REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)
FOR SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED
TO THE GOOD GOVERNANCE INITIATIVE (GGI)
RFP No. GGI RFP # 007
Date Issued: October 27, 2017
Closing Date & Time: November 17, 2017, at 5:00 pm, Tbilisi time
INTRODUCTION
Tetra Tech ARD, Inc. (hereinafter, ARD) is implementing the Good Governance Initiative (GGI), funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Its purpose is to support the Government of Georgia (GoG) in strengthening overall transparency, accountability, and effectiveness of selected governance and service delivery systems. GGI’s work targets the legislative and executive branches at both the central and local government levels.
Civil Service Reform is one of GGI’s key priorities. A Civil Service Reform Concept (CSRC) was developed with support of USAID through GGI’s predecessor G3 project, and subsequently adopted by the Government of Georgia. During its first, second and third Annual Work Plans, GGI supported the Civil Service Bureau (CSB) to develop a new law on Civil Service and related by-laws such as the by-laws on performance evaluation, ranks and classes, etc. GGI supported CSB to also develop the Law on Remuneration.
While the previous Civil Service model was more decentralized, leaving less role for CSB, the reform concept and respective law assigns a central role to the Bureau. Specifically, the new model strives to achieve a higher degree of centralization and uniformity across the board by introducing mandatory performance evaluation and relevant standards, common principles for career advancement, training and development, new regulations for remuneration, recruitment, dismissal, etc. CSB, as the key implementing authority, is in charge of coordinating the reform implementation process, providing consultations and proper communication to all stakeholders.
Despite CSB’s tremendous efforts to date, effective communication with stakeholders remains a challenge. This has been confirmed by a study conducted by UNDP, which revealed that civil servants are mostly unaware of reform goals. (What Civil Servants Know of Public Sector Reform, UNDP, 2016). Furthermore, similar findings have been revealed by a study carried out by the NATO Professional Development Program (PDP) (Perceptions towardsCivil Service Reform in Georgia, NATO PDP, 2016).
Considering CSB’s leading role and the need for effective communication with stakeholders and other interested parties, it is obvious that the bureau needs to develop more effective channels to reach out to relevant audiences. However, CSB’s web site, which is and should be one of the main communication tools for CSB, was created in 2004 and since then has not undergone major upgrades or improvements. Web site maintenance is outsourced to a team from the Ministry of Finance, which has introduced basic but minor modifications to the outdated web site.
The ongoing civil service reform has lead CSB to recognize the need for a well-functioning, informative, and user-friendly web site that better serves external users (public, CSO’s, etc.) as well as civil servants, all of whom need to be up-to-date with key developments.
Besides needing a proper web site, CSB is planning to develop an e-course for training civil servants on the reform process and the innovations that have been introduced into the civil service system. Hence, the functionality of the improved web site will need to consider the online courses and other content that will be managed by CSB staff. As a result of consultations conducted by the GGI team with CSB management, CSOs and other stakeholders, the following needs must be addressed in designing a new web site:
· Have a better and clear structure;
· easily searchable and more user-friendly;
· be regularly and proactively updated, including the most current status of civil service reform implementation;
· engage citizens by encouraging two-way communication; and
· provide existing and future civil servants with a simple mechanism to understand and comply with the various procedures and requirements of the new civil service system.
In response to the ongoing civil service reform, CSB has pledged to revise its web site to make it more informative and user-friendly while fostering engagement through open, transparent, and two-way communication with the public.
OBJECTIVE AND INTENDED OUTCOME
This Request for Proposals (RFP) is designed to support the Civil Service Bureau of Georgia to better communicate civil service reform issues with the public as well as to encourage civic engagement through open, transparent and two-way communication with the public through new technologies and innovative approaches. To achieve this objective, GGI will work with the Civil Service Bureau to prepare a new web site with the possibility for further integrating various functionalities such as an e-course module. This web site will be developed based on the user experience of major consumers of the CSB’s web site as well as best practices and innovations in the public sector.
GGI will support CSB by funding a consulting organization to prepare a new web site that properly integrates the content developed by CSB in consultation with CSOs, including an e-course module on the new civil service law. Although, the selected Bidder will not be tasked to develop mentioned e-course module as part of this assignment, it is important that appropriate consideration is made during the development of the web site.
GGI, in coordination with CSB, is soliciting proposals from local qualified and experienced Bidders to work with the Civil Service Bureau of Georgia to develop such a web site, hereinafter referred to as “the project.”
GGI and CSB expect the selected Bidder to apply its experience, expertise and public-sector innovations to the preparation of a web site concept. Once agreement is reached on the concept, the selected Bidder will develop a detailed statement of technical and functional requirements (ToR). Finally, the selected Bidder will assist CSB by proposing best-fit implementation, execution, and support plans in full coordination and cooperation with the GGI and Civil Service Bureau.
The selected Bidder shall be responsible for successful delivery and implementation of the Project within the specified timeframe and budget. Additionally, the selected Bidder shall follow the agreed tasks and achieve desired goals and requirements, so the project is managed in an efficient and effective manner.
SUMMARY OF SCOPE OF WORK
GGI, in coordination with the Civil Service Bureau of Georgia, is soliciting proposals from qualified Bidders to work with the Civil Service Bureau of Georgia to develop a new CSB web site. The selected Bidder will take a participatory and inclusive design approach to ensure that the web site meets the Bureau’s needs and users’ expectations. To this end, the selected Bidder will closely coordinate with the Advisory Council, the main point of contact during the working process created at CSB for this assignment. As an initial step, the selected Bidder will undertake general context analysis by meeting relevant stakeholders from the government, CSOs, and donor organizations. The selected Bidder shall also review key civil service reform related documents, which will be provided by GGI in order to become familiar with the reform context and objectives. Besides, the preliminary study will need to cover analysis of existing CSB web site as well as similar web pages of select countries to identify ‘best practices’ and innovative solutions. The selected Bidder will work with GGI and relevant Bureau staff to prepare a web site concept as well, which will be discussed and agreed with the major stakeholders.
The selected Bidder will also prepare a detailed workplan as one of the first deliverables for GGI’s review and approval by GGI in close collaboration with the CSB.
There will be six deliverables from this project:
1. A detailed workplan describing major deliverables (including the elements of ToR listed below in section 3) by indicating relevant timelines. The company is expected to complete all deliverables before April 2018, unless otherwise justified before signing the contract;
2. A report describing preliminary research conducted by the Bidder. This will include information about all activities carried out to prepare a web site concept. For instance, this will include discussion of documents reviewed, international best practices analyzed, interviews, focus groups and / or other methods applied by the Bidder to ensure a participatory process with all stakeholders;
3. A Concept for CSB’s web site, reviewed and agreed with GGI and CSB, which shall articulate an overall vision, identify target audience(s), intended purposes, and other key features of the web site. The concept development must be a participatory process with all major stakeholders;
4. A detailed statement of Technical and Functional Requirements (ToR) of the web site describing related management and business process for CSB. Specifically, the web site ToR shall contain the following elements:
· The structure/sitemap for the new web site - a list of all sections and subsections of the web site, including page structures;
· Visual presentation of a web site illustrating at least three User Interface (UI) mockup samples;
· At least three progress presentations of deliverables, including a presentation of web sites of institutions with a profile similar to CSB from select countries for best practices, delivered to GGI and CSB;
· A document outlining detailed technical requirements and security guidelinesfor the new web site, and clearly identifying any proposed functionality, or software or hardware requirements, if any, which are vendor-specific;
· A list of business analysis, processes and procedures, as well as roles and responsibilities, with skill sets required, to enable CSB to maintain and update its web site on a regular basis;
· Preliminary suggestions for a standard form or forms (template[s]) to be used for preparing information and materials for the web site that will ensure integrity, consistency and completeness of data entry among parties involved in the administration of the web site;
· Recommendation for language requirements for the web site, and a preliminary suggestion as to which section(s) of the web site should be provided in which language(s).
5. The fully operational web site for the CSB;
6. User Manuals/Guides, including clear-cut and comprehensive instructions and trainings for the two targeted groups: CSB personnel on how to use the new web for up to 40 people; and 2 administrators: how to maintain the web site.
The successful Bidder will be expected to make periodic presentations to an advisory group consisting of representatives of the CSB, other GOG Ministries and selected CSOs. The successful Bidder shall also provide project management input throughout, including bi-weekly progress reports compared to the workplan milestones, and a final project implementation report, including recommendations. All written submissions will be produced in both English and Georgian languages.
REPORTING/SUPERVISON
The successful Bidder will undertake work as a subcontractor for the Good Governance Initiative (GGI) in Georgia, under Tetra Tech ARD’s Contract No. AID-114-C-15-00001. The selected Bidder will report for all technical matters to Mariam Gorgadze, Governance Program Manager at GGI. For contractual and administrative matters, Consultant will report to the GGI Deputy Chief of Party, Levan Samadashvili.
CONTENTS OF THIS RFP
List of Acronyms
- GENERAL PROPOSAL TERMS/REQUIREMENTS
- GUIDE FOR PREPARING THE PROPOSAL: TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC
- EVALUATION CRITERIA
- REQUIRED CERTIFICATIONS
ATTACHMENTS:
TERMS OF REFERENCE
DETAILED BUDGET TEMPLATE
FIRM FIXED PRICE SUBCONTRACT TEMPLATE
LIST OF ACRONYMS
CMS / Content Management SystemDMS / Document Management System
GEL / Georgian Lari
GGI
CSB / Good Governance Initiative
Civil Service Bureau
GoG / Government of Georgia
GUI / Graphical User Interface
LAN / Local Area Network
MP / Member of Parliament
OTS / Off the Shelf
POC / Point of Contact
PDF / Portable Document Format
RFP / Request for Proposals
SAM / System for Award Management
USAID / United States Agency for International Development
- GENERAL TERMS
1) This RFP is subject to the following terms and conditions:
a) Submitting a proposal is not a commitment on the part of ARD to award a subcontract. ARD may modify this RFP or cancel it at its convenience. Potential Bidders will be notified if this occurs.
b) ARD is not responsible nor will it reimburse the Bidder for costs incurred in preparing or in delivering the proposal.
c) ARD reserves the right to subcontract the work in part or in whole, or to award more than one subcontract.
d) All invited companies legally constituted and/or domiciled in Georgia or in any of the new independent states with legal, operational and financial capacity to contract in Georgia, and having experience in designing, developing and implementing searchable databases are eligible to participate in this proposal process.
e) The Bidder must not be currently excluded, suspended, proposed for debarment, or declared ineligible for the award of contracts by any federal government agency of the United States.
f) All proposals should be presented in English, and all costs should be presented in Georgian Lari (GEL).
g) Given that the award resulting from this process is funded by USAID, the subcontract will be exempt from all Georgian taxes.
h) The selected Bidder will be issued a Firm Fixed Price Subcontract for the execution of the Terms of Reference included as Annex A to this RFP. Payments will be based on satisfactory deliverables submitted on agreed-upon dates.
i) No gifts, payment or benefit of any kind may be made to any ARD/GGI member/staff, or to the organization receiving the services to be procured through the subcontract subject of this proposal, either directly or indirectly, as an incentive or reward to induce the award of a subcontract.
j) The Bidder understands and agrees that USAID is not a party to this RFP and therefore will not contact or request information about this tender from USAID.
k) The invitation, evaluation, selection, and award process, in all its stages, is private and made pursuant ARD policies and procedures, as well as the regulations governing the use of funds from USAID.
l) If ARD considers that there is a need to amend any of the terms and conditions of the RFP, such modification shall be made through addenda, which will be sent electronically to each of the Bidders. The Bidder accepts that by merely sending the notification to the email address indicated by the Bidder, is sufficient acknowledge receipt by the Bidder.
m) In case of ambiguities, discrepancies and inconsistencies in the proposal, ARD reserves the right to make its own interpretation. Further, ARD reserves the right to request clarification or additional information that it considers relevant for analyzing the proposal.