UKRI-1713 Exascale Hardware · UK public procurement notice

The purpose of this Prior Information Notice (PIN) is that UKRI would like to advise the market in advance concerning the plans and expectations of any potential upcoming procurement of Exascale capable Supercomputing hardware, for which Edinburgh University is currently the preferred hosting location for Phase1, and also to gather feedback from the market. The need to invest in public exascale computing capability was outlined in the Independent Review of The Future of Compute, published in Mar 2023 [www.gov.uk/government/publicati… ↗]. The report outlines the significance of compute to the UK, the current international landscape, where demand for compute is right now, and makes a number of recommendations for meeting the UK’s compute needs. Following this review, the Chancellor announced an investment of £900 million in the 2023 Spring Budget which included the development of an Exascale capable Supercomputer subject to business case approval. The current estimated budget for an Exascale Hardware solution is in the range of £296m to £348m (excl VAT). Exascale capability is currently anticipated to be delivered in two phases with Phase1 being a 250pF system to be completed by Dec 2025. Full UK exaFlop capability would be delivered in Phase2. The current estimated budgets are in the range of £74m to £103m for the Phase1 system and £222m to £245m for Phase2. The applicability of the Social Value Act (SVA), tackling wider social, economic, and environmental benefits is considered for procurements, and as such, vendors will be expected to comply with UKRI’s Responsible Procurement Charter, which will be shared following registration. Therefore, UKRI intends to conduct pre-market engagement events during Oct and Nov 2023. UKRI’s market engagement plan will comprise of the following steps and will run sequentially with vendors participating in each step as applicable: Step 1 - Pre-Market Questionnaire (PMQ): Vendors will be required to respond to a PMQ prior to a Vendor Briefing Day. The deadline for the completion and submission PMQ responses is 23rd Oct 14:00 (UK time). Step 2 - Virtual Engagement Week (VEW) (Zoom - w/c 30th October): UKRI will be holding a VEW between 30th Oct 2023 and 3rd Nov 2023. All interested vendors are invited to participate to Vendor Briefing Day (VBD) on 30th of Oct from 2pm to 5pm (UK time) via Zoom. UKRI will also be organizing individual meetings with vendors interested in and capable of bidding for this requirement during that week. These individual meetings will be available to vendors from Tue, 31st Oct to Fri, 3rd Nov with a total of 8 sessions available (times will be shared following registration). An individual meeting slot will be allocated to vendors registered for VBD on a first come first served basis. The links to register to Delta e-sourcing portal for the PMQ and to the VBD can be found in Section II.2.14 Additional Information. Step 3 - In-Person Engagement (SC23): UKRI wishes to arrange face to face pre-market engagement meetings with vendors that are in attendance at SC23 during Nov 12–17 at Denver. Please email to supercomputer@ukri.org using the following title ‘UKRI-1713 – SC23’ to register your interest and provide available meeting options. The meetings would be max 2 hrs. Please note that the date relating to the publication of the contract notice is tentative and is subject to approval of the Business Case by the UK Government. All future tender documentation will be made available via UKRI’s e-sourcing portal and bidders should register on this portal to ensure they have access to all tender documentation when tender is published. Additional information:

• To register the webinar: ukri.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_… ↗
• To access the Market Engagement Questionnaire: ukri.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-UK-Swindo… ↗
• For In-Person Engagement (SC23 Nov 12–17): email to supercomputer@ukri.org using the following title ‘UKRI-1713 – SC23' to provide your available meeting options.