Expression of Interest (EoI) 

Consultancy for  maintenance and further development of imihigo watch

Introduction

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a federally owned international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with worldwide operations. GIZ has worked in Rwanda for over 30 years. The primary objectives between the Government of Rwanda and the Federal Republic of Germany are poverty reduction and promotion of sustainable development. To achieve these objectives, GIZ Rwanda is active in the sectors of Decentralization and Good Governance, Economic Development and Employment Promotion, Energy and ICT (Information and Communications Technology).

BACKGROUND

GIZ Rwanda through its Decentralisation and Good Governance Programme (DGG) supports the Government of Rwanda in reaching its decentralisation goals. DGG’s intervention area “Citizen Participation” is supporting measures to foster citizen participation and accountability, using analogue and digital tools in a complementary way. As part of this endeavour, GIZ-DGG and its partner organisation “Initiative Pour La Participation Citoyenne” (IPC) developed a digital tool called “Imihigo Watch / Isaha y’Imihigo”.

Imihigo Watch provides information on public policies to citizens and hence serves as a tool for information and transparency. It has the potential to foster dialogue between citizens and local authorities about public policies and to enhance accountability. Imihigo Watch combines two of Rwanda’s prominent approaches: Home Grown Solutions and Digitalisation. 

Imihigo Watch is working on three platforms: PC/Web, Smartphone (Android an iOS App) and USSD.

The first phase of this project was carried out since mid-2021 and can be considered as a pilot phase. It featured 6 districts of Rwanda which are Gatsibo, Ngoma, Nyamasheke, Nyamagabe, Nyaruguru and Rusizi. This pilot phase being complete, the evolution of the solution now mainly consists in upscaling it to either more districts and/or to sector’s level, adding more features and maintaining the solution over this contract’s period.

GIZ-DGG wishes to contract an IT agency or the individual IT developer to assure the maintenance and further developments of the solution from October 2022 till end December 2023.

GIZ shall hire the contractor for the anticipated contract term, from 01.10.2022 to 31.12.2023. The assignment will take place in Kigali with possible travels outside Kigali in case of training of district/sector officials.

The contractor shall provide the following service:

• Administration, operation and maintenance of the system 
• Updating imihigo data quarterly, including support to the district and/or sector officials for entering the data, if necessary
• Providing the structure for the following elements: 

• Upscaling Imihigo watch to more districts and/or to sector’s level
• Developing a channel enabling citizens to share their views
• For archiving/having the history of previous quarters/years 
• For adding more information, namely actual achievement for each district (it also implies potential needed adaptions of App and USSD versions in the way information is displayed). 
• For developing a text to speech technology in English and Kinyarwanda
• For displaying achievements based on a quarterly basis and not only a yearly basis. 

• Managing and providing USSD Sessions on *930# between October 1st, 2022 and December 31st, 2023 included 
• Implement requirements made by RISA, if applicable.
• Training to district and/or sector officials, if applicable.

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Deliverables

The individual IT developer or agency will have to produce the following elements:

• The back and front-end structure for functionalities enumerated. 
• An updated version of the handbook for developers (based on the new structure and future features).

Methodology

In terms of methodology, the IT developer or agency must work closely with GIZ-DGG and its partners. All actions or modifications to the solution must be first validated by GIZ-DGG dedicated staff before being implemented.

In the same way, all unexpected costs and/or cost variations, especially regarding third-party agencies must be brought to the attention of GIZ-DGG dedicated staff immediately.

Also, the IT developer or agency must follow the Principles for Digital Development as much as possible. Here are a few elements to be considered: 

• Design with the user
• Understanding the existing ecosystem
• Build for Sustainability
• Use open standards, open data, open source and open innovation
• Address Privacy and Security
• Be collaborative.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

The consultant must fulfil the following : 

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related Degree, 
• At least 3 years’ experience in the development of digital solutions, Platform/technology (Websites, Android / iOS applications, USSD, Text to speech / IVR technology, Databases
• Programming languages skills and experience: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, JQUERY, Bootstrap as well as MySQL and PHP.
• Good knowledge and experience in Data privacy and cyber security

• Business fluency in English and Kinyarwanda

Specification of inputs

Fee days	Number of experts	Number of days per expert	Comments
Preparation/debriefing	1	Up to 2
Implementation	1	Up to 138	Until 31.12.2023
Travel expenses	Number of experts	Number of days per expert	Comments
Accommodation, Transport, Daily allowance			All travel arrangements, if any, will be provided by GIZ either in nature or using GIZ applicable rates for travel, or a combination of the two.
Other costs	Number of experts	Number of days per expert	Comments
Communication/Internet		Up to 10 trips of max 5 days each	Only in case of travel outside Kigali. Standard communication fee per trip of max 5 days.

Note:

If restrictions are introduced to combat coronavirus/COVID-19 (restrictions on air travel and travel in general, entry restrictions, quarantine measures, etc.), GIZ and the contractor are obliged to make adjustments to their contractual services to reflect the changed circumstances on the basis of good faith; this may involve changes to the service delivery period, the services to be delivered and, if necessary, to the remuneration.

Submission of the EoI

EoI will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Individual profile,
• Relevant experience,
• Your strategies to assure agility, flexibility and responsiveness,
• Personnel offer
• Financial offer.

The EoI should contain the following:

For Technical Proposal: 

• A Cover letter expressing interest in this assignment;
• Technical Proposal with a brief description of why you would be considered as the most suitable for the assignment, relevant expertise, and a detailed clear methodology, on how will be your approach and complete the assignment. It should be formatted, font type ARIAL, fond size 11, and should be clearly formulated. The offer should be drawn up in English language. 
• A CV indicating educational background / professional qualifications with proof, all relevant experience with proof, as well as your contact details (email and telephone number); 
• A portfolio of proven previous work with similar functionalities or a certificate of completion.
• Business /company registration certificate (if applicable)
• Tax clearance certificate (if applicable)

For the Financial Proposal:

The Financial Proposal indicates the all-inclusive total contract price, supported by a breakdown of all costs. The cost must be in Rwandan Francs and VAT excluded. 

Please submit electronically your EoI (technical & Financial offer) in 2 separated PDF files to this email: RW_Quotation@giz.de until latest 31st August 2022  

Please you must write in your email subject this sentence: 

EOI number  83417431 - submission of technical& financial offer, 

without this sentence, your offer may not be considered

Hard copies are not allowed this time 

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