Specialised Genomic Cloud Services Framework for Wales’ National Genomics Services.

Genomics Partnership Wales (GPW) was established as part of the Genomics for Precision Medicine Strategy by Welsh Government in 2017. In 2022 Welsh Government updated this strategy, publishing a Genomics Delivery Plan for Wales which provides a set of concrete steps to develop and enhance the use of genomics to improve the health, wellbeing and prosperity of the people of Wales. GPW operates as a partnership, bringing together our patients and the public clinical and laboratory services, public health, research and innovation to deliver transformative change in the NHS in Wales. Key partners in GPW include Cardiff University (which hosts the Wales Gene Park), Cardiff and Vale University Health Board (which hosts the All-Wales Medical Genomics Service) and Public Health Wales (which hosts the Pathogen Genomics Unit and Public Health Genomics Programme). Collectively the GPW partners sequence tens of thousands of genomes every year, to provide clinical and public health services to the patients and public of Wales, and to underpin cutting edge research. At present, this data is stored locally, and analysed on-premise. The Genomics Delivery Plan for Wales includes ambitious targets to expand genomics services and research in Wales, which will bring with it significant expansion in the computational resources required to analyse the data generated. Based on this, GPW has identified a requirement to move analysis workloads and data storage into the cloud in order to enable service and research expansion, underpinned by data management that enables appropriate secure data sharing and collaboration. GPW intends to develop and award a framework agreement that has the ability to collaborate across GPW and beyond baked in from the start, and which will provide the mechanism to enable the GPW partners to expand their capabilities in a joined-up, collaborative way. The framework will be divided into the following lots: Lot 1 - Cloud Infrastructure Services: This lot will cover infrastructure as a service offerings, covering a wide range of cloud computing services, including but not limited to compute instances, storage solutions (both high-performance and archival), databases, networking, and security. These services will support the various products and platforms used by GPW for data processing, analysis, and management. Lot 2 - Cloud Professional Services and Support: This lot will include consulting, migration, integration, support and ongoing support services provided by the Cloud Service Provider (CSP). These services will ensure the successful implementation, operation, and optimization of the cloud infrastructure to meet GPW's specific requirements in the field of genomics. Suppliers should demonstrate proven experience and expertise in delivering cloud services within the genomics domain, showcasing their understanding of the unique challenges and requirements associated with handling large-scale genomics data. The framework will allow for both Direct Award and Mini-Competition procedures, providing flexibility in procuring the required cloud services based on GPW's specific needs and timelines. Because GPW sits at the heart of a wider collaborative network, the Framework will be designed to be available to all of the wider GPW partners and collaborating institutions across the UK.