RFP Number: UN WOMEN-2018-001
Issuance Date: 06.07.2018
Deadline for Offers: 01.08.2018
Description: Education and training services in Tech through online platforms
For: National Association of ICT Companies (ATIC)
Funded By: UN Women
Issued by: National Association of ICT Companies (ATIC)
ATIC Point of Contact: ioriol@ict.md, contact person Irina Oriol, Deputy executive director ATIC.
Section 1: Instructions to Offerors
Introduction: The National Association of ICT Companies (ATIC) is soliciting proposals from eligible and responsible organistions regarding to Education and training services in Tech through online platforms, as described below in Section 1 (Instruction to Offerors
With an experience of 12 years in the associative sector, ATIC is committed to raise the competitiveness of the ICT sector through a large range of interventions and initiatives aimed at developing the human capital for ICT, supporting the tech entrepreneurship and development of innovative products and services, strengthening the market and promoting the local IT services and products. Amongst the largest projects implemented by ATIC with the support of the development partners are: ”Development of Moldova ICT Excellence Center”, implemented with the support of USAID and Government of Sweden, ”Improving the quality of vocational ICT education”, funded by Austrian Development Cooperation, IT Career Promotion Campaign implemented with the support of private sector and Ministry of Youth and Sports, Robotics National Program funded by the Moldova Competitiveness Project from USAID and Government of Sweden resources, “Creation of Library Robotics Clubs in Moldova”, funded by Novateca Program, ”Smart Classroom Project” implemented with the support of Korean Embassy, MoldSef National Engineering and Science Fair, organized with the support of Intel.
In June 2018, ATIC, with the financial support of UN Women, announced an initiative on economic empowering of women in ICT Sector. Our objective is to mainstream a gender perspective and promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women through information and communication technologies. Also we want to build awareness that information and communication technologies (ICTs) are tools that enable gender equality and women’s empowerment, and are integral to the creation of societies in which both women and men can substantively contribute and participate.
Our activities will also seek to tackle women underrepresentation in ICT and STEM fields. According to genderpulse.md, there are 13.4% less women working in the ICT sector than men, with the former earning 27,5% less. Women are also generally underrepresented in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).
Offerors are responsible for ensuring that their offers are received by ATIC in accordance with the instructions, terms, and conditions described in this RFP. Failure to comply with the instructions described in this RFP may lead to the disqualification of an offer.
Offer Deadline and Protocol: Offers must be received no later than 17:00, local Chisinau time, on August 1st 2018 electronically or physically at the ATIC office.
Any email offers must be sent to the following address:
In attention of, Irina Oriol
Deputy Executive Director ATIC
Any hard copy offers must be stamped and signed by the offeror’s authorized representative and delivered to the following address:
In attention of Mrs. Irina Oriol,
Deputy Executive Director ATIC
Str. Studentilor 9/11
Please reference the RFP number in any response to this RFP. Offers received after the specified time and date will be considered late and will be reviewed only at ATIC discretion.
1.Questions: Questions regarding the technical or administrative requirements of this RFP may be submitted no later than 17:00, local Chisinau time on July 20, 2018, by email to ioriol@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.
2.Specifications: The activity should consist educating, preferably online 500 women for IT profession “Front End Web Developer” or similar IT related professions, during 8 months – august 2018 – April 2019. The activity may consist of both online and offline learning via bootcamps/events.
The activity should aim to teach beneficiaries a new profession in interactive and relaxed method, giving them the ability to learn and practice in IT area. The activity can also include contests and competitions that will foster motivation and enhanced learning. The program shall be thaught in Romanian, but the content of the online platform can be in English as well.
Main deliverables
- Delivering online courses and curriculum for digital skills, coding and/or Front-End development, using already available platforms, including platforms such as Code.org, Vue Education, Pearson or others etc. It is recommended for the course to include (but not required to) elements of gamification (teamwork, quizzes, battles, exercises) and interactive tools.
- Organizing bootcamps, which will consist of offline courses along with mentors from IT area, who will be chosen based on the experience, availability, interest and partnership.
Proposals can also include other types of activities other than those mentioned in this section,but should nonetheless aim to provide to beneficiaries education in digital skills, programming and coding.
3.Quotations: Quotations in response to this RFP must be set on a fixed-price, all-inclusive basis, including delivery and all other costs. Pricing must be presented in MDL. Offers must remain valid for no less than thirty (30) calendar days after the offer deadline. Offerors are requested to provide quotations on their official quotation format or letterhead; in the event this is not possible, offerors may complete the table in Section 3.
In addition, offerors responding to this RFP are requested to submit a copy of their official registration or business license.
4.Delivery: The delivery of courses will take place online, the bootcamps may be provided offline at locations specified by the provider.
5.Warranty: N/A
6.Eligibility: By submitting an offer in response to this RFP, the offeror certifies that it and its principal officers are not debarred, suspended, or otherwise considered ineligible for an award.
7.Evaluation and Award: The award will be made to a responsible offeror whose offer follows the RFP instructions, meets the eligibility requirements, and meets or exceeds the minimum required technical specifications, and is judged to be the best value based on a lowest-price, technically-acceptable basis, business experience, the quality and attractiveness of the proposed activities, similar activities in the past and short production. The offerors with proven experience in developing online courses, learning platforms and/or organizing IT education related events and bootcamps, will have an advantage.
Please note that if there are significant deficiencies regarding responsiveness to the requirements of this RFP, an offer may be deemed “non-responsive” and thereby disqualified from consideration. ATIC reserves the right to waive immaterial deficiencies at its discretion.
Best-offer quotations are requested. It is anticipated that award will be made solely on the basis of these original quotations. However, ATIC reserves the right to conduct any of the following:
- ATIC may conduct negotiations with and/or request clarifications from any offeror prior to award.
- While preference will be given to offerors who can address the full technical requirements of this RFP, ATIC may issue a partial award or split the award among various suppliers, if in the best interest of the Project.
- ATIC may cancel this RFP at any time.
- ATIC may award multiple contracts if considered best option.
Please note that in submitting a response to this RFP, the offeror understands that ATIC or UN WOMEN is not a party to this solicitation and the offeror agrees that any protest hereunder must be presented – in writing with full explanations – to ATIC for consideration, as UN WOMEN will not consider protests regarding procurements carried out by implementing partners. ATIC, at its sole discretion, will make a final decision on the protest for this procurement.
In order to select the provider, ATIC will apply evaluation criteria, as follows:
|
Criteria |
Max number of points |
|
How well does the offer meet ATIC’s expectation in reaching the training goal? (Program, targets, etc.) |
20 |
|
Qualified personnel in the field |
20 |
|
Previous experience |
20 |
|
Financial Offer |
40 |
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
100 |
8.Terms and Conditions: This is a Request for Quotations only. Issuance of this RFP does not in any way obligate ATIC to make an award or pay for costs incurred by potential offerors in the preparation and submission of an offer.
This solicitation is subject to ATIC’s standard terms and conditions. Any resultant award will be governed by these terms and conditions; a copy of the full terms and conditions is available upon request. Please note that the following terms and conditions will apply:
Payment will be made in MDL, via wire transfer to the account specified in the Subcontractor’s invoice. Payment of unpaid balances will be made upon completion and final acceptance of all works and deliverables by ATIC. Any invoices for services rendered and deliverables submitted – but not accepted by ATIC – will not be paid until the Subcontractor makes sufficient revisions to the deliverables such that ATIC may approve the deliverables and thus the invoice.
Payment will only be issued to the entity submitting the offer in response to this RFP and identified in the resulting award; payment will not be issued to a third party.
Section 2: Offer Checklist
To assist offerors in preparation of proposals, the following checklist summarizes the documentation to include an offer in response to this RFP.
- Cover letter, signed by an authorized representative of the offeror (see Section 3 for template).
- Official quotation, including detailed specifications of works in accordance with Section 2: Specifications
- Copy of offeror’s official registration and business license;
- Bank Account Award Certificate – copy – issued by the bank holding the account;
- Reference of prior experience in providing education via online/offline platforms.
- Concept description of the program and programmatic approach to reach the targets.
- Full description of the program with timeline, CVs of key personnel, budget, etc.
Please download the full instructions here.