TRADE COMMISSIONER SERVICE DIGITAL EXPERIENCE PLATFORM

Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)

Title: TRADE COMMISSIONER SERVICE DIGITAL EXPERIENCE PLATFORM

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 the Requirement

   The Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD) has a requirement to develop a Proof of Concept that will enable the DFATD to assess a new digital experience platform requirements and provide a proposal for a full scale deployment of an end-state Digital Experience Platform (DxP), based on and including a deployment plan and timelines, costing, level of effort, dependencies and migration of existing TCS digital content and assets into a new DxP solution, including addressing ongoing evolution of the new solution throughout the end-state DxP Project.

   This includes a Proof of Concept that proves the following:

• The future state DxP will be a managed service which includes Web Content Management, Digital Asset Management, Web Personalization and Web Analytics on a single integrated architecture leveraging a public cloud- based deployment model.
• The future state DxP will ensure all the applications have completed the WCAG 2.0 guidelines assessment.
• The future state DxP will provide templates and components for web page creation that leverage the Web Experience Toolkit (WET) aligned to WCAG 2.0 guidelines.
• The future state DxP will provide a Web Content Management System with a native integration with DFATD’s Siteimprove license for accessibility.
• The future state DxP will provide a Web Content Management System and Digital Asset Management solution that is built on the same architecture as the department’s enterprise digital forms application for consistency with development processes, deployment architecture, rules, permissions, and training.
• The future state DxP will provide native integration with DFATD’s enterprise creative applications (i.e. Adobe Creative Cloud)
• The future state DxP will provide Content Authors with the ability to leverage web analytics and web personalization features within the Web Content Management System to analyze and review to evaluate content effectiveness.
• The future state DxP will collect user-based data in virtually real time and enable web personalization through native server-side integrations between Web Analytics and Web Personalization applications.
• The future state DxP will add a Campaign Management application that natively integrates with the DxP platform and utilizes the platforms Analytics and Personalization components.
• During the POC, the Vendor will provide resources with the required level of personnel security screening with Government of Canada.
• During the POC, DFATD will have direct access to the software providers, engineering, and product management teams.

1. 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:

• Must have one (1) Public Sector** project with implementing and operating a *Large DxP project that includes a managed service. The *Large DxP must have included a Web Content Management System (WCMS), Digital Asset Management Solution (DAM), Web Personalization (WP), and Web Analytics tool (WAT).
• Must possess a DxP that uses a single integrated architecture that has completed the department’s Cloud Security Risk Management Procedures for all of its applications.
• Must possess a WCMS and DAM solution that is delivered as a managed service that natively integrates with a product with similar functionality, as Adobe Experience Manager Forms.
• Must possess templates and components for web page creation that leverage the Web Experience Toolkit (WET) aligned to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) guidelines.
• Must be able to deliver a team of available resources with experience delivering DxPs for Public Sector clients.

** Public Sector shall include Federal (including Crown Corporations), Provincial and Municipal government organizations as well as any quasi-governmental organization in Canada.

*Large Project as defined in the Definitions section meaning a DxP that included a WCMS, a DAM, WP, and a WAT, as well as native integration with a product with a form and template builder. In addition, the DxP must have templates that currently meet the WET and WCAG 2.0 guidelines.

1. Applicability of the trade agreement(s) to the procurement

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

• I. Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) OR Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT)
• II. World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP)
• III. Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)
• IV. Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement:
• V. Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement
• VI. Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement:
• VII. Canada-Columbia Free Trade Agreement and Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement:
• VIII. Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement:
• IX. Comprehensive and progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)

1. Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier

The supplier mentioned in Section 11 below 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, a competitive process will be triggered with a technical and financial evaluation methodology of the bids proposed by the potential bidders.

1. Government Contracts Regulations Exception(s)

The following exception(s) to the Government Contracts Regulations is (are) invoked for this procurement under subsection Sub-section 6(d) - "only one person is capable of performing the work".

The identified supplier Adobe is the only one able to meet all criteria identified in Section 3 above.

1. Exclusions and/or Limited Tendering Reasons

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

• II. Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) Article 19.12: Limited Tendering; 1.(b)iii. due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
• III. World Trade Organization Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP) Article XV: Limited Tendering; 1.(b) in the absence of competition for technical reasons, the products or services can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no reasonable alternative or substitute exists; and
• IV. Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) Article 513: Limited Tendering or Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) Article 506: Procedures for Procurement, paragraphs 11 and 12; 12. (b) where there is an absence of competition for technical reasons and the goods or services can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no alternative or substitute exists;
• V. Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement: Applicable Limited Tendering Provision (Article Kbis-09) – Kbis-09 (b) - where, for works of art, or for reasons connected with the protection of patents, copyrights or other exclusive rights, or proprietary information or where there is an absence of competition for technical reasons, the goods or services can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no reasonable alternative or substitute exists;
• VI. Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement: Applicable Limited Tendering Provision (Article 17.11) - 17.11.2 b) a good or service being procured can be supplied only by a particular supplier and a reasonable alternative or substitute does not exist because:
  1. the good or service is a work of art,
  2. the good or service is protected by a patent, copyright or other exclusive intellectual property right, or
  3. there is an absence of competition for technical reasons.
• VII. Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement: Applicable Limited Tendering Provision (Article 16.10) - 16.10.1b) a good or service being procured can be supplied only by a particular supplier and a reasonable alternative or substitute does not exist because:
  1. the good or service is a work of art,
  2. the good or service is protected by a patent, copyright or other exclusive intellectual property right, or
  3. there is an absence of competition for technical reasons;
• VIII. Canada-Columbia Free Trade Agreement and Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement:

  Applicable Limited Tendering Provision (Article 1409.b) - b) Where the goods or services can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no reasonable alternative or substitute goods or services exist for any of the following reasons:

  a) The requirement is for a work of art,

  b) The protection of patents, copyrights or other exclusive rights, or

  c) Due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;

• IX. Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement: Applicable Limited Tendering Provision (Article 10.13.b) - (b) if the goods or services can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no reasonable alternative or substitute goods or services exist for any of the following reasons:
  1. the requirement is for a work of art;
  2. the protection of patents, copyrights or other exclusive rights; or
  3. due to an absence of competition for technical reasons

1. X. Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) (Article 15.3) - (c)

1. Ownership of Intellectual Property

   Ownership of any Foreground Intellectual Property arising out of the proposed contract will vest in the Contractor.

2. Period of the Proposed Contract or Delivery Date

The proposed contract is from contract award to March 31, 2022

10. Cost Estimate of the Proposed Contract

The approximate cost of this requirement will not exceed $627,432 (CAD) for the full term of the Contract. Customs duty included and Applicable Taxes extra.

11. Name and Address of the Pre-identified Supplier

Adobe Systems Federal

343 Preston Street

Ottawa, ON K1S 1N4

Canada

1. Suppliers' Right to Submit a Statement of Capabilities

   Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the goods, services or construction services described in the ACAN may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this notice on or before the closing date of this notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

2. Closing date for a Submission of a Statement of Capabilities

The closing date and time for accepting statements of capabilities is 26 February 2021 at 2:00 p.m. EST.

1. Inquiries and Submission of Statements of Capabilities

   Kingsley Knight (Mr.)

   Senior Contracting & Procurement Officer,
   200 Promenade du Portage, Gatineau, QC K1A 0G2
   Telephone: 343-203-8234
   Email: kingsley.knight@international.gc.ca