2026-0005 C3 Policy Directive Roadmap Development Support Service - THU 29 Jan

Bidding Instructions - Technical Proposal

Bidders shall submit a proposal clearly providing the following information:

a. CV and attestation of the assigned resource(s) for the project that meeting the requirements as per para.9. Each CV shall contain accurate contact details for reference person for each of the listed professional experiences relevant to this Statement of Work

b. The Proposal shall contain also, minimum the following:

• Relevant experience in the review and development of C4ISR related Policies and Directives, with an emphasis on interoperability: list 3 (three) specific projects in the last 5 years that demonstrate this experience, including details about objective, output, outcome and your role.
• Relevant experience in engaging with domain experts and conducting data collection through interviews: list at least 2 (two) specific projects in the last 5 years that demonstrate this experience, including details about objective, output, outcome and your role.
• Relevant experience working in NATO committees and working groups, with focus on capability development and interoperability: list the groups where this experience was gained the in the last 5 years, and the type of activity undertaken
• Experience in using, configuring and updating a Wikimedia Semantic Media Wiki (i.e. Tidepedia): List at least 2 (two) examples of wiki pages/sites where this experience has been demonstrated
• Prior experience of working in international and military environments.

Deadline Date: Thursday 29 January 2026

Requirement: C3 Policy, Directive, and Digital Roadmap Development Support Service

Location: Off-Site

Note: Please refer to your Subcontract Agreement, article 6.4.1.a, which states “Off-Site Discount: 5% (this discount is applicable to all requirements, and applies when the assigned personnel are permitted to work Off-Site, such as at- home)". Please be sure to price this discount in your overall price proposal when submitting bids against off-site RFQs

Period of Performance: As soon as possible but not later than 02 March 2026 through 31 December 2026

Required Security Clearance: NO SECURITY CLEARANCE REQUIRED

1 OVERALL PROJECT SCOPE

The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency) located in The Hague, The Netherlands, is providing technical support to the NATO HQ Cyber and Digital Transformation (CDT) Division to provide technical expertise regarding development of C3 Policies, and Directives; development and implementation of the Digital Interoperability Roadmap; and support to ongoing Policy Gap Analysis.

The Chief Technology Office (CTO) has a requirement for a subject matter expert (SME) to prepare the specific deliverables in the CDT 2026 Programme of Work (POW).

2 WORKSTREAMS AND TASKS

This Statement of Work (SoW) covers two main Service streams:

Service stream 1: Tasks resulting in deliverables related to development of Policies and implementation Directives and Policy Gap Analysis.

Service stream 2: Tasks related to development of the Digital Interoperability Roadmap and monitoring and addressing specific activities from the Roadmap for the Interoperability Profiles Capability Team (IPCaT) of the Digital Policy Committee (DPC).

3 ACTIVITIES AND DELIVERABLES

3.1 Activities

Under the direction of the project manager or assigned task leader, the selected consultant is required to conduct the following activities:

• Proposing changes to the following set of NATO’s implementation directives: Interoperability, Technical Directive for Interconnectivity of NATO CIS, and Identity, Credential and Access Management (ICAM).
• Proposing changes to the existing approach for the C3 Policy compliance mechanism and support implementation of the approach approved by CDT.
• Proposing changes to C3 Policies, implementation Directives and Roadmaps to reflect based on actual identified cases where extant Digital Policy (or the lack of it) hampers the delivery of modern digital capabilities/ ICT services.
• Engaging with domain experts in NATO, e.g. through surveys and workshops, with the objective to capture and document information needed to prepare the deliverables specified in section 3.2.
• Preparing meetings, setting agendas, engaging with representatives, manage action lists, prepare working papers and presentations, and orchestrate required SME expertise.
• Contributing to the activities from to develop and update the Digital Interoperability Roadmap assigned to NCI Agency through the CDT 2026 POW, including:
• - Conducting data collection through interviews with SMEs
• - Maintain all data from SME interviews is maintained in the DIOR Wiki, with potential recommendations managed as DIOR Tasks for processing
• - Preparing an updated version of the IO roadmap for presentation to the DPC
• - Attending IP CaT meetings to progress DIOR development.
• Contributing to the development and maintenance of the wiki-based toolset to monitor and report of status and progress regarding to specified activities from the Digital Interoperability Roadmap.
• Contributing to the development of actions assigned to the IPCaT under DIOR Baseline 2, including the development of the interoperability exchange format standard.

3.2 Deliverables

All of the defined deliverables are presentations and reports, which will be delivered in standard office document formats, or updates and inputs to the DIOR Wiki platform hosted in Tidepedia (Semantic Media Wiki Platform managed by HQ SACT).

The following specific deliverables are expected from this statement of work:

1. Policy & Directive Development and Gap Analysis Support

1.1. Delivering the plan for capturing the proposed changes for three directives. Produce a plan for each of the three directives identifying timelines, milestones, stakeholder groups and the proposed approach to maintain traceability. The identified three directives are listed below, but this could potentially change based on any new requests and priorities from CDT (Feb):

• NATO Enterprise C3 Interoperability Directive,
• Technical Directive for Interconnectivity of NATO CIS.
• Identity, Credential and Access Management (ICAM).

1.2. Updating versions of the following Directives (finalized MS Word documents using track changes, with incorporated documentation of changes and traceability to SME inputs)

1.2.1. NATO Enterprise C3 Interoperability Directive, (Mar)

1.2.2. Technical Directive for Interconnectivity of NATO CIS. (Jun)

1.2.3. Identity, Credential and Access Management (ICAM). (Nov)

1.3. Proposing changes to the existing approach for the C3 Policy compliance mechanism (Jun)

1.4. Proposal for changes to C3 Policies, implementation Directives and Roadmaps to reflect based on actual identified cases where extant Digital Policy (or the lack of it) hampers the delivery of modern digital capabilities/ ICT services (Jun)

2. DIOR Deliverables

2.1. Report capturing the planned updates to the Interoperability Roadmap Toolset. (Mar)

2.2. Q1 Report summarizing support to IPCaT Actions under DIOR BL2 (Mar)

2.3. Report on participation and outcomes from IP CaT Meeting #52 (May)

2.4. Delivery of DIOR BL3 Data (May)

2.5. Q2 Report summarizing support to IPCaT Actions under DIOR BL2 (or BL3 if approved)

2.6. Report on participation and outcomes from IP CaT Meeting #53 (Sep)

2.7. Q3 Report summarizing support to IPCaT Actions under DIOR BL3 (Sep)

2.8. Reporting on participation and outcomes from IP CaT Meeting #54 (Nov)

2.9. Q4 Report summarizing support to IPCaT Actions under DIOR BL3

2.10. Reporting summarising the completed updates to the Interoperability Roadmap Toolset. (Dec)

2.11. Development of the Standard Interoperability Testing Information Exchange Format.

2.11.1. Deliver the plan for the Produce a plan identifying timelines, milestones, stakeholder groups and the proposed approach (Mar)

2.11.2. Deliver first version of the standard (Jun)

2.11.3. Deliver final draft for review of the standard (Dec)

3.3 Coordination and reporting

All deliverables are to be peer reviewed within the deliverable cycle. The related acceptance criteria are to be communicated in writing to the contractor’s personnel before beginning of each cycle. Input and guidance will be provided by NCI Agency in writing during the targeted review meetings.

The contractor’s personnel shall participate in a kick-off meeting within two working weeks after the signing of this contract. This can be a virtual meeting executed via electronic means using Conference Call capabilities.

During the kick off meeting, the contractor’s personnel will discuss a plan for executing the tasks under this statement of work. Purchaser and Contractor’s personnel will discuss the plan and amend where appropriate.

The contractor’s personnel will provide email minutes containing, at least decisions and actions decided during the meeting.

The contractor’s personnel shall participate in weekly status meetings, either in-person (where possible) or via electronic means using Conference Call capabilities. The rhythm for these meetings will be confirmed at the kick-off meeting. The contractor’s personnel will initiate these meetings and provide email minutes containing at least decisions and actions decided during the meeting.

The contractor’s personnel shall participate in on-site working meetings at NCI Agency, The Hague. The meeting schedule will be agreed at the kick off meeting. For planning purposes up to 24 meetings will be required over the duration of the contract, with a min of ½ day to max 1 full day of service on site for each meeting.

4 PAYMENT SCHEDULE

This is a completion-type contract which requires a contractor’s personnel with complementary skills to complete the service identified in Section 3

Schedule of payments: Payment will be made after the Purchaser has accepted a respective deliverable and signed its Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS) (Annex A).

The contractor shall submit an invoice, with approved DAS attached, to the Purchaser for payment as per the schedule listed below:

Item 1: 1.1, 1.2.1, 2.1, 2.2, 2.11.1

Delivery Date: 31 March 2026

Item 2: 1.2.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.11.2

Delivery Date: 30 June 2026

Item 3: 2.6, 2.7

Delivery Date: 30 Sep 2026

Item 4: 1.2.3, 2.7, 2.9, 2.10, 2.11.3

Delivery Date: 15 Dec 2026

Payment Milstones: Upon completion of each milestone shall be accompanied documented in Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS) – (Annex A), signed for acceptance by the Purchaser’s authorized point of contact and the Contractor

5 SECURITY CLEARANCE

The duties of the consultant do not require security clearance.

6 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The personnel are required for the period starting NLT 02nd of March 2026 through 31 December 2026.

7 PRACTICAL ARRENGEMENTS

This is a Completion-type contract requires one consultant with the identified skills to complete the service.

Service on the contract will primarily be performed off-site at the consultant’s own office, and the contractor’s personnel is responsible for office space and computer equipment at their own facilities.

This Task Order requires scheduled travel as detailed in Section 3.3, consisting of up to 24 visits to NCIA The Hague (twice per month) for a maximum of one working day each visit. The travel, lodging and associated expenses for travel are included in the price of the bid (NTE), such that the purchaser shall not be invoiced.

Extraordinary Travel (Purchaser Directed Travel) may be required to other NATO or non-NATO locations as necessary. In the event of such unforeseen meetings being called, the cost of all travel and subsistence will be addressed through a contract amendment.

Extraordinary Travel expenses will be reimbursed in accordance with Article 5.5 of AAS+ Framework Contract. Such costs will be set as a separate PO line with a not to exceed value to cover and reimburse of actual expenses upon submissions of all receipts and invoices in line with NCIA processes.

8 CONTRAINTS

NATO will retain the intellectual property rights for all products developed in relation to this project.

All deliverables, scripts, documentation and required code will be stored as directed by NCIA.

9 SPECIFIC EXPERTISE REQUIRED

[See Requirements]

Requirements

9 SPECIFIC EXPERTISE REQUIRED

We require a candidate who has extensive experience related to policy development, capability development and addressing challenges related to NATO interoperability. The following experience/expertise is essential for this requirement:

• Expert knowledge in the area of interoperability,
• Expert knowledge on NATO C4ISR systems, emerging technologies, best practices for software development.
• Expert knowledge of NATO Policies and Directives, with intimate knowledge of the NATO C3 Interoperability Policy and NATO Enterprise C3 Interoperability Directive.
• Demonstrated experience in C4ISR/IT system development throughout the life cycle (management, analysis, design, system engineering, development, integration and implementation).
• Demonstrated experience in managing complex projects related to C4ISR capability development.
• Demonstrated experience producing technical documentation, e.g. reports and specifications.
• Demonstrating experience working in NATO committees and working groups, with focus on capability development and interoperability.
• Demonstrated expertise in using, configuring, developing and updating the Wikimedia Semantic Media Wiki (i.e. Tidepedia)