---
title: "CORE development services 2026"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06c128"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06c128"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06c128.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06c128.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "THE OPEN UNIVERSITY"
published: "2026-07-01"
---

# CORE development services 2026

Buyer: THE OPEN UNIVERSITY  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06c128

[View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06c128)  
[Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06c128.json)

## Summary

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.

## Notice

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.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/061685-2026 |
| 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 |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 1 Jul 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 1 Jul 2026 |
| Contract period | 31 Jul 2026 - 31 Jul 2027 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £500,000 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | THE OPEN UNIVERSITY |
| Locality | MILTON KEYNES |
| Post town | Milton Keynes |
| Postcode | MK7 6AA |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLJ South East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLJ1 Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire |
| ITL 3 | TLJ12 Milton Keynes |
| Local authority | Milton Keynes |
| Electoral ward | Monkston |
| Westminster constituency | Milton Keynes Central |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | QUBIT LABS |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

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

### Codes

- 72230000 - Custom software development services

## Release History

- 1 Jul 2026 at 11:39 - Award - UK5 - Transparency Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/061685-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/061685-2026
  1st July 2026 - Transparency notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06c128. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06c128.json.