Network Command and Control Integrated Situational Awareness Capability

Introduction

P1 Consulting Inc. was engaged on September 1, 2017, as a fairness monitor (FM) to observe the procurement process for the Network Command and Control Integrated Situational Awareness Capability (Net C2 ISAC), issued by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) on behalf of the Department of National Defence (DND) as a result of solicitation numbers W8474-18NT10/A and W8474-18NT10/B.

The procurement was conducted in 2 phases. The first was the request for information / invitation to qualify (ITQ), to qualify responsive suppliers to proceed to the subsequent request for proposal (RFP) phase.

P1 Consulting Inc.is an independent third party with respect to this activity. We reviewed all of the information provided and observed all relevant activities.

We hereby submit the final report, covering the activities of the FM, commencing from the start of our engagement on September 1, 2017 continuing through the evaluation consensus meetings to the completion of the evaluation of proposals on September 3, 2021.

This report includes our:

• attestation of assurance
• a summary of the scope and objectives of our assignment
• relevant observations from the activities undertaken

Attestation of assurance

The FM hereby provides the unqualified assurance statement below that concerns the Net C2 ISAC RFP.

It is our professional opinion that the RFP process which we observed or monitored was carried out in a fair, open and transparent manner.

Original signed by:

Project requirement

DND has a requirement to implement a Net C2 ISAC solution to provide operational and strategic commanders and their staff the knowledge of key elements in the information technology infrastructure (ITI) necessary to make well-informed decisions regarding the command and control of their operations.

The overall Net C2 ISAC requirement is to put in place a capability consisting of personnel, processes and tools to:

• generate and display Network Situational Awareness (Net SA)
• align processes and procedures to support the creation and dissemination of Net SA
• support Canadian Armed Forces / DND command and control as they relate to the ITI
• sustain the ongoing efforts in the production of Net SA

It is intended to result in the award of 1 contract for 5 years with irrevocable options to acquire optional work, including goods and services, and several irrevocable options allowing Canada to extend the term of the contract.

Fairness monitoring engagement and observations

P1 Consulting Inc. was engaged as an FM to observe the Net C2 ISAC procurement, and to attest to the fairness, openness and transparency of this monitored activity.

In this section

• Invitation to qualify W8474-18NT10/A
• Request for proposal W8474-18NT10/B

In accordance with the terms of our engagement, we familiarized ourselves with the relevant documents and observed the RFP activities, identifying fairness-related matters to the contracting and technical authorities if / when applicable and ensuring that responses and actions were reasonable, appropriate and fair. We reviewed all of the information provided and observed all relevant activities from our engagement date onwards.

To date, in our role as FM, P1 Consulting Inc. observed that the following was implemented throughout the procurement:

• clarity of the procurement documents and processes
• avoidance of conflicts of interests through the implementation of mechanisms
• proper processes related to the protection of the bidders’ confidential information
• application of diligence throughout the procurement and evaluation processes
• adherence to the procurement documents

Invitation to qualify W8474-18NT10/A

P1 Consulting Inc. observed the procurement process for NET C2 ISAC related to the ITQ W8474-18NT10/A issued by PWGSC. As part of our engagement, we have undertaken the following.

Review of the invitation to qualify and amendments

P1 Consulting Inc. reviewed the ITQ and 6 amendments related to the procurement process during the period from July 25, 2018 to September 24, 2018.

Review of the invitation to qualify closing

P1 Consulting Inc. received confirmation from PWGSC that no late submissions were received following the closing deadline of October 2, 2018 at 2:00 pm EST.

Review of evaluation criteria and procedures

P1 Consulting Inc. reviewed the evaluation criteria and procedures for the ITQ to confirm that the evaluation would be completed in a manner that was fair, open and transparent.

Final evaluation of the bids

On October 23, 2018 the FM and PWGSC contracting authority (CA) attended a presentation hosted by the DND technical authority (TA). At this meeting the TA confirmed that the evaluators undertook their individual evaluations of the mandatory requirements followed by the submittal of their individual worksheets for collation by the TA. The collated results were presented as the consensus summary of the evaluation team. The ITQ contained only mandatory criteria. As the FM was not present at the consensus meeting, the CA provided additional time for the FM to conduct additional diligence on process and results to be satisfied that the evaluation was conducted in a fair and consistent manner. During this diligence period the FM was in contact with the Fairness Monitoring Program project authority.

Basis of selection

Only those submissions deemed responsive to the requirements of the bid solicitation would be pre-qualified to participate in the RFP stage of the procurement.

Invitation to qualify notification letters

On February 22, 2019, we reviewed the draft notification letters for ITQ process which included a review of the letters to bidders notifying them of the procurement results. On March 1, 2019, the CA issued the ITQ results letters to the successful bidders and the unsuccessful bidder.

Throughout our engagement comments provided by the FM related to fairness were adequately addressed by the CA.

Request for proposal W8474-18NT10/B

P1 Consulting Inc. observed the procurement process for NET C2 ISAC related to the RFP W8474-18NT10/B issued by PWGSC.

As part of our engagement, we have undertaken the following.

Bidder interaction

The FM attended and monitored the industry day on April 30, 2019, along with the classified one-on-one meetings on June 25, 2019, and June 26, 2019. The FM also attended and monitored the unclassified one-on-one meetings on June 27, 2019, and June 28, 2019.

The FM reviewed the communications between the CA and the pre-qualified bidders which included a review of the industry day question and answers provided to all pre-qualified bidders on June 10, 2019.

P1 Consulting Inc. also reviewed multiple question and answer documents and emails provided periodically to the pre-qualified bidders during the time from the ITQ close and the issuance of the RFP. The majority of these communications concerned procurement status updates and changes to timelines.

Review of the draft request for proposal

The draft RFP was received for review on May 1, 2019. This version of the draft RFP was provided to the pre-qualified bidders on May 17, 2019. The pre-qualified bidders were provided time to review the documents and had the opportunity to discuss the draft RFP documents and further understand the DND project objectives during classified and unclassified one-on-one meetings.

Review of the request for proposal

The FM reviewed the final RFP from a fairness perspective upon its receipt on February 24, 2021. Any concerns were adequately addressed by the CA prior to its release to the pre-qualified bidders.

Review of evaluation criteria and procedures

The FM reviewed the evaluation criteria and procedures for the RFP to ensure that the evaluation would be completed in a manner that was fair, open and transparent.

Issuance of the request for proposal

The RFP was made available electronically to pre-qualified bidders on March 5, 2021. Before a pre-qualified bidder would be able to receive the RFP, a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) was required to be completed. The FM reviewed the questions and answers process related to the NDA.

Review of amendments

Fifteen amendments related to the procurement process were issued during the RFP open period. The FM reviewed all amendments from a fairness perspective prior to their posting.

Review of request for proposal closing

P1 Consulting Inc. received confirmation from PWGSC that no late submissions were received following the closing deadline of June 11, 2021 at 2:00 pm EST. Three bids were received and handled in accordance with the closing requirements and deadline stated in the RFP.

Evaluation kick-off meetings

On June 29, 2021 and June 23, 2021, the FM attended kick-off meetings with the evaluation team and CA to review the evaluation requirements, process, and schedule. All members of the evaluation teams attended these kick-off meetings in preparation for the role in the evaluation. Fairness-related comments were provided, and appropriate action was taken by the CA and evaluation team.

Monitoring of request for proposal evaluation of the bids

The evaluation was subject to the phased bid compliance process which permitted bidders to submit additional information in order to demonstrate compliance with the RFP mandatory requirements. The FM reviewed the documentation associated with this process, including the 3 compliance assessment reports (CARs) that documented the areas of non-compliance and the bidder’s 3 subsequent responses, which were provided to the relevant evaluation teams for their evaluation. CARs were issued to bidders on Aug 12, 2021, and responses received by August 19, 2021. Fairness-related comments were provided, and appropriate action was taken by the CA and evaluation team.

Clarification questions related to the bids were issued to bidders on August 6, 2021, and August 27, 2021 with responses received on August 11, 2021 and August 31, 2021 respectively. The FM reviewed the questions prior to issuance and the subsequent responses received prior to them being shared with the relevant evaluation teams for their evaluation. Fairness-related comments were provided, and appropriate action was taken by the CA and evaluation team.

During the period July 20, 2021 to September 3, 2021, the FM monitored the consensus evaluation meetings of mandatory and technical rated criteria. Microsoft Teams was used to conduct the consensus discussions, and to support the fair and secure evaluation of bids, the CA developed and implemented instructions for remote bid evaluations. All evaluators signed off on the remote bid evaluation process document prior to undertaking the evaluation, and it was observed that these protocols were applied during the consensus meetings. Following completion of the phased bid compliance process all 3 bids were found to meet the mandatory submission and technical requirements and were eligible to proceed to technical evaluation. Overall, the FM observed that the evaluation was conducted in a fair and consistent manner.

Price evaluation and final evaluation results

On September 8, 2021, the FM reviewed the final technical evaluation spreadsheets provided by the CA. The spreadsheets were consistent with the evaluation scoring methodology and process specified in the RFP. In accordance with the RFP, the pricing envelopes for all 3 bids were opened and the CA calculated the weighted pricing score for all 3 bidders. The combined technical and financial score was calculated to determine the successful bidder. In reviewing of the results of the price evaluation, verification and bidder selection activities, the FM did not observe any fairness concerns.

Reference documents

Documents related to the ITQ solicitation W8474-18NT10/A are available on CanadaBuys. Documents related to the RFP W8474-18NT10/B were provided directly to the pre-qualified bidders and are available through the project office.

Addendum to the final report

October 31, 2022

Addendum to the final report dated November 12, 2021, for the procurement process for the NET C2 ISAC.

This addendum to the final report covers the period following the conclusion of the evaluation phase including contract award and debriefings.

On May 18, 2022 and May 27, 2022, we reviewed the debriefing letters which were subsequently sent to unsuccessful bidders. A summary of the technical bid evaluation was included with each letter. The FM found the letters to be acceptable from a fairness perspective.

Two bidders requested debriefing meetings which were conducted virtually on August 8, 2022 and August 9, 2022. The meetings were carried out by the CA and the client authority with the FM in attendance. We also reviewed any subsequent communications with the bidders related to the debriefing process. There were no issues raised by any bidder which impacted our attestation as the FM for this project that the procurement was conducted in an open, fair and transparent manner.

Attestation of assurance

The FM hereby provides the unqualified assurance statement below that concerns the NET C2 ISAC procurement.

It is our professional opinion that the procurement process that we observed or monitored was carried out in a fair, open and transparent manner.

Original signed by: