Danmarks Nationalbank (the Customer) seeks to establish a framework agreement with one Supplier for the provision of specialized cybersecurity advisory and assessment services. As the operator and overseer of critical financial infrastructure in Denmark, Danmarks Nationalbank supports essential processes and systems that require a high level of security, resilience, and trust. The Customer continuously introduces new technologies, vendors, services and architectural changes that may impact its security posture. To ensure informed decision-making and maintain an appropriate level of cyber resilience, the Customer seeks access to independent technical experts capable of evaluating cybersecurity risks from an adversarial perspective. The purpose of the agreement is to provide the Customer with on-demand access to highly skilled technical cybersecurity experts with offensive security backgrounds, capable of delivering rapid, pragmatic and risk-based assessments of new technologies, systems, solutions, architectures and security-related questions. The service shall complement the Customer's internal cybersecurity capabilities by providing independent expert judgement, specialized technical expertise and threat-informed analysis to support secure decision-making, risk management and operational resilience. The Supplier shall provide access to cybersecurity specialists with relevant expertise across infrastructure, cloud, applications, identity and access management, emerging technologies, adversarial techniques and offensive security methodologies.

Participation in the tender procedure may only take place by electronic means via the electronic tendering system used by the contracting entity. For access to the procurement documents, the candidate must be registered or register as a user. If the application contains several versions of the same document, the latest uploaded version will apply. All communication in connection with the tender procedure, including questions and answers, must take place through the electronic tendering system. Reference is made to the tender specifications and appendix B for information concerning questions and answers. Interested operators are requested to keep updated via the electronic tendering system. If the candidate encounters problems with the system, please contact support by submitting a ticket at the following link https://contact.mercell.com/?lang=en or by calling (+45) 70 20 80 14. As its application, the candidate must submit an ESPD as preliminary documentation of the circumstances set out in section 148(1), paras (1)-(3) of the Danish Public Procurement Act (udbudsloven). It is not necessary for the candidate to sign the ESPD document. For groups of operators (e.g. a consortium), a separate ESPD must be submitted for each participating operator. Where the candidate is a group of operators, the ESPD document of each participant in the group must be signed by the participant in question. The candidate heading the group and submitting the application is not required to sign its ESPD document. If the candidate relies on the capacities of other entities, an ESPD must be submitted for and signed by each of the entities on which it relies. Before the award decision is made, the tenderer to whom the contracting entity intends to award the contract must provide documentation of the information submitted in the ESPD pursuant to sections 151-152, cf. section 153 of the Danish Public Procurement Act. As an alternative to the documentation mentioned in sections 153-155, 157 and 158 of the Danish Public Procurement Act, the applicant and tenderer may submit to the contracting entity a certificate of registration in an official list of approved economic operators, see section 156 of the Danish Public Procurement Act, issued by the competent authority. The contracting entity only accepts certificates of registration in an official list from applicants and tenderers established in the country holding the official list. The contracting entity will select the number of candidates by applying the selection criteria stated in this contract notice, unless the contracting entity receives no more than the stated number of compliant requests for participation. The difference between the estimated value and the maximum value is due to the uncertainty of the final value of the individual orders placed under the framework agreement. The estimated value thus reflects the contracting entity’s estimate of the expected purchase under the framework agreement, whereas the maximum value reflects the highest value of all contracts to be performed within the term of the framework agreement. This takes into account, partly, the contracting entity’s expectations based on the most likely purchase under the framework agreement, partly, the expected uncertainty of such estimate. In relation to the estimated value, particular attention is drawn to the fact that the tenderers are not guaranteed any minimum purchase under the framework agreement, and the estimate therefore implies no commitment on the part of the contracting entity to make a minimum purchase under the framework agreement. Decisive for the estimated value of the framework agreement will be unexpected need for the services covered by the Agreement. It is specifically pointed out to the tenderer that the tenderer is bound by the prices offered, irrespective of the turnover specifically achieved under the framework agreement. This means that the tenderer is also bound by the prices offered if the specific turnover deviates from the estimated value, both upwards and downwards. It should be noted that each candidate may only submit one application for prequalification. The contracting entity may use the procedure of section 159(5) of the Danish Public Procurement Act in the event that applications or tenders do not comply with the formal requirements of the tender documents. It should be noted that the indicated term of the agreement will commence on signature of the framework agreement. In addition to the indicated duration of contract, an expiry phase that is flexible in time will be required when the contract is at an end in order to ensure an undisturbed continuation of the services in connection with a possible re-tender. The agreement is not divided into lots, as a further division would undermine the close cooperation with a particularly trusted partner envisaged by this procurement. Due to the nature of the services, the supplier must necessarily have access to highly sensitive information, which makes a single-provider structure justified and proportionate.