Detailed review of the emergency network tenders
All candidates for the development of Norway's new digital emergency network have now (week 43/05) given comprehensive oral presentations of their tenders. The arena for this was the lecture theatre in the time-honoured former law courts at Grubbegaten in Oslo.
By Arild Vollan
- This oral review gave an overview of the content in the written material which we have received from the tenderers. In major procurement processes it is usual for suppliers also to be given the opportunity to make an oral review of their tenders, says Nina Myren, senior adviser. As the person in charge of the contracts she has had her hands full since 1 p.m. on 17 October 2005, the closing date for handing in tenders. A large team of experts have since that closing date reviewed the documents from the five tenderers.
- It is important to the Ministry of Justice that operational experts from the emergency agencies go through the replies given by the suppliers concerning functional requirements with regard to the new emergency network. It is great to have had so many competent and enthusiastic people from those agencies on board. That takes them "inside" the project, and it ensures the quality of the evaluations, which will now have to be done, says Tor Helge Lyngstøl, Head of Project.
Experts from the fire services, the police and the health sector make up a team of 25 people. In addition there is a large number of people from the Emergency Network Project who are responsible for evaluating the remainder of the more than 4,000 requirements in the specification.
Contracts will be concluded for the delivery and operation of the Emergency Network, as well as for the supply of equipment for the communications centres of the emergency services. They include the technical centres of the fire services, the police operations centres, and in the health sector the AMK centres, emergency wards and the medical duty call centres.
- All the tenders include very comprehensive documentation, and the Ministry of Justice expects to spend anything up to two months in evaluating all available information in order to be able to make recommendations for candidates who will then go on to more detailed negotiations, says Mr. Lyngstøl, Head of the Project.
The very systematic way in which the evaluation of the tenders is being conducted, is modelled on the method and the tools from Teleplan which provide a systematic overview of the all-inclusive tenders as well as each individual requirement.
- The evaluation methodology, which we apply, is referred to as an analytical hierarchal process. It is a way of structuring the available information into a model, which makes it possible for the evaluation to emerge co-ordinated and orderly. It means that the methodology takes into account human factors such as knowledge, experience and sound judgment, concepts that play a cardinal role in any decision-making process. All considerations made in the course of the evaluation will be documented in an evaluations database a measure which will simplify the reporting procedure of the evaluation, says Eldar Aarholt of Teleplan. He has in recent years been in charge of evaluation processes for several major procurements, in Norway as well as abroad.
- The evaluation of the candidates for the development of the Emergency Network is now well under way. We enjoy excellent co-operation with representatives of the emergency services. The climate for co-operation is a very good one, says Teleplan's Eldar Aarholt.
In addition to the experts from the emergency services, many people have been involved in the actual compilation of the background material for the tendering competition. The most central ones among the advisers to the Project are Teleplan AS and Mason Communications (on technical aspects), HolteProsjekt Consulting (project control and management), Simonsen Føyen (legal assistance) and PriceWaterhouseCoopers (financial services). There have also been contributions from other consultants in more limited areas.
Published 31.10.2005 Last update 15.09.2006
