TITLE OF PROJECT
Enhanced Maritime Situational Awareness (EMSA) - Pilot Project Solution.
PURPOSE
Transport Canada has a requirement for a Contractor in support of developing, implementing and maintaining a national GIS based solution to be piloted in selected communities. The full duration of this contract will be for an estimated 16 months, inclusive of the pilot launch preparation period, the pilot period and a post-pilot period.
BACKGROUND
Transport Canada develops and administers policies and regulations to advance the safety and security of Canada’s marine transportation system. Transport Canada promotes an efficient and sustainable system that protects the marine environment and contributes to economic development.
The Government of Canada announced the $1.5 billion national Oceans Protection Plan (OPP) in November 2016, with the objective of improving marine safety and responsible shipping, protecting Canada’s marine environment, and offering new possibilities for Canadians.
As part of the OPP, the Government of Canada is examining opportunities to engage communities, first responders and government authorities in utilizing an information-sharing system to enable enhanced access to accurate, real-time information on marine shipping activities in local waters.
Through this initiative, titled ‘Enhanced Maritime Situational Awareness’ (EMSA), the Government of Canada is seeking a user-friendly system that effectively integrates and depicts various layers of marine data and information. Access to this system will help enhance the collective understanding of what is happening in local waters, and enable partners and stakeholders to meaningfully participate in local marine safety, emergency response, and environmental protection activities.
Layers of information will include both ‘static’ data (e.g., bathymetry, sensitive habitats, cultural sites, vessels and port databases) and ‘dynamic’ data (e.g., vessel tracking, meteorological information, endangered species location, spill and pollution events). Transport Canada has conducted community engagement sessions across Canada to gather user data and functionality requirements for the system, and to identify potential communities to participate in pilot projects. Communities participating in pilot projects will work with a prototype of this system in order to evaluate whether it meets user needs and to identify its potential application for maritime situational awareness.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
The project objective is to develop a solution that will be piloted in select communities across Canada. Upon completion of the pilot period, the Government of Canada will evaluate the solution’s effectiveness during the pilot period and determine next steps.
PROJECT REQUIREMENTS
The project will require that the Contractor:
develop a minimal viable product as their initial solution
make their solution readily available and accessible to the end-users
ensure that the end-users can successfully use their solution, respecting varying end-user needs and capacity
support their solution during the pilot period
enhance and modify their solution during the pilot period according to a living prioritized queue of end-user community needs
train end users to use the solution
track all training delivered to end users including who was trained, dates of training, location of training, and type of training provided
monitor and track solution usage
CHALLENGE
The challenge for this initiative is for interested Bidders to design, implement, support, host, and train end users on an innovative GIS solution for use in remote and coastal communities across Canada and to clearly demonstrate to the Government of Canada, in a competitive showcase format, that they have the capability to implement their solution from start to finish.
A number of high-level solution capability areas have been identified during engagement with partners and stakeholders. The staged approach and evaluation methods within this call for proposal will invite Bidders to clearly demonstrate that their proposed solution will meet and address the following areas:
Support for marine situational awareness
Emergency Response
Planning and Monitoring of Vessels
Marine Environment Protection
Solution Features (Geographical Map View, Static and Real-time Information, Analysis Tools, Geo-fencing, Offline Use, Collaborative Information Sharing, Security and Confidentiality, Interoperability)
User Experience (Bilingual, Usability, Responsiveness)
ACQUISITION STRATEGY
It is anticipated that a bilingual Call for Proposal (CFP) will be posted electronically on the Government Electronic Tendering Site (GETS), namely the Buy and Sell website (www.buyandsell.gc.ca).
This requirement is subject to all Trade Agreements.
CALL FOR PROPOSAL (CFP) process
The procurement process will be conducted in 4 Stages. The following summarizes what can be expected within each stage, with further details to be provided in subsequent sections.
Stage 1: Proposal submission and pre-qualification
Interested Bidders are invited to submit their proposal which will be assessed against criteria tabled in the mandatory and point-rated evaluation criteria (to be detailed in the resulting CFP solicitation document). Proposals which meet all mandatory criteria and the minimum point-rated criteria score will be placed in a pool of pre-qualified proposals.
Following the evaluation process of Stage 1, up to eight (8) ranked bidders from the pool of pre-qualified proposals will each be awarded a contract of up to $75,000 to develop and demonstrate a pilot solution.
Stage 2: Technical Proposal Review
Each contract solution proposed will be evaluated against a set of mandatory and rated requirements which are identified in the CFP document.
The Stage 2 evaluation results will be used to establish a prioritized list of qualifying contractors who will be eligible to be invited to Stage 3. Transport Canada will invite the top five (5) ranked contractors to participate in Stage 3.
Stage 3: Response-to-Challenge Demonstration
The qualified contractors from Stage 2 will be invited to participate in a showcase, where they will have the opportunity to physically present their proposed solution to a select panel of evaluators. Contractors will be evaluated on their demonstrated ability to deliver as per their technical proposals.
Stage 4: Contracting with Successful Bidder
The Contractor who achieves the highest combined score will be awarded one (1) contract for an estimated duration of 16 months for a maximum cost not to exceed $2.5 million (not including taxes) to host and maintain their solution, provide bilingual support during the pilot period and enhance their solution, on a regular basis, according to a prioritized list of requirements as stated in the CFP documentation.
GOVERNMENT OF CANADA APPLICABLE POLICIES
Suppliers interested in doing business with the federal government are encouraged to register in the Supplier Registration Information System (https://srisupplier.contractscanada.gc.ca) to be assigned a Procurement Business Number (PBN). Bidders responding to the resulting CFP must be in possession of a PBN.
The Code of Conduct for Procurement and Public Services and Procurement Canada’s Integrity Provisions will apply.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
Standard Acquisition Clauses and Conditions (SACC) Manual clause 2035 25 (2008-05-12) will form part of the resulting contract clauses. The SACC Manual can be accessed online at: https://buyandsell.gc.ca/policy-and-guidelines/standa…
NO OBLIGATION
The issuance of this LOI does not create an obligation for Canada to issue a subsequent CFP and does not bind Canada legally or otherwise, to enter into any agreement.
ENQUIRIES
All enquiries and communication with the Government regarding Canada’s requirement under this LOI must be directed in writing to Transport Canada Contracting Authority as detailed below. Any clarification or information received from other Government officials will not be considered as an official response.
Jianna-Lee Zomer
Contracting Specialist
Transport Canada
Telephone 613-990-8736
Email: j••••••••@••.••.ca
