---
title: "1961 Census Digitisation Project - Market Engagement - AWARD"
ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-4eeb8b74-9e4f-4b8d-a32b-1332ec49d925"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-4eeb8b74-9e4f-4b8d-a32b-1332ec49d925"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-4eeb8b74-9e4f-4b8d-a32b-1332ec49d925.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-4eeb8b74-9e4f-4b8d-a32b-1332ec49d925.json"
source: "Contracts Finder"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "OFFICE FOR NATIONAL STATISTICS"
published: "2018-02-06"
---

# 1961 Census Digitisation Project - Market Engagement - AWARD

Buyer: OFFICE FOR NATIONAL STATISTICS  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-b5fd17-4eeb8b74-9e4f-4b8d-a32b-1332ec49d925

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## Summary

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is conducting the "1961 Census Digitisation Project - Market Engagement" tender, which is currently in the award stage. This procurement falls under the services category and is specifically concerned with document management and digitisation. The contract was awarded on 17th October 2018, with a contract period spanning from 1st November 2017 to 31st March 2019. The project is located in Newport, Gwent, United Kingdom, and the procurement method used is categorised as 'Other'.

This tender offers significant opportunities for businesses, especially those specialising in digitisation and data management services. Companies with a strong background in handling historical census data and expertise in document analysis would be particularly well-suited to participate. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may find this an advantageous opportunity, given the emphasis on experience in quality assurance and statistical data management. Engaging in this project could help such businesses to expand their operations and enhance their visibility in the public sector market.

## Notice

The Office for National Statistics ('ONS') is responsible for running and producing results from the decennial census in England and Wales. This project is concerned with making greater use of historical census data. 1961 Census Small Area Statistics ('SAS') were produced as part of the aggregate statistical outputs from the 1961 Census. They contain more detailed information about population characteristics for much smaller areas than the main published outputs. The data are currently held in a set of more than 140,000 images of data in tables which were taken from microfilm generated from the original printed outputs. In its current form the 1961 SAS data cannot be used for detailed analysis. Digitisation would 'unlock' the data, extending the census timeseries backwards with detailed and comparable socio-economic data. This would be welcomed by the research community and enable increased understanding of a period of rapid social change. SCOPE ONS want to convert the static 1961 SAS images into high quality statistical data in digital form that can be made available to users free of charge via an online portal with a file download facility. Previous exploratory work has proved that conversion into structured and operable data is possible and we are now keen to complete the digitisation work. Our expectation is that the final digital data will be created in stages: o automated extraction of data from the census volumes; o quality assurance to identify and correct any errors in the OCR outputs; and o a mechanism to assign missing values that cannot be extracted using OCR. REQUIREMENTS Subject to the number of expressions of interest and the successful evaluation and contract award, the service provider would require experience of handling, managing and facilitating access to historical census data, and a good knowledge of census geographies. A thorough understanding of quality issues in statistical data is essential. ONS would also need evidence of a strong research background in document analysis and recognition, including expertise in the extraction of numerical information from tables. It is particularly important for numeric data that the extraction also includes metadata from the images.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Contracts Finder |
| Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/a9adc8a4-191c-44ff-b5e3-04969a9b3bcc |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Not Specified |
| Procurement method details | Other - |
| Tender suitability | SME |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 6 Feb 2018 |
| Submission deadline | 12 Aug 2017 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 6 Feb 2018 |
| Contract period | 1 Nov 2017 - 31 Mar 2019 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | OFFICE FOR NATIONAL STATISTICS |
| Locality | GWENT |
| Post town | Newport |
| Postcode | NP10 8XG |
| Country | Wales |
| ITL 1 | TLL Wales |
| ITL 2 | TLL5 South East Wales |
| ITL 3 | TLL54 Monmouthshire and Newport |
| Local authority | Newport |
| Electoral ward | Tredegar Park and Marshfield |
| Westminster constituency | Newport West and Islwyn |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | THE UNIVERSITY OF SALFORD |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 48 - Software package and information systems
- 72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
- 79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

### Codes

- 48311100 - Document management system
- 72512000 - Document management services
- 79131000 - Documentation services

## Release History

- 6 Feb 2018 at 14:17 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/a9adc8a4-191c-44ff-b5e3-04969a9b3bcc

## Documents

- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/a9adc8a4-191c-44ff-b5e3-04969a9b3bcc
  6th February 2018 - Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder

## Provenance

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