Invitation to Qualify for a procurement process for the Offender Computing and Technology (OCaT) Initiative

This Invitation to Qualify (ITQ) is the first phase of a procurement process by Shared Services Canada (SSC) for the Offender Computing Technology (OCaT) Initiative (the “Project”). Suppliers are invited to pre-qualify in accordance with the terms and conditions of this ITQ in order to become “Qualified Respondents” for any later phases of the procurement process. Only Qualified Respondents will be permitted to bid on any subsequent solicitation issued as part of the procurement process.

Invitation to Qualify is for a procurement process for the Offender Computing and Technology (OCaT) Initiative. The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) has the mandate to prepare offenders for release while exercising certain controls to protect the public. . The digitization of services, government, and society as a whole presents two countering realities in the delivery of CSC’s mandate: on the one hand, the recognition that an offender’s reintegration would benefit from the use of digital tools and channels; on the other hand, the crucial need to control and in some cases, block access to the digital world.

CSC cannot provide offenders with unfettered access to a digital environment and must find a solution that provides the required levels of monitoring and control.

Up until now, the rate of digitization of the environment meant that technology would supplement rather than help facilitate CSC’s reintegration and rehabilitation mandate. CSC has reached the point where its environment is digitized to such a degree that the absence of technology in CSC’s services limits the organization’s capacity to make use of progressive and current resources to more fully support offender reintegration and rehabilitation efforts. This being the case, CSC seeks to achieve the following:

• Digitally enable a set of services to offenders including information services, offender forms, and education
• Provide video visitation services for offenders
• Introduce email as a service to offenders
• Provide offenders with appropriate digital content.
• Provide offenders with gated internet access.

This ITQ process is not a solicitation of bids or tenders. No contract will be awarded as a result of the activities during the ITQ phase.

SSC is using a challenged based method of procurement. The challenge based approach may result in the award of multiple contracts to develop onsite prototypes of the proposed solutions, the ability to extend the prototype and the option to implement the solution and provide associated support services.