Webcasting Services for the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission Proceedings

1.0	Background 

CNSC protects the health, safety and security of Canadians as well as the environment, and respects Canada's international commitments on the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

CNSC was established in 2000 under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act and reports to Parliament through the Minister of Natural Resources. CNSC was created to replace the former Atomic Energy Control Board (AECB), which was founded in 1946. 

CNSC’s Commission Tribunal has up to seven appointed permanent members whose decisions are supported by more than 800 employees. These employees review applications for licences according to regulatory requirements, make recommendations to the Commission, and enforce compliance with the Nuclear Safety and Control Act, regulations, and any licence conditions imposed by the Commission.

Since May 2008 the CNSC has been offering the public, industry and other CNSC stakeholder’s access to view the Commission’s proceedings over the internet (webcasting). Under this initiative, designated proceedings (e.g. hearings, meetings etc.) are made available for remote access by internet viewers live (as they take place) and or “archived” (digital recording as of previously held proceedings).

For additional information on the CNSC please refer to the CNSC’s website at: www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca

2.0	Objectives

CNSC requires the services of a qualified webcasting service provider with nationwide support within Canada for CNSC proceedings to be held during the period of Contract award to March 31, 2015 with a one (1) year option period.
 
3.0	Scope of Work

1.	The Contractor must provide experienced staff to support the creation and maintenance of the CNSC webcast and management of the technical aspect of the CNSC webcasts. The Contractor must also provide the hardware, software and telecommunications services to achieve a complete and clear webcast of the CNSC proceedings via the internet and in accordance with the measures stipulated in this bid solicitation. 

2.	The Contractor must capture the audio and video content of the Commission’s proceedings in both official languages of Canada (English and French), encode the content and transmit the content to the Contractor’s technical infrastructure from which the Contractor must make available to the public free of charge. 

3.	The Contractor must cooperatively work with the audio-visual supplier, the Internet Service provider (ISP) and CNSC teams in a manner that is beneficial to the CNSC committing to quality, customer service, also providing the greatest number of viewers the fastest access possible to the CNSC webcasts.

4.	Internal Proceedings are held at the CNSC site in Ottawa, Ontario, however, on occasion, the proceedings may be held nationally in a remote location (External Proceedings); the facility selected for the proceedings may not have the appropriate internet infrastructure to facilitate the CNSC webcasting criteria, therefore mobile satellite (MSS) transmission services will be required on an as required basis only to support the webcast via the internet.

5.	The Contractor must adhere to all security requirements stipulated in the bid solicitation and resulting contract. The webcast content cannot be changed or altered in any shape or form from its originally captured content while it is in the Contractor’s control unless specifically requested by the CNSC.