Strategic Design Services

AI-generated analysis of the documents. Check the official notice and any amendments for current submission details.

1. At a glance

2. Scope of Work

Department of the Taoiseach ran this procurement for “Strategic Design Services” as an operational contract requiring implementation and sustained service execution. The extracted pack showed qualification-stage material with references to later ITT technical depth; practical activity therefore centred on building, integrating, and operating the specified service stack with compliant reporting and handover obligations where stated. Constituent activities and named work elements in the supplied extracts:

• ority estimates that the expenditure on the Services to be covered by the proposed Services Contract may amount to some €130,000 (excl
• rer shall be required to supply its Tax Clearance Access Number and Tax Reference Number to facilitate online verification of their tax status by
• [RFT - Strategic Design Services for GIS Dept Taoiseach.docx] Contents
• Appendix 4 Declaration as to Personal Circumstances of Tenderer Appendix 5: Draft Services Contract
• The Department of the Taoiseach (the “Contracting Authority”) invites tenders (“Tenders”) to this request for tenders (“RFT”) from economic operators (“Tenderers”) for the provision of the services as described in Appendix 1 to this RFT (the “Services”).
• The Government Information Service (GIS), in the Department of the Taoiseach, is responsible for coordinating Government communications.
• A new unified identity for the Government of Ireland was introduced by Government decision in September 2017 as part of a programme to reform Government communications. The unified identity was introduced to streamline Government communications, to provide a unified, consistent, clear identity for Government, to support greater coordination, clarity and simplification of Government communications to the citizen (current guidelines attached as appendix). This has been developed with reference to international best practice including unified identity projects completed by the Governments in the Netherlands and the UK.
• The full implementation of the identity is a large-scale programme of work and is the first of its kind in Ireland. The programme saw the completion of the roll out to primary Government Departments, offices and agencies including a Government of Ireland mark and a system of Departmental, office/agency marks and associated applications (letterheads, email signatures, presentations, business cards etc – see Guidelines attached) and a comprehensive Guidelines document.
• [RFT - Strategic Design Services for GIS Dept Taoiseach.docx] of Departmental, office/agency marks and associated applications (letterheads, email signatures, presentations, business cards etc – see Guidelines attached) and a comprehensive Guidelines document.
• A tender is now being run to appoint a partner to provide strategic design services and related capacity building for the provision of strategic design solutions within the unified visual identity framework, for the communication of major cross-Government programmes. Programmes will include priority areas including Climate Action and Energy, Housing for All and the Shared Island Initiative. This is alongside continued management and development of the Government of Ireland identity, in particular, including the enhancement of the accessibility of design/products programme and the ongoing management and development of the Department’s Frontify account.
• The successful company will be an industry leader in strategic design and will be experienced in developing the strategic direction for and delivery of the roll-out of large-scale unified identity systems and communications programmes.
• Providing guidance on the continued development and management of the unified Government identity system, the provision of strategic direction, thought leadership and innovative solutions to the design-related work of GIS and Government Departments, with a particular focus on an enhancement of the accessibility of these solutions (e.g. templates etc.) Non-binding monetary references in the source were treated as context only and were not used as qualification thresholds.

3. Background & buyer context

The buyer context reflected a formal Irish public-procurement route, with pre-qualification used to control entry into the tender stage.

• A new unified identity for the Government of Ireland was introduced by Government decision in September 2017 as part of a programme to reform Government communications. The unified identity was introduced to streamline Government communications, to provide a unified, consistent, clear identity for Government, to support greater coordination, clarity and simplification of Government communications to the citizen (current guidelines attached as appendix). This has been developed with reference to international best practice including unified identity projects completed by the Governments in the Netherlands and the UK.
• The full implementation of the identity is a large-scale programme of work and is the first of its kind in Ireland. The programme saw the completion of the roll out to primary Government Departments, offices and agencies including a Government of Ireland mark and a system of Departmental, office/agency marks and associated applications (letterheads, email signatures, presentations, business cards etc – see Guidelines attached) and a comprehensive Guidelines document.
• A tender is now being run to appoint a partner to provide strategic design services and related capacity building for the provision of strategic design solutions within the unified visual identity framework, for the communication of major cross-Government programmes. Programmes will include priority areas including Climate Action and Energy, Housing for All and the Shared Island Initiative. This is alongside continued management and development of the Government of Ireland identity, in particular, including the enhancement of the accessibility of design/products programme and the ongoing management and development of the Department’s Frontify account.
• The successful company will be an industry leader in strategic design and will be experienced in developing the strategic direction for and delivery of the roll-out of large-scale unified identity systems and communications programmes.

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

• Turnover requirement — — use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.
• Insurance — — use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.; ______________________________ ________________________________ Date ________________________________ Type of Insurance Indemnity Limit Employer’s Liability €12.7 million limit for any one claim or series of cl; Public Liability €6.5 million for any one claim or series of claims a
• Certifications — not specified for this tender
• Past experience — not specified for this tender
• Personnel — not specified for this tender
• Geographic / facility constraints — not specified for this tender Additional binding lines surfaced in the deterministic extract:
• — use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.
• ______________________________ ________________________________ Date ________________________________ Type of Insurance Indemnity Limit Employer’s Liability €12.7 million limit for any one claim or series of cl
• Public Liability €6.5 million for any one claim or series of claims a
• Product Liability emnity Limit Employer’s Liability €12.7 million limit for any one claim or series of cl

5. Award criteria & scoring

6. Submission requirements

• Method statement / response document (template/page limits) — Appendix 1 questionnaire/PQQ response was required.
• CVs (page count, named roles) — not specified in extract.
• Pricing schedule (format/template) — expected at ITT stage.
• Case studies (number/value range) — client references/comparable project evidence was referenced.
• Declarations (ESPD/Bona Fides/Tax/COI) — ESPD/declaration/statement-of-confirmation language was present.
• Mandatory site visit — not specified in extract.
• Submission portal and formatting — eTenders portal and PDF electronic copies were referenced. Submission-related source lines:
• Appendix 1: Requirements and Specifications
• Appendix 4 Declaration as to Personal Circumstances of Tenderer Appendix 5: Draft Services Contract
• Appendix 6: Confidentiality Agreement
• The Department of the Taoiseach (the “Contracting Authority”) invites tenders (“Tenders”) to this request for tenders (“RFT”) from economic operators (“Tenderers”) for the provision of the services as described in Appendix 1 to this RFT (the “Services”).
• A new unified identity for the Government of Ireland was introduced by Government decision in September 2017 as part of a programme to reform Government communications. The unified identity was introduced to streamline Government communications, to provide a unified, consistent, clear identity for Government, to support greater coordination, clarity and simplification of Government communications to the citizen (current guidelines attached as appendix). This has been developed with reference to international best practice including unified identity projects completed by the Governments in the Netherlands and the UK.
• The Tenderer, as Data Controller in respect of any Personal Data provided by it in its Tender, is required to confirm in the statement required under paragraph 2.4 below that all Data Subjects (where Data Subject has the meaning given under the Data Protection Laws) whose Personal Data is provided by the Tenderer have consented to the processing of such Personal Data by the Tenderer, the Contracting Authority, the Evaluation Team and the supplier of the etenders.gov.ie website, for the purposes of the participation of the Tenderer in this Competition or that the Tenderer otherwise has a legal basis for providing such Personal Data to the Contracting Authority for the purposes of its participation in this Competition.

7. Key dates & process

8. Contract terms that matter

Contract duration in the extract: 12 months. Payment cycle, SLA/KPI schedule, and penalty regime were not fully disclosed in the snippets unless listed below.

• VERIFIED PHRASES (deterministic regex extract from the documents — treat as authoritative for numerical claims)
• For the Term and for a period of 12 months thereafter (and save in respect of publ
• A tender is now being run to appoint a partner to provide strategic design services and related capacity building for the provision of strategic design solutions within the unified visual identity framework, for the communication of major cross-Government programmes. Programmes will include priority areas including Climate Action and Energy, Housing for All and the Shared Island Initiative. This is alongside continued management and development of the Government of Ireland identity, in particular, including the enhancement of the accessibility of design/products programme and the ongoing management and development of the Department’s Frontify account.
• Providing creative strategic direction, including appropriate design solutions, for the approach to major cross Government programmes such as the Government response to Climate Action and Energy, Housing for All and the Shared Island Initiative.
• Providing guidance on the continued development and management of the unified Government identity system, the provision of strategic direction, thought leadership and innovative solutions to the design-related work of GIS and Government Departments, with a particular focus on an enhancement of the accessibility of these solutions (e.g. templates etc.)
• creative strategic direction, including appropriate design solutions across multiple platforms (print, TV, digital etc), for the approach to major cross Government programmes, e.g. Climate Action and Energy, Housing for All and the Shared Island Initiative.
• Companies are required to supply two case studies of large-scale national communications programmes that they have provided strategic direction and design solutions for – including all elements of the programme, and an explanation of how the programme reflected the principles of the identity system of the organisation.
• Outline, in no more than four pages, your approach to supporting a Government programme for communicating a large scale Government priority such as the Climate Action Plan/Energy Communications, Housing for All or the Shared Island Initiative (which would be coordinated by GIS) including a ‘ways of working’ with GIS and engagement with Government Departments and agencies, supply of collateral and ongoing support and outline a proposed timeline for this work.

9. Risks, red flags & unusuals

• Qualification gate: the deterministic extract included a turnover threshold line (— use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.), which can materially narrow bidder pool composition.
• The two-step process (PQQ then ITT) shifted effort to compliance evidence early, with competitive scoring detail potentially deferred.
• Technical and contractual granularity appeared ITT-dependent, increasing ambiguity at qualification stage for non-incumbent bidders.

10. SME fit assessment

This competition looked most accessible to firms with established public-sector tender capability, documented financial capacity, and direct operational experience in the relevant service category.

• Credible bidder profile — mid-sized to large specialist with formal QA/compliance process.
• Consortium / sub-contracting — allowed or addressed in the extracts (Appendix references and reliance provisions).
• Indicative bid-prep effort — 6 to 12 working days for evidence collation, form completion, and review cycles at PQQ level.
• Pwin signal — strongest for bidders with reusable qualification artefacts, comparable references, and low-friction mobilisation capability.

11. Where to dig deeper

• Source RFT/PQQ filenames: RFT - Strategic Design Services for GIS Dept Taoiseach.docx, RFT - Strategic Design Services for GIS Dept Taoiseach.docx] Contents, Appendix 1: Requirements and Specifications.
• eTenders CFT / notice reference: not specified in extract.
• Clarification contact / portal: eTenders message portal (email not surfaced in extract).
• Key attachments to prioritise: Appendix 2: Pricing Schedule, Appendix 3: Tenderer’s Statement, Appendix 4 Declaration as to Personal Circumstances of Tenderer Appendix 5: Draft Servic.