UKHO Maritime Environment Data Store (MEDS) Application Replacement

Description

Summary of work The current MEDS service is used internally by UKHO staff and the service is only accessible from the Authority’s IL5 environment. The Authority requires: - A replacement Map/GIS Viewer software capability to support the viewing of MEDS datasets and the provision of external chart products for the customer - Bespoke development within the software product to meet the specific workflows of the operational team when receiving requests from the customer. This is to be part of the initial software offering but future enhancements may be agreed via a separate work package - The ability for the Authority to make changes to the UI to enter data as new job types emerge - Operational technical support for the software capabilities supplied by the awarded supplier for MEDS Service - The ability to request enhancements (e.g. COTS Upgrades) to the software capabilities as and when requirements change, or further enhancements are needed, to be agreed on a time and materials basis The contract to develop the work will take as long as agreed by the Authority and the Supplier, based on Supplier responses. The Supplier would like the work completed within FY 23/24. Support will be required for the delivered solution for the duration of the contract. Where the supplied staff will work South West England Where the supplied staff will work No specific location (for example they can work remotely) Why the work is being done The Authority has an on premise service called the Maritime Environment Data Store (MEDS) for internal use within a single geographical location. The service is out of date and makes use of a number of hardware and software components which are no longer supported. This work is to replace a number of components that make up the service to allow the service as a whole be brought back in to support and to provide a more robust and modern solution. The service is used to store and extract data related to the marine environment. Data can be ingested electronically, using a variety of formats including bespoke UKHO ones, or entered manually from paper records using bespoke UI. This UI will need to be replaced by the Supplier Data is extracted, based on request for specific data, using a GIS tool to search, visualise, and export data to common formats. The business problem A number of components of the MEDS service are no longer supportable and the service overall is out of date. The Authority requires certain components to be replaced with a more modern, robust, and supportable solution in order to provide a more reliable service to users. The work will be centered around the replacement of the existing out of support GIS tool with a more modern, open source, tool, and a new UI to allow for the manual input of data to the existing database (this database is not part of the changes so any solution will need to work with the existing schema). Other work will include making the UI configurable and dynamic so that it presents the correct form for data entry, based on the job type of data selected, and allowing the UI to manage and edit existing data within the database. The people who will use the product or service User type: Internal UKHO staff Definition: All users of the system are internal UKHO staff using the Authority IL5 network. The service is not externally facing and has no users outside of the Taunton location. The data is provided by external parties, in a variety of electronic and paper based formats, and extracted based on requests from both internal and external parties. The Marine Environments Team within the UKHO mange and operate the service and this includes adding, managing, visualising, and extracting data based on customer requests as well as admin type work such as managing user accounts and permissions. Work done so far An internal review phase has been completed to determine the elements of the service that need replacing. This was undertaken by a UKHO Solutions Architect working in conjunction with the users. The output of this work has been reviewed internally and the proposed solution to use an external supplier approved. Which phase the project is in Not started Existing team A Project Manager, Solutions Architect, and Business Analyst are available to work on the Authority side along with the user Team and SME's. Address where the work will be done All major user interactions such as Discovery workshops, show and tells, UAT etc, must take place at the UKHO site (Admiralty Way, Taunton, TA1 2DN). Development work, general meetings, updates etc can be done remotely. Working arrangements The Supplier will be expected to work standard business hours, M-F 9-5, to align to Authority working practices. Work may be undertaken outside of these hours and maybe required for any implementation work The Supplier will be expected to be on site for all activity that involves user interaction such as workshops, show and tells, testing, agreed stakeholder updates etc and any costs should reflect that. All expenses will require prior approval. Expenses are not expected to be charged for known activity on site, such as workshops etc, but for more ad hoc attendance. The supplier is expected to work in an Agile, iterative, way with users closely involved in the work and the Authority kept updated with regular show and tells to manage progress and delivery. The Supplier is expected to provide regular reports and updates covering progress, costs, RAG status, etc. The Supplier is expected to manage their own delivery and resources and will not be under the immediate direction of the Authority. The Supplier is expected to appoint an identified resource to be responsible for Supplier delivery, to act as the point of contact for day to day delivery, and to liaise with the Authority Project Manager. Security and vetting requirements Security Check (SC) More information about the Security requirements: All Supplier workers must be SC cleared and, due to the timescales involved, preference will be given to those already holding clearance or able to provide workers who hold clearance. All workers must be UK nationals with all work undertaken onshore. Latest start date 13 December 2023 Expected contract length Contract length: 2 years 0 months 0 days Special terms and conditions special term or condition: Suppliers will adhere to the Secure by Design principles to ensure that any supplied or developed service or component can be accredited in line with UKHO and MoD policy. The supplier is expected to fully participate in security activity including the arranging and facilitating of PEN tests, remediation of identified risks, provision of monitoring and logging where appropriate, etc Information on Secure by Design can be found at https://www.security.gov.uk/guidance/secure-by-design/ Budget Indicative maximum: £433000 Indicative minimum: The contract value is not specified by the buyer Further information: The maximum budget for the duration of the contract is up to £433,000. Contracted out service or supply of resource? Contracted out service: the off-payroll rules do not apply Terms and acronyms Term or acronym: MEDS Definition: Maritime Environment Data Store Questions and Clarifications 1. Q1. What hardware and software components are no longer supported and what components are likely to remain? Q2. If new hardware is required, is the cost of new hardware to be included within the published project budget? Q3. Will devices with the appropriate software development tools be provided as GFX that give access to the Authority’s IL5 environment? Q4. Will development and test environments be provided as GFX on the Authority’s IL5 environment to allow testing of the new solution to occur before deployment to the Production environment? A1: Software not supported (to be replaced/upgraded): MapInfo MapX V4.0 GIS software. Additional software attached to the MapX software – Browser application V3.7. Oracle database 11g Enterprise Edition upgraded to at least Oracle database 19. Oracle client 10.2. upgraded to Oracle client 19 (or compatible with database version). Software components to remain: MEDS Manager V3.0.8.1. TOAD for Oracle Base (version compatible with Oracle 19). CYGWIN/UNIX applications with database extraction functionality. A2: Any hardware required should be identified in supplier responses but will be provided by the Authority and installed by Authority teams or Supplier teams under escort. Dependencies on hardware should be fully identified and costed in responses. A3: The authority will not be providing devices or tools for development use. Access to the Authority environment will only be allowed on site and, where access is required for testing or deployment, for example, this will be arranged on a case-by-case basis. A4: Suppliers should identify what environments they require and these will be provided, within reason, by the Authority. There is an existing MEDS test environment, and this could be used, where required, by cleared and escorted Supplier staff on site. All development must be fully tested and signed off prior to deployment and the Authority expects initial testing to be undertaken by the Supplier on their own environments before testing at the Authority. A test plan/strategy will be required. Last Updated : <strong>17/10/2023</strong> 2. Q5. The requirement states ".....the replacement of the existing out of support GIS tool with a more modern, open source tool...." We note that the UKHO currently has access to Esri software, which may be suitable for this task. Is there a particular reason why an Open-Source GIS system is required as opposed to using a COTS GIS capability that the UKHO has already procured? A5. Following a review of the MEDS solution, and potential work to bring it back in to support, the decision was taken that a tool other than ESRI would probably provide the most appropriate answer. The view presented was that ESRI may be too complex to configure against the current data structure so an alternative solution should be sought. This view was ratified by the Authority architecture community. Suppliers are welcome to propose COTS GIS tools and all responses will be scored as per the criteria set out. Last Updated : <strong>17/10/2023</strong>