San Mateo County Beach Safety and Ocean Conditions Dashboard Platform

San Mateo County is issuing an informal Request for Proposals (RFP) to procure and develop a comprehensive Beach Safety and Ocean Conditions Dashboard Platform that will provide real-time, location-specific data to the public regarding ocean hazards, weather patterns, and safety protocols across the County's coastal region. The platform must deliver user-friendly, mobile-accessible interfaces displaying wave height, rip tides, wind speed, water temperature, hazard alerts, and weather conditions in multiple languages while maintaining compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA standards. The successful contractor must seamlessly integrate data from local, regional, and national environmental sources and provide customizable features enabling the County to add timely updates. Qualified contractors must demonstrate a minimum of three years of experience providing similar services within the last seven years and must have successfully implemented and maintained at least three similar digital platforms for government or public sector agencies, with proven ability to aggregate real-time data from at least two federal or regional environmental sources. The County will evaluate proposals using best-value criteria weighted as follows: Project Approach (20%), Firm Qualifications (25%), Team Qualifications (20%), Price (25%), and Preferential Points (10%). Key deadlines include February 27, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. for questions and contract exceptions, March 6, 2026, for County responses, March 20, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. for electronic proposal submission via eProcurement portal, tentative interviews scheduled for March 27, 2026, and anticipated contract award on April 10, 2026, with full platform launch required within 90 days of award.

San Mateo County's Procurement Preference for Local Businesses Ordinance applies to this solicitation, offering a five percent preference for local businesses or local nonprofits, an additional three percent preference for small businesses or small nonprofits (eight percent total), or a five percent preference for micro businesses or micro nonprofits (ten percent total). No current incumbent vendor or existing contractor is identified for this procurement. The initial contract term shall be one year, with the County holding three options to extend for up to three additional years exercisable at the County's sole discretion with 30 days' written notice. The RFP does not specify a fixed price or budget range; instead, contractors must submit a separate detailed fee proposal, and the County reserves the right to accept other than the lowest-priced offer based on best-value evaluation. Pre-submission registration on the eProcurement portal is required for all proposers, and interested parties are encouraged to attend a pre-proposal conference, though specific details regarding date, time, and location were not provided in the available documentation.