Project Developing Resistance Against Grooming Online (DRAGON-S) project – DRAGON-Shield Anti-Grooming Online Training Evaluation, Swansea University.

You are invited by Swansea University to quote for the provision of requirement detailed in the attached brief documentation. Your emailed expression of interest and quotation must be received by 5pm on 09/01/2023. It is the responsibility of all suppliers to ensure that their quotation response is received no later than the appointed time. Swansea University may undertake not to consider quotations received after that time.

Swansea Universityare not bound to accept the lowest priced or any quote and shall not be bound to accept the supplier as sole supplier.  Prices quoted shall remain firm for the duration of the contract. Value Added Tax (VAT) should be shown separately and the VAT registration number given.

By providing us with a quotation you agree to be bound by Swansea University’s Terms and Conditions provided which will apply to the awarded contract and subsequent purchase order issued to you, if your quotation has been successful. 

Enquiries and returns regarding this Invitation To Quote should be addressed to Ruth Mullineux-Morgan, DRAGON-Shield Deputy Lead: [email protected]  

Yours faithfully

Sue Davies

Category Manager

Specification

A. Introduction

Project DRAGON-S is seeking a consultant with expertise in online training development (necessary) and child safeguarding (specifically child sexual abuse) (desirable) to support a 6-month pilot and evaluation of an 8-module research-evidence based online training package – DRAGON-Shield- developed as part of Swansea University Project DRAGON-S.

B. Background

What is Project DRAGON-S?

DRAGON-S, funded by Safe Online at End Violence Against Children, is a Swansea University applied research project driven by an awareness that OG is devastating for child victims and their families, and it is a crime increasing exponentially. 

We address two major challenges faced by prevention and prosecution agencies:

• Extant countermeasures are limited by lack of understanding of how groomers communicate online.
• Agencies are being overwhelmed by the volume and communicative sophistication of groomers. 

DRAGON-S uniquely combines international expertise in Linguistics and Artificial Intelligence to tackle these challenges through human-centred, innovative technology, specifically the development of two interrelated, research-based digital tools: an OG detector (DRAGON-Spotter) and an OG prevention (DRAGON-Shield) tool.

What is DRAGON-Shield?

DRAGON-Shield is the only training suite in existence that focuses on how OG works communicatively, from an integrated groomer and victim perspective. Comprising 8 modules, each taking approximately 30 minutes to complete, DRAGON-Shield requires a time commitment of c. 4 hours, to be completed in a practitioner’s own time. On successful completion, practitioners unlock a resource pack to take forward into their practice.

C. Objectives & Scope of Requirement:

• To work with the Swansea University team of researchers to develop and implement the evaluation framework to evaluate the impact of the DRAGON-Shield training on child safeguarding practice.
• To review all stages of the pilot and evaluation process and documents and provide critical feedback at intervals in response to documentation provided.
• To write a final evaluation report and feedback findings to the project Steering Board and Funders.
• The Evaluation report will support refinements and finalisation of the DRAGON-Shield Training and support the scale up and eventual international roll out of the tool.
• A clear timeline indicating proposed evaluation frameworks and anticipated start and end dates of all elements of the project should be provided with the quotation.

D. Timescales

This is a 6 month project. We envisage it totalling approx. 15-20 days of consultancy need this work to start on 23^rd January and to be completed by 23^rd July 2023

E. Fees and Costs

Contract value £10k including VAT

Please include all expenses costs within your hourly rate and indicate any applicable VAT.