Sovereign Tech Agency GmbH strengthens the security of open digital infrastructures. To this end, it has established various programs, including the "Sovereign Tech Resilience Program," which provides a holistic approach to protect critical digital infrastructures. This program includes, among other things, the service components 'Direct Contributions' and 'Security Audits. The services covered by this program will extended and re-awarded in two new framework agreements with a maximum contract term of four years.
The subject of this procurement procedure is the framework agreement on the services of 'Direct Contributions'. Covered with four lots, these services include the targeted technical, security-related and regulatory further development of open source software through, among other things, analyses, code changes, documentation and maintainer support. The details are set out in the service descriptions for the respective lots.
Sovereign Tech Agency GmbH has the option to extend the framework agreement three times, each time for one year.
The amount of the specified hourly rate in EUR net is evaluated.
The bidder shall submit a consistent concept including a description of their project team with their bid. As part of this, the bidder shall provide details on the following aspects 2.1 - 2.4.The bidder must score at least 26 points in total for quality criteria 2.1 - 2.4. Bids that score fewer points will be excluded and will not be considered further in the evaluation (minimum requirement).
With regard to the options for the Sovereign Tech Agency GmbH, reference is made to the tender documents and, in particular, to the framework agreement.
Reference is made to Section 14 of the Public Procurement Ordinance (VgV).
According to Article 160, Section 3 of the German Act Against Restraint of Competition (GWB), application for review is not permissible insofar as1. the applicant has identified the claimed infringement of the procurement rules before submitting the application for review and has not submitted a complaint to the contracting authority within a period of 10 calendar days; the expiry of the period pursuant to Article 134, Section 2 remains unaffected,2. complaints of infringements of procurement rules that are evident in the tender notice are not submitted to the contracting authority at the latest by the expiry of the deadline for the application or by the deadline for the submission of bids, specified in the tender notice.3. complaints of infringements of procurement rules that first become evident in the tender documents are not submitted to the contracting authority at the latest by the expiry of the deadline for application or by the deadline for the submission of bids,4. more than 15 calendar days have expired since receipt of notification from the contracting authority that it is unwilling to redress the complaint.Sentence 1 does not apply in the case of an application to determine the invalidity of the contract in accordance with Article 135, Section 1 (2). Article 134, Section 1, Sentence 2 remains unaffected.
Please also consider Section 132 Article Section 1 and 2 of the German Act Against Restraint of Competition (GWB): 1) A public contract shall be void from the outset if the contracting authority- 1. has breached Section 134 or- 2. has awarded the contract without first publishing a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union, unless this is permitted by law,and this breach has been established in a review procedure.(2) The invalidity referred to in paragraph 1 may only be established if it is raised in review proceedings within 30 calendar days of the contracting authority informing the tenderers and candidates concerned of the conclusion of the contract, including a summary of the relevant grounds in accordance with Section 134(1), first sentence, taking into account paragraph 3, second sentence,, but no later than six months after the conclusion of the contract. Where the contracting authority has published the award of the contract in the Official Journal of the European Union, the time limit for claiming invalidity shall end 30 calendar days after the publication of the contract award notice in the Official Journal of the European Union, provided that the notice contains the information specified in paragraph 3, second sentence. 3Once the time limits set out in the first and second sentences have expired, an application under Section 160 seeking a declaration of invalidity pursuant to paragraph 1 shall be inadmissible.