The Improvement Service has supported online communities for over six years and currently has 5 000 active users and 400 active groups on our existing platform - the Knowledge Hub – which is owned and provided by an external supplier. Our existing contract will end on 30th September 2014 and we are now seeking to ensure we have the best available solution for Scottish local government and its partners by undertaking a competitive procurement exercise for a social business platform.

Note: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Public Contracts Scotland Web Site at http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=307678.

The buyer has indicated that it will accept electronic responses to this notice via the Postbox facility. A user guide is available at http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/sitehelp/help_guides.aspx.

Suppliers are advised to allow adequate time for uploading documents and to dispatch the electronic response well in advance of the closing time to avoid any last minute problems.