Public procurement notice: Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Published: 2020-09-18
Buyer: Cambridgeshire County Council
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Contract award without prior publication
CPV classification: 73000000

Technical requirements: Research and development to enable Greater Cambridge to use real time data to address transport and other related challenges for the benefit of all those who live, work and visit the area.
This notice is linked to the VEAT Notice No 2018/S 170-387439 originally placed in 2018 — the work originally envisaged under that notice did not conclude as expected, and hence this new notice is required.
The Greater Cambridge area of Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire is set to grow by up to 30 % over the next 15 years – with the population rising by 65 000 to 338 000 by 2031 (from 273 000 in 2011).
Population growth means trips on the transport network will increase by 25 000 by 2031 (from 101 000 in 2011 to 126 000).
As a result, we need to ease congestion and make it easier for people to travel by bus, rail, cycle or on foot to improve average journey time.
We can help make people’s journeys and lives easier by using real time data in a wide variety of ways from developing more intelligent traffic signals, improved bus time predictions and smarter ticketing.
Real time data is key to understanding the challenges and delivering solutions to them, but market offerings are neither sufficiently innovative nor robust.
We therefore require research and development to inform our thinking about how to build a smart city real time data platform for transport and mobility applications. This research and development includes a variety of specialisms and techniques including predictive techniques, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
This notice is linked to the VEAT Notice No 2018/S 170-387439 originally placed in 2018 - the work originally envisaged under that notice did not conclude as expected and hence this new notice is required.
The exclusion of research and development contracts enables research services carried out by the authority to be procured without the need to conduct procurement competitions that comply with the Public Contracts Directive (Directive 2014/24/EU) or Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The Directive only applies to:
‘public service contracts for research and development services which are covered by CPV codes 73000000-2 to 73120000-9, 73300000-5, 73420000-2 and 73430000-5 provided that both of the following conditions are fulfilled:
(a) the benefits accrue exclusively to the contracting authority for its use in the conduct of its own affairs; and
Below is an explanation as to why the Smart Cambridge Intelligent City Platform contract which exceeds the EU threshold (contract value of GBP 120 000 — GBP 250 000) and is classified under CPV code 73000000-2(3) does not fulfil the two conditions and is therefore a contract that can be awarded without prior publication of a call for competition.
— the benefits accrue exclusively to the contracting authority for its use in the conduct of its own affairs.
The objectives of the research are solely for the public benefit; to improve transport and quality of life in Cambridge. The results of the research will be published widely through relevant websites and will be done so in the public interest. The authority will not retain the intellectual property rights of any results arising from the research.


Winner: CUTS