Handwritten Assessments with Online Evaluation

Notice of Intended Procurement

Name of Procuring Entity
Toronto Metropolitan University (the “University”)

Contact Person and Contract Person Coordinates
Susie Temou, 1 Dundas St West, 16th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5B 2H1, 416-979-5000 ext. 553427

Procurement Documents
The procurement documents are available at www.merx.com.
  
Note that obtaining access to the procurement documents will require prospective suppliers to register and pay a registration fee.  Pricing and Payment Terms are available on the MERX website.

Description of Procurement
The University is conducting a RFP for a cloud-based platform that facilitates the creation of paper-based handwritten and/or hand-drawn academic assessments where evaluation and feedback is completed online, within the platform. Access to this system will predominantly occur through a robust and secure integration with the university learning management system, D2L Brightspace.

The procurement is not anticipated to involve negotiation.  An electronic auction is not anticipated. 

Address and Final Date for Submissions
Submissions must be submitted electronically at https://tmu.bonfirehub.ca on or before October 10, 2024, at 11:00:00 am.

The submissions will not be opened publicly.

Conditions for Participation
The procurement is subject to the following conditions for participation:
1. The Supplier shall carry at all times during the Term, including any warranty period at its own cost and expense, the following minimum insurance:
a. Commercial general liability insurance against third party bodily injury (including death), personal injury and broad form property damage (including loss of use) and including products and completed operations liability and blanket contractual liability for an amount of not less than five million dollars ($5,000,000.00) per occurrence. Such insurance shall include a cross liability and severability of interests clause and an endorsement naming the University, its governors, trustees, officers, and employees as an additional insured;

b. Professional liability insurance for an amount of not less than two million dollars ($2,000,000) per occurrence, if applicable to the type of Services offered under the Agreement. This insurance policy is required to be maintained throughout the term of the Agreement and for a period of twenty-four (24) months after the completion of the Services; and

c. Privacy liability and cyber risk insurance covering liabilities resulting or arising from data damage, destruction, or corruption, including without limitation, failure to protect privacy, unauthorized access, unauthorized use, virus transmission, denial of service and loss of income from network security failures in connection with the Services provided under the Agreement with a minimum limit of two million dollars ($2,000,000) each claim and annual aggregate. Such insurance will also include coverage for notification costs and credit monitoring services. Such insurance will be maintained on a continuous basis for two (2) years following the termination of this Agreement.

2. WSIB
A clearance certificate from the Ontario Workplace Safety Insurance Board,
or if the Successful Proponent is not subject to the Workplace Safety and
Insurance Act (Ontario), evidence of employers’ liability coverage.

3.  WCAG Conformance Testing (Hands-on)
TMU will require access to a demo instance of your application to test the accessibility of the product. TMU will test vendor products for magnification, keyboard, color contrast, and screen reader accessibility.

The Successful Proponent shall demonstrate their application meets the following requirements:
1. Interfaces scale up to 200% without loss or function.
2. All interactive elements are keyboard accessible.
3.Text and non-text elements have sufficient contrast as per WCAG 2.
4. All interactive elements have an accessible name.

4.  Security Risk Assessment
TMU will conduct a security risk assessment of your proposed solution, requiring access to information about the makeup of your solution as well as the maturity of your organization's security policy and practices.

5.  Privacy Impact Assessment
TMU will conduct a privacy impact assessment of your proposed solution, requiring access to information about the makeup of your solution as well as the maturity of your organization's privacy policy and practices.

Applicable Trade Agreements
This procurement is subject to the following trade agreement(s):
Broader Public Sector (BPS)
Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)
Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA)
Quebec/Ontario

Contract Details
The University will base its selection of qualified suppliers on the following criteria:

Stage 1 - Mandatory Evaluation Criteria
                                                                                                     Weighting (Points)
File #4 – Information Security Requirements                                      Pass/Fail
File #5 – Compliance and Privacy Requirements                                Pass/Fail
File #6 – Accessibility and Usability Requirements                             Pass/Fail
File #8 – Support, Training & Documentation Resources                     Pass/Fail

Stage 2 - Mandatory Evaluation Criteria                               
                                                                                                         Weighting (Points)
File #4 – Information Security Requirements                                           Pass/Fail
File #5 – Compliance and Privacy Requirements                                   Pass/Fail
File #6 – Accessibility and Usability Requirements                                Pass/Fail
                                       
Stage 3 - Technical Evaluation Criteria
                                                                                                         Weighting (Points)
File #2 – Functional Requirements                                                              25        
File #3 – Non-Functional & Technical Requirements                                   20
File #7 – Company Information and Experience                                           5
File #8 – Support, Training & Documentation Resources                         10
File #9 – Social and Sustainable Practices                                                   5                             
                                                                                                               Subtotal 65

Stage 4 - Demonstration Evaluation Criteria:
                                                                                      Weighting (Points)
Demonstration                                                                                           15
                                                                                                            Subtotal 15

Stage 5 - Financial Evaluation Criteria:
                                                                                                        Weighting (Points)
File # 10 - Appendix D - Price Form Table 3                                                20
       Subtotal 20

Total Evaluated Score                                                                                 100

Minimum Passing Score
The Minimum Passing Score for Stage 3 -Technical Evaluation Criteria is 70% or 45.5 points out of 65 points.
The Minimum Passing Score for Stage 4 – Demonstration is 70% or 10.5 out of 15 points.


Notes
Suppliers should note that information contained within this notice is subject to change. Suppliers are encouraged to obtain the procurement documents which contain the most current information.  If there is a conflict between the procurement documents and this notice, the procurement documents will take precedence.
 

Bidding and Documents are available on http://www.merx.com. Fees may apply; See https://www.merx.com/public/pricing for more information.