CONTRACT NOTICE – NATIONAL

1 Authority Details

1.1

Authority Name and Address

1.2

Address from which documentation may be obtained

As in 1.1

1.3

Completed documents must be returned to:

2 Contract Details

2.1

Title

Proof of concept for long term access to council records

2.2

Description of the goods or services required

Project specification

Provide a proof of concept to demonstrate how it is possible to provide long term access and to preserve council records. The supplier will work with ARCW partners to select a suitable set of records for the pilot project. The pilot will develop a methodology or process to demonstrate how these records will be maintained in a manner to ensure their reliability, authenticity and security over time. As the life span of the line of business systems may be 5-10 years, the proof of concept should provide a solution to enable access to these records across differing systems. The project should demonstrate how the records can be preserved permanently, or how they can be identified for disposal after a specific time has elapsed. It should also indicate how there can be controls on access to the records. It should demonstrate how the solution could be scaled up for use by other councils across Wales with differing line of business systems and how it could be applied to other categories of records.

The Vital Records Project report recommended that ARCW Digital Preservation system should be moved from R&D phase into service, with clarity over governance (in its widest sense), information governance framework & processes including security, costs [etc.]. The ARCW system has been developed by the NLW using Archivematica, linked to its storage infrastructure. The proposed solution can take this workflow into consideration in the delivery of the proof of concept, but it is not a requirement.

Aims

• Demonstrate how authentic, reliable and accessible records can be preserved and accessible over time

• Demonstrate how records can be migrated into the solution and exported

• Demonstrate how access to records can be enabled over time

• Demonstrate the scalability of the solution and applicability for different data formats

• Provide costings to increase the capacity of the solution which can be used as a basis for additional funding applications

Tasks:

• Work closely with two or more ARCW partners to select records for use in the pilot

• Develop a solution to ensure that the information remains reliable, authentic and accessible across changing technologies

• Develop a methodology which connects the data held in council systems to the solution proposed for long-term access and preservation

• Provide an operational testbed which demonstrates the application of the methodology with the selected records

• Demonstrate how access can be enabled to the records, but also restricted to certain records

• Show how records can be migrated and exported, ensuring continuing accessibility to reliable records

• Ensure that the proposed solution can be scaled up and used for information in differing formats

• Create a report which explains the methodology, identifies the issues and the proposed solutions, including the costings for increasing capacity and additional users

NOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Sell2Wales Web Site at https://www.sell2wales.gov.wales/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=116008.

The buyer has indicated that it will accept electronic responses to this notice via the Postbox facility. A user guide is available at https://www.sell2wales.gov.wales/sitehelp/help_guides.aspx.

Suppliers are advised to allow adequate time for uploading documents and to dispatch the electronic response well in advance of the closing time to avoid any last minute problems.

2.3

Notice Coding and Classification

2.4

Total quantity or scope of tender

Overview

The National Library of Wales, on behalf of the Archives and Records Council Wales, is seeking to procure a supplier to develop a proof of concept to demonstrate the capability of preserving, and providing access to, local authority records for the long term.

ARCW is a representative body for institutions and organisations all over Wales involved with caring for archives. It works through partnerships to deliver all-Wales development projects. ARCW has been increasing digital capacity for many years, which is acknowledged in its annual strategic objectives of

• addressing the preservation and maintenance of digital records and the provision of access

• continuing to increase all-Wales capacity to preserve digital information by building on the work of the Digital Preservation project.

Effective governance and management ensure that information is trustworthy and accessible both as evidence of business activity and as business assets. ARCW has identified a key risk to effective governance: local authority records, which must be kept for very long periods to support accountability and transparency, being held on systems with short operational life spans. This project will address the critical issue of how to ensure access to reliable, authentic and accessible records for the long term, without depending upon a solution which may become obsolete in a few years.

Context: Vital Records Project

In 2020-21 a partnership of Council archive services from across Wales were awarded funding from the Welsh Government’s Local Government Digital Transformation Fund for a project to investigate vital digital records in Wales. The partnership consisted of 6 archive services, who between them represented 15 of the 22 principal councils. Representatives from these services, with a colleague from IT, constituted a project steering group and, following a competitive tender process, archive consultants kevinjbolton Ltd were appointed. The project included desk-based research, interviews with stakeholders including staff from the archive services, the principal Councils and Welsh Government, and series of workshops with the steering group. The workshops served to gather information, report on findings and identify priorities.

The aim of this project was research into how to maintain long term access to records held on principal Council line of business systems, to:

• Understand the barriers or issues, strategic, organisational and technological, involved in providing long term access to Council records.

• Develop a proposed solution to the problem, and help to develop the next phase of any work required to move this process on.

Systems such as these can have a relatively short operational life span, but the records they hold are required to be kept for longer. In some cases, the records must be legally retained for much longer than the anticipated life span of the business systems. Adoption records, for example, must be retained for 100 years. As such, without due consideration of retention requirements, these systems can present a critical risk to Councils, not only in terms of data continuity but also in meeting statutory responsibilities for citizen access and long-term democratic accountability.

This procurement is to produce a proof of concept to demonstrate a process for maintaining long term access to information held on council systems.

3 Conditions for Participation

3.1

Minimum standards and qualification required

Timescales and targets

The following timescales and targets shall apply to this Procurement Process:

Activity Date / time

Issue of Contract Notice 18.11.2021

Deadline for submission of responses by potential bidder 01.12.2021

Proposals evaluated 03.12.2021

Contract Award date 06.12.2021

Contract start date 06.12.2021

Evaluation Criteria

Tender responses will be evaluated as set out below:

• The tender responses will be checked to ensure that they have been completed correctly and all necessary information has been provided.

• The evaluation panel will consist of 1 member of NLW staff, 2 ARCW Officers, 1 representative from Welsh Government, and the ARCW Business and Training Manager.

• Responses from potential bidders will be assessed using the following criteria and weightings, based entirely on the responses submitted:

Criteria Weighting

Project management and ability to deliver 30%

Quality of your work and 50%

Commercial 20%

• The evaluation panel appointed for this procurement will meet to agree and moderate scores for each award criteria. Final scores in terms of a percentage of the overall tender score will be obtained by applying the relevant weighting factors set out as part of the award criteria table above. The percentage scores for each award criteria will be amalgamated to give a percentage score out of 100.

• Scoring Model:

10 – Excellent: has provided a detailed response that meets all aspects of the requirement.

7 – Good: the response provides evidence as requested, but fails to provide the level of detail required.

5 – Adequate: meets the requirement, but not all of the areas of evidence requested have been provided.

3 – Poor: does not demonstrate that requirement is met in one or more areas.

0 – Unacceptable: no response has been provided.

• The winning tender response shall be the tender response scoring the highest percentage scores out of 100 when applying the above evaluation methodology.

Welsh Language Standards

In accordance with Welsh Language Standards:

• You are welcome to submit your tender in English or Welsh.

• A tender submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than a tender submitted in English.

4 Administrative Information

4.1

Type of Procedure

Single stage

4.2

Reference number attributed to the notice by the contracting authority

N/a

4.3

Time Limits

4.5

Language or languages in which tenders or requests to participate can be drawn up

4.6

Tender Submission Postbox

5 Other Information

5.1

Additional Information

Key background documents and further information

The following documentation / information is provided as additional information:

Websites:

https://archives.wales/

https://archifau.cymru/

Vital Records Report, kevinjbolton Ltd

(WA Ref:116008)

The buyer considers that this contract is suitable for consortia bidding.

5.2

Additional Documentation

5.3

Publication date of this notice