Consultancy services for training ICT Professionals from public sector in project management

Reference Number: 83460427

Publication date: 07.03.2024

Deadline for submission of offers: 21.03.2024

0. Context

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a federally owned international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with worldwide operations. The GIZ Office in Kigali covers GIZ’s portfolio in Rwanda and Burundi. GIZ Rwanda/Burundi implements projects on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the European Union and other commissioning authorities in the following priority areas: Sustainable Economic Development, Good Governance, Climate, Energy and Sustainable Urban Development, Digital Transformation & Digital Economy, Great Lakes Region..

The DigiCenter is a newly created Digital4Rwanda project unit dedicated at delivering impact driven digital solutions, developing the capacities of the local innovation ecosystem, and replicating/scaling-up digital solutions at regional and continental level.

Among the activities proposed in this project are to support the Digital Skills Council, the initiative from MINICT. One of the projects under Digital Skills Council is Project Management Training (PMP) that aims to strengthen the institutional and human capacities of key actors in the public sector to fast-track Rwanda’s ICT development and transformation into a knowledge-based economy.

The ICT sector is increasingly occupying an important position in the country’s endeavor to achieve the targets associated with the National Strategy for Transformation & Prosperity. To fully maximize and realize ICT benefits, Rwanda must greatly boost ICT competencies and skills. Also, it is well recognized that ICT skills overlap with other professional skill sets such as project management and soft skills. Therefore, it is essential to make the most of such synergies to benefit ICT professionals.

Considering the establishment of Project Management Office (PMO) at MINICT, the current restructuring and reorganization of the ICT sector, and establishment of Digital Offices in various government clusters to assist in the implementation of IT projects within those clusters, there  is a need to train various staff members from public institutions in project management skills to improve their knowledge of the project life cycle and how to develop a successful project from conception to completion.

1. Tasks to be performed by the contractor:

The contractor is required to train up to 25 staff members and project managers from the public sector in project management by 2024. The contractor is responsible for defining the expected target level, assessing the current project management skills level of all participants, designing Project Management curriculum content, training up to 25 selected participants, establishing a methodology to measure and report the level of increased skills for all trainees, and documenting peer reviews.

The training should follow standardized Project Management Institute (PMI) best practices, and the training project will run in agile mode.

The following work packages and tasks must be fulfilled:

Work package 1: Training Design and preparation

• Training Program Framework (TPF): Develop a TPF, align with and approved by GIZ team and its partners. The TPF should include:
  • Detailed definition of the target group and their needs for training
  • Definition of the training objectives
  • Curriculum including the training content that will be taught
  • Design of training materials and exercises
  • Methods for measuring the effectiveness of the training.
  • Perform inbound assessment.

Work package 2: Implementation of the Training

• Training Execution: The contractor is responsible for the execution of the intensive physical classroom approach to run 10 days of project management training at the Digital Transformation Center Kigali and/ or via an online communication platform (if required). The distribution of the training days for the training must be defined in and aligned with the TPF. The training cohort should consist of 25 participants.
• Coordination of the training: The contractor will oversee and ensure the training program runs smoothly.
• Communication with participants: The contractor is responsible for any communication with participants during and after the training.
• Providing training materials: The contractor is responsible for providing training materials such as books, access to online resources, and other materials enhancing the learning.
• Prepare candidates for PMP certification: The contractor is responsible to prepare the participants to sit for PMP certification by organizing and supporting them during practices and registering them for exams.

Work package 3: Completion of the training

• Monitoring & Evaluation process after the training: The contractor shall conduct an evaluation process of training after its completion. Establish a strong M & E framework to ensure short- and long-term impact are met. GIZ and its partners shall check and approve the M&E Framework.
• Final report: The contractor will provide a final report upon completion of the evaluation process.

The contractor is requested to provide an implementation plan for the project incl. the following milestones:

Period of assignment: From April 2024 until December 2024 being the latest date.

3. Concept

In the bid, the contractor is required to show how the objectives defined are to be achieved, if applicable under consideration of further specific method-related requirements (technical-methodological concept). In addition, the contractor must describe the project management system for this assignment.

Technical-methodological concept

Strategy: The contractor is required to consider the tasks to be performed with reference to the objectives of the services. Following this, the contractor presents and justifies the strategy with which it intends to provide the services for which it is responsible.

The contractor is required to present the actors relevant for the services for which it is responsible and describe the cooperation with them.

The contractor is required to present and explain its approach to steering the measures with the project partners.

The contractor is required to describe the key processes for the services for which it is responsible and create a schedule (project plan) that describes how the services according are to be provided. In particular, the contractor is required to describe the necessary work steps and, if applicable, take account of the milestones and contributions of other actors.

The contractor is required to describe its contribution to knowledge management for the partner and GIZ and promote scaling-up effects (learning and innovation).

Project management of the contractor

The contractor is required to explain its approach for coordination with the GIZ project.

• The contractor makes available equipment and supplies (consumables) and assumes the associated operating and administrative costs whenever necessary.
• The contractor manages costs and expenditures, accounting processes and invoicing in line with the requirements of GIZ.

The contractor reports regularly to GIZ following the milestones.

In addition to the reports required by GIZ, the contractor submits the following reports:

• Inception report
• Final report after the cohort’s training is concluded.
• Attendance list of the participants.

Other specific requirements

The contractor is required to briefly describe:

• Assignment implementation plan detailing approach, methodology and the tools to be used, the proposed work plan and the implementation timeline scheduling of the assignment.
• Contractor’s backstopping strategy focusing on performance monitoring of relevant contributing actors and knowledge management.

The contractor is requested to describe any existing working relationships with relevant institution or organization in the domain of ICT. Such working relationships are a plus.

4. Personnel concept

The contractor is required to provide personnel suited to deliver the tasks described, based on his/her CVs, showing the range of tasks involved and the required qualifications. The specified qualifications represent the ideal profiles to reach the maximum number of points in the evaluation of the bid. The qualifications do not constitute minimum requirements. Contractors who do not meet all requirements are still eligible to apply and be evaluated.

Team leader

Tasks of the team leader: 

• Overall responsibility for the advisory packages of the contractor (quality and deadlines)
• Coordinating and ensuring communication with GIZ, partners and others involved in the project.
• Personnel management, in particular identifying the need for short-term assignments within the available budget, as well as planning and steering assignments and supporting local and international short-term experts.
• Regular reporting in accordance with deadlines
• Controlling training and closing projects of varying types and sizes.

Qualification of team leader: 

• Master’s degree in ICT, Project Management, Management or similar
• Excellent business language skills in English; Language skills in Kinyarwanda would be an additional asset.
• 8 years of professional experience, especially in training or teaching adults
• 5 years of experience in project management
• 5 years of experience leading and managing projects. 

Tasks of the expert: 

• Conduct training according to the course outline covering best practice project management techniques applicable in initiating, planning, executing, monitoring projects of varying types and sizes.
• Provide participants with training materials including Project management body of knowledge guide, training slides, quizzes, and simulated exams.
• Perform inbound and outbound assessment.
• Provide participants with customizable templates for Project Management processes. 

Qualification of Expert 1: 

• Master’s degree in ICT, Project Management, Management or similar
• Excellent business language skills in English; Language skills in Kinyarwanda would be an additional asset.
• 5 years of professional experience in training or teaching adults
• 5 years of experience in project management
• Proof of PMP-PMI certification, Certified Project management trainer (PMT) is required.

5. Costing requirements

Assignment of personnel and travel expenses

• Expert days (1 expert and team leader): On-site assignment in country of assignment for 97 expert days.
• Other costs: Certification exam cost per trainee then multiply by 25 trainees. The costs will be justified by evidence (Invoices, purchase order of the vouchers, list of the trainees, list of the purchased voucher codes)
• The assignment is taking place in Kigali, Rwanda. Should the contractor not be based in Kigali, the contractor is required to calculate the travel based on the places of performance stipulated and list the expenses separately by daily allowance, accommodation expenses and other travel expenses.

Specification of inputs

6. Inputs of GIZ or other actors

GIZ and/or other actors are expected to make the following available:

• Training venue
• List of the trainees
• Tea/coffee/refreshments for a tea break when needed.

7. Requirements on the bids

Format

The structure of the bid must correspond to the structure of the ToRs. In particular, the detailed structure of the concept is to be organized in accordance with the positively weighted criteria in the assessment grid (not with zero). It must be legible (font size 11 or larger) and clearly formulated. The bid is drawn up in English.

The complete bid shall not exceed 10 pages (excluding CVs).

The CVs of the consultant proposed in accordance with this ToRs must be submitted using the format specified in the terms and conditions for application. The CVs shall not exceed 4 pages. The CVs must clearly show the position and job the proposed person held in the reference project and for how long. The CVs are submitted in English.

If one of the maximum page lengths is exceeded, the content appearing after the cut-off point will not be included in the assessment.

Please calculate your price bid based exactly on the costing requirements. In the contract, the contractor has no claim to fully exhaust the days/travel/workshops/ budgets. The number of days/travel/workshops and the budget amount shall be agreed in the contract as ‘up to’ amounts. The specifications for pricing are defined in the price schedule.

8. Submission of the offer

8.1 Technical offer:

8.1.1 Eligibility documents

Participating companies must submit the following documents (as described in the Eligibility assessment grid attached) to be eligibility for technical evaluation,:

• A valid registration certificate (issued by RDB),
• VAT certificate (issued by RRA)
• Tax clearance certificate (issued by RRA).
• Evidence of PMP-PMI certification for the proposed expert who will conduct the training

Proof of successful completion of related assignments: At least three (3) reference projects implemented in Rwanda in the last 3 years including one reference of Project management Training. 

Non-submission/Partial submission of commercial/technical documents mentioned above by any bidder will lead to a rejection of the entire bid.

8.1.2 Technical Proposal

• A cover letter expressing your interest in this assignment
• Technical Proposal (attached template for technical proposal must be used)
• Up to date CVs of proposed experts

8.2 Financial offer:

Financial offer indicates the all-inclusive total contract price, supported by a breakdown of all costs as described in the specification of inputs. The costs must be in RWF and VAT excluded. Price sheet attached must be used for the financial offer. 

Please submit electronically your EoI (technical & Financial offer) in 2 separated emails and should be in PDF files to this email ONLY: RW_Quotation@giz.de  until latest March 21^st 2024. 

Please you must write on each email subject this sentence: 83460427-Technical/financial offer, without this sentence, your offer may not be considered 

Hard copies are not allowed this time 

GIZ reserves all rights

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