The UK government is offering a £450,000 (US$588,000) contract for the purchase of multifunctional Mobile Biometric Enrolment (MBE) devices from a single supplier.
A statement from the Home Office said the aim of the project is to reduce the need for wet ink capture and enable a solution which can connect to the Authority’s biometrics database to digitally enrol fingerprint and other biographic data.
The solution will consist of a fingerprint scanner which includes MRZ functionality, and can communicate with an Android smartphone with an electronic notebook application. The tendered contract will also include a requirement for maintenance and support of the devices for a minimum 3-year period.
The contract is for the purchase of 150 Mobile Biometric Enrolment Devices with minimum 12 month warranty and ability to extend warranty for life of contract. Devices will need to be mobile (hand held) and able to enrol biometric and biographic data for enrolment rather than just verification purposes. Contract will be 3 years with option to extend 2 x 12 month periods to cover on-going support services. A software development kit will be required to integrate device with the Home Office android mobile phones. Additional support will be expected during this time to ensure successful integration. Full details of the requirement can be found in the ITT documentation.
The Bidder’s proposed device will be physically tested as part of the ITT evaluation criteria, to ensure it meets the need for both identity verification and enrolment on to the Authority’s biometrics database in environments Immigration Officers are expected to use the device, (detailed in the procurement documents). Suppliers need to note that 3 product/prototype devices must be with the Authority for testing at the same time the ITT phase of the Restricted Procedure closes.
If a Supplier fails to submit a device by this date and time, they may be deemed to have not submitted a compliant bid and that may lead to exclusion from the competition at the Authority’s absolute discretion.
