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, all 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, 2018 with three one-year option periods.

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) as well as the floor feed (language spoken during the proceeding), 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 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.

4.0 Volumetrics

1. Internal Proceedings (CNSC site - 280 Slater Street, Ottawa, ON. Canada)

   1. 1. The CNSC estimates that approximately 7 internal proceedings will be held annually. The average length of support for each of the sessions is approximately 2 days. The duration of the proceeding can vary from approximately 4 hours to over 12 hours per day.

          

2. External Proceedings (Outside of Ottawa, ON. but within Canada)

   1. 1. The CNSC estimates approximately 3 external proceedings will be held annually (off-site to CNSC) nationally in the following provinces Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Proceedings could take place in other provinces or territories. The average length of support required for each proceeding is estimated between 2 to 3 days. The duration of the proceeding can vary from approximately 4 hours to over 12 hours per day.

      2. Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) is estimated to be required for 1 proceeding annually. See section 6, subsection 6.6.

         3. Any estimated level of services specified in this section is provided for information purposes only. It is only an approximation of the requirements and is not to be considered as a contract guarantee. Levels of efforts are provided as estimates only, and must not be construed as a commitment by CNSC to respect those estimated in any resulting contract.

5.0 Location of Work

1. Proceedings are located and take place internally at the CNSC 280 Slater Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada site and externally, in Canada, in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Proceedings could take place in other provinces or territories.

2.On occasion, the external proceedings could be located and take place at a remote location within Canada.

3. The on-site technical project lead resource must work on-site at all of the internal and external locations of proceedings. The on-site technical project lead resource must not be replaced by a subcontractor unless the Contractor obtains the prior written consent from the Project Authority.