31 July 2020
Shane Gibson
[FYI request #13253 email]
Dear Shane,
Official Information Act request
Thank you for your email of 7 July 2020 requesting, under the Official Information Act
1982 (the Act), the following information:
▪
Please provide details of the procurement process followed to engage X4
Consulting to Compile Data Inventories as mentioned in this article:
https://medium.com/@opendatacharter/compiling-data-inventories-
ac1fd1baa456
▪
Please provide the value of the contract that was signed as part of this
procurement process.
▪
Please provide the total value paid to X4 Consulting by Statistics NZ in the
2017/2018, 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 financial years, for all services (including
any services outside the Compile Data Inventories work).
The procurement process followed to engage X4 Consulting was an open tender
process, posted on the Government Electronic Tender System (GETS) in September
2017. The tender can be found here:
https://www.gets.govt.nz/SNZ/ExternalTenderDetails.htm?id=18990315
The tender received 17 responses from vendors, three of which were selected to work
with Stats NZ and participating agencies over the next two to three years. The three
vendors selected were X4 Consulting, Davanti Consulting, and Information Leadership.
Please note, the tender posted on GETS incorrectly lists Michael Upton in place of
Davanti Consulting.
The contract was not awarded for a specified amount, as the utilization of each chosen
vendor was subject to the uptake of the opportunity by government agencies. A ceiling
of $200,000 per year (for all data inventory activity activity) was budgeted in the
2017/18 and 2018/19 year. In 2019/20, the budget increased to $210,000.
All payments made to X4 Consulting were related to the Open Data programme; under
which the Data Inventory project falls. The total value paid to X4 Consulting by Stats
NZ in the specified financial years was $317,187.50. Here is the breakdown:
Financial year
Amount paid
2017/2018
$67,330.00
2018/2019
$168,138.75
2019/2020
$81,718.75
Your email of 7 July 2020 also requested, under the Official Information Act 1982 (the
Act), the following information:
▪
Please provide copies of all Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU’s) signed in
the last five years related to the sharing of data to organisations outside your
organisation.
The Act requires that we advise you of our decision on your request no later than 20
working days after the day we received your request. However, under section 15A(1)
of the Act, Stats NZ may extend that time limit.
In this instance, an extension is necessary because the request involves the
compilation of a large quantity of information, and Stats NZ can’t complete this within
the original time limit without this unreasonably interfering with the operations of the
agency.
We are therefore extending the time limit to 18 August 2020. However, we will
endeavour to respond to your request before this date, if possible.
You have the right, by way of complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman under section
28(3) of the Act, to seek an investigation and review of this response to your request.
Stats NZ intends to publish its response to your request made under the Act on the
Stats NZ website. This letter, with your personal details removed, will be published in
its entirety. Consistent with the Act, publishing responses increases the availability of
information to the public and helps promote balanced public debate.
Yours sincerely,
Daria Kwon
Senior Manager – Data Leadership and Capability
Stats NZ