Request for Expression of Interest (REOI) for EPSDD ACT Heritage Digital Implementation Partner

⁠⁠⁠Key problem/s

The Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate (EPSDD), on behalf of the ACT Government (Territory), invites suitably qualified and experienced organisations to submit an expression of interest (Response) for the provision of deliverables-based digital implementation services for ACT Heritage.

ACT Heritage supports the independent Heritage Council to provide advice to heritage property owners, managers of heritage assets and other members of the community. A major legislative responsibility under the Heritage Act 2004 is for ACT Heritage is to maintain a public-facing Heritage Register as well as an accurate heritage information system.

In 2022, EPSDD established the Heritage Reforms Program. One of the Program’s key objectives is to reform ACT Heritage’s digital and ICT capabilities. The Program requires a digital implementation partner to fully redesign a replacement to current ACT Heritage digital and ICT systems. The design must include the current citizen-facing system of engagement (website) and the backend systems of record (database), and other components, for example necessary integrations, security, user experience, change, electronic documents records management (eDRMS), and communications.

The Supplier will be expected to be responsible for the system delivery, including technology project management, design, delivery, testing and deployment (or equivalent). Throughout delivery, the Supplier will need engage with end users from ACT Heritage and the project team where appropriate.

This uplift is required to address a range of key pain points, including:

• There is no single, connected source of truth about heritage places and objects.
• The current internal-facing system of record, the Heritage Register Online (HeRO) is a business-critical database. Despite its name, this database is not publicly available online. HeRO is no longer fit for purpose, has no technical support, and has not been updated in many years.
• The above is also true of the legacy citizen system of engagement, the Heritage Register Online Search located on the ACT Heritage website at www.heritage.act.gov.au). There is a legislative need to maintain this as a legislated public-facing Register.
• Links between these legacy systems and other internal systems are broken or non-existent.
• There is a large backlog of sites and objects which cannot be added to the Heritage Register.
• Current processes, spreadsheets, and workflows are manual and time intensive. These hamper ACT Heritage’s ability to meet key timeframes to support complex advice, such as whether a site will be affected by an urban development application. Additionally, this puts pressure on staff who feel key information may be missed and hence put heritage sites at risk.

This REOI is Stage 1 of a potential 2-stage process. The purpose of this REOI is to gather information about the ability of the market to deliver the required services within the proposed budget and timelines. The Territory will shortlist Respondents Stage 1 REOI to participate in the Stage 2 RFQ process. The Territory will also use the information obtained in the REOI process to refine the SOR for the purposes of the Stage 2 process.

The users and their needs

Please refer to:

Stage 1 REOI Instructions Document - EPSDD ACT Heritage Digital Implementation Partner

Statement of Requirements - EPSDD ACT Heritage Digital Implementation Partner