Public procurement notice: Prior Information Notice Without Call For Competition
Published: 2019-11-04
Buyer: UK Biobank Ltd
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
CPV classification: 72300000 | 72320000 | 72321000 | 72500000

Technical requirements: UK Biobank is an international resource for health research, offering access to researchers seeking to understand the determinants of disease. The resource will likely comprise over 15 petabytes of health-related data by 2025.
To date, UK Biobank provided data to approved researchers by way of download. The scale of these increasingly large and complex datasets will mean it is no longer tenable to use this model. This requires the development of a new managed service ‘informatics platform’ to enable researchers to access and analyse the data.
UK Biobank considers that the development of this platform will happen in stages. In the first instance, it is seeking to appoint a supplier to implement the first phase - scheduled provisionally for Q1/Q2 2020 – for a managed informatics platform (comprising a Web access portal, compute and storage) to provide secure access to certain of the UK Biobank data via discrete project spaces that allow a range of analytical tools to be utilised.
UK Biobank is seeking to procure an initial platform (which combines a Web access portal, compute and storage elements) which can be implemented in relatively short order. The functionality of the platform will centre on enabling access to genetic data (genotype, whole exome, whole genome sequence) for analysis with the existing UK Biobank phenotypic data (field-level, structured data including health record data and derived imaging variables) available within the resource. This is the first phase currently intended to be implemented in Q1/Q2 2020.
Beyond the first phase, UK Biobank seeks to extend the functionality in future tenders. The additional functionality that UK Biobank is seeking is likely to include:
— the development of further interfaces and the creation of further tools, applications and algorithms that can analyse these data, and
— the development of further core capabilities (such as support for artificial intelligence/machine learning).
UK Biobank considers that after the first phase (when it seeks to enter into a singular arrangement) a desirable long-term solution will involve:
UK Biobank’s current plan envisages the initial service being operational in Q1/Q2 2020, subject to review. It intends to use the responses the market awareness event to inform its understanding of current marketplace maturity and provide confidence that what it seeks to procure within the first phase can be delivered.
This notice is not an invitation for formal expressions of interest. The purpose is to commence a pre-procurement market awareness phase before the start of a formal procurement process (for which a separate contract notice will be issued). This market engagement phase will take the form of UK Biobank issuing a document that outlines its considerations for provision of a managed informatics platform for access to its data, accompanied by a set of questions against which it would welcome feedback from potential suppliers. In addition, as part of this exercise, UK Biobank will hold one-to-one meetings undertaken by video conference, and which will provide an opportunity for UK Biobank to consult with and receive feedback from potential suppliers. The background information to UK Biobank and its prospective procurement is being made available with this prior information notice, along with the specific questions to which UK Biobank now invites advance written responses from potential suppliers.
All the information provided in this notice represents UK Biobank’s thinking and is subject to change following the market engagement. exercise and following other consideration/ approvals (both internal and external).
This notice is not an invitation for formal expressions of interest. The purpose is pre-procurement market awareness before a procurement process (for which a separate notice will be issued).
The background information to UK Biobank and its prospective procurement is available with this PIN, along with the specific questions to which UK Biobank invites written responses from potential suppliers.
Information, including an overview document providing UK Biobank’s considerations for the service required and a set of questions, is being made available to all potential suppliers and accompanies this PIN. (This document can also be found at https://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/managed-informatics-platform/).
Potential suppliers are invited to respond to the questions and may then express an interest in scheduling a one-to-one video conference with senior UK Biobank staff. This video conference will address any questions for UK Biobank from the overview material and UK Biobank will address the set of questions to the potential supplier.