GDOC STARTER PACK & MAINTENANCE

Trade Agreement: NAFTA/AIT/Canada FTAs with Peru/Colombia/Panama
Tendering Procedures: All interested suppliers may submit a bid
Non-Competitive Procurement Strategy: Exclusive Rights
Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No
Vendor Name and Address: 
Global Graphics Software Limited
Building 2030
Cambourne Business Park
United Kingdom
CB236DW
Nature of Requirements: 

ESDC: ELECTRONIC BINDER SOFTWARE SOLUTION

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 othersuppliers 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.

DEFINITION OF REQUIREMENT 

Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) has a requirement for the provision of a Commercial of the Shelf (COTS) solution including annual Maintenance and Support services that would enable the creation of a digital equivalent to the traditional paper based 3 ring binder with separator tabs typically assembled for briefing binders within an organisation.
The purpose of this Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) is to signal the government's intention to award a contract for these goods to Global Graphics.  Before awarding a contract, however, the government provides other suppliers with the opportunity to demonstrate that they are capable of satisfying the requirements set out in this Notice, by submitting a statement of capabilities during the fifteen calendar day posting period.

Canada intends to enter into a sole source contract with Global Graphics  for the purpose of procuring  the “gDoc Starter Application” including associating maintenance and support service, training and professional services. Canada reserves the right to add additional clients to this contract at the same price, and under the same terms and conditions, as granted to ESDC.

If other potential suppliers submit statements of capabilities during the fifteen calendar day posting period that meet the requirements set out in the ACAN, the government will proceed to a full tendering process on either the government's electronic tendering service or through traditional means, in order to award the contract.

If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date, a statement of capabilities meeting the requirements set out in the ACAN, a contract will be awarded to the pre-selected supplier.

CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT OF THE STATEMENT OF CAPABILITIES

Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that their product and services meet the following requirements:

Requirements:

The proposed solution to meet this requirement must be “off-the-shelf”, meaning that each component of the software is commercially available and requires no further research and development and is part of an existing product line with a field-proven operational history (that is, it has not simply been tested in a laboratory or experimental environment).

ESDC has a requirement to acquire 750 perpetual licenses of the solution.
MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS:

1) Support the following operating systems: Windows 7, 8.1 and 10. 
2) Offer, via a separate version/installer, the ability to read and annotate binders on the iOS and Android platforms.
3) Support file formats found in Annex A, see attached.
4) The COTS solution, for windows based PC’s, must be supplied as an executable file (.exe, .MSI) that can be deployed to individual computing devices over SCCM 2012 and SCCM 2016.
5) The executable file must enable the installation of either an English or Canadian French User interface to meet official languages requirement within the Government of Canada,
6) The COTS solution must create individual binders as a single local file that encompasses all the information content integrated into the binder itself.
7) The COTS solution must not be created or stored on third party cloud based storage services.
8) The COTS solution must be storable on SharePoint 2010/2013/2016 file repositories.
9) The COTS solution must be, by default, editable/modifiable by any other user with the software installed, as the binders are often worked on by teams of content creators.
10) The COTS solution must have the capability to generate a table of contents with navigation links to the content itself.
11)  The COTS solution must enable source content to be added to the binder via drag and drop methods.
12)  The COTS solution must allow for note taking within the binder by an end user. These notes must be storable within a copy of the binder file.
13)  The note taking ability must support touch screens and Styluses as typically available on Windows, iOS and android based devices. 
14) The use of the COTS solution must not be subject to US export rules jurisdiction.
15)  The COTS solution must support the use of accessibility software such as Jaws (text to speech).


 
APPLICABILITY OF THE TRADE AGREEMENT(S) TO THE PROCUREMENT

• Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT)
• World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP)
• North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

JUSTIFICATION FOR THE PRE-IDENTIFIED SUPPLIER

The “gDoc Starter application” is an established, off-the-shelf solution.

The proposed solution is the only COTS solution that offers the use of accessibility software such as Jaws (text to speech).
The proposed solution fully satisfies Canada’s requirements for a Bilingual (English/ Canadian French) 
solution.

The proposed solution is not cloud based.

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS REGULATIONS EXCEPTION(S)

Section 6(d) of the Government Contract Regulations is being invoked in this procurement as only one person or firm is capable of performing the contract.

EXCLUSIONS AND/OR LIMITED TENDERING REASONS

Annex 502.3(E)(1)(c) of AIT is applicable on the basis of limited tendering due to reasons when, contracts with the only supplier able to meet the bid requirements, including contracts to ensure compatibility with existing products, to recognize exclusive rights, such as exclusive licenses, copyright and patent rights, or to maintain specialized products that must be maintained by the manufacturer or its representative.

Article 1016.2(b) of NAFTA is applicable on the basis of limited tendering due to reasons where, for works of art, or for reasons connected with the protection of patents, copyrights orother 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.

Article XV(b) of the WTO-AGP is applicable on the basis of limited tendering due to reasons when, for works of art or for reasons connected with protection of exclusive rights, such as patents or copyrights, or 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.

OWNERSHIP OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

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


THE PERIOD OF THE PROPOSED CONTRACT OR THE DELIVERY DATE(S)

The proposed contract is for a period of 1 year and includes 3 additional 1-year options. All deliveries mentioned in the requirement shall be delivered within 10 days of Contract award.

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.


NAME AND ADDRESS OF THE PRE-IDENTIFIED SUPPLIER

Global Graphics Software Ltd
Building 2030
Cambourne Business Park
Cambourne
Cambridge CB23 6DW
UK

INQUIRIES AND SUBMISSION OF STATEMENTS OF CAPABILITIES

Inquiries and statements of capabilities are to be directed to:

Nils Juppe
Supply Specialist
Public Works and Government Services Canada
11 Laurier Street, phase3
Gatineau, Québec, Canada (K1A 0S5)
nils.juppe@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca
Telephone 873-469-4846
Government of Canada
 


                                            Annex A: File format support
The COTS solution must support the following file formatsas content sources:
Raster Files
• Computer Graphics Metafile
• Microsoft DirectDraw Surface Format (DDS) 
• Standard Windows Bitmap Format (DIB) 
• OpenEXR Format (EXR)
• Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) 
• Graphics Interchange Format (GIF)
• HighDynamic Range Format (HDR)
• Icon Format (ICO)
• JBIG2
• JFIF (JPEG not in TIFF format)
• JPEG 2000
• Kodak Flash Pix
• Kodak Photo CD (PCD) 
• Lotus PIC
• Lotus Snapshot
• Macintosh PICT BMP only
• MacPaint
• Microsoft Windows Bitmap (BMP)
• PC Paintbrush (PCX)
• Photoshop File (PSD)
• Portable Network Graphics (PNG)
• Progressive JPEG 
• RAW camera format  (all cameras)
• Sun Raster (RAS)
• Silicon Graphics Image Format(SGI)
• TIFF
• TIFF CCITT
• TruVision TGA (Targa)
• Word Perfect Graphics

Vector Formats
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe PDF
• AutoCAD Drawing
• Corel Draw
• Enhanced Metafile
• FrameMaker Graphics (FMV)
• HP Graphics Language
• Microsoft XPS
• Microsoft Visio
• Windows Metafile

Word Processing files
• Adobe Illustrator Postscript Level
• HTML/XHTML
• Lotus WordPro
• Microsoft Publisher
• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft WordPad
• WordPerfect
Spreadsheet Files
• Lotus 1-2-3 
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Works SS
• QuattroPro
Presentation Files
• Corel Presentation
• IBM Lotus Symphony Presentations
• Lotus Freelance
• Microsoft PowerPoint
E-Mail Files
• Microsoft Outlook Message (MSG)
• Microsoft Outlook Express (EML)
Project Files
• Microsoft Project (MPP)
• Microsoft Project Template (MPT) 
Text files
• ANSI Text 7 & 8 bit
• ASCII Text 7 & 8 bit 
• DOS character set EBCDIC
• Unicode Text 3.0, 4.0 
• Macintosh character set Rich
• Text Format (RTF)
• UTF-8
• Wireless Mark-up Language XML (text only)

Miscellaneous:
• Microsoft OneNote
• Epub

Delivery Date: Above-mentioned

You are hereby notified that the government intends to negotiate with one firm only as identified above. Should you have any questions concerning this requirement, contact the contracting officer identified above.

An Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) allows departments and agencies to post a notice, for no less than fifteen (15) calendar days, indicating to the supplier community that it intends to award a good, service or construction contract to a pre-identified contractor. If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date, a Statement of Capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, the contracting authority may then proceed with the award.  However, should a Statement of Capabilities be found to meet the requirements set out in the ACAN, then the contracting authority will proceed to a full tendering process.

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services/goods described herein, 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.

The PWGSC file number, the contracting officer's name and the closing date of the ACAN must appear on the outside of the envelope in block letters or, in the case of a facsimile transmission, on the covering page.

The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any procurement.

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.