved contracts (if applicable)   
      The contract is reserved to sheltered workshops and economic operators aiming at the social and professional integration of disabled or disadvantaged persons: No       
      The execution of the contract is restricted to the framework of sheltered employment programmes: No    
      
   III.2) Conditions related to the contract
      III.2.1) Information about a particular profession    
      Reference to the relevant law, regulation or administrative provision:          
      Not Provided    
      III.2.2) Contract performance conditions          
      Not Provided          
      III.2.3) Information about staff responsible for the performance of the contract
      Obligation to indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff assigned to performing the contract: No

Section IV: Procedure
   IV.1) Description OPEN
      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    
         In the case of framework agreements justification for any duration exceeding 4 years: Not Provided    
   
   
   IV.1.6) Information about electronic auction:
      An electronic auction will be used: No
      Additional information about electronic auction: Not provided
   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 OJ S: Not provided       
      IV.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
       Date: 25/10/2019 Time: 12:00
            
      IV.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted: English,       
      IV.2.6) Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender:
         Duration in month(s): 3
      
      IV.2.7) Conditions for opening of tenders:
         Date: 25/10/2019
         Time: 12:00
      

Section VI: Complementary Information
   VI.1) Information about recurrence
   This is a recurrent procurement: No    
   Estimated timing for further notices to be published: Not provided
   VI.2) Information about electronic workflows
   Electronic ordering will be used No       
   Electronic invoicing will be accepted No       
   Electronic payment will be used No       
   VI.3) Additional Information: The contracting authority considers that this contract may be suitable for economic operators that are small or medium enterprises (SMEs). However, any selection of tenderers will be based solely on the criteria set out for the procurement.

Tenders must be submitted via the Delta e-sourcing portal to be received no later than 12:00hrs (BST), 25th October 2019 (the deadline for receipt of Tender Responses). Please ensure that you allow yourself plenty of time when responding to this invite prior to the closing date and time, especially if you have been asked to upload documents.
For more information about this opportunity, please visit the Delta eSourcing portal at:
https://www.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-UK-London:-Research-consultancy-services./M4T973ZQ3F

To respond to this opportunity, please click here:
https://www.delta-esourcing.com/respond/M4T973ZQ3F
   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 2072116000, Email: commercial@culture.gov.uk
   VI.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures:
Not provided
   VI.4.3) Review procedure
   Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures:    
    Not Provided    
   VI.4.4) Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained:
Not provided
   VI.5) Date Of Dispatch Of This Notice: 25/09/2019

Annex A