Energy technology prize program - ACAN

1. Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)

An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier.

2. Definition of Requirements

The department of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) has a requirement to develop an energy technology prize program in order to accelerate the development of advanced technologies and make progress towards Canada’s energy and climate goals.

This is a 3 phase project, as directed by the Mission Innovation Steering Committee of 22 countries and the European Union. This requirement constitutes phase 2 in order to build upon the results of Phase 1.

The scope of work includes the following components:

a) Development of a prize program brand to include a program name, logo, and URL etc.

b) Development and customization of a website with multi-functionality, including the ability to:

• Communicate information to, and engage with, a large range of stakeholders from potential prize program participants, to recruited expert judges, to government officials, to interested private sector companies, to the media, and the general public.

• Guide participants through the process of starting a program submission, understanding the assessment criteria, and receiving scores and comments provided by judges;

• Allow judges to privately and securely evaluate participant submissions;

• Facilitate the interaction and networking of participants in order to encourage greater global interconnectedness within the specific technology area(s) of the prize program through avenues such as online discussion forums.

• Allow for the generation of customized on-demand reports related to the progress and uptake of the initiative, to be made available as desired to Natural Resources Canada.

3. Criteria for Assessment of the Statement of Capabilities

Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that it meets the following requirements:

1. Having previously designed, developed, and implemented a prize competition program with international reach as demonstrated by having applicants and applicant judges from multiple continents.
2. Demonstrated capacity to design, develop, and implement a prize competition with reward amounts in excess of $10 million.
3. Possessing an existing web platform constructed that can be personalized for use in this project. Platform must already contain the necessary capabilities below:
   1. The ability to guide program applicants through the application process and provide necessary guidelines and contextual information;
   2. A secure log-in component to allow applicant judging panels to review program applications;
   3. An online forum function to facilitate interactions between program applicants to help facilitate networking and the generation of new ideas; and
   4. The ability to generate on-demand reports to NRCan that provides details on program up-take and progress.

d. Having the approval of the Mission Innovation Steering Committee.

e. Having access to the results of Phase 1 of the project.

4. Trade Agreements

This procurement is subject to the following trade agreement(s):

North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA);

Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT);

World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP).

5. Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier

We intend to deal directly with the supplier mentioned in section 10 below as, it is the only known supplier that meets the mandatory criteria set out in section 3 above.

Should Canada receive a statement of capabilities from a supplier that contains sufficient information to indicate that it meets the requirements set forth in this ACAN; this non-competitive process will be abandoned and a competitive process will be pursued as appropriate with a technical and financial evaluation methodology of the bids proposed by the potential bidders.

6. Exception to the Government Contracts Regulations

The following exception(s) to the Government Contracts Regulations is invoked for this procurement under subsection: 6(d) – “only one person is capable of performing the work”.

The identified provider, The Common Pool LLC, is the only one able to meet all of the criteria identified in paragraph 3 above.

7. Exclusions and/or Limited Tendering Reasons

The following exclusion(s) and/or limited tendering reasons are invoked under the:

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): Article 1016, 2, d.

Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT): Article 506.12 (b)

World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP): Articles XIII (b), Article XV (d) and XV (a).

8. Contract Period

The contract period will be from Award to 31 May 2017.

9. Estimated Cost

The estimated maximum value of the contract is $240,000.00 CAD inclusive.

10. Name and Address of the Proposed Contractor

The Common Pool LLC

806 Georgina Avenue

Santa Monica, CA 90402

United States

11. Suppliers’ right to submit a statement of capabilities

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services/goods described herein, may submit a Statement of Capabilities in writing, preferably by e-mail, to the contact person identified in this Notice on or before the closing date and time of this Notice. The Statement of Capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

12. Closing Date

The closing date for a submission of a Statement of Capabilities is February 03, 2017 at 14:00 Eastern Standard Time).

13. Contract Authority

Serge Tshimanga

Telephone: (343) 292-8374

E-mail address: Serge.Tshimanga@canada.ca