REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

To: ALL BIDDERS CTBTO Ref. No.: 2024-0170/MOGAPI

(PLEASE QUOTE ON ALL COMMUNICATIONS)

Tel. No.: +43 (1) 26030-6350

E-mail: procurement@ctbto.org
Attn:
Phone: Date: 16 Oct 24
Fax:
Email:

Subject: Maintenance of the Atmospheric Transport Modelling Pipeline with its

Data Acquisition, Processing and Dissemination ON A CALL-OFF BASIS

Deadline for Submission: 30 Oct 24 Vienna Local Time: 17:00

The Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization

(hereinafter referred to as the 'Commission') hereby invites you to submit a proposal that meets
the requirements of the attached documents.

You are kindly requested to complete and return the acknowledgement form by email as
soon as possible.

If you have any questions you should contact the email address indicated above.

Yours Sincerely,

Sally Alvarez de Schreiner

Chief, Procurement Services Section
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FORM

Solicitation No: 2024-0170 Closing Date: 30 Oct 24

Title: Maintenance of the Atmospheric Transport Modelling Pipeline with its Vienna Local Time: 17:00
Data Acquisition, Processing and Dissemination ON A CALL-OFF
BASIS

Procurement Staff: Gookeditswe Mogapi CTBTO Req. No.: 0010025156

Please complete 'A' or 'B' or 'C'

and Return

WITHIN FIVE (5) DAYS

THE PREPARATORY COMMISSION FOR THE
COMPREHENSIVE NUCLEAR-TEST-BAN TREATY ORGANIZATION (CTBTO)

by email to
procurement@ctbto.org
A: We shall submit our proposal
Company Name: ________________________________

By: ____________________ Contact Name: _________________________________

(date)
Email/Tel: _____________________________________

B: We may submit and will advise

Company Name: ________________________________

By: ____________________ Contact Name: _________________________________

(date)
Email/Tel: _____________________________________

C: We will not submit a proposal for the following reason(s)

___ our current workload does not permit us to take on additional work at this time;
___ we do not have the required expertise for this specific project;
___ insufficient time to prepare a proper submission;
___ other (please specify) ___________________________________

Company Name: ________________________________

Contact Name: _________________________________
Email/Tel: _____________________________________
 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

1. General

The Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization

(the Commission) with its headquarters in Vienna is the International Organization mandated
to establish the global verification system foreseen under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban
Treaty (CTBT), which is the Treaty banning any nuclear weapon test explosion or any other
nuclear explosions. The Treaty provides for a global verification regime, including a network
of 321 stations worldwide, a communication system, an International Data Centre and on-site
inspections to monitor compliance with the Treaty.

This Request for Proposal (RFP) is for the SOFTWARE ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR
THE MAINTENANCE OF THE ATMOSPHERIC TRANSPORT MODELLING
PIPELINE WITH ITS DATA ACQUISITION, PROCESSING AND DISSEMINATION ON
A CALL-OFF BASIS (hereinafter referred to as the “Services”) as described in the Terms of
Reference.

The Proposal shall meet all requirements stated in the Terms of Reference and be submitted in
accordance with these Instructions for Preparation and Submission of Proposals. For this project,
the Commission is seeking capabilities, which will ensure that the services are delivered and
the tasks are accomplished expeditiously and at a reasonable cost.

2. Documents included in this RFP

This RFP consists of the following documents:

(a) Letter of Invitation

(b) These Instructions for Preparation and Submission of Proposals and Bidder’s Statement
and the following Attachments:
- Attachment 1: Technical Compliance Matrix
- Attachment 2: Evaluation Criteria and Method
- Attachment 3: Format of Financial Proposal
- Attachment 4: Procedure for submission of electronic offers in 2 sealed files
(c) Statement of Confirmation
(d) Vendor Profile Form
(e) The Commission’s Model Contract and its Annexes A – C;
o The Commission’s General Conditions of Contract (Annex A) – incorporated
herein by reference, found at www.ctbto.org under CTBTO General Conditions
of Contract
o The Commission’s Terms of Reference (Annex B)

Note: In the event of award, the Proposal will be incorporated as Annex C to the Contract.

3. Amendment of RFP Documents

At any time prior to the closing date for submission of Proposal, the Commission may, for any
reason, modify the RFP documents by amendment. The Commission may consider extending
the deadline in order to allow adequate time for considering the modifications in the preparation
of the Proposal.

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Page 1 of 7
4. Language of the Proposal

The Proposal and all correspondence and documents relating to it shall be in English.
Format and Submission of the Proposal

The Proposal shall be typed, dated and signed by an official legally authorized to enter into
contracts on behalf of your organization. The Proposal shall not contain any interlineation,
erasures or overwriting except as necessary to correct errors, in which case such corrections
shall be initialled by the authorized person(s) signing the Proposal.

The Proposal shall be submitted electronically according to the attached

“PROCEDURE FOR SUBMISSION OF ELECTRONIC OFFERS IN
TWO (2) SEALED FILES”.

The Proposal shall be received not later than the closing date indicated in the Letter of
Invitation.

5. Request for Clarifications and Contacting the Commission

The Commission will issue clarifications, if required. Bidders are requested to e-mail any
questions pertaining to this RFP as soon as possible after receipt of the solicitation documents,
but in any case, no later than 10 business days prior to the Closing Date. No requests for
clarifications will be entertained after this time. Questions will only be accepted via e-mail sent
to:

E-mail: procurement@ctbto.org
Subject: Request for Clarifications re RFP No. 2024-0170/MOGAPI

The Commission will make all reasonable efforts to issue the clarifications not later than 7
business days prior to the Closing Date.

Except in the case of responding to an RFP clarification, no bidder shall contact the
Commission on any matter relating to the Proposal after its submission and until the award of
the Contract. Any attempt to influence the Commission in its evaluation of the Proposal or the
contract award decision may result in the rejection of the Proposal.

6. Eligible Goods and Services

The services and goods (if any) to be rendered under the Contract shall have their origin in the
States Signatories of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), a list of which is
available in the CTBTO website at www.ctbto.org under Status of Signatures and Ratifications
| CTBTO. For purposes of this paragraph, "the origin" means the place from where the
materials, goods and/or from which the services are supplied.

7. Type of Contract and Payment

The Commission intends to conclude firm fixed unit prices Call-off Contract based on the attached
Model Contract. The terms and conditions of payment for services are described in Clause 13 of
the attached Model Contract.

Instructions for preparation and submission of Proposals – Request for Services

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8. Preparation of the Proposal

The Proposal shall contain, but not necessarily be limited to, the information described below.

The Proposal shall be composed of the following separate parts:

I. Technical Proposal; and
II. Financial Proposal;

providing, but not limited to, the following information:

PART I: TECHNICAL PROPOSAL

Please state the reference number and the date of this RFP in the Proposal and any correspondence
relating to it.
The Technical Proposal shall be submitted in accordance with Attachment 1 (Technical
Compliance Matrix) and including the following:

Point of Contact
The Proposal shall state the contact details and address (name, telephone and fax numbers, and e-
mail address) of the person/point of contact in your company dealing with this RFP.

Bidder’s Statement, Statement of Confirmation and Vendor Profile Form

The attached Bidder’s Statement, Statement of Confirmation and Vendor Profile Form shall be
duly filled-in, signed and submitted as part of the Technical Proposal.

Description of Services
An explanation of the bidder’s understanding of the services to be provided and an overall
preliminary operational plan for the execution of the services by providing section-by-section
response to the Terms of Reference indicating how the Bidder meets or will meet each of the
technical requirements.

The Proposal shall also provide any other relevant issue which the bidder would like to bring to
the attention of the Commission whether or not having cost implications.

Specifications
The Proposal shall include a detailed description of the items proposed and include relevant
technical literature.

Commission’s Inputs
A description of the expected inputs/resources to be made available by the Commission and at
what stage of the services.

Qualifications
Documentary evidence of the bidder’s qualifications to provide the Services, which shall establish
to the Commission's satisfaction that the bidder has technical capability necessary to perform the
Contract and other necessary ongoing services as required.

Personnel

The Technical Proposal shall include:

(a) A statement that the capacity of the Contractor, in terms of qualified manpower resources,
is adequate to conduct the Work.
(b) A statement of availability of the personnel, and the minimum period required before
starting the work under the Contract;
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(c) A list of capable and experienced personnel, including their function and duration of
assignment as key staff to work under this Contract (such as Project Manager or Team
Leader, etc);
(d) Curriculum vitae of the key staff proposed for this contract, including experience with
standards and technical experience to perform the Work.
(e) Details of key personnel identified at (c) and (d) above, which shall include at a
minimum the following information:
a. Name.
b. Nationality.
c. Role.
d. Employed since. (Please specify whether the key personnel are a permanent
member or rather, if they are contracted for the duration of the Contract on an ad-
hoc basis.)
e. Type(s) of Service(s) set specified in the Terms of Reference, which the key
personnel will perform.

Please note that it is the bidder’s responsibility alone to obtain work permits or visa or similar
for the personnel proposed to implement this project. The Commission will make no effort nor
accept any responsibility for obtaining work permits or visa or similar for the Contractor’s
personnel.

Use of former Preparatory Commission for the CTBTO (“Commission”) employees in

the preparation of a Proposal:

A bidder must not, in the absence of prior written approval from the Commission, permit a person
to contribute to, or participate in, any process relating to the preparation of a Proposal or the
procurement process if the person:
a. At any time during the 12 months immediately preceding the date of issue of the
Solicitation was an official, agent, servant or employee of, or otherwise engaged by
the Commission;
b. At any time during the 24 months immediately preceding the date of issue of the
Solicitation was an employee of the Commission personally engaged, directly or
indirectly, in the definition of the requirements, project or activity to which the
Solicitation relates.

Sub-Contractors
Names, legal status, address and qualifications of subcontractor(s), if any, and the scope of the
subcontracted services. The Proposal shall provide a statement that your organization shall be fully
responsible for the performance of sub-contractors. All sub-contractors shall be legally established
in one of the CTBTO States Signatories the list of which is available at www.ctbto.org under Status
of Signatures and Ratifications | CTBTO.

PART II: FINANCIAL PROPOSAL

In the Financial Proposal, Bidders are required to define the following:

(a) The Financial Proposal shall be submitted in the format set out in Attachment 3 “Format
of Financial Proposal” attached herewith. Bidders shall provide all the information
requested in this matrix but may provide additional related content as attachments. This
will be evaluated as part of the responsiveness of the Financial Proposal. A Proposal

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 that fails to meet this requirement may be disqualified and not be considered for further
evaluation.

(b) The bidder shall quote firm fixed person-day fees/rates in EURO or US Dollars for the
duration of the contract. The quoted fees/rates should include all overheads and
ancillary expenses, unless included as firm-fixed “Other Costs”, or otherwise stated in
Attachment 3 “Format of Financial Proposal”.

(c) Note that clear and detailed explanations would enable us to evaluate the Proposal
promptly and proceed with fewer requests for clarifications/justifications in a later
stage. This is also a factor influencing the decision for Contract award.

Indirect Taxes
In principle the Commission is exempt from taxes. Since the arrangement under which such
exemption is respected varies from country-to-country, the selected bidder will be informed by
the Commission whether tax exemption will occur at source or whether taxes paid by the selected
bidder will be reimbursed by the Commission upon submission of the original supporting
documentation. “Taxes” means all direct and indirect taxes (including value added tax, general
sales tax or goods and services tax), assessments, fees, customs duties, liens and charges in as
much as they are levied in conclusion or implementation of the Contract, including customs
restrictions and charges of similar nature in respect of articles imported or exported for the
Commission’s official use.

For Austrian companies

The price quoted shall be net of Taxes. All applicable Taxes payable by the selected bidder at the
conclusion or implementation of the Contract in respect of the goods/services shall be quoted
separately or be separately identified on the Proposal together with information on the nature of
the tax and its method of calculation.

For European Union (EU) Companies

The price quoted shall be net of Taxes. All applicable Taxes payable by the selected bidder at the
conclusion or implementation of the Contract in respect of the goods/services shall be quoted
separately or separately identified on the Proposal together with information on the nature of the
Tax and its method of calculation. Due to the VAT exemption applicable to the Commission, no
VAT will be charged to the Commission by the EEC Suppliers under the Contract (Ref. EU VAT
Council Directive 2006/112/EC, Article 151).

For Non-EU Companies

The price quoted shall be net of Taxes. All applicable Taxes payable by the selected bidder at the
conclusion or implementation of the Contract in respect of the goods/services shall be quoted
separately or be separately identified on the Proposal together with information on the nature of
the tax and its method of calculation. For deliveries to Vienna, Austria, and due to the tax
exemption at source applicable to the Commission, no Taxes shall be charged to the Commission
under the Contract.

9. Completeness and Correctness of the Proposal

The Commission reserves the right to verify all information furnished by you in the Proposal
through a source of its choice. Any inaccurate information so given may lead to the rejection of
the Proposal.

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10. Validity of the Proposal

The Proposal shall be valid for 90 (ninety) days after the deadline for its submission to the
Commission, unless an extension of validity has been requested by the Commission.

11. Correction of Errors

The Commission will check the Proposal for any arithmetic errors. If there is a discrepancy
between the unit price and the total price that is obtained by multiplying the unit price and
quantity, the unit price shall prevail and the total price shall be corrected.

12. Evaluation of the Proposal

The Commission, based on the evaluation criteria and method given in Attachment 2, will
determine the Proposal that ‘most effectively satisfies the technical and operational
requirements set out in the solicitation documents’ in accordance with the criteria specified in
Attachment 2. The Commission reserves the right, as it deems appropriate, to award to a single
bidder, to award to multiple bidders in any combination or not to award to any of the bidders
as a result of this RFP.

13. Negotiations of the Proposal

The Commission reserves the right to request clarifications on the Proposal and to enter into
negotiations regarding technical or commercial aspects of the Proposal before awarding the
contract under this RFP.

14. Modification and Withdrawal of Proposal

Bidders may modify or withdraw their Proposals after their submission, provided that written
notice of the modification or withdrawal is received by the Commission by the closing date for the
submission of the Proposal. The Proposal may not be modified subsequent to the closing date.

15. The Commission’s Right to Reject the Proposal

The Commission reserves the right to accept or reject the Proposal or to annul this procurement
process at any time prior to the award of contract without having to inform the bidders of the
grounds therefore, without thereby incurring any liability to the bidders.

16. Costs of preparation and submission of the Proposal

Bidders shall bear all the costs associated with the preparation and submission of their Proposal
and the Commission will not be responsible or liable for those costs, regardless of the outcome of
this RFP.

17. Proprietary Information

All documentation and information contained in this RFP are proprietary to the Commission
and shall not be duplicated, used or disclosed -in whole or in part- for any purpose other than
to evaluate them and respond to the Commission's request for Proposal or otherwise without
prior written agreement of the Commission.

Instructions for preparation and submission of Proposals – Request for Services

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 BIDDER’S STATEMENT
PLEASE STATE BELOW & SUBMIT WITH PROPOSAL

Delivery Time:

Shipping weight (kg) and Volume (m3) – if applicable:

List of recommended consumables and spares including prices and details on local availability, if applicable
(please tick):
For one year period For a period of ………………………….

Warranty period applicable (it shall be for a minimum of 24 months, starting from the acceptance of the
goods/services by the Commission) – please tick below as applicable:

For a two year period For a period of ………………………….

Availability of local service in Vienna, Austria (if any):

State country of origin or assembly of all items quoted:

Quantity discount and early payment discount (if any):

Include documentary evidence of qualifications to perform the order, which shall establish to the Commission’s
satisfaction that the bidder has the financial, technical and production capability necessary to perform the order in
its entirety and to provide spare parts and other necessary on-going services as required.

Included in the Proposal: Yes No

Confirmation that the bidder has reviewed the Commission’s General Conditions of Contract, Draft Model
Contract, and agreed to all terms and conditions.
Yes No
Remarks:

With regards to the software provided with the equipment, state and confirm whether the software licenses are
transferable to third parties, i.e. the Commission or the Commission’s State Signatories list available at
www.ctbto.og under Status of Signatures and Ratifications | CTBTO.

Yes No Not applicable

Remarks:

Name:

Name & Title of Contact Person:

Signature & date:

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 MINIMUM CONTENT OF TECHNICAL PROPOSAL
AND TECHNICAL COMPLIANCE MATRIX

RFP No. 2024-0170/MOGAPI

PROVISION OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

SERVICES FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF THE
ATMOSPHERIC TRANSPORT MODELLING PIPELINE
WITH ITS DATA ACQUISITION, PROCESSING AND
DISSEMINATION ON A CALL-OFF BASIS
Below sets out the Minimum content of the Proposal and the Mandatory
Requirements of the Technical Proposal. Bidders are requested to demonstrate
compliance with the requirements and add any further information in support of their
Proposal. Please refer to the relevant section of the Terms of Reference for further
explanation of the requirements. The information provided will form an integral part of
the technical evaluation process.
Part II of this document must be completed and returned as part of the Proposal.

Part I
Item Minimum content
1. Executive Summary Provide an overview of the proposal
2. Experience, Resources and Project Management
2.1 Corporate Profile and • Brief background of the company, mission/vision,
Values ownership, size, location, number of personnel by type
profile, etc.
• Company business structure and its authority to execute all
Work under the Contract.
• If a consortium, provide a clear explanation of the
business relationship between the members and
governance for the execution of this project.
• In case the Bidder requires the services of subcontractors,
the Proposal shall include:
a) Relationship of the Bidder’s business to any
subcontractor(s) that will be used.
b) Names, addresses, legal status, and qualifications of
major sub-contractor(s) proposed by your
organization.
c) The scope of work and nature of subcontracting.
2.2 Corporate Experience The proposal should detail the Bidder’s experience in
executing work of similar scope and complexity.

Technical Compliance Matrix Page 1 of 5

 2.3 Requirements for the The Proposal should address and describe all requirements
Contractor spelled out under Section 4 (Scope of Work) the Terms of
Reference (ToR).

3. Meeting the Requirements

3.1 Understanding of the ToR • Please describe your understanding of the services that are
to be provided under this ToR, detailing key assumptions
that impact the Technical Proposal.
• Please describe how you propose to address the tasks listed
in Section 4 (Scope of Work) and Section 4.2.2 (Selection
of Tasks) of the ToR.

4. Contractor’s key staff

4.1. Visa & Work Permits Provide written confirmation that the Bidder understands and
agrees to take responsibility for obtaining any Visa and/or
work permits, which may be required to perform the Work
under the Contract. The CTBTO does not sponsor work
permits for contractors.
4.2. Documentation and • Provide written assurance that all reports, documentation,
Reporting and communication (written and oral) supplied to the
Commission shall be in English and submitted in
electronic form.
• Provide written assurance that all documentation will
adhere to the IDC Documentation Standards, samples of
which will be provided to the successful Contractor.
5. Model Contract
A statement that the bidder has carefully reviewed the Model
Contract and its Annexes and is in agreement with all its terms
and conditions.

Technical Compliance Matrix Page 2 of 5

 Part II – Compliance Matrix

Requirements Bidder’s
Response Indicate the section in your
Ref No. of A section-by-section response to each Proposal and ensure that it
ToR section of the Terms of Reference is Please tick is sufficiently described in
included in the Proposal whichever is the Proposal
applicable
“Yes” “No”
Meeting Requirements

Understanding of the ToR:

4 and 6 Understanding of the scope, and of the
duties and responsibilities of the
Contractor
Requirements for the Contractor

Extensive experience, with a minimum

of five (5) software projects, in
6.2 a) managing software of similar scope and
complexity as required in this ToR. The
software projects shall be provided as
described in Section 6.1.3.
Relevant experience, with a minimum of
four (4) software projects, in scientific
6.2 b) computing/scientific software
development. The software projects
shall be provided as described in Section
6.1.3.
Confirmation that the staff turnover has
6.2 c) been below 20% per year over the past
three (3) years.
Hands-on experience with all elements of
the software development lifecycle:
eliciting and documenting business
process flows, use cases, requirements,
6.2 d) quality management plans, user
acceptance testing, and end-user training.
This shall be demonstrated through
concise description of their methodology
and past practical approaches in software
projects.
A warranty period of two (2) years after
the completion of the user acceptance
6.2 e) testing. Terms and conditions of post-
warranty support and bug fixes shall be
available and clearly specified.
6.2 f) Be able to adjust the working hours of
the assigned Team for a Sprint Meeting

Technical Compliance Matrix Page 3 of 5

 that overlaps at least two hours with the
Commission's working hours (9 a.m. to
5 p.m. CET/CEST).
Be able to provide support on a 24/7 basis
6.2 g) during critical situations (e.g. the
operational pipeline fails).
At least three (3) key-personnel are
6.2 h) assigned at all times to the Team Roster
to work under this Contract.
Has a Risk Management methodology
6.2 i) for the execution of the outlined
software development activities in these
Terms of Reference as per Section 7.
Requirement for the Contractor's Personnel / Skills and experience amongst the members of the
Team Roster

Relevant professional experience, with a

minimum of three (3) projects, in
providing software maintenance and
6.3 g) support services for complex and custom
software systems in operational use (this
includes troubleshooting and issue
fixing).
Relevant professional experience, with a
6.3 h) minimum of three (3) projects, in
developing software to automatically
process data in near-real-time.
Extensive experience, with a minimum of
6.3 i) four (4) projects, with the programming
language Perl is mandatory.
Extensive experience, with a minimum of
6.3 j) four (4) projects, with the programming
language Fortran is mandatory.
Extensive experience, with a minimum of
6.3 k) four (4) projects, with the programming
language Python is mandatory.
Extensive experience, with a minimum of
6.3 l) four (4) projects, in professional software
testing methodologies is mandatory.
Extensive experience, with a minimum of
6.3 m) four (4) projects, in using and building a
CI/CD pipeline is mandatory.
Extensive experience, with a minimum of
two (2) projects, in code optimization and
6.3 n) parallelization (MPI/OpenMP),
particularly in scientific computing on
distributed memory architectures.
6.3 o) Sufficient knowledge and experience,
with a minimum of one (1) project each,

Technical Compliance Matrix Page 4 of 5

 in working (reading & writing) with the
GRIB, NetCDF, JSON, and XML data
formats is an advantage.
Sufficient experience, with a minimum of
6.3 p) one (1) project, with PyQt is an
advantage.
Sufficient experience, with a minimum of
6.3 q) one (1) project each, with the
programming languages SQL and C/C++
is an advantage.
Sufficient experience, with a minimum of
one (1) project, in developing and
working on supercomputer clusters
6.3 r) (High-Performance Computers),
including the use of queuing systems
(e.g. slurm), and a package manager (e.g.
SPACK, environment modules) is an
advantage.
Sufficient experience, with a minimum of
6.3 s) one (1) project, with machine learning or
deep learning is an advantage.
Comprehensive experience, with a
minimum of one (1) project, in
6.3 t) Atmospheric Transport Modelling
(ATM), preferably with the ATM model
FLEXPART (used at the CTBTO), is an
advantage.
RISK MANAGEMENT

Confirmation that the Contractor shall

7 develop and maintain a Risk
Management plan in accordance section
7 of the ToR.

Technical Compliance Matrix Page 5 of 5

 Attachment 2
Technical Evaluation Criteria and Method
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF THE ATMOSPHERIC TRANSPORT MODELLING PIPELINE
WITH ITS DATA ACQUISITION, PROCESSING AND DISSEMINATION ON A CALL-OFF BASIS
Ref No. in PASS/FAIL
1.QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS (PASS/FAIL)
No. TOR
Requirements for the Contractor (PASS /FAIL) PASS/FAIL

Extensive experience, with a minimum of five (5) software projects, in managing software of similar scope and
1 6.2 a) PASS/FAIL
complexity as required in this ToR. The software projects shall be provided as described in Section 6.1.3.
Relevant experience, with a minimum of four (4) software projects, in scientific computing/scientific software
2 6.2 b) PASS/FAIL
development. The software projects shall be provided as described in Section 6.1.3.
3 6.2 c) Confirmation that the staff turnover has been below 20% per year over the past three (3) years. PASS/FAIL
Hands-on experience with all elements of the software development lifecycle: eliciting and documenting business
process flows, use cases, requirements, quality management plans, user acceptance testing, and end-user training.
4 6.2 d) PASS/FAIL
This shall be demonstrated through concise description of their methodology and past practical approaches in
software projects.
A warranty period of two (2) years after the completion of the user acceptance testing. Terms and conditions of post-
5 6.2 e) PASS/FAIL
warranty support and bug fixes shall be available and clearly specified.
Be able to adjust the working hours of the assigned Team for a Sprint Meeting that overlaps at least two hours with
6 6.2 f) PASS/FAIL
the Commission's working hours (9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CET/CEST).
7 6.2 g) Be able to provide support on a 24/7 basis during critical situations (e.g. the operational pipeline fails). PASS/FAIL
8 6.2 h) At least three (3) key-personnel are assigned at all times to the Team Roster to work under this Contract. PASS/FAIL
Has a Risk Management methodology for the execution of the outlined software development activities in these
9 6.2 i) PASS/FAIL
Terms of Reference as per Section 7.
Requirement for the Contractor's Personnel on the team level (PASS /FAIL) PASS/FAIL

6.3 a) Advanced university degree in Computer Science or Mathematics, Physics, or a related scientific/technical subject. PASS/FAIL
10
11 6.3 b) Excellent communication skills in English are essential. PASS/FAIL

Extensive experience, with a minimum of three (3) projects, in providing maintenance services for a Unix/Linux
6.3 c) PASS/FAIL
client/server system is mandatory (e.g. upgrading Linux systems and migrating existing software).
12
Extensive experience, with a minimum of six (6) projects, in providing software development services on a
6.3 d) PASS/FAIL
13 Unix/Linux client/server system is mandatory.
Extensive practical experience, with a minimum of two (2) projects, with one or more Agile frameworks, preferably
6.3 e) PASS/FAIL
14 Scrum, is mandatory.
15 6.3 f) Extensive practical experience, with a minimum of two (2) projects, with Git and GitLab is mandatory. PASS/FAIL

Only bidders who pass all above criteria will be considered for the point system evaluation (2nd stage)
Ref No. in Points
2.TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS - EVALUATION CRITERIA AND METHOD
No. TOR
Max Weighted
Quality of the Proposal Factor
Points score
1 1-7 The extent to which all aspects of the ToR have been addressed in sufficient detail and clarity. 5 4 20
2 4 Understanding of the scope of work and the responsibilities of the Contractor 5 10 50
3 7 The extent to which the Risk Management Plan has been prepared in sufficient detail and clarity. 5 2 10
Subtotal 15 80
Ref No. in Max Weighted
Requirements for the Contractor's Personnel on the team level Factor
TOR Points score
Relevant professional experience, with a minimum of three (3) projects, in providing software maintenance and
6.3 g) support services for complex and custom software systems in operational use (this includes troubleshooting and 5 5 25
4 issue fixing).
Relevant professional experience, with a minimum of three (3) projects, in developing software to automatically
6.3 h) 5 2.5 12.5
5 process data in near-real-time.
6.3 i) Extensive experience, with a minimum of four (4) projects, with the programming language Perl is mandatory. 5 5 25
6
6.3 j) Extensive experience, with a minimum of four (4) projects, with the programming language Fortran is mandatory. 5 4 20
7
6.3 k) Extensive experience, with a minimum of four (4) projects, with the programming language Python is mandatory. 5 3 15
8
Extensive experience, with a minimum of four (4) projects, in professional software testing methodologies is
6.3 l) 5 3 15
9 mandatory.
6.3 m) Extensive experience, with a minimum of four (4) projects, in using and building a CI/CD pipeline is mandatory. 5 3 15
10
Extensive experience, with a minimum of two (2) projects, in code optimization and parallelization (MPI/OpenMP),
6.3 n) 5 2.5 12.5
11 particularly in scientific computing on distributed memory architectures.
Sufficient knowledge and experience, with a minimum of one (1) project each, in working (reading & writing) with the
6.3 o) 5 2.5 12.5
12 GRIB, NetCDF, JSON, and XML data formats is an advantage.
13 6.3 p) Sufficient experience, with a minimum of one (1) project, with PyQt is an advantage. 5 2.5 12.5
Sufficient experience, with a minimum of one (1) project each, with the programming languages SQL and C/C++ is
6.3 q) 5 1 5
14 an advantage.
Sufficient experience, with a minimum of one (1) project, in developing and working on supercomputer clusters
6.3 r) (High-Performance Computers), including the use of queuing systems (e.g. slurm), and a package manager (e.g. 5 2 10
15 SPACK, environment modules) is an advantage.
6.3 s) Sufficient experience, with a minimum of one (1) project, with machine learning or deep learning is an advantage. 5 1 5
16
Comprehensive experience, with a minimum of one (1) project, in Atmospheric Transport Modelling (ATM),
6.3 t) 5 1 5
17 preferably with the ATM model FLEXPART (used at the CTBTO), is an advantage.
Subtotal 70 190

85 270
TOTAL - Technical Evaluation

1. Technical Evaluation:

The technical evaluation process will be done in two stages:

1) Stage 1: Technical proposals will first be evaluated against the mandatory requirements outlined in section 1 above, on a PASS/FAIL basis.
Compliance with all mandatory requirements is required in order to pass stage 1 of the technical evaluation and to be further considered for stage 2 of the evaluation process;
2) Stage 2: The technical proposals that have passed stage 1 of the technical evaluation process, will be evaluated against the weighted criteria set forth in the evaluation matrix above.
In order to pass this stage, bidders must obtain a minimum of 51 points - a minimum score of 162 and in accordance with the scoring table indicated below:

TABLE 2
Points Scoring
#
Unsatisfactory - Response incomplete, inadequate and/or non-responsive to the
#
criterion. Bidder does not clearly understand the criterion.
#
Weak - Does not meet the minimum technical, functional, or performance related
1-2
criterion.
#
Good - Meets the minimum requirements of the criterion.
#
Very good - Exceeds the minimum requirements of the criterion in some areas.
#
Excellent - Exceeds the minimum requirements of the criterion in all areas.
#
2. Financial and commercial evaluation

Once the technical evaluation is finalized, the financial offers of the technically compliant bidders will be evaluated in accordance with the formula given below:

X= Max Available Points * Y/Z

Legend:
X= points to be assigned to the offer being evaluated
Y= price of the lowest priced, technically compliant offer
Z= price of the offer being evaluated

The weight of the technical and financial components is 60% and 40% respectively, subject to contractual acceptability.
The Contract will be awarded to the bidder who receives the highest combined score
resulting from the technical and financial evaluations, subject to contractual
acceptability.
 ATTACHMENT 3
Summary of Financial Proposal
RFP No. 2024-0170/MOGAPI:
PROVISION OF
Provision of Software Engineering Services for the Maintenance of the Atmospheric Transport Modelling Pipeline with its Data Acquisition,
Processing and Dissemination
ON A CALL-OFF BASIS - WOs

CALL-OFF PERIOD 2
CALL-OFF PERIOD 1 - CALL-OFF PERIOD 3 (OPTIONAL) -
(OPTIONAL) -
3 years OR 1 year OR
MAX QUANTITY UNDER EACH PERIOD 1 year OR
for max of 750 person-days for max of 250 person-days
for max of 250 person-days
in EUR or USD in EUR or USD
in EUR or USD
Fees
Staff fee - Off-site
Staff fee - On-site

Estimated maximum of 6 return Estimated maximum of 6 return

Travel costs Estimated maximum of 6 return trips
trips trips

Return transport cost for 1 return trip for 2 staff of the

Contractor (if applicable) - (on a separate sheet please
specify the point of departure/destination and break
down of lump sum proposed)

Other costs (if applicable)

Overall total

NOTES:
1) Please specify currency (USD or Euro only). The rates shall be firm and fixed throughout the term of the Contract.

2) This is a unit-based Contract. The exact number of working days will be determined/called-off in the form of Work Order (WO) at the rates quoted in this
Attachment.

3) The person-days noted are an upper limit, and the Commission reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to call-off fewer person-days or no person-days at all.
4) Estimated costs for travel based on the most economic and direct route shall be specified in the Financial Proposal. Bidders shall indicate whether the travel costs
(without DSA) are firm and fixed for the duration of the Contract, or they are estimated. In the case the travel costs are estimated, payment shall be based on actual
costs against relevant supporting documentation e.g. invoices for travel, and shall not exceed 10% of the estimate.
5) If applicable, Daily Subsistance Allowance (DSA) shall be calculated based on the values provided by the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC)
https://icsc.un.org/. Daily subsistance/per diem will be reimbursed at the applicable Daily Subsistance Allowance (DSA) rate of the United Nations (and UN
EUR/USD exchange rate, if applicable).
 Attachment 3

“Procedure for Submission of Electronic Offers in 2 Sealed Files”

The Commission invites you to submit your sealed offer (Bid, or Proposal) in response to the
solicitation forming part of this request.

Please be sure to follow the instructions below very carefully, so that the documents you submit
are encrypted, and cannot be opened without an encryption key (password). If the documents are
not encrypted, they will not be accepted as part of this tender process.

CRITICAL INFORMATION:
Create separate zip files for the technical offer and the financial offer (labeling them clearly in the
title) with different encryption keys. Instructions for how to do this are provided below.

Step 1: You provide the encryption key (password) for the Technical Offer only (in accordance with
the below instructions)!

Step 2: After the Commission has performed the evaluation of the Technical Offer, if your
Technical Offer is considered to be acceptable, the Commission will request the encryption key
(password) for the Financial Offer you have already submitted by the tender Deadline.

Should you have any questions, please send an email to procurement@ctbto.org.

We recommend that you leave yourself plenty of time to complete the below
process (including getting any necessary assistance from the Commission), as
late offer will not be accepted.

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. In a WINDOWS environment, one way of meeting the requirements is as follows.

We recommend using the open-source, free software 7-zip, but if you are comfortable with
other tools, the result should be the same, as long as you can apply encryption to the archive.
In the below, we’ll use 7-zip as an example.
(You can download the 7-zip code for Windows at: 7-zip.org )

2. In LINUX environment, you can use, for instance, “sha1sum” on the command line.

Procedure for Submission of Electronic Offers in 2 Sealed Files

Page 1 of 5
Creating the archives for submission

Regardless of whether the offer is a single file, or a collection of files, the files are easier to manage if
delivered as a single, compressed file. Compressing the archive is a common way to meet size
limitations in email systems.

As an example of how to submit your offer in the required format: assuming you are supplier
“SOFTCOMP” and have the following files related to the offer for “RFP 2020-0010/EDWALD”. (You
will need to replace these elements with the real information for your actual offer in line with the
relevant Instructions for Preparation and Submission of Proposals/Bids.) Assuming further that you
have installed the 7-zip software on the Windows system you are using.

We will only go through the creation of the Technical Offer (Proposal/Bid) component; the Financial
Offer (Proposal/Bid) component is similar.

Figure 1 An example set of files to be submitted

Select the four files and right-click; a Dialog box pops up, with one of the options being “7-ZIP >”.
Hover your cursor over the “ >” part and a few more options appear, select the “Add to archive”
option.

Another dialog box pops up (see ‘Figure 2, Creating an Archive’, next page):

Using the standard Windows methods, select a suitable location for the archive (if you don’t change
it, the archive gets created right where the selected files are), and give it a name in the form of:
“SOFTCOMP-2020-0010-EDWALD-TECHNICAL-BID”, of course replacing all the elements with the
true values for the offer in question: the actual company indicator, and the actual RFP/ITB
identification string. Note that it is not possible to put a slash “/” in the filnename, and therefore
put a dash “-” instead. Leave the file extension “.zip’ as is.

Leave all the other settings as is, except: add a password to the encryption (see figure 2 below).
This is done by typing the same password (of your choosing) twice in the two text fields in the lower
right hand corner.

Make a note of this password. You must choose different passwords for the two zip archives, that
is, the Technical and the Financial Proposal/Bid.

Procedure for Submission of Electronic Offers in 2 Sealed Files

Page 2 of 5
Figure 2 Creating an Archive

Now, we seek the “SHA1 Hash”, and electronic fingerprint of the archive you have just created. The
hash is a string calculated from your file(s) and can be used to guarantee that the file has not been
modified since you created it. Any change to the file will result in a different hash value.

There are many ways of calculating this; two common options are decribed below.
If the appropriate functionality is available in your Windows environment: Select the compressed
archive in the Windows file manager, (eg. SOFTCOMP-2020-0010-EDWALD-TECHNICAL-BID.zip) and
right click. One of the options to select is “CRC SHA >”. Hovering over the “ >” brings a few more
options to light, select the SHA-1 option. A smaller dialog pops up: (see Figure 3, SHA1 below).

Procedure for Submission of Electronic Offers in 2 Sealed Files

Page 3 of 5
Clicking Ctrl-C grabs the contents of this box. You can close the box after copying the contents. (You
can paste the contents into a mail message, for instance.)

The “SHA1 “Hash”

Figure 3 SHA1

If this CRC SHA function is not available by ‘right-click’ on your Windows version, you can also do this
from ‘the command line’, a slightly more complicated way. Open a CMD window (see sidebar
below), move to the folder where your archive is, and execute the command:
“certutil –hashfile SOFTCOMP-2020-0010-EDWALD-TECHNICAL-BID.zip sha1”
where you obviously replace the name of the file with your real file name. The output of this
command is the SHA1 “hash”. You can copy-and-paste the string for use in the email (below).

Sidebar: How to open a CMD window in Windows:

The way to open a Command window (or ‘terminal’) depends on the version of Windows you
have. The different methods are very clearly described in the following article, but a quick
internet search will find multiple descriptions.

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-open-command-prompt-2618089

Finally,

1. Create a new email, Subject: example- “SOFTCOMP-2020-0010-EDWALD”. Add the two

compressed archives, that is, the Technical Offer and the Financial Offer archives as
attachments. The text of the email should contain the SHA1 information for both archives.
SEND THIS TO: sealed_bids@ctbto.org (note that there is an underscore “_” between
“sealed” and “bids”). (Should the email become larger than your mail system allows, you can
try sending the two archives in separate emails. Take care to include the right SHA1
information with each file.)

2. Create a new email, Subject: example- “SOFTCOMP-2020-2010-EDWALD-Technical Offer”

the contents of which must contain the Encryption Key for the Technical Offer (the password

Procedure for Submission of Electronic Offers in 2 Sealed Files

Page 4 of 5
you used when creating the Technical Offer). (Again, note the underscore between ‘bid’ and
‘keys’.)
SEND THIS TO: bid_keys@ctbto.org

IMPORTANT NOTE: As stated above, only send the Encryption Key for the Technical Offer to
the bid_keys@ctbto.org mailbox when sending your Technical and Financial Offer to the
sealed_bids@ctbto.org mailbox. You shall only send the Encryption Key for the Financial
Offer to the Commission if and when informed by the Commission that your Technical Offer
had been evaluated as “technically acceptable”.

The Financial Offer Encryption Key will need to be provided by you to the same e-mail
(bid_keys@ctbto.org) within 48 hours of the Commission’s request, clearly marked in
Subject: Encryption Key for (example):“SOFTCOMP 2020-2010 EDWALD-Financial Offer”. If
your Offer is not considered “technically acceptable”, the Commission will not request an
Encryption Key for your Financial Offer, and it will remain unopened.

As mentioned above, should you have questions or difficulties, please send an e-mail to
procurement@ctbto.org.

We recommend that you leave yourself plenty of time to complete the

above process (including getting any necessary assistance from the
Commission), as late offers will not be accepted.

Procedure for Submission of Electronic Offers in 2 Sealed Files

Page 5 of 5
 MODEL CONTRACT
(Shopping Cart No. )
(SAP No. )

between

THE PREPARATORY COMMISSION

FOR THE COMPREHENSIVE NUCLEAR-TEST-BAN TREATY

ORGANIZATION

and

THE NAME OF THE CONTRACTOR

for

THE PROVISION OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR THE

MAINTENANCE OF THE ATMOSPHERIC TRANSPORT MODELLING
PIPELINE WITH ITS DATA ACQUISITION, PROCESSING AND
DISSEMINATION ON A CALL-OFF BASIS

This Contract comprises this cover page, a table of contents, 9 (nine) pages of text, a signatories page, a List of
Annexes and 3 (three) Annexes (A to C)

October 2024
 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 DEFINITIONS .................................................................................................................................................. 2

2 AIM OF THE CONTRACT ............................................................................................................................. 2

3 ENTRY INTO FORCE AND DURATION OF THE CONTRACT ............................................................. 2

4 COMMENCEMENT AND COMPLETION OF THE WORK .................................................................... 2

5 STANDARD OF WORK .................................................................................................................................. 2

6 RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CONTRACTOR.......................................................................................... 3

7 ORGANISATION OF CONTRACT IMPLEMENTATION ........................................................................ 3

8 WARRANTY..................................................................................................................................................... 3

9 PERMITS, NOTICES, LAWS AND ORDINANCES.................................................................................... 3

10 PROTECTION OF PERSONS AND PROPERTY ....................................................................................... 4

11 RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE COMMISSION ........................................................................................... 5

12 CONTRACT PRICE ........................................................................................................................................ 5

13 PAYMENT ........................................................................................................................................................ 6

14 TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF WORK .................................................................................................... 7

15 DELAYS AND EXTENSION OF TIME ........................................................................................................ 7

16 CONTRACTOR’S CLAIMS AND REMEDIES............................................................................................ 7

17 ENTIRE AGREEMENT .................................................................................................................................. 7

18 DISCREPANCIES ............................................................................................................................................ 7

19 SEVERABILITY .............................................................................................................................................. 8

20 NO WAIVER ..................................................................................................................................................... 8

21 CONTRACT AMENDMENT .......................................................................................................................... 8

22 TRANSMISSION OF NOTICES AND OTHER DOCUMENTS ................................................................. 8

23 EFFECTIVENESS ............................................................................................................................................ 9

24 SOFTWARE LICENCE................................................................................................................................... 9

LIST OF ANNEXES ............................................................................................................................................... 11

Contract No. 2024-XXXX - Provision of Software Engineering Services for the Maintenance of the Atmospheric
Transport Modelling Pipeline With its Data Acquisition, Processing and Dissemination on a Call-off Basis –
October 2024
 2

MODEL CONTRACT

This CONTRACT is entered into between the PREPARATORY COMMISSION FOR THE
COMPREHENSIVE NUCLEAR-TEST-BAN TREATY ORGANIZATION (hereinafter referred to as the
“Commission”), having its office located at Wagramer Strasse 5, 1400 Vienna, Austria, and [NAME OF
THE CONTRACTOR] (hereinafter referred to as the “Contractor”), having its registered office located at
___________________ [address] (both hereinafter individually referred to as the “Party” and collectively
as the “Parties”).

The Parties hereto mutually agree as follows:

1 DEFINITIONS

In this Contract, words and expressions shall have the same meanings as respectively assigned to
them in the General Conditions of Contract and the Terms of Reference. In addition, the following
words and expressions shall have the meanings hereby assigned to them:

“Annex A” means the Commission’s General Conditions of Contract.

“Annex B” means the Commission’s Terms of Reference.

“Annex C” means the Contractor’s Proposal.

“Contract” means this document, its Annexes and any further modifications or such further
documents as may be expressly incorporated in this Contract by the Parties in accordance with
Clause 21 (Contract Amendment) below.

“Contractor” means the legal entity named in the preamble of this Contract or its successors. The
Contractor shall be the only interface for all matters pertaining to execution of the Work under this
Contract.

“Party(ies)” means the Commission and/or the Contractor, as the context requires.

“Rule(s)” means any regulation(s), official directive(s), ordinance(s), guideline(s), customs and
practices.

“Services” means the activities or tasks to be performed by the Contractor under the Contract as
requested by the Commission under the WO.

“Work” means all the goods and services to be provided by the Contractor, including its affiliates
and/or subcontractors, in order to fulfil all its obligations under the Contract, and the remedying of
any defects therein.

Contract No. 2024-XXXX - Provision of Software Engineering Services for the Maintenance of the Atmospheric
Transport Modelling Pipeline With its Data Acquisition, Processing and Dissemination on a Call-off Basis –
October 2024
 2

“Work Orders (‘WO’)” mean orders issued by the Commission which specify the (parts or
portions of) Work to be performed by the Contractor upon request by the Commission in accordance
with Annexes B and C.

“Software” means the software and the source code described in Annex B and developed by the
Contractor under this Contract.

2 AIM OF THE CONTRACT

The aim of this Contract is to provide Services namely, Provision of Software Engineering Services
for the Maintenance of the Atmospheric Transport Modelling Pipeline With its Data Acquisition,
Processing and Dissemination on a Call-off Basis (hereinafter referred to as the “Work”) to the
Commission.

3 ENTRY INTO FORCE AND DURATION OF THE CONTRACT

The Contract shall enter into force upon the date of the last signature by the authorized
Representatives of the Parties (hereinafter referred to as the “Effective Date”) and shall be valid
until the Parties fulfill all their obligations hereunder.

4 COMMENCEMENT AND COMPLETION OF THE WORK

(a) The Commission shall have the right, but not obligation, to call-off the Works in the form of WO
within a period of three (3) years from the Effective Date or the performance of a maximum of
750 (seven hundred and fifty) person-days by the Contractor, whichever occurs first (hereinafter
referred to as the “Call-off Period”). The commencement and completion date for the
performance of the Works (hereinafter referred to as “Commencement Date” and “Completion
Date”, respectively) will be set out in the respective WO.

(b) The Commission shall have the option to extend the Call-off Period two (2) times, each extension
of one (1) year or the performance of a maximum of 250 (two hundred and fifty) person-days by
the Contractor, whichever occurs first subject to the availability of funds, under the same terms
and conditions as those of this Contract. The Commission will inform the Contractor about its
intention to extend the Work at least one (1) month prior to the expiry of the relevant Call-off
Period. The optional extensions will be implemented through a written notification to the
Contractor by the Commission.

5 STANDARD OF WORK

The Contractor shall perform the Work in a workmanlike manner in conformity with standard
professional practices, using qualified personnel and in strict accordance with the Contract. The
Contractor shall furnish the highest skill and judgement and cooperate with the Commission,
including all the Commission's consultants and agents, in best furthering the interests of the
Commission and the aim of this Contract. The Contractor shall provide efficient business
administration and supervision, and it shall perform the Work in the best way and in the most
expeditious and economical manner consistent with the requirements of the Contract.

Contract No. 2024-XXXX - Provision of Software Engineering Services for the Maintenance of the Atmospheric
Transport Modelling Pipeline With its Data Acquisition, Processing and Dissemination on a Call-off Basis –
October 2024
 3

6 RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CONTRACTOR

(a) The Contractor shall provide the Work described in Annexes B and C.

(b) The Contractor shall provide qualified English-speaking personnel as necessary to perform
the Work under this Contract. The key persons shall be available for possible tasks related to
the Work throughout the duration of the Contract period. Any replacement of the key
personnel shall be made in accordance with Clause 7 of Annex A.

(c) The Contractor shall provide the Software and Services described in Annexes B and C.

(d) The Contractor acknowledges that after the completion of the Work under this Contract, the
Commission shall own the Software and source code described in Annex B and developed
under this Contract, and the Contractor shall have no rights in that Software or source code
unless granted by the Commission under Clause 24 of this Contract or in writing under a
separate agreement”.

7 ORGANISATION OF CONTRACT IMPLEMENTATION

(a) During the term of the Contract, the Commission has the right, but not the obligation, to initiate
performance of the Work through the issuance of individual WOs in accordance with Annex B
based on the firm fixed unit prices set out in Annex C. The Contractor shall not perform any
Work if not requested by the Commission through an WO. However, the Contractor may
propose a WO for the Commission’s evaluation.

(b) The WO issued by the Commission shall be the basis for acceptance, invoicing and payment of
any Work performed by the Contractor.

(c) The performance of the Work shall be made in full in accordance with the respective WO.
Partial service performance of a WO will not be accepted and reimbursed without prior written
agreement by the Commission.

(d) The Work shall be performed at the place and within the approved Work Plan specified in the
relevant WO.

(e) The Commission may revise a WO as and when it may deem necessary.

8 WARRANTY

(a) The provisions of Clause 28 of Annex A shall apply to the Work performed by the
Contractor.

(b) The Contractor shall ensure that the Commission shall experience no loss of service or
support level by sub-contractors or repair agents acting on behalf of the Contractor.

9 PERMITS, NOTICES, LAWS AND ORDINANCES

(a) The Contractor shall obtain and pay for all permits and inspections necessary for the proper
execution and completion of the Work that are customarily obtained upon execution of this
Contract No. 2024-XXXX - Provision of Software Engineering Services for the Maintenance of the Atmospheric
Transport Modelling Pipeline With its Data Acquisition, Processing and Dissemination on a Call-off Basis –
October 2024
 4

Contract and that are legally required at the time the Proposal is received by the
Commission. This shall include, but not be limited to, work permits, visa, or similar.

(b) The Contractor shall give all notices required by the nature of the Work.

(c) If the Contractor notices that the Work or any part thereof required under this Contract is
not in accordance with applicable laws and Rules, or with technical or safety standards, it
shall promptly notify the Commission thereof in writing.

10 PROTECTION OF PERSONS AND PROPERTY

(a) The Contractor shall be responsible for initiating, maintaining and supervising all safety
precautions and programmes in connection with the Work.

(b) The Contractor shall take all reasonable precautions for the safety of, and shall provide all
reasonable protection to prevent damage, injury and loss to:

(i) all employees on the Commission’s premises and all other persons who may be
affected thereby;

(ii) all the Work, equipment, its spare parts, materials and supplies to be incorporated
therein, whether in storage on or off the Commission’s premises, which are under
the care, custody or control of the Contractor or any of its subcontractors; and

(iii) other property on the Commission’s premises or adjacent thereto.

(c) The Contractor shall give all notices and comply with all applicable laws and Rules bearing
on the safety of persons and property and/or their protection from damage, injury and loss.

(d) The Contractor shall erect and maintain, as required by existing conditions and progress of
the Work, all reasonable safeguards for the safety and protection of persons and property,
including posting danger signs and other warnings against hazards and promulgating safety
regulations.

(e) When the use or storage of combustible, explosive or other hazardous materials is necessary
for the execution of the Work, the Contractor shall exercise the utmost care and shall carry
on such activities under the supervision of properly qualified personnel.

(f) The Contractor shall be responsible for the prevention of accidents on the Commission’s
premises during the execution of the Work.

(g) In any emergency affecting the safety of persons or property, the Contractor shall promptly
act to prevent threatened damage, injury and loss.

(h) The Contractor shall promptly remedy all damage and loss to any property, referred to in
Sub-Clause (b) above, caused in whole or in part by the Contractor, any subcontractor, or
anyone directly or indirectly employed by any of them, or by anyone for whose acts any of
them may be liable and for which the Contractor is responsible under Sub-Clause (b) above,
except damage and loss attributable to the acts or omissions of the Commission or anyone
directly or indirectly employed by it, or of anyone for whose acts the Commission may be

Contract No. 2024-XXXX - Provision of Software Engineering Services for the Maintenance of the Atmospheric
Transport Modelling Pipeline With its Data Acquisition, Processing and Dissemination on a Call-off Basis –
October 2024
 5

liable, and not attributable to the fault or negligence of the Contractor. The foregoing
obligations of the Contractor are in addition to its obligations under Clause 9 of Annex A.

11 RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE COMMISSION

The Commission shall designate members of its staff to act as points of contact for the Contractor
to ensure that the Work is carried out in accordance with Annexes B and C and shall promptly
notify the Contractor thereof. The Commission shall respond promptly to requests for information
by the Contractor regarding the Work.

12 CONTRACT PRICE

(a) The Commission shall pay to the Contractor, in consideration of the full and proper
performance of its obligations under the Contract, as follows:

(i) For each WO issued during the firm Call-off Period specified in Clause 4(a) above, the
firm fixed day rate pursuant to Annex C and, if applicable, the variable costs (travel
costs and other expenditure) pursuant to Annex C;

(ii) subject to sub-clause (b) below, for each WO issued during the first optional extension
of the Call-off Period specified in Clause 4(b) above, the firm fixed unit prices pursuant
to Annex C and, if applicable, the variable costs (travel costs and other expenditure)
pursuant to Annex C;

(iii) subject to sub-clause (b) below, for each WO issued during the second optional
extension of the Call-off Period specified in Clause 4(b) above, the firm fixed unit
prices pursuant to Annex C and, if applicable, the variable costs (travel costs and other
expenditure) pursuant to Annex C;

(hereinafter referred to as the “Contract Price”).

(b) In the event that the Commission decides to extend the Call-off Period before the end of the
initial 12-month period, as foreseen in Clause 4 of this Contract, the Contactor will be
reimbursed for the person-days called off in this period as follows:

(i) until the expiry of the initial Call-off Period, the daily rate set out in subparagraph (a)(i)
above;

(ii) after the expiry of the initial Call-off Period, the daily rate agreed for the optional
extension (subparagraph (a)(ii), or (iii) above).

(c) The firm fixed unit prices set out in Annex C shall be held fixed for the entire duration of the
Contract.
(d) The Contract Price shall cover all costs and expenses incurred by the Contractor for the full
and proper performance of all relevant obligations under the Contract (including travel,
allowances, management and remuneration of the personnel, national income tax, medical
insurance, and social security contributions).

Contract No. 2024-XXXX - Provision of Software Engineering Services for the Maintenance of the Atmospheric
Transport Modelling Pipeline With its Data Acquisition, Processing and Dissemination on a Call-off Basis –
October 2024
 6

(e) [PLEASE IDENTIFY WHETHER TAXES ARE APPLICABLE UNDER THIS

CONTRACT AND SELECT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS AT THE TIME
OF AWARD]:

The Contractor shall be reimbursed by the Commission for such taxes on the basis of actual
amounts paid and duly documented by the Contractor as per Clause 13(e) below.

OR

No Taxes are applicable under this Contract.

13 PAYMENT

(a) The Contract Price shall be paid upon satisfactory completion of each deliverable for the
Work and satisfactory completion of each WO and submission of the following:

i) Invoice drawn up in accordance with this Clause 13;

ii) Any other documentation that might be required under the applicable WO.

(b) The Commission will make the payments to the Contractor on the basis of an invoice
submitted by the Contractor as per Sub-Clause (d) below. All payments shall be made within
30 (thirty) days of the receipt and acceptance of the invoice, provided that the Work has been
satisfactorily completed and has been accepted by the Commission.

(c) The making of any payment hereunder by the Commission shall not be construed as an
unconditional acceptance by the Commission of the Work accomplished by the Contractor
up to the time of such payment.

(d) The Contractor shall submit an invoice electronically, from the Contractor’s official e-mail
address in PDF format, duly signed and stamped by the Contractor and submitted to the
Commission’s email address specified in Clause 22 below. Each invoice shall contain the
Contract number (CTBTO and SAP numbers), detailed banking instructions, including the
name and address of the Contractor’s bank, account number, account holder’s name and
SWIFT, IBAN and/or ABA codes for payment by electronic transfer.

[PARAGRAPH (e) BELOW ONLY APPLIES IF THERE ARE TAXES (SEE CLAUSE 12 (d)
ABOVE). IF NO TAXES ARE APPLICABLE UNDER THIS CONTRACT, PARAGRAPH
(e) SHOULD BE OMITTED.]

(e) Applicable Taxes payable by the Contractor and/or its subcontractor(s) in respect of the Work
shall be invoiced separately or be separately identified on the invoice. Actual payment of the
Taxes must primarily be supported by original documentation such as invoices, bank account
statements, transfer orders, or receipts issued by the local tax or customs authorities. If
submission of such original documentation is not possible for justifiable reasons, their copies
could be accepted by the Commission provided that they are duly signed and certified by
local tax or customs authorities. In case the currency in which the Taxes are levied is not the
currency of the Contract, bank statements (or equivalent) showing the exchange rate used for
the conversion should be submitted to the Commission, in addition to any other supporting
documentation.

Contract No. 2024-XXXX - Provision of Software Engineering Services for the Maintenance of the Atmospheric
Transport Modelling Pipeline With its Data Acquisition, Processing and Dissemination on a Call-off Basis –
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14 TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF WORK

The Commission may, at any time, temporarily suspend the Work, in whole or in part, being
performed by the Contractor under this Contract by giving 30 (thirty) days’ advance notice in writing
to the Contractor. The Work so suspended shall be resumed by the Contractor on the basis of a
revised time schedule and on terms and conditions to be mutually agreed upon between the Parties.

15 DELAYS AND EXTENSION OF TIME

(a) If the Contractor is delayed at any time in the progress of the Work by any act or omission
of the Commission or by any of its employees, or by any other contractor employed by the
Commission, or by changes in the Work ordered by the Commission, or by any causes
beyond the Contractor’s reasonable control, or by any other cause which the Commission
determines may justify the delay, then the time for completion of the Work shall be extended
by an amendment to this Contract in accordance with Clause 21 below for such reasonable
time as the Commission may determine.

(b) Any request for extension of the time for reasons referred to in Clause 15(a) above shall be
submitted to the Commission not later than 20 (twenty) days after the commencement of
the delay, otherwise said request shall be deemed to be waived. Such request shall state
grounds for the delay and shall provide an estimate of the probable effect of such delay on
the progress of the Work.

16 CONTRACTOR’S CLAIMS AND REMEDIES

In no event shall the Contractor make any claim against the Commission for or be entitled to
additional costs or compensation resulting from any delays in the progress or completion of the
Work or any portion thereof, whether caused by the acts or omissions of the Commission,
including, but not limited to, damages related to overheads, loss of productivity, acceleration due
to delay and inefficiency. The Contractor’s sole remedy in such event shall be an extension of time
for completion of the Work, provided the Contractor otherwise meets the requirements and
conditions set forth in this Contract.

17 ENTIRE AGREEMENT

This Contract represents the final agreement in respect of the Work and shall supersede all prior
agreements and representations between the Parties in this respect. Annexes A to C shall constitute
integral parts of this Contract and shall be of full force and effect.

18 DISCREPANCIES

If there are discrepancies or conflicts between any of the documents that are part of this Contract,
the document to prevail shall be given precedence in the following order:

(i) This document;

(ii) The Commission’s General Conditions of Contract (Annex A);

(iii) The Commission’s Terms of Reference (Annex B);

Contract No. 2024-XXXX - Provision of Software Engineering Services for the Maintenance of the Atmospheric
Transport Modelling Pipeline With its Data Acquisition, Processing and Dissemination on a Call-off Basis –
October 2024
 8

(iv) The Contractor’s Proposal (Annex C);

(v) The relevant WO.

19 SEVERABILITY

If any term and/or provision of this Contract is or becomes invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the
validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions of this Contract shall not in any way
be affected or impaired thereby.

20 NO WAIVER

Failure by a Party to enforce a right shall not be deemed to be a waiver of that right unless otherwise
expressly provided in this Contract.

21 CONTRACT AMENDMENT

No modification of, or change in, this Contract, or waiver of any of its provisions, or additional
contractual relationship with the Contractor shall be valid unless approved in the form of a written
amendment to this Contract, signed by duly authorized Representatives of the Parties.

22 TRANSMISSION OF NOTICES AND OTHER DOCUMENTS

Notices, invoices, reports and other documentation under the Contract shall be delivered or sent to
the relevant Party as follows (or to such person/title, address or email address as the Party may
substitute by notice after the date of the Contract):

(a) The Commission:

For Contractual Issues:
Chief, Procurement Section
Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization
(CTBTO)
Vienna International Centre
Wagramerstrasse 5, P.O. Box 1200
1400 Vienna, Austria
Tel: + (43 1) 26030 6350
E-mail: procurement@ctbto.org

For submission of invoices:

Accounts Payable
CTBTO Financial Services Section
Vienna International Centre
Wagramerstrasse 5, P.O. Box 1200
1400 Vienna, Austria
Tel: + (43 1) 26030 6292
E-Mail: Payable_Invoices@ctbto.org

For invoices related enquiries:

Payments@ctbto.org

Contract No. 2024-XXXX - Provision of Software Engineering Services for the Maintenance of the Atmospheric
Transport Modelling Pipeline With its Data Acquisition, Processing and Dissemination on a Call-off Basis –
October 2024
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(b) The Contractor:

For Contractual Issues and Invoices and Related Enquiries:

Name: …………….
Title ……………….
Address ………………
Tel: ……………………
Email: ………………..

23 EFFECTIVENESS

(a) Except as provided below, any communication in connection with the Contract will be
deemed to be given as follows:

(i) if delivered in person, at the time of delivery;

(ii) if by registered mail or courier, when received;

(iv) if by electronic communication, when retrievable by the Commission in document

form.

(b) A communication given under Clause 23(a) above that is received or becomes retrievable on
a non-working day or after business hours at the seat of the Commission will only be deemed
to be given on the next working day of the Commission.

24 SOFTWARE LICENCE
The Commission hereby grants the Contractor a non-exclusive, non-transferable, irrevocable license
to use the Software for the duration of the Contract and for the purpose of doing the Work under the
Contract. The use of the source code is only for the duration of the Contract and for the Work
required under the Contract. All title, ownership rights and intellectual property rights in and to the
Software shall remain with the Commission. The Contractor acquires no title, right or interest in the
Software, other than the license(s) specifically granted herein by the Commission.

Contract No. 2024-XXXX - Provision of Software Engineering Services for the Maintenance of the Atmospheric
Transport Modelling Pipeline With its Data Acquisition, Processing and Dissemination on a Call-off Basis –
October 2024
 10

IN WITNESS hereof, the duly authorized Representatives of the Parties have executed this Contract:

For and on behalf of the PREPARATORY COMMISSION FOR THE COMPREHENSIVE

NUCLEAR-TEST-BAN TREATY ORGANIZATION:

________________________________________________________________________
Name and Position

Date: __________________ Place: Vienna, Austria

For and on behalf of [REGISTERED NAME OF THE CONTRACTOR]:

_________________________________________________________________________
Name and Position

Date: ___________________ Place: ______________

Contract No. 2024-XXXX - Provision of Software Engineering Services for the Maintenance of the Atmospheric
Transport Modelling Pipeline With its Data Acquisition, Processing and Dissemination on a Call-off Basis –
October 2024
 11

LIST OF ANNEXES

ANNEX A: THE COMMISSION’S GENERAL CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT

ANNEX B: THE COMMISSION’S TERMS OF REFERENCE

ANNEX C: THE CONTRACTOR’S PROPOSAL

Contract No. 2024-XXXX - Provision of Software Engineering Services for the Maintenance of the Atmospheric
Transport Modelling Pipeline With its Data Acquisition, Processing and Dissemination on a Call-off Basis –
October 2024
 ANNEX B

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Provision of Software Engineering Services for the Maintenance of

the Atmospheric Transport Modelling Pipeline with its Data
Acquisition, Processing and Dissemination
ON A CALL-OFF BASIS

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1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 3
2. BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................. 4
3. ORGANIZATION OF WORK ..................................................................................... 6
3.1 WO Project Call-off ................................................................................................................ 6
3.1.1 Initiating Work ................................................................................................................ 6
3.1.2 Completion and Acceptance............................................................................................ 6
4. SCOPE OF WORK ........................................................................................................ 7
4.1 Objectives ............................................................................................................................... 7
4.2 Requested Services ................................................................................................................. 7
4.2.1 Familiarization with the ATM pipeline (if applicable) ................................................... 7
4.2.2 Selection of tasks ............................................................................................................. 7
4.2.3 Operational support ........................................................................................................ 8
4.3 Output and Deliverables.......................................................................................................... 8
5. WORK LOCATION AND TIMEFRAME .................................................................. 9
5.1 Location of Performance......................................................................................................... 9
5.2 Timeframe ............................................................................................................................... 9
6. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CONTRACTOR ...................................................... 10
6.1 Contractor's responsibilities .................................................................................................. 10
6.1.1 Constitution of the Contractor's key personnel ............................................................. 11
6.1.2 Maintenance of the key personnel, Conditions of Amendment ..................................... 11
6.1.3 Level of detail for (software) project description ......................................................... 12
6.2 Contractor's requirements ..................................................................................................... 12
6.3 Contractor's key personnel requirements .............................................................................. 13
7. RISK MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................... 15

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1. INTRODUCTION
The Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation (hereafter
referred to as "the Commission", "CTBTO" or "PTS"), located in Vienna, Austria, is the international
organization establishing the global verification system under the provisions of the Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which bans any nuclear weapon test explosion or nuclear explosion
below or above the Earth's surface, underwater and on the surface of the water or in the atmosphere.
The verification system includes the International Monitoring System (IMS), a global network of
monitoring stations that employ waveform technologies (seismic, hydro-acoustic and infrasound) and
radionuclide technologies (particulate and noble gases), a global satellite communications infrastructure
(hereinafter referred to as the GCI), an International Data Centre (IDC) and the capability to carry out
on-site inspections (OSI).

The IDC supports the verification responsibilities of the Commission by providing data products and
services for effective global monitoring. The IDC collects and analyses data from the IMS network to
detect and locate possible nuclear events. At the IDC, data are automatically processed by computer
algorithms and then interactively analyzed and reviewed by human analysts. Near-real-time data and
data products/bulletins are distributed to the State Signatories.

More information on CTBTO is available at www.ctbto.org.

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2. BACKGROUND
The CTBTO operates software to process time-series data from the three waveform technologies
Seismic, Hydro-acoustic, and Infrasound (SHI) sensors worldwide. The data is transmitted to the IDC
in Vienna in near-real-time (within 5 min). The radionuclide (RN) technology complements the three
waveform technologies. It is the only one that can confirm whether an explosion detected and located
by the other technologies indicates a nuclear test.

The Commission has developed an Atmospheric Transport Modelling (ATM) pipeline working with
meteorological data and simulations running backward in time to produce Source-Receptor-Sensitivity
(SRS) fields to link detections at radionuclide stations from the International Monitoring System (IMS)
to the possible source area from which radionuclides may originate. When used forward in time, ATM
can estimate which IMS radionuclide stations are likely to be affected, given a radioactive release
scenario. ATM is an important element for the IDC to fulfil its mandate and is constantly evolving.

The pipeline currently runs on an operational RHEL 7 machine and automatically produces above
mentioned SRS fields. Further post-processing with additional software components produces more
products, such as Field-of-Regards (FOR), Possible Source Regions (PSR), and several images. Other
products, including those in forward mode, are produced manually on request in the case of an event.
SRS fields are generated operationally (24/7). If production is stopped, immediate support will be
required. ATM products must be available 99% of the time. The ATM environment, which run (time
shifted) the same production software, consists of a development, a testing, and an operational
environment, which are all identical. The Contractor shall work on the development system while
assisting the CTBTO staff in migrating the software to the testing and operational environment.

The ATM pipeline consists of a chain of processing elements arranged so that each element's output is
the next one's input. There are four major elements: acquisition, modelling, post-processing, and
visualization. The major elements then contain their own pipelines (names of the application software
packages currently in use are given in parentheses) as follows:

Acquisition: Retrieval of suitable meteorological input data (from ECMWF and NCEP) required as
input data for ATM modelling. These data need to be transferred to CTBTO and pre-processed.
(atmpipeline)

Modelling: Combining multiple input data (e.g. meteorological data, radionuclide samples, IMS station
information, etc.) for ATM modelling with the Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART
results in multiple SRS fields which are related to either RN sample data (backward modelling) or a
defined source (forward modelling). (atmpipeline, flexpart-ctbto, flexpart2ctbt)

Post-processing: Post-processing is based on the SRS fields and determines the output such as the FOR
and PSR. (atmpipeline, srs2for)

Visualization: Visualization of the post-processed output in both batch/automatic (atmpipeline, forplot,

srsplot) and interactive mode. The latter mode is covered by the application WEB-GRAPE. Manual
products in both backward and forward mode are generated on request.

Acquisition and Modelling are the most computationally demanding elements performed at the IDC.
Post-processing and Visualization do not necessarily require 24/7 operations. They can also be done
upon request and in a decentralized way.

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The ATM pipeline software (atmpipeline) is the complex and comprehensive part of the ATM system
which drives the automatic (operational) execution of all single components. This software package is
mostly written in object-oriented Perl. The Lagrangian dispersion model FLEXPART is an open-source,
community-maintained software, which is optimized for CTBTO’s specific needs. FLEXPART, as well
as a suite of smaller tools (flexpart2ctbt, srs2for, forplot, srsplot) are written in FORTRAN. Additional
tools for non-operational use, new tools under development and a graphical user interface to start
manual ATM simulations are written in Python.

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3. ORGANIZATION OF WORK
The Commission may ask for Services as described in Section 4.

3.1 WO Project Call-off

The work will be called off in the form of Work Orders (WOs). Each WO shall include the exact scope
of work and the required deliverables to be performed and delivered by the Contractor.

3.1.1 Initiating Work

Since the IDC follows the Scrum software development methodology, WOs generally follow Scrum
sprints and cover software development services to be performed within approximately four (4) weeks.
Therefore, a WO is issued during a sprint planning meeting, and the work items to be addressed in that
WO (sprint) are recorded in the Commission's Jira-based tracking system. Initiation of the sprint
constitutes the issuance of the WO. In the case of a WO issued outside of the Scrum framework, the
Commission will supply the work to be performed in writing to the Contractor. The Contractor shall
respond with an estimate of the number of person-days required to complete the work and the delivery
date. After the estimate and delivery date are accepted, the Commission will issue the WO to the
Contractor.

The Contractor shall perform the work only after receipt of the WO.

3.1.2 Completion and Acceptance

At the end of a particular WO, the Contractor shall submit to the Commission the deliverables within
the period of performance stated in the respective WO. The deliverables may include:

• Updated Software Design Documents.

• Updated Software User Guide.
• Description of how to use the programming interfaces developed under this Contract.
• Updated source code or configuration files.
• WO Report.
Typically, in accordance with the Scrum methodology, the Contractor will present the work performed
during the sprint, including demonstrations of the newly developed software, within the Sprint Review
meeting.

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4. SCOPE OF WORK
This section describes the scope of work under the Contract.

At the time when the work is called off (see Section 3 for the organization of work), the detailed scope
of the Services shall be defined.

4.1 Objectives

The Commission seeks to establish a Call-Off Contract under these Terms of Reference (hereinafter
referred to as "ToR"). The ToR forms the technical framework for supplying general software
engineering services for ATM data acquisition, processing, and dissemination.

The Contractor shall support the Commission in the Services defined under Section 4.2 to maintain and
improve the ATM pipeline.

4.2 Requested Services

4.2.1 Familiarization with the ATM pipeline (if applicable)

Should the Contractor not be familiar with the ATM pipeline, it shall interview and work with the staff
of the Commission to study and learn about the CTBTO ATM pipeline environment (ATM pipeline) to
be able to perform the Services specified in Section 4. This familiarization is expected to take place
only once.

The familiarization is expected to take up to 60 person-days during the first call-off period, depending
on the Contractor's prior experience with the CTBTO ATM pipeline environment.

4.2.2 Selection of tasks

The Contractor shall be required to:

• Ensure smooth operation of the development ATM pipeline instance;

• Provide second-level support and maintenance for existing (custom) software systems by
troubleshooting, implementing software patches and updates, migrating for software releases,
etc.
• Migrate the ATM pipeline software from RHEL 7 to 9;
• Audit Software Code in preparation for upgrades/enhancements;
• Provide proactive and/or reactive support services;
• Perform system analysis and translate into software requirements, architecture, and design
using Agile software development methodologies;
• Support implementation of new FLEXPART versions (e.g. the newest community version) to
the ATM pipeline;
• Support implementation/maintenance of the High-Resolution ATM (HRATM) pipeline;
• Support migrating ATM software to IDC’s HPC system and perform optimization analysis to
achieve the best possible performance;
• Support the deployment of software under development following IDC change management
processes;

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 • Integrate the ATM pipeline in the existing continuous integration/delivery framework;
• Migrate ATM software to use the actual time retrieved from the database instead of
configuration files;
• Write, review, and update software documentation and procedures;
• Provide training or other services associated with operating the software;
• Unit, black-box, acceptance, and performance testing for the systems being
developed/maintained;
• Enhance workflow status monitoring, logging, and reporting;
• Scheduling of defined deliverables and estimating the effort to execute the work;
• Perform other duties as assigned.

4.2.3 Operational support

Considering that SRS files are generated operationally (24/7), immediate support will be required if a
critical situation arises. A critical situation is arising in a case when the production is stopped or is
foreseen to be stopped due to upcoming changes to the pipeline which is outside of the CTBTO’s
influence. ATM products must be available 99% of the time; for that reason, there is a need to prepare
for the unexpected. Upon the Commission's request, the Contractor shall provide this support off-site,
within 12 hours, on a 24/7 basis. As described in Section 3.1.1, the deliverables shall be defined when
work is called-off.

4.3 Output and Deliverables

The Contractor shall submit a report for each WO, as defined in Section 3.1.2, to the Commission
electronically via email and within the first five (5) working days after the WO finished, describing all
the activities performed during the preceding WO, including but not limited to:

• Summary of tasks done.

• Summary of problems that have arisen.
• Status of tickets, bug reports, and possible fixes (if applicable).
• Status and updated plan for all active development tasks.
• Time spent on each activity worked on.
All documentation shall adhere to the IDC Software Documentation Standard, which expresses precise
requirements for elaborating, reviewing, approving, and using IDC software-related documents. This
Standard will be shared with the Contractor at the start of the project. Guidelines and recommendations
from this Standard are proposed for the deliverables described in Section 3.1.2.

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5. WORK LOCATION AND TIMEFRAME

5.1 Location of Performance

For all tasks, the Contractor's personnel will be expected to work off-site of the premises of the
Commission in Vienna, Austria. The Commission will provide the Contractor remote access to the
relevant infrastructure in the PTS network. The infrastructure comprises but is not limited to, software,
servers, web services, LANs, and databases.

The Contractor may be required to travel to the Headquarters of the Commission in Vienna, Austria, as
applicable. There may be up to two trips per year with five (5) on-site days per trip. Alternatively, the
Commission shall agree on a single trip with the consumption of ten (10) on-site days per year before
issuing the WOs. The Contractor may send up to two persons per trip. In case on-site work is required
at the PTS headquarters in Vienna, Austria, the Commission will provide at its premises a suitable work
environment (workspace, meeting rooms for presentations and trainings, standard stationery, internet
connection) to the Contractor's personnel to perform the services under the Contract, as required.

All travel arrangements shall be the Contractor’s responsibility if travel is required. The Commission
shall reimburse travel costs (other than daily subsistence allowance (DSA) based on the most direct and
economical route upon presentation of supporting documents and in accordance with the Contract
provisions. Per-diem amounts shall be based on the applicable United Nations DSA rates published by
the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC).

5.2 Timeframe

The Commission seeks to establish a Contract with a 3-year Call-off Period or the performance of a
maximum of 750 (seven hundred and fifty) person-days by the Contractor, whichever occurs first.

The Commission shall have the option to extend the Call-off Period two (2) times, each extension in
the duration of one (1) year or the performance of a maximum of 250 (two hundred and fifty) person-
days by the Contractor, whichever occurs first, subject to the availability of funds.

The commencement and completion date for the performance of the work will be set out in the
respective WO.

Maximum person-days
Years per Call-off Period
Initial Call-Off Period 3 750
1st Extension 1 250
2nd Extension 1 250
Contract Total 1250

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6. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CONTRACTOR

6.1 Contractor's responsibilities

For off-site work, the Contractor shall provide its own infrastructure, hardware, and software
environment necessary to complete its work under the Contract. The Contractor shall communicate with
the Commission via video conferencing (preferably MS Teams), electronic mail, or telephone. All costs
incurred by the Contractor because of such communication with the Commission for the performance
of work under the Contract shall be borne by the Contractor.
Any new technology, framework, software library or program must be open source, as defined by the
Open-Source Initiative (OSI). The Contractor shall maintain the software using the CTBTO’s own
Git/GitLab version control system. All source code releases shall be delivered via this system.

The Commission has a change management process that covers reporting and tracking software
problems and releases software updates in its Development, Testbed, and Operational environments.
An Integrated Ticketing System based on the Jira software supports this change management process.
The Contractor personnel shall familiarize themselves with this process and follow it when applying
changes and releasing software. The time spent on the tickets must be recorded in Jira by the
Contractor's personnel. The Commission's Configuration Change Board shall approve all software and
configuration changes.

The Contractor shall deliver a source code through incremental releases according to the Agile software
development methodology (preferably Scrum). In particular, the Contractor shall follow the "Release
Early, Release Often" (RERO) software development philosophy, which emphasizes the importance of
early and frequent releases in creating a tight feedback loop between developers, testers, and users. Each
new delivery shall include a description of what changes were made relative to the previous release and
a list of files modified by each change.

All source code developed under this Contract shall follow the IDC Coding Standards (which include
recommended coding style, the required implementation of unit tests, and use of open standards and
open-source libraries where possible) and shall compile and run under the Linux operating system
family (currently RHEL/CentOS 7.x).

The IDC guidelines for requirements engineering shall form the basis for eliciting and documenting
requirements.

The Contractor shall update the respective documentation to reflect changes caused by any upgrade to
the software. Software documentation must include a Software User Manual, a Software Design
Document and a Software Test Plan. All documentation shall adhere to the IDC Documentation
Standards.

Both standards will be made available to the Contractor upon request after the entry into force of the
Contract. When using existing available open-source solutions, coding and documentation standards,
as defined in those projects, may be used.

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6.1.1 Constitution of the Contractor's key personnel roster

The Contractor shall provide and maintain up-to-date details of key personnel roster for the off-site or
on-site work for the Commission. At a minimum, the following information shall be provided and
maintained for each of these key personnel:
• Name.
• Nationality.
• Role.
• Employed since. (Please specify whether the key personnel are a permanent member or rather,
if they are contracted for the duration of the Contract on an ad-hoc basis.)
• Type(s) of Service(s) from Section 4, which the key personnel will perform.
• Curriculum Vitae
The Contractor shall assign personnel with demonstrated:
• Capability and capacity to perform the Services described in Section 4.
• Compliance with the requirements set out in Section 6.3.

6.1.2 Maintenance of the key personnel, Conditions of Amendment

The Contractor shall maintain an up-to-date version of the key personnel (hereinafter called "Team
Roster") for the duration of the Contract. The Contractor shall inform the Commission when personnel
is to be removed or added to the Team Roster and if personnel details are modified.
Should the Commission deem that a member of the Team Roster lacks the capacity or capability to
perform a specific work within the specified timeframe or quality, the Contractor shall provide, within
five (5) working days after the Commission makes a request, the details of skilled and experienced
personnel to be added to the Team Roster for consideration by the Commission.

The Commission shall be entitled to confirm whether the proposed Team Roster amendment is
acceptable.
Before issuing a WO, as described in Section 3.1.1, the Contractor will be requested to propose a list of
personnel from the Team Roster to work under the specific WO.

The Contractor shall ensure that each Team member assigned to a WO:

• is dedicated to the project during the WO period (unless otherwise agreed); and
• is not reassigned from the project without the prior written consent of the Commission.

The Contractor shall satisfy the following mandatory requirements for the selection of a personnel from
the Team Roster to work in a WO and for the Team Roster:
• An established pre-screening process to identify suitable staff.
• By naming a relevant successful project in the CV, provide reasonable evidence that the
proposed Team is appropriately skilled and experienced to carry out the relevant WO.

The Contractor shall satisfy the following mandatory requirements at the start and throughout the
Contract:

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 • Familiarization with IDC's IT infrastructure and services is required and should be conducted
right from the start as part of the first WO;
• Provision of training to address a gap in knowledge identified after a Team member has started
their assignment, at no cost to the Commission, upon request by the Commission;
• Adding or replacing poor-performing Team members at no cost to the Commission upon
request by the Commission.
The Commission shall be entitled to confirm whether the proposed Team is acceptable.

Continuity of personnel for the full implementation of this Contract is an important consideration.
Therefore, the Contractor shall take necessary measures to ensure a seamless transition when taking
over the Services and keep changes to personnel assigned to the Commission to a minimum throughout
the duration of the Contract.

6.1.3 Level of detail for (software) project description

In case a list of (software) projects is required to prove existing experience, the description of each such
project shall include the following information:

1) Objectives, deliverables and description of the (software) project.

2) Release date, duration and approximate person-days of the project.
3) Main programming languages/ technologies used.
4) Development methodologies used.
5) If applicable: specific scientific methods used.
6) Selected key-personnel involved in the respective project, including their roles and
contributions.
7) Draw a comparison of the project’s scope and complexity to the requested Services.
8) Any kind of (publicly) available reference, such as publications, Git repositories, manuals
etc.
To avoid duplication, if a single software project covers multiple items of the requirements list, it is
possible to refer to the same software project repeatedly.

6.2 Contractor's requirements

The Contractor shall satisfy and demonstrate the following mandatory requirements:
a) Extensive experience, with a minimum of five (5) software projects, in managing software of
similar scope and complexity as required in this ToR. The software projects shall be provided
as described in Section 6.1.3.
b) Relevant experience, with a minimum of four (4) software projects, in scientific
computing/scientific software development. The software projects shall be provided as
described in Section 6.1.3.
c) Confirmation that the staff turnover has been below 20% per year over the past three (3) years.
d) Hands-on experience with all elements of the software development lifecycle: eliciting and
documenting business process flows, use cases, requirements, quality management plans, user
acceptance testing, and end-user training. This shall be demonstrated through concise
description of their methodology and past practical approaches in software projects.

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 e) A warranty period of two (2) years after the completion of the user acceptance testing. Terms
and conditions of post-warranty support and bug fixes shall be available and clearly specified.
f) Be able to adjust the working hours of the assigned Team for a Sprint Meeting that overlaps at
least two hours with the Commission's working hours (9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CET/CEST).
• A monthly sprint meeting is foreseen, but this might change to any time frame as deemed
necessary by the Commission.
g) Be able to provide support on a 24/7 basis during critical situations (e.g. the operational pipeline
fails).
h) At least three (3) key-personnel are assigned at all times to the Team Roster to work under this
Contract.
i) Has a Risk Management methodology for the execution of the outlined software development
activities in these Terms of Reference as per Section 7.

6.3 Contractor's key personnel requirements

When selecting the Team, the Contractor shall ensure that the following minimum requirements are met
by at least one (1) team member to provide the Software Engineering services related to the minimum
requirements. The Contractor shall also ensure the continuity of having at least one (1) member meeting
the following minimum requirements during the development (for example, when the original one (1)
member needs to be replaced). For each minimum requirement, the Contractor shall specify which
proposed key personnel cover the requested experience by providing adequate proof appropriately.

Said minimum requirements are:

a) Advanced university degree in Computer Science or Mathematics, Physics, or a related

scientific/technical subject.
b) Excellent communication skills in English are essential.
For the following minimum requirements, the Contractor shall provide the verification of experiences
in the form of a (list of) previous (software) project(s), meeting the information requirements defined
in Section 6.1.3.:
c) Extensive experience, with a minimum of three (3) projects, in providing maintenance services
for a Unix/Linux client/server system is mandatory (e.g. upgrading Linux systems and
migrating existing software).
d) Extensive experience, with a minimum of six (6) projects, in providing software development
services on a Unix/Linux client/server system is mandatory.
e) Extensive practical experience, with a minimum of two (2) projects, with one or more Agile
frameworks, preferably Scrum, is mandatory.
f) Extensive practical experience, with a minimum of two (2) projects, with Git and GitLab is
mandatory.
g) Relevant professional experience, with a minimum of three (3) projects, in providing software
maintenance and support services for complex and custom software systems in operational use
(this includes troubleshooting and issue fixing).
h) Relevant professional experience, with a minimum of three (3) projects, in developing software
to automatically process data in near-real-time.

Version 1.2 October 2024 Page 13 of 15

 i) Extensive experience, with a minimum of four (4) projects, with the programming language
Perl is mandatory.
j) Extensive experience, with a minimum of four (4) projects, with the programming language
Fortran is mandatory.
k) Extensive experience, with a minimum of four (4) projects, with the programming language
Python is mandatory.
l) Extensive experience, with a minimum of four (4) projects, in professional software testing
methodologies is mandatory.
m) Extensive experience, with a minimum of four (4) projects, in using and building a CI/CD
pipeline is mandatory.
n) Extensive experience, with a minimum of two (2) projects, in code optimization and
parallelization (MPI/OpenMP), particularly in scientific computing on distributed memory
architectures.
o) Sufficient knowledge and experience, with a minimum of one (1) project each, in working
(reading & writing) with the GRIB, NetCDF, JSON, and XML data formats is an advantage.
p) Sufficient experience, with a minimum of one (1) project, with PyQt is an advantage.
q) Sufficient experience, with a minimum of one (1) project each, with the programming
languages SQL and C/C++ is an advantage.
r) Sufficient experience, with a minimum of one (1) project, in developing and working on
supercomputer clusters (High-Performance Computers), including the use of queuing systems
(e.g. slurm), and a package manager (e.g. SPACK, environment modules) is an advantage.
s) Sufficient experience, with a minimum of one (1) project, with machine learning or deep
learning is an advantage.
t) Comprehensive experience, with a minimum of one (1) project, in Atmospheric Transport
Modelling (ATM), preferably with the ATM model FLEXPART (used at the CTBTO), is an
advantage.
The Team proposed by the Contractor shall, as complementary as possible, fulfil the above minimum
requirements (Team coverage of minimum requirements).

Version 1.2 October 2024 Page 14 of 15

7. Risk Management
The Contractor shall provide a business continuity plan and thorough risk assessment plan at the
project’s commencement to identify potential risks that could impact the successful execution of the
outlined software development activities in these Terms of Reference, including contingency plans, as
appropriate. Risks may include but are not limited to technical challenges, changes in project
requirements/scope, resource constraints, schedule delays, integration difficulties, and third-party
software dependencies. The risk assessment plan should be consistently updated, aligning with the
delivery of project milestones or significant accomplishments.

Upon the project’s satisfactory completion, the Contractor shall conduct a final review of the initially
identified risks. Risks that have been effectively mitigated or did not materialize should be officially
closed, accompanied by appropriate documentation. The insights gained from the risk management
process should be methodically documented and shared with the Commission, thereby contributing to
the knowledge repository for forthcoming software development endeavours.

Version 1.2 October 2024 Page 15 of 15

 STATEMENT OF CONFIRMATION

On behalf of (name of firm or organization): , I hereby

attest and confirm that:

a) The firm/organization possesses the legal status and capacity to enter into legally binding
contracts with the Commission for the supply of equipment, supplies, services or work.

b) The firm/organization is not insolvent, in receivership, bankrupt or being wound up, and not
under administration by a court or a judicial officer, and that it is not subject to the suspension
of its business or legal proceedings for any of the foregoing reasons.

c) The firm/organization has fulfilled all its obligations to pay taxes and social security
contributions.

d) The firm/organization has not, and that its directors and officers have not, within the last five
years been convicted of any criminal offense related to professional conduct or the making of
false statements or misrepresentations as to their capacity or qualifications to enter into a
procurement or supply contract.

e) The Commission, in the event that any of the foregoing should occur at a later time, will be
duly informed thereof, and in any event, will have the right to disqualify the firm/organization
from any further participation in procurement proceedings.

f) The firm/organization did not/will not attempt to influence any other bidder, organization,
partnership or corporation to either submit or not submit a proposal/bid/quotation.

g) The firm/organization will not, in the absence of a written approval from the Commission,
permit a person to contribute to, or participate in, any process relating to the preparation of a
Quotation/Bid/ Proposal or the procurement process if the person:

a. at any time during the 12 months immediately preceding the date of issue of the
Solicitation was an official, agent, servant or employee of, or otherwise engaged by the
Commission;
b. at any time during the 24 months immediately preceding the date of issue of the
Solicitation was an employee of the Commission personally engaged, directly or
indirectly, in the definition of the requirements, project or activity to which the
Solicitation relates.

h) Neither the organization/firm, its parent entities (if any), nor any of its subsidiary or affiliated
entities (if any) have been identified on, or associated with any individual, groups, undertakings
and entities identified on, the list established pursuant to the UN Security Council Resolution
1267 (Consolidated Sanctions List).1

i) Neither the organization/firm, its parent entities (if any), nor any of its subsidiary or affiliated
entities (if any) are subject to any form of sanction imposed by an organization or body within
the United Nations System, including the World Bank.

1
The Consolidated United Nations Security Council Sanctions List can be found on the following website:
https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/un-sc-consolidated-list
 j) Neither the organization/firm, its parent entities (if any), nor any of its subsidiary or affiliated
entities (if any), is engaged in any practice inconsistent with the rights set forth in the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, including Article 32 thereof, which, inter alia, requires
that a child shall be protected from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to
interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental,
spiritual, moral, or social development.

k) Neither the organization/firm, its parent entities (if any), nor any of its subsidiary or affiliated
entities (if any) will use the funds received under contracts/purchase orders with the
Commission to provide support to individuals, groups, undertakings or entities associated with
terrorism.

l) The prices in the firm/organization’s proposal/bid/quotation have been arrived at

independently, without consultation, communication or agreement with any other interested
companies, competitor or potential competitor with a view to restricting competition.

m) The Commission shall have the right to disqualify the firm/organization from participation in
any further procurement proceedings, if it offers, gives or agrees to give, directly or indirectly,
to any current or former staff member of the Commission a gratuity in any form, an offer of
employment or any other thing of service or value, as an inducement with respect to an act or a
decision of, or a procedure followed by, the Commission in connection with a procurement
proceeding.

n) The Commission shall have the right to disqualify the firm/organization from participation in
any further procurement proceedings if it does not disclose to the Commission any situation
that may appear as a conflict of interest, and if it does not disclose to the Commission if any
official or professional under contract with the Commission have an interest of any kind in the
firm/organization’s business or any kind of economic ties with the firm/organization.

o) The firm/organization expressly agrees to abide by the United Nations Supplier Code of
Conduct.1

Name (print): Signature:

Title/Position:

Place (City and Country): Date:

1
https://www.un.org/Depts/ptd/about-us/un-supplier-code-conduct
 VENDOR PROFILE FORM (VPF) – FOR PRODUCTS/SERVICES/WORK
1. Name of Company:

2. Street Address: 3. Telephone:

P.O. Box: 4. E-Mail:

City:

Zip Code: 5. Website:

Country:

6. Contact Person: Title:

7. Legal Status (e.g. Partnership, Private Limited Company, Government Institution)

PLEASE INCLUDE A COPY OF THE CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION

8. Year Established: 9. Number of Employees:

10. Gross Corporate Annual Turnover (US$m)*: 11. Annual Export Turnover (US$m)*:

12. Type of Business/Products: Manufacturer Sole Agent Supplier

Other (please explain)

13. Type of Business/Services/Work: Engineering Civil Work Governmental Institution

Other (please explain)

14. References (your main customers, country, year and technical field of products, services or work): **

15. Previous Supply Contracts with United Nations Organizations (over the last 3 years)**

Organization: Value in US$ Equivalent: Year:

Organization: Value in US$ Equivalent: Year:

16. Summary of any changes in your company’s ownership during the last 5 years:

* Please provide a copy of the most recent audited annual report and accounts. Note: Export includes services or work performed abroad or for foreign clients.
** Please provide supplementary documentation on these items.
17. List of Products/Services/Work offered:

Product/Service/Work # Product/Service/Work Description

18. This section shall be signed and stamped by an official legally authorized to enter into contracts on behalf of
your organization:

Name: Title: Signature: Date:

Bank Details Beneficiary Details

Bank Name: Beneficiary Name:

(exactly as stated on bank statements)
Bank Address:
IBAN:
(if applicable)

Exact Account Holder Name:

Account number:

SWIFT/BIC:

ABA/Sort Code:

Additional Details (if applicable)

Correspondent bank:

Correspondent account number:

Correspondent SWIFT/BIC:

Tax Identification Number:

FOR CTBTO USE ONLY

Evaluated By: Initials Date:

Updated By: Initials Date:

Remarks:

* Please provide a copy of the most recent audited annual report and accounts. Note: Export includes services or work performed abroad or for foreign clients.
** Please provide supplementary documentation on these items.

Vendor Profile Form Page 2 of 2