Tenders for Long Forest phone app and website development

Descriptions

For an easy to read version please see additional information1Background1.1Purpose of this documentThe purpose of this document is to provide basic requirements to enable potential vendors/suppliers to prepare tender documentation and presentation for the purpose of bidding to provide services to Keep Wales Tidy.It aims to give background information on the organisation itself, to set out the aims and objectives of the Long Forest Project and provide an initial outline of scope of services to be provided.1.2About Keep Wales Tidy (KWT)Our mission is to encourage local action to protect and enhance our environment, contributing towards a sustainable future. As one of Wales’s leading community-based environmental charities, we encourage people to value their environment and take responsibility for their local area. Our work aims to influence behaviour change through campaigns, environmental education and community engagement.Since we were formed in 1972, we have worked with a vast number of groups across Wales, helping them care for and enjoy our beautiful country. People are at the heart of what we do - whether they are community groups, organisations, schools, local businesses or individuals wanting to make a contribution and see a difference in their local environment. Our real aim is to make neighbourhoods better places to live, to regenerate run down areas and instil communities with a sense of pride.1.3IntroductionHedgerows and earth banks, along with associated linear woodland features and important ancient trees, are an integral part of our rural landscapes – and date back in some cases many centuries and even millennia. The Long Forest project has been set up to stimulate interest in these green monuments, many of which are older than nearby buildings. Unfortunately because of farm intensification and modem management practices hedges are in a poor state. Through this project we will raise awareness of hedgerows’ importance by engagement, outreach, education, training and learning, as well as through practical restoration work to ensure hedgerows and their heritage is better understood, valued and conserved by landowners, the public and businesses.To address this Keep Wales Tidy (KWT) in partnership with the Woodland Trust (WT) have secured funds from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to develop and run the Long Forest Project: a community and business engagement project aimed at protecting and improving the condition of hedgerows and other linear woodland features in Wales, through practical conservation work, outreach and education and engagement. It is imperative that we develop a very strong and engaging identity with any online presence and publicity. KWT and WT are now drawing to the end of a 13 month development phase, which started in February 2015 and will run until March 2016, at which point a second round application for a 3 year delivery phase will be submitted. If successful, the delivery phase would commence around June 2016 and run for at least three years. The work will be delivered by a central team who will provide resources that can be accessed by everyone and then more intensive work in four ‘Target Areas’.1.4Aims/Outcomes:A. Improve the heritage and enhanced landscape characterImproved habitat for wildlife through the better management of hedgerows and planting, thus creating a resilient landscape in which vulnerable species can cope with climatic changes. Improved records for ecologists will help prioritisation of scarce resources and the work will support a wide range of WG policies and initiatives whilst influence policy by demonstration practical implementation of the project.B. Improve understanding of the value of hedgerowsIncreased awareness of the historical and cultural value of hedgerows amongst: community groups, children, history groups, landowners, NGOs, politicians and business interests will lead to an understanding of the threats, development of new skills and more coordinated policies and programmes to survey, record, restore and celebrate this important heritage asset.C. Wider community benefitsIncreased participation will result in volunteers acquiring improved health and well-being as well as new skills and learning. Encouraging a wide range of groups to take part will foster greater social cohesion and by developing sponsorship opportunities for businesses we will raise their profile and boost local economies’. Hedgerows are vitally important for a range of EU protected species and are important for many others as they provide nesting opportunities, food, shelter from the weather and protection from predation.1.5Delivery themesThere are two main heritage aspects to the project with which the objectives will be delivered:Wildlife Heritage: Hedgerows are the unsung heroes of the British landscape. Through agricultural intensification and urban expansion the countryside has become fragmented with isolated pockets of habitat. It’s the hedges that form a green chain around the land linking up these pockets allowing all manner of species to move between important sites; strengthening populations and affording them the chance to change and adapt to pressures such as shifting weather patterns, habitat removal and changing management practices. Not only do hedges protect species traversing around the countryside, reducing the chances of predation, the also act as way-markers and highways to help in navigation, provide nesting opportunities and are the larders of the countryside with a wealth of berries, nuts, edible leaves and flowers for pollinators. The 1995 UK Biodiversity Action Plan for hedges stated that more than 600 plant species, 1,500 insects, 65 birds and 20 mammals have been associated with hedges, which we now know as being a vast underestimation. Of these species 130 are Biodiversity Action Plan species and of these a significant proportion are section 42 species (species under significant threat of extinction).Cultural Heritage: the cultural aspects are also far reaching and significant. Hedges of sorts were used by some of the earliest settlers to keep animals out of an enclosure and then, with the advent of farming, to keep animals in. During this time hedges were used as a defensive structure against attack. Hedges came into their own with the advent of the enclosure acts, giving rise to parish boundaries to delineate properties and to split fields into manageable units. As well as this hedges are steeped in folk law and tradition; drovers used to travel hundreds of miles around the country with valuable stock using the hedges as shelter and food. The general population would also have used hedges for food for themselves and fodder for farm animals, remedies for ailments and a source of material for buildings and fuel.The project will be delivered through practical conservation action on the ground in four priority areas: Monmouthshire, Pembrokeshire, Anglesey and the North East (consisting of Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham). A significant part of project will be dedicated to indirect heritage action such as putting together tool kits for groups, communications and engagement plans and surveys. A large part of this will be done through online resources through a website and phone app1.6Target AudienceAfter a significant consultation period we envisage the following groups to be our main target audience, this is not exhaustive, but give a good flavor of the range of audiences the project will be reaching out to, the following list is in no order of priority:•Smallholders•Farmers•Young person’s groups including Young Farmers, Scouts and Guides•Agricultural and conservation students•Community groups including conservation groups, history groups, health and wellbeing, groups, rehabilitation groups, gardening groups and older retired people•General public1.7General informationAs we are still in the development phase of the project, preparing for a round 2 grant application to secure funding for the delivery phase, we are inviting speculative tenders in preparation for a successful round 2 grant application. The winning tender will be notified of their success before the delivery phase funding is secured but no contract will be signed until the funding is in place, which is likely to be in June 2016.During the development phase we commissioned a broad scoping study of technical considerations related to a phone app and website (see appendix 1), as well as a scoping study to gather information on how historical and cultural data should be collected (see appendix 2), shared and used during the Long Forest project. These two scoping studies will help inform the development of the project’s IT structure and application1.8General requirementsThis tender contains 2 individual lots. We are inviting suppliers to tender for individual lots or both lots depending on their specialisms and resources.It would be helpful if suppliers could demonstrate any potential savings/economies of scale if tendering for both lots.The contractor must have proven knowledge, skills and competencies in understanding the range of technical and visual needs of the project. It will also be essential that the contractor has an ability to present the information in a clear and concise manner, allowing the non-technical minded to understand the concepts.We require a single word document for each lot which the Long Forest team can then use to establish realistic and detailed proposals for the Heritage Lottery Grant application. This will include detailed costs and a breakdown of different options for consideration.2 Tender lots2.1Phone app development (Lot 1)2.1.1OverviewAt present we know little about the condition of hedgerows in Wales. GIS remote sensing information available through the WT and NRW is comprehensive but could be as little as 60% or as great as 90% accurate and tells us nothing about the actual condition or species composition of the hedgerow. Although valuable information can be inferred from the data to target any further survey efforts, it is important that we get boots on the ground and valuable scientifically sound records coming in.To do this we are proposing a phone app to allow the general public, trained volunteers and paid professionals to record hedges using the Hedgerow Evaluation and Grading System, HEGS, (see appendix 3). HEGS is the simplest methodology for recording hedges but is robust enough to stand up to scrutiny so will appeal to the widest range of users possible. Ultimately the phone app needs to enable the user to simply and systematically go through the HEGS whilst also recording the location and potentially the hedge start and finish point on the survey.We imagine the phone app being ready for use early on in the project but that further refinements will be needed to ensure the app is usable to as wide an audience as possible2.1.2Base Maps:It is our understanding that for surveyors to record a survey they must first download one or more selected tiles (maps), this would allow the surveyor to accurately locate a hedge, field, path or road and then record the survey against the feature. The base maps must be downloaded when the device is in service though the app must allow the survey to be stored on the phone in case of a drop in signal. As the maps will need to show some details such as major and minor roads, houses and boundaries as well as hedges it is important that the right maps be used. An expensive paid for service such as OS isn’t sustainable for the project and therefore would like contractors to detail the relative suggestions preference for consideration.2.1.3Data transfer:Because of the field based nature of the survey the surveyor may well be in a rural location and out of mobile phone signal, limiting downloads and uploading, therefore it is important that the app can work on and offline. If there is no signal the phone will have to store survey information until a time when signal strength is sufficient enough to allow data transfer obviously if the phone is in signal when the survey is complete then the data should be sent immediately.It is important that the data sent is in a format which can be readily configured for the website and interpreted by staff.The app should include limits to the amount of offline base mapping that can be stored and warnings to prevent users from downloading large amounts of base mapping with an easy option of deleting tiles which are no long needed2.1.4Design:The phone app needs to function seamlessly, be visually appealing and engaging to encourage The Long Forest project will have its own brand and logo but the site will need to take account of the emerging Keep Wales Tidy brand2.1.5Platform and CMSWe require detailed information on contractors preferred platform if this be bespoke or open-source, if the platform is to be purpose build it’s important that KWT owns the license. We envisage the survey information being sent to a database which would then talk to the website so we require information on how the app would format data to enable this2.1.6Summary of pointsSo in response to this tender we would like to see visual and technical information on the following with costs and timings broken down for each, resulting in an app that will:•Be bilingual•Engage and encourage recordings from all levels of ability, from ‘toe-dippers’ to ‘seasoned, scientific recorders’ and to create an engaging conversion funnel•Allow multiple map tiles to be downloaded for surveying with limit warnings•Function on and off line•Allow geo locating/way finding•Gather user information either directly through a registration process or via social media such as Facebook.•Upload data instantly or regularly to a secure place on the website for verification•Work on both iOS and Android™ taking into consideration the range of versions and potential updates•Be designed for a minimum screen size of 4 inches up to a maximum size of 10 inches. This will allow it to work on a range of devices, from phones through to tablets, but not on phones with very small screens that would reduce the functionality possible.•Have a minimum specification for mobile devices of 1 GB RAM and 500 MB free storage for offline maps.•Include the design of a simple plant identification tool (photos to be compiled by KWT)•The app should allow for the upload of photographs of features of interest, this may need to include an automatic downsizing or compression before sending to limit the time it takes to send.•Allow the user to select the option of exiting the app at the end of the survey to record ancient trees through a separate Woodland Trust App•Be deployed on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.•Provision should be made for ongoing support to ensure its compatible with future devices and platforms for 3 years2.1.7Delivery timetableInitial startup meetingWeek commencing 6th June 2016Initial ideasWeek commencing 13th June 2016Presentation of initial work and mockups Week commencing 4th July 2016Working app for internal testing Week commencing 24th July 2016App published and advertisedWeek commencing 15th August 2016Review of app and changesFebruary 20172.1.8Experience and abilitiesContractors are required to demonstrate their ability to successfully deliver the above-described works and in particular to:•Have a clear understanding of the survey techniques and issues involved.•Be capable of meaningful engagement with stakeholders to elicit their needs to inform the works.•Ability to provide thorough, clear, concise and accurate report with an Executive Summary.•Be creative, but combined with practical realism.•To work in partnership to make recommendations and amend as appropriate.Contractors would preferably have proven experience of working on public science and mass participation projects, have a good understanding of community engagement, as well as the technical and design skills necessary to undertake all aspects of the project.As of yet no budget has been allocated to the development of a phone app so we require contractors to set out how they would meet the needs of the project and technical aspects with a detailed delivery timetable commencing in June 2016 as well as a budget.2.1.9 Response to TenderAward of the contract resulting from this tender will be based upon the most responsive vendor whose offer will be the most advantageous to the Keep Wales Tidy terms of understanding, cost, functionality, delivery, approach, creativity, ongoing support and overall management.A detailed response is requested, broken down into separate sections and specifying daily rates.Applicants are requested to:•Set out understanding of the brief and proposed methods.•Outline how their proposal meets the needs described in the brief.•Provide an outline methodology of how they would approach and manage this project.•Set out their relevant track record on similar projects.•Provide CVs highlighting the specific expertise of named staff (Maximum 3 pages each).•Provide a breakdown of costs.2.1.10Guidelines for Presentation & Evaluation CriteriaWe will specifically be looking for:•A clear and demonstrable understanding of the issues and challenges faced by the Keep Wales Tidy•Strategic insight and application; strategic ambition and cultural fit•Depth of thought with the ability to enthuse, inspire and maintain drive to deliver our business objectives and a method and approach to overcoming this.•Technical competency and innovation•Leadership and direction•Creativity•Collaborative partnership with Keep Wales Tidy•Clear processes, methodology and accountability that delivers.•Resource capacity including roles and responsibilities2.1.11BudgetsWe expect the phone app will continue to develop during the course of the HLF funded project to encourage and enable more users to access the app though this will mostly take the form of slight alterations to simplify the workflow. The main budgetary considerations for this phase of the work will cover:a.Audience analysis, user experience and journeysb.Design, look and feelc.Digital interpretation of brandd.Integration into Keep Wales Tidy’s content management system or building of core content management systemWe envisage the budget for the app being in re region of £15,000 - £20,000 though we are open to suggestions either above or below this range2.1.12Closing DateSubmissions will be expected by and no later than 17.00 hours on the 15th January 2015.Tenders will be reviewed by 22nd January 2015 and contractors will be informed of our decision by the 29th January 2015Tenders will be scored as follows:CriteriaMax ScoreCost/value for money25Understanding of brief/quality of the overall response20Quality of the Team15Methodology40TOTAL1002.1.13SubmissionsElectronic submissions marked ‘Long Forest Communications Tender’ should be forwarded to Steven Bromley steve.bromley@keepwalestidy.orgNote: there is a size limit on files of 4MB therefore for large document contractors will need to submit their application by a ‘drop box’ or similar system.2.2Website development Lot 22.2.1OverviewThe website will act as the main interface with the public and participants as well as a portal for information for a spectrum of end users (see section 1.6) interested in a range of topics. It will therefore need to be engaging, easy and intuitive to navigate and set up in a clear and logical order. To encourage visits and re visits and to engender a feel good and proactive mentality the site will need to be visually very strong and fun with the ability to display videos, high quality images and enable staff and volunteers to contribute via social media such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as enabling participants to be able to download tool kits and work plans. It is essential that the partners have the ability to update and add to the website to ensure the project is low cost and sustainable for the duration of the funding and well beyond. We would also like to have the ability to generate income from the sale of services as well as the potential for advertising.The site could be a sub domain of the Keep Wales Tidy with a separate Url address accessed directly as well as through the Keep Wales Tidy website. Alternatively the Long Forest website could be a standalone site using a separate CMS, available options and cost will dictate which.The website will need to communicate with the Long Forest phone app survey, allowing continued updates and information flow. Data from the phone app will need to be displayed on a map once records have been verified (see section 2.2.8)Browser support should extend to Internet Explorer 9+, Firefox, Chrome and Safari, including those running on smartphones and tablets.2.2.2Format and designThe site should ideally use a responsive design that renders well on smaller screens such as smartphones. It is likely that anything from 10% to 50% of site traffic will be from tablets and smartphones. It may not be necessary to make all functionality work on all devices and sizes, so long as performance degrades and changes gracefully with explanations for the user.2.2.1Design:The website needs to function seamlessly, be visually appealing and engaging to encourage use and reuse. The Long Forest project will have its own brand and logo but the site will need to take account of the emerging Keep Wales Tidy brand2.2.2Responsive designIn addition, mobile compatibility is known to affect Google search results, with mobile compatible websites appearing higher in the results in searches from mobile devices (Gilbertson 2015). The use of responsive design may therefore improve the profile of the Long Forest website.2.2.3External links:Links to external sites must open in a new tab so that once the user has finished they return to the Long Forest pages. The Long Forest website must include links to the Long Forest survey app on the Google and Apple app stores as well as a selection of other non KWT apps, probably via third party websites. It should also link to existing online plant identification services to assist people struggling to identify a hedgerow plant. As well as this it is key that partner organisations are clearly displayed with easy and logical links to their websites2.2.4Platform and CMSWe require detailed information on contractors preferred platform and how the website would be integrated into the Keep Wales Tidy existing CMS or the building of a separate CMS system and how this would communicate with the app directly or via a database.2.2.5Analysis tools:Allow comprehensive and instant analysis tools to monitor the website traffic and the effectiveness of elements of the site.2.2.6Content change and updateOur aspirations for the Long Forest website demand a reasonable level of content change so update could be high. Newsfeeds, blogs and social media all require frequent updates so systems should be considered to enable this with minimal support from the contractor. It is likely that a newsfeed, blog or similar dissemination mechanism will be a significant part of the website.2.2.7Access and PermissionsWe envisage permissions being;Limited - (unknown users) records would need to be held and verified by project staff before use, a participant could be elevated to partial access once confidence has grown in the individual and their abilities.Partial access - (known and trusted) records would need to be held and verified by project staff though less stringently because of a known history with the project. Partial access people could also be invited to contribute to other parts of the website such as Blogs, Tweets, and information though again any information would need to be checked and verified before publishing.Partial administration - For staff and (potential) volunteers with administrative access to some of the site to enable them to enter, verify and change contentsFull administration - For staff with full administration to the while site enabling them to enter data, verify records and change content and as well as checking traffic and statistics2.2.8Summary of pointsIn response to this tender we would like to see visual and technical information on the following with costs and timings broken down for each point, resulting in a website that will:•Be bilingual•Allow a KWT administrator to add headings easily and freely•Have sections for social media•Be visually appealing taking into consideration the Long Forest and Keep Wales Tidy brands•Be easy and intuitive to navigate•Display live interactive and up-to-date hedgerow survey information from the phone app and potentially other sources•Allow quick transfer of information between the phone app, website and other interested organisations with appropriate API systems•The ability for Keep Wales Tidy to store and retrieve personal and scientific data from individual recorders in a format that allows easy provision to third parties.•Have a non-public holding area for the verification of records•Have systems in place to allow veering levels of administration•Allow YouTube type videos to be displayed with minimal buffering issues2.2.9BudgetsWe expect the website to cost in the range of £20,000 – £30,000 but we are open to sensible tenders either above or below this range.We see the main budgetary constraints as follows;a.Audience analysis, user experience and journeysb.Design, look and feelc.Digital interpretation of brandd.Integration into Keep Wales Tidy’s content management system or building of core content management systemWe envisage the budget for the app being in re region of £15,000 - £20,000 though we are open to suggestions either above or below this range2.2.10Delivery timetableInitial startup meetingWeek commencing 6th June 2016Initial ideasWeek commencing 13th June 2016Presentation of initial work and mockups Week commencing 4th July 2016Working test website Week commencing 25th July 2016Working app ready and onlineWeek commencing 15th August 2016Review of website and costed changesFebruary 20172.2.11Experience and abilitiesContractors are required to demonstrate their ability to successfully deliver the above-described works and in particular to:•Be capable of meaningful engagement with stakeholders to elicit their needs to inform the works.•Ability to provide thorough, clear, concise and accurate report with an executive summary.•Be creative, but combined with practical realism.•To work in partnership to make recommendations and amend as appropriate.Contractors should have proven experience of working on social science and mass participation projects, have a good understanding of community engagement, as well as the technical and design skills necessary to undertake all aspects of the project.As of yet no budget has been allocated to the development of a phone app so we require contractors to set out how they would meet the needs of the project and technical aspects with a detailed delivery timetable commencing in June 2016 as well as a budget.2.2.12 Response to TenderA detailed tender is requested, broken down into separate sections and specifying daily rates.Applicants are requested to:•Set out understanding of the brief and proposed methods.•Outline how their proposal meets the needs described in the brief.•Provide an outline methodology of how they would approach and manage this project.•Set out their relevant track record on similar projects.•Provide CVs highlighting the specific expertise of named staff (Maximum 3 pages each).•Provide a breakdown of costs.2.2.13Closing DateSubmissions will be expected by and no later than 15th January 2015.Tenders will be reviewed by 22nd January 2015 and contractors will be informed of our decision by the 29th January 2015Tenders will be scored as follows:CriteriaMax ScoreCost/value for money25Understanding of brief/quality of the overall response20Quality of the Team15Methodology40TOTAL1002.2.14SubmissionsElectronic Submissions marked ‘Long Forest Communications Tender’ should be forwarded to Steven Bromley steve.bromley@keepwalestidy.orgNote: there is a size limit on files of 4MB therefore for large document contractors will need to submit their application by a ‘drop box’ or similar system.NOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Sell2Wales Web Site at http://www.sell2wales.gov.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=38428.