TenderlineUK
Procurement Intelligence
Official OCDSSearch
Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 16 Sept 2026, 16:57 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
Published estimate £1,200,000≈ £1.0m / year · £1,500,000 inc. VAT
Tender notice expected 16 Oct 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 1 yr 2 mostarts 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).

Read the full description (1,118 more characters)

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 #1Lot 1Planned 1 yr 2 moSMEVCSE
Contract period: 18 Jan 2027 — 31 Mar 2028 (1 yr 2 mo)Eligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligibleDelivery: UK
72590000 Computer-related professional services

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
No (one-off requirement)
First published
16 Sept 2026, 16:57 BST
Last source update
16 Sept 2026, 16:57 BST
Authority reference
prj_7573
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Computer-related professional services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06f26d

How it was run

Submission deadline
—

Timeline

5 published dates · Europe/London
  1. Planning notice published16 days ago
    4 Sept 2026, 14:54 BST
  2. Latest notice published4 days ago
    16 Sept 2026, 16:57 BST
  3. Market engagementin 4 days
    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 more…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 [email protected] 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: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-act-2023-short-guides/the-procurement-act-2023-a-short-guide-for-suppliers-html https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/procurement-act-2023-guidance-documents https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-act-2023-guidance-documents-define-phase/guidance-frameworks-html *** 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 https://beisgroup.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/ and follow the instructions to register as a supplier.
  4. Tender notice expectedin 27 days
    16 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
  5. Contract startsin 120 days
    18 Jan 2027, 00:00 GMT

Commercial outcome & contract awards

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

Notice history

3 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 4 Sept 2026
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    16 Sept 2026, 16:57 BSTUK2
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    15 Sept 2026, 17:11 BSTUK2
  3. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    4 Sept 2026, 14:54 BSTUK2
Published amendments (1)

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

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 2EG
View buyer profile →

Official documents & specifications (4)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure