Tender for UPC IT system published
17.12.2014
The UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has published in the OJ a tender notice (here) for procurement of the UPC’s IT system. The requirements are divided into 3 lots:
- efiling/case management system,
- hosting services, and
- website development.
Suppliers are invited to bid for one or more lots by completing a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) for the relevant lot on the IPO’s tendering portal (here). The IPO will evaluate the PQQ responses and issue Invitations to Tender to shortlisted suppliers.
The intended timetable leading to contract award is:
| 12.00pm Monday 02nd February 2015 | Deadline for return of completed PQQ’s (via ‘e’ tendering portal). |
| Friday 13th February 2015 | Evaluation of pre-qualification questionnaires completed. |
| Monday 23rd February 2015 | Invitation to tender issued to selected providers. |
| Friday 27th March 2015 | Deadline for responses to Invitation To Tender |
| Friday 01st May 2015 | Evaluation of tenders completed. |
| Monday 11th May 2015 | Contract Award (Following mandatory 10 day Standstill Period). |
The estimated contract start date is 1 June 2015, with a term of 2 years and an anticipated 1 year extension.
Bidders may be interested in this clause in the supporting information:
4.2.7 The Preparatory Committee has declared recently that the Court ‘will not become operational before the end of 2015’. There is a significant volume of preparation required to translate the political agreement signed in 2013 into an operational, new, multi-location international court. It is widely expected, and documented by the Preparatory Committee, that the IT system will be the key factor in determining when the Court is ready.
The Preparatory Committee’s announcement (here) of the tender’s publication states that the aim is for the IT system to be flexible, including being able to operate easily with software provided by states hosting divisions of the UPC.