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CORE development services 2026

THE OPEN UNIVERSITY

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

01 Jul 2026 at 11:39

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Open University, a sub-central government public authority located in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, has completed a direct award procurement process for the development of CORE development services in 2026. This tender involves custom software development services to support the CORE project, which maintains the world's largest open-access research output collection. The contract, awarded to Qubit Labs OÜ of Tallinn, Estonia, is scheduled to commence on 1st August 2026 and conclude on 31st July 2027. The legal basis for this procurement is the UKPGA 2023/54, and it is executed via a direct award method due to Qubit Labs' specialized expertise and familiarity with the CORE infrastructure.

This procurement presents valuable business growth opportunities, particularly for companies specialising in custom software development. Although the contract has already been awarded to Qubit Labs owing to their prior experience and technical know-how essential for operating and developing the CORE infrastructure, it highlights the demand for specialised development services in research outputs management. Businesses equipped with similar expertise could seek to position themselves for future opportunities in this sector, underlining the importance of strategic skill development and niche knowledge acquisition for competitiveness in highly specialised markets.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

CORE development services 2026

Notice Description

Service development capacity, in the form of software development and associated activities, to support the CORE project: CORE hosts the world's largest collection of open access research outputs, which are used and referenced by people globally, including researchers, libraries, software developers, funders.

Procurement Information

The Open University (OU) intends to award a one (1) year agreement to Qubit Labs to provide software development and associated activities, to support the CORE OU project. The CORE code base contains more than 250k lines of code Qubit personnel have the required training, expertise and specialist knowledge to operate and develop the CORE infrastructure. The cost and time to upskill another company to the level required precludes the award of the contract to a company other than Qubit.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06c128
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/061685-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK5 - Transparency Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

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

CPV Codes

72230000 - Custom software development services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£500,000 £500K-£1M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
1 Jul 20262 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
1 Jul 20262 weeks ago
Contract Period
31 Jul 2026 - 31 Jul 2027 6-12 months
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Pending
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
MILTON KEYNES
Postcode
MK7 6AA
Post Town
Milton Keynes
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLJ South East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLJ1 Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLJ12 Milton Keynes
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Milton Keynes
Electoral Ward
Monkston
Westminster Constituency
Milton Keynes Central

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

QUBIT LABS

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

JSON Markdown

The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts. 

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