"Airlock" Output Checking System OCS Decision Engine Development Partner

Award outcome

Description

UKB is seeking to further improve its technical controls and intends to implement a functional mechanism to check data egress requests to ensure that participant record-level data is not being removed and does not contain information that can identify individual participants. This Output Checking System (OCS) functionality will allow UKB to enhance the security of the UKB-RAP, reduce the risk of advertent and inadvertent data breaches and importantly increase the trust and transparency of the UKB resource. UKB intends to commence a procurement exercise to procure a replacement for the current UKB-RAP in 2027, which will come into effect in 2028. The OCS will need to be integrated with the new UKB-RAP. To develop and deliver the OCS, UKB is separating the procurement into two elements which will need to be fully interoperable: 1. OCS User Interface (UI) and Workflow (subject to a separate tender exercise completed via the CCS G-Cloud 14 framework): The development of a seamless UI and Workflow for the OCS, including secure movement of data and integration with existing UKB infrastructure. 2. The OCS Decision Engine (this procurement): The development of the core algorithms to allow an automated assessment of the data being egressed, giving an overall confidence assessment score and a Red/Amber/Green (RAG) rating for decision making The OCS Decision Engine is made up of two components: 1. Data Trust Engine: reviews the egressed file(s) from UKB-RAP to detect the presence of sensitive information. Through the application of transparent, heuristic rules and configurable thresholds, the Data Trust Engine will create a score for how 'disclosive' the egressed data is that, when coupled with the researcher confidence score below, provides a Red (fail), Amber (unclear) or Green (pass) egress rating. 2. Researcher Behaviour Engine: derives the overall credibility of a given researcher within AMS and UKB-RAP, and assigns a confidence score, which will dictate how human-review decisions are made for 'Amber' outcomes from the Trust Engine. This procurement relates to a development partner to design and deliver the OCS Decision Engine, which will include the Data Trust Engine and Researcher Behaviour Engine. - The evaluation was concluded and a decision to award was made on Friday 22 May 2026 - UK Biobank has provided an assessment summary to each supplier on Friday 19 June 2026 - The standstill period will run until midnight on 30 June 2026

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