UK search and rescue agency, which largely works through a network of 3,500 volunteers around the country, is seeking to appoint a technology partner to help deploy a core system

HM Coastguard is to deploy a new nationwide alert system to transform how it responds to incidents.

The search and rescue agency responds to an average of about 1,000 incidents every day via around 300 individual teams – which are largely comprised of the 3,500 volunteers that support the organisation’s work.

HM Coastguard (HMCG) – an arm’s-length entity of under the umbrella of the Department for Transport that sits within the Maritime and Coastguard Agency – currently uses an incident command system through information can be logged. Alerts can then be sent to frontline staff via phone and SMS, as well as VHF radio and personal locator beacon technology.

By the end of next year, HMCG intends to implement a new alert-management system that will “enable a technical transformation of how coastguard volunteers and full-time officers receive incident taskings and mobilisation messages”, according to a newly published commercial notice.

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The document, which outlines the coastguard’s plan to launch a formal procurement procedure next month, advises potential suppliers that the agency wishes to deploy a platform featuring various core capabilities.

The notice says: “A new system would provide a solution that would provide the following functionality (but not exhaustive): auditable data; data that can be shared with third parties; [a] more efficient tool from a user perspective by minimising time engaging resources and reducing any duplication of effort; the solution would be secure in line with HMCG security requirements; allows messages and images to be shared in a secured controlled manner; data is compatible with existing HMCG systems.”

Providers are advised that the “new system will require training for both maritime and coastal [officers] and HMCG and would need to be coordinated accordingly”.

The rollout of the technology and necessary training must be completed by the end of 2025. This installation – and the subsequent operation of the new platform – will be supported by a contract with a provider partner that will last for an initial term of four years, plus an optional one-year extension.