Space-Based Automatic Identification System Data Services

1. Attestation of assurance

The fairness monitor hereby provides the following unqualified assurance statement concerning the competitive selection process for Space-Based Automatic Identification System Data Services, commencing with the review of the Request for Proposal documents, and continuing through to its close.

It is our professional opinion that the competitive selection process we observed for the above activities, was carried out in a fair, open and transparent manner.

2. Project requirement

Samson was engaged on July 15, 2020 as a fairness monitor (FM) to observe the competitive selection process for Space-Based Automatic Identification System (SB-AIS), issued by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) on behalf of the Canadian Space Agency under solicitation ## 9F013-180794/B. Samson is an independent third party with respect to this activity.

This report covers the activities of the FM commencing with the Request for Proposal (RFP) phase from July 15, 2020 to September 17, 2020, and to the end of the bid evaluation process, which was finalized on October 6, 2020.

The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is an automatic very high frequency broadcast capability used by ships and ship traffic services primarily for collision avoidance. The types of information available include ship identification, tonnage, position, destination, course, and speed.

The Government of Canada has a requirement for SB-AIS to support the operational needs for the monitoring of Canadian and global maritime traffic that can also be queried for historical tracking purposes. The requirement may also include ship position confirmation, additional connections and accounts, data format conversions, additional data, and AIS data reports and analyses.

We reviewed all of the information provided and observed all relevant activities.

This report includes our attestation of assurance, a summary of the scope and objectives of our assignment, the methodologies applied and relevant observations from the activities undertaken.

3. Fairness monitoring engagement and observations

In accordance with the terms of our engagement, we familiarized ourselves with the relevant documents and observed the procurement activities (for example, RFP document and questions and answers as well as the RFP evaluation), identifying fairness-related matters to the contracting and technical authorities, and ensuring that responses and actions were reasonable and appropriate.

3.1 Activities and observations: request for proposal

The RFP was posted via buyandsell.gc.ca on July 31, 2020 and closed September 17, 2020. The FM reviewed the RFP documents prior to their publication.

No site visits were held during this phase.

Questions from the potential bidders were accepted and answers were provided and distributed via buyandsell.gc.ca prior to the closing date. The FM reviewed all questions and answers provided during the RFP posting period to ensure fairness-related considerations were satisfactorily addressed.

No site visits were held during this phase.

The questions from vendors resulted in two (2) amendments. The FM reviewed all amendments issued prior to their publication.

3.2 Activities and observations: evaluation phase

An evaluation kick-off meeting was held on September 8, 2020 with the evaluators to review their roles and responsibilities. The evaluation team included seven evaluators. The Contracting Authority (CA) and the FM were in attendance.

The FM examined the evaluation plan, framework and scoring worksheets.

Three proposals were submitted by interested bidders as part of the procurement process.

The individual technical bid evaluation process started on September 17, 2020. The evaluators then met on October 1 and 2, 2020 to arrive at consensus on the results of the evaluation. The bid evaluation process consisted of a review of the documentation submitted by bidders as indicated by the criteria and weighting as established in the RFP. The FM and the Contracting Authority attended all evaluation consensus meetings with the evaluation team. The consensus discussions were open and a consensus was reached for all the criteria. One submission was deemed non-compliant.

The financial evaluation, undertaken by the Contracting Authority following the technical evaluation, was performed in accordance with the criteria and methodology stated in the RFP. The evaluation determined that the submissions were compliant. The FM reviewed the financial evaluation results.

The successful proponent was identified on October 6, 2020.

4. Reference documents

Documents related to the solicitation #9F013-180794 are available on buyandsell.gc.ca and/or through the project office.

5. Addendum to final report, January 4, 2021

This Addendum covers the period following the conclusion of the evaluation phase including contract award and debriefings.

Three bids were submitted in response to the Space-Based AIS Data Services Request for Proposals. The winning bidder was advised of the contract award on October 8, 2020.

No debriefing meetings were requested. A debriefing letter, which provided information on the results of the evaluation, was sent to all three bidders on November 20, 2020. The FM reviewed the letters prior to them being sent. No further debriefing information was requested by the bidders.

Attestation of assurance

The fairness monitor hereby provides the following unqualified assurance statement concerning the competitive selection process for the Space-Based Automatic Identification System Data Services

It is our professional opinion that the competitive selection process we observed was carried out in a fair, open and transparent manner.