Request for Information: Cyber Accelerator Programme - Design Partnerships

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is seeking information from the market to help test the feasibility, deliverability and commercial attractiveness of a proposed requirement for the Cyber Accelerator Programme: Design Partnerships. This Request for Information (RFI) relates to an early draft Invitation to Tender and is intended to give potential suppliers an opportunity to comment on the proposed scope before any final procurement documents are issued.

The proposed programme is intended to create a practical pathway from public-sector cyber challenges to potential commercial adoption of innovative cyber solutions. The Programme would bring together public sector organisations with clearly defined cyber challenges and innovative cyber SMEs capable of developing, testing and demonstrating solutions through structured design partnerships. The delivery partner would be expected to identify and recruit suitable public-sector challenge owners, build a pipeline of potential cyber innovators, support challenge development, match innovators to challenges, facilitate design partnership activity, provide a light-touch commercial and compliance wrapper, support adoption planning, organise programme events, report on progress and capture repeatable learning for the wider cyber ecosystem.

At this stage, DSIT is particularly interested in understanding the following;

Proposed requirement summary

Programme name

Cyber Accelerator Programme: Design Partnerships.

Primary purpose

To create a credible pathway from public-sector cyber challenges to potential commercial adoption of innovative cyber solutions.

Core model

A structured design partnership model bringing together public-sector organisations with defined cyber challenges and innovative cyber SMEs capable of developing, testing and demonstrating solutions. The programme is intended to operate as pre-procurement learning and market engagement activity, not as a mechanism to pre-select suppliers for future contracts.

Pro bono design partnership arrangements

The proposed design partnerships are expected to operate on a pro bono basis between Challenge Council members and Programme Innovators. Programme Innovators would not receive payment from DSIT or from the participating public-sector organisation for taking part in a design partnership, and participation would not provide any guarantee of future work, funding, commercial adoption or preferential treatment in any future procurement. Any subsequent purchase, pilot, licence or commercial progression would need to be considered separately through an appropriate and lawful commercial route.

Indicative delivery period

18.01.2027 to 31.03.2028

The proposed phases are: Discovery; Recruitment Phase 1; Challenge Consultation; Recruitment Phase 2; Delivery; and Close.

Indicative budget envelope

Up to £1.2 million Ex VAT

Expected minimum scale

A minimum of five design partnerships, subject to market feedback on realistic capacity and delivery quality. Each design partnership is expected to focus on a different cyber challenge.

Challenge Council

The supplier would be expected to recruit a high-trust group of public-sector technology leaders, such as chief information security officers, chief architects, chief information officer/chief digital officer equivalents and service owners. Challenge Council members should have genuine cyber challenges, sufficient organisational backing and the ability to support design partnership activity and potential future adoption decisions.

Programme Innovators

The supplier would be expected to identify a broad pool of potential cyber SMEs and select Programme Innovators against specific challenges. Selection decisions should be objective, documented and based on factors such as capability, technical fit, expertise, capacity, availability and ability to participate in the design partnership.

Key delivery activities

Challenge Council recruitment, innovator market scanning, innovator selection, challenge development, design partnership facilitation, commercial and procurement positioning, security and data protection support, governance, risk management, reporting, adoption planning, event delivery and creation of repeatable programme outputs.

Proposed delivery phases

Discovery would identify potential Challenge Council members and innovators. Recruitment Phase 1 would recruit Challenge Council members and develop a longlist of innovators. Challenge Consultation would develop and agree suitable challenges. Recruitment Phase 2 would select Programme Innovators against agreed challenges. Delivery would facilitate the design partnerships, support build and iteration activity, and develop adoption routes. Close would capture impact, lessons learned and final reporting.

Expected deliverables may include:

Each Design Partnership Pack is expected to include the challenge scope, success criteria, delivery plan, roles and owners, intended procurement route if known, external communications position, conflict of interest declarations, confirmation that requirements are not written around a specific supplier or product, and a record of how risks of supplier advantage have been identified and mitigated.

Adoption and commercial progression

At the end of a design partnership, possible routes may include lawful adoption by the public-sector participant, commercial progression through an appropriate route to procurement, referral to another potential buyer, licensing for evaluation or pilot purposes, or a decision to stop with learning captured. Any future procurement activity would sit outside the design partnership and would need to follow the applicable commercial route.

Events and ecosystem outputs

The supplier may be expected to organise programme meetings, one Showcase Day focused on solutions and adoption learning, and a recognition event for Challenge Council members and Programme Innovators. The supplier would also be expected to create and disseminate a pattern library containing repeatable materials for buyers and innovators, such as template answer structures, common bid failure points, cyber assurance guidance and routes-to-market information.

Governance, fairness and compliance

The supplier would be expected to manage delivery governance, reporting, records, risks, conflicts of interest, audit trails and compliance controls. This includes ensuring that participation in the programme does not create unfair advantage or preferential treatment in any later procurement.

Commercial approach under consideration

A fixed-price contract with milestone-based payments linked to successful completion of agreed phases and deliverables. DSIT is seeking views on whether the proposed deliverables, milestones, approval gates and timetable are suitable for this approach.

Areas where DSIT is seeking market input

Feasibility, supplier capacity, delivery model, number of achievable design partnerships, risks and mitigations, legal/procurement/security/data protection/IP considerations, deliverability of the timetable, suitability of the fixed-price approach and any changes that would improve competition, value for money or successful outcomes.