Royal Botanic Gardens: RBGKEW1308 Expanding the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in root fungal colonisation assessment

UK-Richmond: Research and development services and related consultancy services.

Section I: Contracting Authority

   I.1) Name, Addresses and Contact Point(s):
       Royal Botanic Gardens
       Royal Botanic Gardens,, The Herbarium, Kew Green,, Richmond, TW9 3AE, United Kingdom
       Tel. +44 2083325000, Email: procurement@kew.org
       Contact: Jamal Jimenez
       Main Address: www.kew.org
       NUTS Code: UKI75

   I.2) Joint procurement:
      The contract involves joint procurement: No          
      In the case of joint procurement involving different countries, state applicable national procurement law: Not Provided
      The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body: No

   I.4)Type of the contracting authority:
      Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local subdivisions

   I.5) Main activity:
      Environment

Section II: Object Of The Contract

   II.1) Scope of the procurement

      II.1.1) Title: RBGKEW1308 Expanding the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in root fungal colonisation assessment            
      Reference number: RBGKEW1308

      II.1.2) Main CPV code:
         73000000 - Research and development services and related consultancy services.


      II.1.3) Type of contract: SERVICES

      II.1.4) Short description: RBG Kew require a consultancy service, to expand the work developed during phase 1, to adapt AMFinder, an AI visualisation tool developed by Evangelisti et al (2021) to assess fungal-colonisation, for use with more complex field root samples. The work in phase 2 would focus on improving the accuracy of the outputs that AMFinder generates and expanding its functionality to detect different mycorrhizal types. This will build on the preliminary work carried out in phase 1, exploring the potential of a semi-supervised learning approach, and improving the user experience of the tool, by editing the dashboard interfaces and developing pipelines. The AMFinder tool should provide a method for rapid quantification of fungal colonisation in plant roots. Input to the tool will be images of ink-stained fungal structures inside roots mounted on microscopy slides, taken with a digital slide scanner (Panoramic Midi II) at RBG Kew. Adherence to data regulation and standards is essential.

      II.1.6) Information about lots
         This contract is divided into lots: No
            
      II.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
          Value: 500,000
                  
         Currency:GBP            

   II.2) Description

      II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s):
      Not Provided

      II.2.3) Place of performance
      Nuts code:
      UKI75 - Hounslow and Richmond upon Thames
   
      Main site or place of performance:
      Hounslow and Richmond upon Thames
             

      II.2.4) Description of the procurement: The total contract value for the Core Work Requirements is £250,000 excluding VAT. Tenders above this value will be excluded. Additional Work Requirements are subject to the needs of RBGKEW and will also form part of the contract. The total contract value is anticipated to be between £200,000 - £500,000 excluding VAT.

      II.2.5) Award criteria:
      Quality criterion - Name: Technical Criteria / Weighting: 75
                  
      Commercial Criteria - Weighting: 25
            

      II.2.11) Information about options
         Options: Yes
         Description of these options:The contract may be extended by up to 31.03.2026 depending on the requirements of RBGKEW.

      II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
         The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No
         

      II.2.14) Additional information: Not Provided


Section IV: Procedure

IV.1) Description

   IV.1.1)Type of procedure: Open


   IV.1.3) Information about a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system
      The procurement involves the establishment of a framework agreement: No       
      

   IV.1.6) Information about electronic auction
      An electronic auction has been used: No

   IV.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
      The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes

IV.2) Administrative information

   IV.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
       Notice number in the OJEU: 2024/S 000-021794
      
   

   IV.2.9) Information about termination of call for competition in the form of a prior information notice
      The contracting authority will not award any further contracts based on the above prior information notice: No

Section V: Award of contract

Award Of Contract (No.1)

   Contract No: Not Provided    
   Lot Number: Not Provided    
   Title: Not Provided

   A contract/lot is awarded: Yes


   V.2) Award of contract

      V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract: 15/08/2024

      V.2.2) Information about tenders
         Number of tenders received: 8
         Number of tenders received from SMEs: Not Provided          
         Number of tenders received from tenderers from other EU Member States: Not Provided          
         Number of tenders received from tenderers from non-EU Member States: Not Provided          
         Number of tenders received by electronic means: Not Provided

      V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor

      The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
         
         Contractor (No.1)
             D-fine GmbH, N/A
             An der Hauptwache 7 60313, Frankfurt, Registration number : HRB 48 103, Amtsgericht Frankfurt a.M., Germany, Frankfurt, Germany
             NUTS Code: DE712
            The contractor is an SME: No

      V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)
         Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot: 500,000          
         Total value of the contract/lot: 500,000
         Currency: GBP

      V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
         The contract is likely to be subcontracted: No
         
Section VI: Complementary information

   VI.3) Additional information: To view this notice, please click here:
https://www.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=896966890

   VI.4) Procedures for review

      VI.4.1) Review body
          Head of Procurement & Contract Management, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
          1 Kew Palace Flats, Royal Botanic Gardens,, Kew Green, Richmond, TW9 3AE, United Kingdom
          Tel. +44 2083325000

      VI.4.3) Review procedure
         Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures: Not Provided

      VI.4.4) Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
         Not Provided

   VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice: 25/10/2024