Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 15 Sept 2026, 17:11 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Webinar Invitation: Cyber Accelerator Programme - Design Partnerships

Authority: Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (Central government)

ServicesAbove thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Sectors: IT Services & Software (72) Delivery: UK
Planned pipeline value£1,200,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 16 Oct 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 1 yr 2 moends 31 Mar 2028 · starts 18 Jan 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) intends to create a pathway to link problems identified by large organisations with solutions provided by innovative cyber small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) known as the Cyber Accelerator Programme.

If you are interested in this potential opportunity, DSIT would like to engage with you. The Bidder presentation is due to take place Wednesday 23rd September 11:00 ( details at the bottom of the notice, on how to register)

The Authority is seeking to engage the market to gather information, insights and feedback, while also providing an opportunity for Suppliers to better understand and discuss our requirements. This activity is not a procurement or a commitment to purchase goods or services. Its purpose is to facilitate open dialogue, improve our understanding of available solutions and supplier capabilities, and help shape the requirement and future approach, ensuring any subsequent procurement activity is informed, proportionate and delivers the best possible outcome.

The principal objective of the programme is to create a credible pathway from agreed challenges facing the public sector to the commercial adoption of cyber innovation by public-sector buyers. It is intended to link problems identified by public-sector organisations with solutions provided by innovative cyber small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The programme will use structured, pro bono design partnerships between public-sector organisations with identified cyber challenges and innovative cyber SMEs capable of developing and testing solutions. Participation will not provide funding, an assurance of future work or preferential treatment in any subsequent procurement.

The appointed supplier will be expected to:

  • identify and recruit suitable public-sector Challenge Council members;
  • build a broad pipeline of potential Programme Innovators and select suitable innovators against defined challenges;
  • support challenge development and match innovators to challenges;
  • establish, facilitate and oversee at least five design partnerships;
  • provide programme governance and a light-touch commercial, procurement, data protection and security compliance wrapper;
  • support routes to adoption or other lawful commercial progression;
  • organise one Showcase Day and other programme activity;
  • report on progress and produce a final report; and
  • create and disseminate a pattern library of repeatable approaches to support public-sector adoption of cyber innovation.

CPV: Computer-related professional services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 1 yr 2 moSMEVCSE
Contract period: 18 Jan 2027 – 31 Mar 2028 (1 yr 2 mo)
Delivery: UKEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How Department for Science, Innovation & Technology buys Computer-related professional services (CPV 7259), and who usually turns up

Department for Science, Innovation & Technology’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Computer-related professional services (CPV 7259) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bidWhat to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
i

How often small and medium firms win.

Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.

The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 10 of 12 known-size awards · market: CPV 7259 · UK-wide, n=25
83%24%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

How often do local suppliers win?
i

How often local firms win similar work.

Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.

Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: no winner locations published · market: CPV 7259 · UK-wide, n=12
—25%

No winner locations published for this authority. Local means a registered address in the region where that award was delivered.

How long to a decision?
i

How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.

Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 12 decided notices · market: CPV 7259 · UK-wide, n=5
21 days20 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 21 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.

Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.

The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: exactly 13 of 24 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 7259 · UK-wide, n=44
54%64%

Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.

How many bids did past lots attract?

i

How many bids past lots received.

Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.

Past bids do not predict this tender.

Last 36 months.

This buyer12 lots with bid counts · broad CPV 72
0% had one bid
The market7 lots with bid counts · CPV 7259 · UK-wide
14% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid0% / 14%
Buyer: 0 of 12 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 7 lots with published bid counts.
2–317% / 43%
Buyer: 2 of 12 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 7 lots with published bid counts.
4–625% / 0%
Buyer: 3 of 12 lots with published bid counts. Market: 0 of 7 lots with published bid counts.
7+58% / 43%
Buyer: 7 of 12 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 7 lots with published bid counts.

How did awards compare with estimates?

i

Where winning prices landed against estimates.

Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

This buyer14 lots with estimate and award · all categories
64% below estimate
The market530 lots with estimate and award · division 72 · UK-wide
46% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate64% / 46%
Buyer: 9 of 14 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 244 of 530 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%36% / 38%
Buyer: 5 of 14 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 199 of 530 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate0% / 16%
Buyer: 0 of 14 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 87 of 530 lots with an estimate and award.
2

Assess each lot
i

What past awards tell you about each lot.

See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.

No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #1CPV 725914 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£1.2m
Expected competition
i

How many bids this lot may attract.

The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.

Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 789 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet12% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 789 similar lots
1 bid12%
97 of 789 similar past lots received 1 bid (12%).
2–328%
218 of 789 similar past lots received 2–3 (28%).
4–628%
223 of 789 similar past lots received 4–6 (28%).
7+32%
251 of 789 similar past lots received 7+ (32%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 4 bids.
Commercial price forecast
i

Where the award price may land.

The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.

No comparable awards for this lot yet.

A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.

—No model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet. The published estimate is £1.2m, and the forecast stays empty until the market has a record to read.

Who has supplied this buyer on similar work?
i

Who has done similar work for this buyer.

Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.

A past supplier may not bid again.

No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.

Who could compete for this lot?
i

Who could compete for this lot?

Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.

None is confirmed as a bidder.

Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.

About this data
  • Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
  • Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
  • Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
  • Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
15 Sept 2026, 17:11 BST
Last source update
16 Sept 2026, 16:57 BST
Authority reference
prj_7573
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-087964
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Computer-related professional services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06f26d Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

4 Sept 2026 → 18 Jan 2027 · 5 dates
  1. Planning notice published52 days ago
    4 Sept 2026, 14:54 BST
  2. Latest notice published40 days ago
    16 Sept 2026, 16:57 BST
  3. Market engagement33 days ago
    23 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST

    DSIT invites your participation in this session that will help inform our thinking and deliver the best possible outcome. The provisional agenda is below:

    • Welcome and introduction to DSIT
    • Introduction to the policy behind the programme
    • Description of the programme
    • Description of expected procurement structure and timetable
    • General Q&A

    If you are interested in this potential opportunity, DSIT would like to engage with you. The Bidder presentation is due to take place Wednesday 23rd September 11:00.

    Please contact us by emailing cybersecurity.commercial@dsit.gov.uk with your company details and contact information.

    Following confirmation of company details, an ‘MS Teams’ invite will be circulated for the market engagement event. We would ask that you have a maximum of 2 attendees from each organisation. Deadline for registration closes Tuesday 22nd September 17:00.

    A copy of the Presentation slides will be uploaded to this notice after the session(s).

    Useful resources:

    www.gov.uk/government/publicati… ↗

    www.gov.uk/government/collectio… ↗

    www.gov.uk/government/publicati… ↗

    *** This is early market engagement for a potential opportunity. The Department is not obligated to run a procurement following this activity and is not liable for any costs associated with participating in this early engagement. ***

    Additional Information:

    The Department for Science Innovation and Technology uses the Jaggaer eSourcing Portal as its eSourcing tool. Jaggaer will be used for this competition should it come to tender. To register as a supplier, please visit beisgroup.ukp.app.jaggaer.com ↗ and follow the instructions to register as a supplier.

  4. Tender notice expected10 days ago
    16 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
  5. Today
    27 Oct 2026
  6. Contract startsin 82 days
    18 Jan 2027

Notice history

3 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 4 Sept 2026
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    4 Sept 2026, 14:54 BST
    UK2
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    15 Sept 2026, 17:11 BST
    UK2
  3. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    16 Sept 2026, 16:57 BST
    UK2
Published amendments (1)

Update to this notice: Invite to Webinar for Cyber Accelerator Programme - Design Partnerships

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Pipeline notice
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Department for Science, Innovation & Technology

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PVWZ-3216-PVQL 22 Whitehall, London, London, SW1A 2EGContact email

Official documents & specifications (4)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure