Pilot Project on Multi-layered Airborne Capabilities for Situational Awareness - HAPS Services for Border Surveillance

Open Frontex tender to procure a pilot High Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) service package to demonstrate persistent wide-area surveillance, on-board data fusion, radio-frequency interference monitoring and wireless connectivity. The contract requires deployment of at least one HAPS for 15 consecutive days of continuous operation and delivery of the associated ground segment, operations, testing, reporting and evaluation. The estimated procedure value is €3,200,000, maximum contract duration 12 months, evaluation by best price-quality ratio (quality 60%, price 40%), and electronic submission via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal with deadline 2 October 2026 16:00 Europe/Warsaw. Participation is open to natural and legal persons and consortia eligible under EU procurement rules, subject to exclusion and selection criteria including financial and technical capacity and data protection and fundamental rights requirements.

What it funds

Procurement of a pilot HAPS service to demonstrate persistent wide-area aerial surveillance, on-board data fusion, RFI (GNSS) monitoring (proof-of-concept) and high-speed low-latency wireless connectivity (proof-of-concept). The service must include deployment of at least one HAPS over the Area of Interest for 15 consecutive days of continuous operation, plus pre-deployment testing, a system acceptance test, data analysis and a final assessment report.

Who can apply

Open electronic tender to natural or legal persons and joint-tenders. Subcontracting and reliance on other entities is permitted if declared. Tenderers and all involved entities must not be subject to EU restrictive measures or exclusion grounds and must meet selection checks (legal capacity, economic/financial standing and technical/professional capacity).

Key eligibility and selection highlights:Minimum financial threshold: consolidated turnover requirement of €4,000,000 over the last three closed financial years. Technical minimums: at least two HAPS surveillance deployments completed in the last three years and a qualified project team with the roles specified in the ToR ¹.

1. 1What is procured: end-to-end HAPS service including platform, payloads, ground control/mobile control station, data fusion and RIP
2. 2Who may apply: companies or consortia registered to bid; subcontracting and capacity sharing allowed
3. 3Minimum technical proof: 2 prior HAPS surveillance contracts (2023–2025) and TRL >=7 for core components (proof-of-concept TRL >=3 for RFI/wireless)

Budget and duration

Estimated total procedure value published on the portal:€3,200,000 (excluding VAT). Maximum contract duration: 12 months; pilot deployment: minimum 15 consecutive days of HAPS flight operations within the Deployment and Operational Trial phase.

Deadlines & process

Tenders must be submitted electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal (eSubmission). See the official opportunity page for the invitation to tender, terms of reference, templates and annexes F&T Portal opportunity page. ¹

Footnotes

1. 1Full procurement documents (Invitation to tender, Annex I Tender Specifications, Annex II Terms of Reference, Annex IV Financial proposal template, Annex VIII Technical template and annexes) are available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal opportunity page above.

Opportunity identification

Call/Tender identifier FRONTEX/2026/OP/0054. Lead contracting authority:European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX), Warsaw, Poland. Procurement type: Open procedure, electronic submission via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal (eSubmission). TED reference 162/2026 582852-2026. Main CPV 73430000 (Test and evaluation). Nature of contract: services. Award method: best price-quality ratio. Estimated total value €3,200,000 (contract notice shows €3,200,000 as estimated total procedure value; tender documents and Tender Specifications set the maximum contract value and financial ceiling and payment rules). Maximum contract duration 12 months. Deadlines / milestones: tender deadline for receipt of tenders 02/10/2026 16:00 Europe/Warsaw; public opening 05/10/2026 10:00 Europe/Warsaw; contracting authority will not reply to questions submitted after 24/09/2026 23:59 Europe/Warsaw. Documents published on 24/08/2026. Full procurement dossier including Invitation to Tender, Annex I Tender Specifications, Annex II Terms of Reference (ToR), Annex III draft contract, Annex IV Financial Proposal Template, Annex V Declaration on honour, Annex VI Tender Submission Form, Annex VII Power of Attorney / Commitment Letters, Annex VIII Technical Proposal Template and AI Annex, Annex IX CV template and other annexes are available on the F&T Portal.

What is being procured

Frontex is procuring a Pilot Project service package based on High Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) to support border surveillance and management activities. The core requirement is to deploy at least one HAPS over a specified Area of Interest and operate it for 15 consecutive days of continuous Effective Mission Flight Time during the Deployment and Operational Phase. The service package comprises four main service components: Wide Area Persistent Surveillance (EO/IR, optional SAR, AIS, analytics for detection/classification/tracking), Data Fusion (ingest and fuse HAPS payload data with other sources, present a Common Operational Picture), RFI Monitoring proof-of-concept (detection and characterisation of GNSS and other RF interference events), and Wireless Connectivity proof-of-concept (high-speed, low-latency WLAN connectivity for personal devices and internet access). The contractor must provide HAPS physical infrastructure (aircraft, payloads, on-board processing, connectivity), Ground Segment (Mobile Control Station, optional Ground Control Station, Remote Information Portal), operations, maintenance, logistics, training, reporting and all deliverables defined in the ToR.

Key technical, operational and contractual highlights

1. 1Minimum one HAPS deployed with minimum TRL 7 for main components; proof-of-concept components (RFI monitoring, wireless connectivity) may be TRL ≥ 3.
2. 2HAPS operational altitude 13–23 km (stratosphere); minimum uninterrupted endurance 15 consecutive days of mission Effective Mission Flight Time.
3. 3Payloads: EO and IR sensors (day/night, near real-time FMV and high-resolution imagery with GSD target performance referenced in ToR), optional SAR and AIS. On-board RFI detector/proof-of-concept mandatory; wireless connectivity proof-of-concept mandatory.
4. 4Ground segment: Mobile Control Station (MCS) mandatory with integrated C2DF, GIS-based Common Operational Picture, user management, encrypted data links; Remote Information Portal for secure near-real-time dissemination to authorised users.
5. 5Data protection and information security: strict requirements, Data Processing Agreement to be signed, processing within EU/EEA territory, encryption, logging/observability, retention and erasure rules (data erased no later than 14 days after contract end unless otherwise authorised).
6. 6Compliance and safeguards: Frontex Code of Conduct, Fundamental Rights oversight, reporting of Serious Incidents, AI Act compliance where applicable (AI annex in Technical Proposal).
7. 7Deliverables across project phases: Kick-Off materials, CONOPS, Pre-deployment site and EMC reports, Operational Authorisation Dossier (Permit to Fly), System Acceptance Test (SAT) reports, daily operational logbooks, mission reports, technical assessment reports (surveillance, RFI, data fusion, wireless), final Pilot Project Assessment (public and limited access versions), training and workshop materials.
8. 8Budget / financial ceiling indicated in documents: contract notice estimates €3,200,000; Terms of Reference and Tender Specifications reference maximum amounts and payment schedule (pre-financing, interim, final).

Categorisation and structured extraction

Eligible Applicant Types

Eligible applicants:legal persons and natural persons from EU Member States and from third countries with procurement access under relevant agreements. Typical eligible applicant types for this procurement include: large enterprises and industrial suppliers of HAPS and aerospace systems, SMEs and technology companies providing HAPS services, system integrators, aerospace manufacturers, research institutes and universities (if they bid in a services role), defence/aerospace primes, non-profit organisations only if they can provide the required operational services, public-private partnerships and consortia. The procurement explicitly allows joint tenders and subcontracting and permits entities to rely on capacities of other entities (commitment letters required). Subcontractors and other involved entities must meet exclusion criteria and provide declarations on honour. Tenderers must register and use the Participant Register PIC; eSubmission is required.

Funding Type:Tender / procurement (service contract). This is a public procurement procedure; the financial mechanism is contracting for services rather than a grant or loan.

Consortium Requirement:Consortium allowed but not mandatory. The call accepts single tenderers or joint tenders (groups). If a joint tender is submitted, members must appoint a lead and assume joint and several liability; Power of Attorney (Annex VII) and joint statements are required. The procurement permits subcontracting and reliance on capacities of other entities with formal commitment letters.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility):Open to organisations established in EU Member States and to natural and legal persons in third countries with procurement access based on agreements (e.g., EEA, some Association Agreements). The Terms of Reference specify operations within EU territory and Host Member State(s) (deployment sites inside EU). Data processing and storage must be within EU/EEA unless authorised.

Target Sector:Security / border management, surveillance, aerospace / HAPS, remote sensing (EO/IR/SAR), communications (wireless connectivity and SATCOM), data fusion, AI-enabled analytics, maritime and land border surveillance, RFI/GNSS protection and monitoring.

Mentioned Countries:European Union Member States (deployment within Host Member State(s) to be agreed); preference indicated for Eastern/Central/Western Mediterranean Areas of Interest but not limited to them. EEA countries (Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein) have procurement access; other third countries listed in the Tender Specifications with procurement access include Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine subject to conditions in the ToR.

Project Stage:Pilot / demonstration and operational trial. Technologies should be mature (TRL ≥ 7 for main components) but proof-of-concept contributions (RFI monitoring and wireless connectivity) may be TRL ≥ 3. Overall project covers pre-deployment, deployment & 15-day operations, and assessment.

Funding Amount:Estimated total procedure value shown in call: €3,200,000. Tender Specifications reference maximum contract values and a financial ceiling; the Annex IV Financial Proposal Template requires one fixed all-inclusive net price in EUR for the full service. See Annex IV for contractual invoicing and payment structure.

Application Type:Open call for tenders (open procurement). Electronic submission via EU Funding & Tenders Portal (eSubmission) is mandatory. Personal Identification Code (PIC) required for organisation registration. Questions via Portal Q&A; contracting authority not bound to reply to questions submitted after the indicated Q&A deadline.

Nature of Support:Monetary payment under a service contract. No grant. Contracted services are remunerated through invoicing against contract milestones (pre-financing, interim payment, final payment). Contract includes requirement to provide services, documentation and deliverables.

Application Stages:Single-stage tender submission (technical and financial proposals submitted together). Evaluation includes administrative compliance, exclusion/selection checks, technical evaluation (60%) and financial evaluation (40%), and final ranking by combined score. After evaluation, contracting and signature of service contract and annexes (including Data Processing Agreement, Code of Conduct commitments).

Success Rates:Not provided in the procurement documents. As a competitive open tender by Frontex, typical success rates are low and depend on number of bids; Frontex does not publish an explicit target success rate in the dossier.

Co-funding Requirement:No co-funding required; this is a contracted procurement where the contractor prices the full service. The contract price must be all-inclusive and cover travel, subsistence, logistics, test and operational flights, communications, training, consumables, spares, insurance, etc., as set out in Annex IV (Financial Proposal Template).

Applicant requirements and selection

Mandatory eligibility, exclusion, and selection criterion highlights drawn from Tender Specifications and ToR: tenderers (and all involved entities including subcontractors and entities whose capacities are relied upon) must not be subject to EU restrictive measures; must sign Declaration on honour (Annex V); must provide documentary evidence on exclusion criteria when requested; contractors must demonstrate legal capacity, economic and financial capacity (minimum consolidated turnover for last three years: €4,000,000), and technical and professional capacity including specific HAPS experience (minimum two completed HAPS surveillance deployment contracts in last three years) and a skilled project team meeting ToR roles (Deployment Manager, Mission Commander, HAPS Operators, Payload Operators, Ground Crew, GCS/MCS operators). Security clearance requirements: personnel handling sensitive data should hold at least CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL or equivalent and provide evidence in technical offer. Subcontractors must provide commitment letters (Annex VII) and declaration on honour. Joint tenders require Power of Attorney (Annex VII) appointing leader and joint and several liability statements.

1. 1Registration and submission: eSubmission via F&T Portal; PIC required for each participating organisation.
2. 2Documents required with the tender: Technical Proposal using Annex VIII template, Financial Proposal using Annex IV template, Declaration on Honour (Annex V), Tender Submission Form (Annex VI), evidence for legal capacity, financial/accounting documents for turnover, technical evidence (company portfolio, list of contracts, reference letters), CVs using Annex IX template, Power of Attorney where applicable, Commitment Letters for subcontractors and relied-on entities, Data Protection documents (privacy policy, security measures). A Checklist of Tenderer Offer (Annex XIV) is provided to ensure completeness.
3. 3Language: all documents in English; final deliverables to be in editable formats (docx, xlsx, pptx, mpp, vsdx, jpg/pdf/vector).
4. 4AI systems: if AI components are proposed, Appendix 1 to Annex VIII (AI Annex) must be completed with AI Act classification, training data provenance, risk management and transparency measures.

Templates, forms and application structure

Tender dossier includes standard templates and mandatory annexes that structure submissions. Applicants must use the provided templates and include the specified content. Key templates and their purpose:

1. 1Annex VIII Technical Proposal Template (mandatory format; includes executive summary, ConOps, technical solution description, compliance matrix, implementation plan, project management and team). AI Annex appendix is mandatory if AI components are included.
2. 2Annex IV Financial Proposal Template (mandatory fixed net price for full service; must include detailed breakdown as annex to financial form).
3. 3Annex VI Tender Submission Form (administrative form listing partners, subcontractors, declarations).
4. 4Annex V Declaration on Honour (exclusion and selection criteria declaration; mandatory for all involved entities).
5. 5Annex VII Power of Attorney / Commitment Letters (joint tender leader mandate; subcontractor commitment; reliance-on-capacity letters).
6. 6Annex IX CV Template (mandatory CV format for key personnel).
7. 7Annex I Tender Specifications and Annex II Terms of Reference contain mandatory technical requirements and compliance tables.
8. 8Annex III Draft contract (service contract including Data Processing Agreement and Code of Conduct annexes to be signed by successful tenderer).
9. 9Annex XIV Checklist of Tenderer Offer (checklist to ensure all documents are attached).

Application guidance:follow Annex VIII structure for the Technical Proposal; complete the compliance matrix against the ToR Table 1 requirements; include evidence for each compliance claim (specs, manufacturer datasheets, TRL statements, test results, reference missions). Provide CVs per Annex IX and state security clearance status and validity. Provide the Financial Proposal as a single fixed net price in EUR and an annexed detailed cost breakdown. Complete Declaration on Honour and other mandatory administrative forms. Where AI components are proposed, complete the AI Annex with training dataset provenance, AI Act classification and risk management measures.

Evaluation and award

Evaluation process:administrative and exclusion checks, selection checks (legal capacity, financial/turnover criterion, technical references and personnel), then technical evaluation (scored out of 100 points, threshold 60% overall), and financial scoring (lowest price = 100). Final score is 0.6 * technical score + 0.4 * financial score. Offers failing minimum technical compliance (ToR minima) are rejected. The contracting authority may request clarifications, missing formal documents or seek additional documentary evidence during evaluation. Frontex may correct clerical errors with confirmation from tenderer. Public opening will announce the names of tenderers. Successful tenderer will sign the draft contract (Annex III) and annexes including Data Processing Agreement, Non-Disclosure Agreement, Fundamental Rights commitment and Code of Conduct compliance.

Payments and contractual financial rules

Payment structure described in draft contract and Tender Specifications:pre-financing advance up to 30% upon contract signature (invoice required), interim payment (example 50%) after successful completion of Deployment and Operational Trial and acceptance of Phase 2 deliverables, and final payment (balance) on acceptance of all deliverables and final invoice. Invoicing and VAT rules: invoices in EUR, net of VAT. Frontex generally exempt from VAT; contractor must handle local VAT formalities where required and will be assisted with VAT exemption certificate where applicable. Refunds or recoveries: Frontex may suspend payments, request corrective measures, and apply recovery procedures for irregularities or non-compliance, following the rules in the draft contract and Financial Regulation. Performance guarantees are handled as per Special and General Conditions (check Annex III draft contract).

Co-funding and cost responsibilities:No co-funding required from tenderer. The contractor's fixed price must be all-inclusive and cover all costs listed in Annex IV, including travel, subsistence, logistics, test and operational flights, communications (SATCOM or alternative), integration, training, consumables, spares, insurance, staff costs, data handling and system provision. All costs borne by contractor and included in the financial offer.

Data protection, security, fundamental rights and AI

Data protection:the contractor will act as data subprocessor for Frontex (controller). A Data Processing Agreement (Annex VII to Draft Contract) will be concluded. Processing must comply with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 and applicable national law. Processing and storage of mission personal data is required to take place within the EU/EEA unless explicitly authorised by Frontex; Frontex-managed encryption keys and retention/erasure policies apply (data to be erased no later than 14 days after contract end unless otherwise agreed). The contractor must provide Privacy Policy, privacy statements, descriptions of intended processing operations, and technical security measures (Art. 32 GDPR) with the tender. Information security: collected data considered Sensitive Non-classified (SNC); strict confidentiality and access-on-need-to-know rules; encrypted data links; logging and observability; incident reporting timeline: notify Frontex within 24–48 hours of personal data or security breaches; regular access reviews; multi-factor authentication required for sensitive systems; FRONEX Code of Conduct and Fundamental Rights commitments are mandatory and must be signed. Serious Incident Reporting (SIR) processes apply; contractor must cooperate with Frontex Fundamental Rights Officer. AI: if AI components are proposed, tenderer must complete the AI Annex (Appendix 1 to Annex VIII) with AI Act classification, training data provenance, validation and monitoring, risk management, transparency and interpretability measures, human oversight and cybersecurity resilience. The AI Annex contains mandatory requirements to demonstrate AI Act compliance.

How to prepare a competitive submission

1. 1Follow the Technical Proposal structure in Annex VIII precisely and include a completed compliance matrix cross-referencing each ToR requirement (Annex II Table 1) with evidence and TRL statements.
2. 2Provide detailed CONOPS, implementation timeline and a realistic test and SAT plan. Show understanding of deployment, permitting and aviation authorisation processes; include Operational Authorisation Dossier strategy and stakeholder engagement plan.
3. 3Demonstrate operational readiness: supply technical specifications, payload datasheets, TRL evidence (test results, flight logs), previous mission references and customer letters showing at least two HAPS surveillance deployments in last three years.
4. 4Provide MCS functional and technical description (C2DF, GIS/COP, user management, time synchronisation and data export), RIP architecture and data sharing workflow for Frontex and Host Member State coordination centres.
5. 5Address information security and data protection: include Privacy Policy, DPIA approach, data storage location, encryption, access control, observability/logging, incident reporting timelines and draft Data Processing Agreement compliance statements.
6. 6If AI is used: provide the AI Annex detailing model type, training/validation datasets provenance, AI Act risk classification and the pipeline for monitoring, human oversight and incident management.
7. 7Financial Proposal: single all-inclusive net price in EUR per Annex IV with a detailed annexed breakdown of costs (personnel, equipment, transport, operations, consumables, insurance, contingency).
8. 8Administrative: complete Declaration on Honour (Annex V) for each involved entity, Tender Submission Form (Annex VI), Power of Attorney (Annex VII) for joint tenders, and CVs using Annex IX template for key personnel with security clearance status.

Procurement contacts and support:Questions and Q&A handled via the F&T Portal technical Q&A tool; eSubmission Helpdesk details available in the eSubmission Quick Guide. Use EU Login account to subscribe and submit. Technical system requirements and file formats are indicated on the Portal (accepted file types and max sizes).

Source and further reading:Complete official procurement dossier and all annexes available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal tender page for FRONTEX/2026/OP/0054 Frontex HAPS pilot tender Terms of Reference and Tender Specifications Annex IV Financial Template AI Annex template Call Notice (TED reference) ¹

Comprehensive summary

What this opportunity is about and how to explain it:This is an open Frontex procurement to run a Pilot Project testing HAPS-based persistent surveillance and supporting capabilities over a designated European Area of Interest. Frontex requires an experienced operator to deploy at least one HAPS aircraft and its full service ecosystem (payloads, on-board processing, connectivity, ground segment including a Mobile Control Station and a Remote Information Portal), operate it for a 15 consecutive-day continuous Effective Mission Flight Time, provide persistent EO/IR surveillance, data fusion into a Common Operational Picture, a proof-of-concept RFI monitoring capability, and a proof-of-concept wireless connectivity service. The contractor must deliver pre-deployment planning, permits and regulatory liaison (Operational Authorisation Dossier / Permit to Fly), System Acceptance Tests, mission execution, daily logs and mission reports, technical assessment reports (surveillance, RFI, data fusion, connectivity), final evaluation and an informative workshop. The procurement is a service contract; applicants submit a single technical proposal following Annex VIII and a single all-inclusive financial offer using Annex IV. Evaluation is on a 60/40 technical/price basis, with technical threshold requirements and mandatory compliance with data protection, information security, fundamental rights and AI regulatory obligations. Joint tenders and subcontracting are allowed subject to Power of Attorney and commitment letters. The tender dossier is available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal and applicants must use eSubmission. The estimated procedure value published is €3.2M and the contract duration is up to 12 months. This procurement is suited to HAPS operators, aerospace integrators and consortia with operational stratospheric platform experience, mission systems and secure data management capabilities.

Footnotes

1. 1Full procurement documents, annexes and updates are published on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal tender page for FRONTEX/2026/OP/0054 and the TED notice. Applicants must consult the official Portal page for the authoritative documentation and any corrigenda or Q&A items.

This is a Frontex open procurement for specialised High Altitude Platform Systems services to support border surveillance and management, with a pilot project intended to test persistent surveillance, data fusion, radio frequency interference monitoring and wireless connectivity over a designated wide area of interest. Frontex has previously assessed HAPS as stratospheric platforms with potential for surveillance, telecommunications and navigation support, which matches the operational logic of this tender[1][10][11].

What the Contract Is About

The contract seeks a practical demonstration of how HAPS can improve situational awareness for border management. The requested services include deploying at least one HAPS over the area of interest for 15 consecutive days of continuous operation during the deployment and operational phase, together with the related service package needed to run, integrate and evaluate the pilot.

1. 1Wide area persistent surveillance using sensors and analytical tools
2. 2Data fusion across HAPS payloads and external real time data sources
3. 3RFI monitoring as a proof of concept, including detection of jamming and spoofing
4. 4Wireless connectivity as a proof of concept for remote or infrastructure poor areas
5. 5Pilot project delivery, reporting, service management and operational support

Who Can Apply

Participation is open to natural and legal persons within the scope of the EU Treaties, to international organisations, and to certain third country operators that benefit from access rights under the applicable EU procurement agreements. The tender may be submitted by a single operator or by a joint tender, and subcontracting is allowed.

• All involved entities must not be subject to EU restrictive measures.
• Tenderers must have legal capacity and the economic, financial, technical and professional capacity to perform the contract.
• No professional conflict of interest may exist in relation to the contract.
• A Participant Identification Code is required for electronic submission.
• Joint tenders require a power of attorney and joint and several liability.
• The same entity cannot participate in multiple tenders within the same procedure, whether as a sole tenderer or as a member of more than one consortium.

Commercial and Procedural Terms

Key Requirements Applicants Should Note

1. 1The financial proposal must provide one total fixed net price for the full provision of the services, including travel, subsistence, logistics, technical work, test and operational flights, communications, secretariat, delivery, dispatch, set up, integration, dismantling, customs, deliverables, training, live demonstrations, workshops, tooling, spares, consumables and equipment.
2. 2The technical proposal must follow the required template and cover the executive summary, conceptual approach, technical solution, pilot implementation plan, project management, service delivery, project team and supporting documentation.
3. 3The technical proposal must explain how the HAPS platform, payloads and ground segments will deliver surveillance, data fusion, RFI monitoring and wireless connectivity.
4. 4The call requires a compliance matrix against the minimum technical requirements and surveillance mission parameters in the terms of reference.
5. 5If any Artificial Intelligence component is used, a separate AI annex must be completed covering intended purpose, risk classification, data sets, performance, risk management, transparency, human oversight, robustness, cybersecurity and incident management.
6. 6Tenderers must submit the declaration on honour, the tender submission form and, where applicable, a power of attorney, subcontractor commitment letters and CVs for proposed personnel.
7. 7The public opening is scheduled after the tender deadline, and Frontex is not bound to reply to questions submitted after the questions deadline.

Practical Assessment for Applicants

This opportunity is best suited to established HAPS operators, systems integrators, surveillance technology providers, telecommunications specialists and consortia that can combine platform capability, sensor integration, data fusion and operational field support. Given the pilot nature of the contract, bidders should be able to prove realistic deployment readiness, operational credibility and the ability to deliver measurable performance during a continuous 15 day mission.

Applicants should also expect strong compliance requirements covering data protection, confidentiality, fundamental rights, security and documentation discipline, because the tender package includes a privacy notice, data processing agreement, non disclosure agreement, architecture principles, compliance statements and a fundamental rights commitment letter.

The notice does not indicate that the contract is SME suitable, so smaller firms will likely need to participate through a consortium or as subcontractors if they do not meet the operational and financial scale required.