2017-09-18 General Committee Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                            18 SEPTEMBER 2017


6.   Tender Assessment
All tenders were assessed by a tender evaluation panel. The panel consisted of:
     Economic Development Manager;
     Director Community Services;
     Director Corporate Services; and
     Colin Graham, Causeway Innovation Pty Ltd, in the role of an independent technical
       expert. Colin has local and international experience associated with the area of innovation,
       co-work space management and business development.

Tender submissions were received from the following respondents:
1.   Boardrooms Australia Pty Ltd.
2.   Digital Precinct Pty Ltd.
3.   Little Tokyo Two.
4.   Elevate Media.
5.   Future Reality Services Pty Ltd.
6.   Lyn Allen Consulting.

The tenders were evaluated using the following criteria:
    Financial Structure & Council Return on Investment;
    Economic Diversification & Employment Growth;
    Capacity & Innovation; and
    Local Content & Employer.

The quality of all six (6) tenders was high. To varying degrees, all applicants demonstrated a
commitment and interest in supporting growth and innovation within the Noosa business
community. The evaluation panel agreed that it will be important for Council to engage with all
tenderers following finalisation of the tender decision, to discuss how we can support their local
interests and continue to add to the success of our local economy.

The Evaluation Panel held two (2) initial assessment meetings where agreement was reached on
the top 3 tenders, based on their demonstrated capability and capacity to deliver co-work
services. These Tenderers, Boardrooms Australia Pty Ltd, Digital Precincts Pty Ltd and Little
Tokyo Two were invited to present to the Evaluation Panel on 10 August. The same set of
questions was provided to each Tenderer in advance. The face-to-face presentations were of a
very high quality and the Evaluation Panel agreed that each potential provider had significant
strengths.

Arguably the biggest challenge associated with this tender was being able to interpret the
proposed financial information received in such a way as to enable an ‘apples with apples’
comparison for scoring purposes. In order to do this further financial modelling was undertaken
by Financial Services to allow for an effective comparative net present value analysis of the
submissions received.

Based on the attached ‘Weighted Attribute Evaluation Spreadsheet’ the Evaluation Panel has
rated Digital Precinct Pty Ltd ahead of Little Tokyo Two as the preferred supplier of Management
& Curation Services at the Digital Hub.

Digital Precinct Pty Ltd was favoured primarily because of their demonstrated local technology
networks, track record of achieving & supporting business growth, and reach into the existing co-
work & accelerator networks (via River City Labs).




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