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"Airlock" Output Checking System OCS Decision Engine Development Partner

UK Biobank Ltd

This public procurement record has 5 releases in its history.

Award

28 Aug 2026 at 14:59

UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Award

20 Jun 2026 at 08:55

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
TenderUpdate

17 Mar 2026 at 10:05

UK4 - Tender Notice
TenderUpdate

16 Feb 2026 at 15:18

UK4 - Tender Notice
Tender

12 Feb 2026 at 12:49

UK4 - Tender Notice
Summary of the contracting process

UK Biobank Ltd procured a development partner for an Output Checking System Decision Engine, as part of its controls for data leaving the UK Biobank Research Analysis Platform. The work covers the design and delivery of two interoperable software components: a Data Trust Engine that detects sensitive or identifying information in exported files, applies transparent heuristic rules and configurable thresholds, and produces a disclosure score; and a Researcher Behaviour Engine that assesses researcher credibility and provides a confidence score for human decisions on unclear results. The system is intended to reduce data-breach risk and support trust in the UK Biobank resource, with integration into the replacement research platform. This is a software development and IT consultancy service delivered in North West England.

The procurement is complete and one lot was awarded to Kainos Software Limited. The award was made on 22 May 2026, following an open competitive flexible procedure. Eleven bids were received, and assessment summaries were sent on 19 June 2026; the standstill period ended at midnight on 30 June 2026. The contract was signed on 20 August 2026 for £2,000,000 excluding VAT (£2,400,000 including VAT). The contract runs from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2029, with renewal options of up to three additional one-year periods, giving a maximum end date of 31 August 2032. Evaluation allocated 70% to quality, including the two engines, non-functional requirements, DevOps, implementation and equal opportunity, and 30% to price.

This requirement shows demand for suppliers able to develop security-sensitive decision software for a major biomedical data resource. A credible competitor would need expertise in automated data-risk assessment, sensitive-information detection, configurable rules and thresholds, scoring models, and researcher or user-behaviour analysis. It would also need to integrate interoperable components with an established research data platform, support human review of ambiguous outcomes, and provide robust non-functional performance and security. DevOps capability and practical delivery planning were material considerations, alongside technical quality and price. The opportunity was identified as suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises, although the successful supplier was a large software company. Experience delivering transparent, explainable controls for confidential or regulated data would be particularly relevant when this buyer next requires comparable capability.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

"Airlock" Output Checking System OCS Decision Engine Development Partner

Notice Description

UKB is seeking to further improve its technical controls and intends to implement a functional mechanism to check data egress requests to ensure that participant record-level data is not being removed and does not contain information that can identify individual participants. This Output Checking System (OCS) functionality will allow UKB to enhance the security of the UKB-RAP, reduce the risk of advertent and inadvertent data breaches and importantly increase the trust and transparency of the UKB resource. UKB intends to commence a procurement exercise to procure a replacement for the current UKB-RAP in 2027, which will come into effect in 2028. The OCS will need to be integrated with the new UKB-RAP. To develop and deliver the OCS, UKB is separating the procurement into two elements which will need to be fully interoperable: 1. OCS User Interface (UI) and Workflow (subject to a separate tender exercise completed via the CCS G-Cloud 14 framework): The development of a seamless UI and Workflow for the OCS, including secure movement of data and integration with existing UKB infrastructure. 2. The OCS Decision Engine (this procurement): The development of the core algorithms to allow an automated assessment of the data being egressed, giving an overall confidence assessment score and a Red/Amber/Green (RAG) rating for decision making The OCS Decision Engine is made up of two components: 1. Data Trust Engine: reviews the egressed file(s) from UKB-RAP to detect the presence of sensitive information. Through the application of transparent, heuristic rules and configurable thresholds, the Data Trust Engine will create a score for how 'disclosive' the egressed data is that, when coupled with the researcher confidence score below, provides a Red (fail), Amber (unclear) or Green (pass) egress rating. 2. Researcher Behaviour Engine: derives the overall credibility of a given researcher within AMS and UKB-RAP, and assigns a confidence score, which will dictate how human-review decisions are made for 'Amber' outcomes from the Trust Engine. This procurement relates to a development partner to design and deliver the OCS Decision Engine, which will include the Data Trust Engine and Researcher Behaviour Engine. * The evaluation was concluded and a decision to award was made on Friday 22 May 2026 * UK Biobank has provided an assessment summary to each supplier on Friday 19 June 2026 * The standstill period ran until midnight on 30 June 2026

Lot Information

Lot 1

Renewal: The initial term for the Contract will be three (3) years, with the option for UKB to extend the contract by up to a further three (3) year period (1+1+1), i.e. up to a maximum total term of six (6) years (inclusive of the initial term)

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-064efd
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/082251-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Competitive flexible procedure
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

CPV Codes

72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£2,000,000 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
£2,000,000 £1M-£10M
Awards Value
£2,000,000 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
£2,000,000 £1M-£10M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
28 Aug 20266 days ago
Submission Deadline
17 Apr 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
22 May 20263 months ago
Contract Period
1 Sep 2026 - 31 Aug 2029 3-4 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
UK Biobank Ltd
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
STOCKPORT
Postcode
SK3 0SA
Postcode Area
Stockport
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLD North West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLD3 Greater Manchester
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLD35 Greater Manchester South East
Delivery Location
TLD North West (England)
Local Authority
Stockport
Electoral Ward
Davenport & Cale Green
Westminster Constituency
Stockport

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Kainos Software Limited

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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