Request for Proposals (RFP)
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RFP Number: |
ICTEC-2019-006 |
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Issuance Date: |
23.08.2019 |
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Deadline for Offers: |
10.09.2019 |
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Description: |
Communication and PR Services |
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For: |
Moldova ICT Excellence Center Project |
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Funded By: |
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Government of Sweden, Contract No. AID-117-A-15-00002 |
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Issued By: |
National Association of ICT Companies (ATIC) |
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Point of Contact: |
achirita@ict.md, contact person Ana Chirita |
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vbordei@ict.md, Communication Consultant Viorica Bordei |
Please find the full RFP here.
SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION AND INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS
1.1 Acronyms and Definitions
ATIC National Association of ICT Companies
ADS USAID Automated Directives System
CFR United States Code of Federal Regulations
Cooperating Country Moldova
FAR United States Federal Acquisition Regulation
RFP Request for Proposals
US United States
USAID United States Agency for International Development
USG United States Government
VAT Value Added Tax
1.2 Introduction
The National Association of ICT Companies (ATIC) is soliciting proposals from eligible and responsible firms to offer PR and Communication services as described in the Annex 1.
Tekwill has been designed as a national public-private partnership between the Government of Moldova, USAID, Microsoft, and IBM to answer the needs of the ICT industry to close the gap of the human capital shortage, as well as support the development of the entrepreneurship ecosystem.
The first phase of the project represented a USAID grant for Development matched by both cash and in-kind contributions of private and government partners that brought significant new resources, ideas, software, technologies and development activities, such as trainings, practical assignments, and mentorship. Private partners included multinational companies, IBM and Microsoft, but also Information Technology and Communications Association (ATIC) members that are local Information and Communications Technology (ICT) companies, while among government partners Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure, Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, e-Government Center and Technical University have provided their support. The Technical University of Moldova is hosting the first Center on its premises and has jointly invested resources for initial investment and maintenance costs during the startup phase.
On September 19, 2017 USAID/Moldova has entered into a partnership with the Government of Sweden to join forces in the establishment and creation of the ICT Excellence Center (Tekwill). It included an arrangement that governs the relationship between the Parties regarding the financing, implementation and reporting of the activity.
Tekwill was inaugurated on March 15, 2017. During the 3 years of implementation (as the project was fully operational even before the official launch of the Tekwill center), Tekwill project completed or supported 188 educational initiatives, and 301 entrepreneurship initiatives, transforming Tekwill into one of the most successful initiatives in tech in Moldova and in the region. It has helped over 350 teams to reach better business, create opportunities and seek investment. Altogether it trained and oriented over 35,000 people.
The next phase of the project is envisaged to fortify the existing Tekwill’s capacity, create linkages with other universities and expand the activities to a national level. New activities are planned to transform Tekwill into a strategic focal point for Moldova in relation to boosting creativity, innovation and growth in the ICT sector. Several more universities are seeking to be part of this initiative, which involves private sector and development partners in modernization of the curricular content, as well as the Ministry of Education is opened to promote the optional programs developed by Tekwill to be accessible in schools under a ”Tekwill in every school” program. Each program will be designed and developed being adapted to the context of the region, school, university involved in the process. The programs will be all inclusive aiming at involving different target groups such as children, women, students, etc.
The initial goal of the project is to contribute to the extension of the Tekwill project as a sustainable network and deploy its programs on regional/national level. The project aims at determining the operation model of the network, determining business plans for the relevant created centers or partners in the regions, deploy scalable activities to connect an estimated of 150,000 people to ICT (school and university students, community, etc.), deploy entrepreneurship programs aiming at both scaling up existing programs, as well as create inclusive innovation platforms for the regions with their respective specifics and potential to absorb/apply ICT. We envision a minimum 10,000 beneficiaries/year for each direction (education and entrepreneurship) As a result of the project, 2 main outcomes of the project are expected: more and better qualified skills and workforce developed leading to a stronger ICT industry in Moldova, as well as creating the premises for a Startup Moldova program driving opportunities for companies seeking capitalization.
The overarching goal of the Tekwill as a network is to ensure maximum impact on Moldova’s economy though enhancing the entrepreneurial and educational capacity, as well as Research&Development potential of the higher education institutions in line with the industry needs; hence achieving quantitative and qualitative increase in qualified ICT professionals and ICT skills and nurturing successful technology startups based on modern ecosystem and world-class sales and marketing force. The project will expand the current areas of cooperation and continue to contribute to growing competitiveness of the ICT industry and of other economic sectors on a national level.
The project aims to:
1. Mitigate the human capital gap identified as the major problem for the ICT sector
2. Expand successful Tekwill programs into the regions
3. Impact the IT related educational system by contributing at nurturing STEM education
4. Develop curricular and extracurricular educational programs to be adopted nationwide in partnership with leading private ICT Companies
5. Assess the existing startup ecosystem and improve its investment opportunities
6. Create linkages between ICT and non ICT businesses
7. Provide support to projects/startups in assessing the global market
8. Create premises for favorable investment instruments such as seed funding, acceleration programs, venture funding, etc
9. Encourage and support tech community events
10. Get affiliated to international hubs, innovation centers, camps (such as Google campus, Station F, etc).Empower women/girls to participate in ICT educational programs and entrepreneurial activitiesprovide access to Tekwill content and programs for talented kids from underserved and remote areas, supporting career orientation, STEM educational programs, etc.
1.3 Questions and Requests for Clarifications
Questions regarding the technical or administrative requirements of this RFP may be submitted no later than September 3, 2019, 18:00 local Chisinau time by email to achirita@ict.md, cc vbordei@ict.md. Questions must be submitted in writing; phone calls will not be accepted. Questions and requests for clarification—and the responses thereto—that ATIC believes may be of interest to other offerors will be circulated to all RFP recipients who have indicated an interest in bidding.
Only the written answers issued by ATIC will be considered official and carry weight in the RFP process and subsequent evaluation. Any verbal information received from employees of ATIC or any other entity should not be considered as an official response to any questions regarding this RFP.
1.4 Offer Deadline
Offerors shall submit their expression of interest to participate and propose offers until September 10, 2019 via e-mail to vbordei@ict.md, cc achirita@ict.md. Offerors shall submit their offers in hard-copy and/or electronically.
Hard-copy offers must be received no later than September 10, 17:00 at the following address:
In attention of Mrs. Ana Chirita,
Strategic Projects Director
Str. Studentilor 9/11
Emailed offers must be received by the same time and date at the following address:
In attention of Mrs. Ana Chirita,
Strategic Projects Director
achirita@ict.md, cc
Viorica Bordei, vbordei@ict.md (Communication Consultant)
Offerors are responsible for ensuring that their offers are received in accordance with the instructions stated herein. Late offers may be considered at the discretion of ATIC.
1.5 Protocol for Submission of Offers
A. Hard Copy Submissions:
Each offeror must submit its proposal in two separate volumes: the Technical Volume and the Cost Volume. The following number of copies is required in each submission:
1. Technical and Cost Volume: Three (3) original hardcopies and one (1) electronic copy on CD of the technical volume, per the instructions below.
2. All offers and related documents must be enclosed in sealed envelopes with the name and address of the offeror and the RFP number (“RFP No. ICTEC-2019-005”) clearly marked on the outside. The Technical Volume and the Cost Volume must be submitted together. If multiple envelopes must be submitted due to the size of a proposal, offerors must ensure that each envelope is sealed and clearly marked with the information described above.
B. Electronic Submissions:
The Offeror must submit the proposal electronically with attachments compatible with MS Word, Excel, or Adobe Portable Document (PDF) format in a Microsoft environment. Those pages requiring original manual signatures should be scanned and sent in PDF format as an email attachment.
All offers must be prepared in English, Romanian or Russian.
1.5.1 Technical and Cost Volume
1.5.1 Technical Volume
The Technical Volume should describe in detail the offeror’s proposed plan for providing the services and commodities described in the technical specifications found in Annex 1. It should demonstrate a clear understanding of the work to be undertaken and the responsibilities of all parties involved. The plan should include details on equipment, personnel, and subcontractors that the offeror will make available to carry out the required activities. The plan should also provide details on the anticipated delivery schedule, including an estimated completion date.
At a minimum, the Technical Volume must contain the following required completed documents:
For Consulting companies:
1. Letter of Transmittal (see Section 3)
2. Offeror’s Summary Sheet (see Section 4)
3. Completed/Signed Certifications (see Section 5).
6. Past Performance Information (see Section 2.4)
9. Staffing capacity to undertake the current project
10. Copy of official registration or business license
11. CV of Team Members planned to be assigned
For independent consultants:
1. CV
2. Past performance information
3. Offer
4. Concept of delivery of the assignment
Subcontracting arrangements: If the execution of work to be performed by the offeror requires the hiring of subcontractors, the proposal must clearly identify the subcontractor(s), contact information of subcontractor(s), and the work they will perform. ATIC will not refuse a proposal based upon the use of subcontractors; however, ATIC retains the right to approve or reject the specific subcontractors selected.
All electronic copies of documents in the Technical Volume must be in PDF, Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel format.
The information contained in the Technical Volume should not contain any cost- or price-related information.