Train and Certify 500 Government Employees on e-Governance Technology Management.

EQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

(CONSULTING SERVICES – FIRMS SELECTION)

Country: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Assignment Title:  Train and Certify 500 Government Employees on e-Governance Technology Management.

Duration of Assignment: 1 Year

Implementing Agency: Ministry of Communications and IT (MCIT)

Duty Station: Kabul, Afghanistan

Contract Type: Lump Sum

Reference No: NPA/MCIT/95/Cs-1323/FBS

1. Background

Ministry of Communications and IT (MCIT) aims to provide high quality Communications, IT and Postal Services for the Afghan people at affordable prices. The ministry has been actively advocating for a positive change in the society by connecting the Afghan people to the knowledge resources, to enable them to improve the quality of their lives. The vision of the Ministry of Communications and IT (MCIT) is to transform Afghanistan into an Information Society. Priorities of MCIT for the next five years are: 

• To deliver the Telecom and IT services to remote areas throughout the country.
• To supply high speed internet to the people in Afghanistan.
• To design, develop and deploy the technical platform of the National Identity Card (NID) and provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Interior (MoI) on the successful implementation of the e-ID Card Project.
• To expand the fiber optic networks in the country.
• To replace the existing analogue television (TV) broadcasting systems by digital TV broadcasting systems in the country and strengthen the regulations for broadcasting companies.
• To enhance the capacity of the Afghan government by introducing the concept of e-Government and encourage all the ministries to integrate ICT within their main work.
• EGRC-II: EGRC is USAID ‘on budget funded project based on Milestone in the premises of MCIT. This center’’ became a source of technical expertise and skills, advice and guidance for development and deployment of E-Government in the ministries and provides timely, high- quality advice, training, consulting and audit services in the area of e- government to various ministries of GoA on August 21, 2015. The objective of EGRC Project is to introduce streamlined, modern and

• Effective monitoring and evaluation and enhance the capacity of Government Employees.

2. Objectives of the Assignment

2.1 EGRC II Long Term objectives:

Contribute to the attainment of the national security, social and economic development goals through efficient, effective, transparent and secure public governance.

2.2. EGRC II Immediate objectives:

To create capacity and provide timely, high quality advice, training, consulting and other services in the area of e-Government and cyber security to various ministries, departments and agencies of the Government of Afghanistan and donor supported development projects in order to facilitate and optimize application of information and communication technology in the public sector of Afghanistan and to catalyze e-government transformation in the country.

The intention of this assignment is to create awareness, capacity, and to catalyze the process of e governance in their respected ministries and government agencies.

3. Scope of the services

The purpose of this assignment is to train and certify 500 Government employees on e-Governance technology and management. In continuation of the efforts for the capacity development officials of government ministries and agencies, MCIT/EGRC_II has designed a training program for the government officials. The design of this training is based upon the outcomes of the deliberations of EGRC-II constituted for this purpose. EGRC capacity building department has included different specialize courses based upon it identified areas for training that have direct relevance with the office functions and procedures.

3.1. Assignment Aims:

This training assignment aims at establishing the basis for growing an e-Government ready culture within the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. This training is designed for 500 government employees and organized for 20 working days (5 hours per day) & 100 credit hours.

3.2. Audience:

The audiences are government employees such as officers, managers, general managers, and head of departments and directors of different government units.

3.3. Outcomes:

Upon completion of this package, participants will be:

• Aware of the main e-Government concepts, being able to critically reflect upon them.
• Knowledgeable about legal and regulatory international best practices.
• Well-informed about Afghanistan specific laws, regulations, strategies, policies and procedures (ICT Law, Cyber Crime Law, E- signature and E-transaction Laws, E-government Strategy, Mobile Government Strategies, Bio Metric Regulation and Innovation Policies etc).
• Conscious about adopted standards.

• Informed about typical e-Government architectures.
• Able to define, map and refine e-Government related processes.
• Familiar with the principles of interaction design based on e-Government process models.
• Capable of translating e-Government process models into refined prototypes.

3.4. Language:

Medium of training will be English and a local language depending on participants demand.

3.5. Modules and Topics:

The training package is organized in four modules and 32 topics as described in Table-A, Terms of Reference.

• E-Government Foundation.
• Legal and regulatory infrastructure.
• E-Government Technology.
• E-Government Service Design.

For further information on the scope of the services, you can access the ToR under the above mentioned assignment title and reference number on the website: www.npa.gov.af,

4. Qualification Requirements/Short listing Criteria

National Procurement Authority on behalf of Ministry of Communications and IT (MCIT), GoIRA, now invites eligible consulting firms (“Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the services described under paragraph 3 above. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services.

The short listing criteria are:

• The consultant shall demonstrate having sound financial situation and capacity by submitting financial audit report with annual turnover of at least US$ 540,000.00 for any of the last 3 years;
• The consultant shall also provide proven experiences of having executed at least two contracts of similar nature for the last five years, (each) with the value of minimum US$ 270,000.00. 
• Organizational Structure
• Manpower with qualifications, technical and professional competence necessary for successful implementation of the assignment (the individual expert’s bio data is not required)
• Eligibility requirements in compliance with Article 16 of Afghanistan Public Procurement Law. The consultants should also provide a copy of the certification of incorporation/ business license in its EOI.  

5. Legal References

The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to Chapter 4 of Procurement Procedure: Process of Request for Proposal, Mizan 1394. In addition, please refer to the following information on conflict of interest related to this assignment as Rule112 of Procurement Procedure: All procurement employees, Evaluation Committee, Opening Committee, Award Authorities, Members of National Procurement Commission are required, Prior to start or approval of any type of Procurement Activities; in Case of Conflict of Interest, Should declare their state of Conflict of Interest. The consultants are also required to maintain high standard ethics throughout the procurement process.

The consultants can download the Public Procurement Law and Procedure from: www.npa.gov.af.

6. Joint Venture, Consortium or Association

Consultants may associate with other firms in the form of a joint venture or a sub-consultancy to enhance their qualifications. If consultants intend to associate with other firms, they are advised to clearly identify the lead partner and state the composition and nature of the association (JV/ sub-consultant) in their EOI.

In case the EOI is submitted in form of JV, each partner in the association shall meet the requirements defined in Paragraph 4 above, under the short listing criteria. However, the short listing criteria will not be applied and considered for sub-consultant.

7. Method of Selection

A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Fixed Budget Selection (FBS) defined in Afghanistan Public Procurement Law and Procedures.

8. Submission of EOI

Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form to the address below (in person, by mail, or by e-mail) by 25 October, 2016 at 15:00 Hrs. (Kabul Local Time).

Further information in respect to this REOI can be obtained at the address below by email or in person during office hours [08:00-04:00 Hours].

Attention:

Aziz Ahmad Obaidi

Procurement Manager (Consulting Services Department)

National Procurement Authority (NPA), AOP

Pashtunestan Wat, Kabul, Afghanistan

Phone Number: +93(0)202147556

Email: aziz.obaidi@aop.gov.af, copied to wais.rahimi@aop.gov.af, mohsin.nisar@aop.gov.af,

 Web site: www.npa.gov.af

(The ToR is accessible through direct link: www.npa.gov.af,)