Request for Expressions of Interest

Update November 2015: The procurement is now conculded.

Update 16 July 2015: The International Secretariat held an information session today and the slides of the presentation can be found attached. The questions and answers from the session can also be seen below.

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

(CONSULTING SERVICES – FIRMS SELECTION)

The EITI has applied for financing from the World Bank toward the cost of the Development of Extractives Data Portal (EDP), and intends to apply the proceeds for consulting services, jointly funded by the EITI International Secretariat. 

The consulting services (“the Services”) include developing the new EITI website with an Extractives Data Portal. The EDP will be a website where users from around the world will be able to understand how governments manage natural resources, access open data as it is collected in the 48 EITI countries, and follow the value of the natural resources from the ground all the way into the state coffers.

In short, the objective of this work is to make the main product of the EITI - disclosed data - as compelling as possible so that a larger portion of our users spend time on this content, and are effectively informed.

Non-technical users will be able to see the data from and understand the various steps in the process of translating natural resources into government income, and follow the steps in each of the 48 countries, using visualised data such maps and charts. Technical users (academics, government officials, investors, developers) will be able to access the raw data for analysis, integration with other systems or applications.

Early 2016 the EITI will host its Global Conference, held every three years. At this event we want the new EITI website to be a showcase of the potential of the EITI data.

The development will follow an agile software development methodology.  Development will start at the signature of contract, and end 31 December 2015. It will follow a Phased Delivery approach, with six components/phases.

Each phase will end with deployment of a component (beta). Before a phase is considered complete, it will be assessed by the EITI Secretariat against a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) test that is agreed with developer before the phase commences. Funds for the next phase will be approved after successful releases at the end each phase.

An outline of the six phases can be found below. The phases are subject to review and will be developed in collaboration with the developer at the signature of the contract, and during the project.

The EITI Secretariat now invites eligible consulting firms (“Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the Services.

The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to paragraph 1.9 of the World Bank’s Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants [under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits & Grants] by World Bank Borrowers January 2011 (“Consultant Guidelines”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest.

Consultants may associate with other firms in the form of a joint venture or a subconsultancy to enhance their qualifications.

The EITI Secretariat will host one information session for interested Consultants. The Secretariat will provide a briefing and answer questions. The session will take place Thursday 16 July 9:30am-11:30am CEST at the EITI Secretariat in Ruseløkkveien 26, Oslo, and over Skype. RSVP to akrakenes@eiti.org by 14 July. Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours CEST 0900-1700.

Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services. The following qualifications are required:

• The Consultant must be a company with at least 10 full-time operational staff (such as web developers, UX designers, project managers).
• The company must have been in operation for at least 3 years, and proven experience with using agile software methodologies.
• The company must provide a list of similar contracts it has performed in recent years.
• The company must be able to dedicate a team of at least 4 key operational and qualified personnel for the duration of the engagement (1 October to 26 February) during office hours Monday to Friday.
• At least one key team member must be present at the EITI office in Oslo for the entirety of the engagement. This person must be a highly qualified web developer or project manager with at least 5 years of experience from similar projects.

Expressions of Interest must be delivered in a written form to the address below (in person, or by mail, or by e-mail) by 5 August 2015. 

Selection will be done in accordance with the procedures set out in the World Bank Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits and Grants by World Bank Borrowers January 2011 using Quality and Cost-Based Selection method.

EITI International Secretariat
Attn: Anders Tunold Kråkenes
Ruseløkkveien 26
0251 OSLO
Norway
Tel: +47 46662888
E-mail: akrakenes@eiti.org

This REOI is listed on the UN's Development Business website.

Q: Does this project include improving the websites that each EITI country has?
A: No.

Q: Current EITI data has a varying degree of quality. Is improving the integrity of the data part of the ambition of this project?
A: No.

Q: Do we need to comply with World Bank’s user interface and web security standards?
A: No.

Q: Is developing a solution for inputting data seen as part of the scope?
A: yes, an option in phase 2 in the REOI. We foresee that such an interface would be used by us in the EITI first, and not by external users at this stage.

Q: Is use if open source solutions mandated?
A: We do have a preference towards open source, but it is not required. We do however require that EITI will own any custom code.

Q: The REOI states that “one key team member must be present at the EITI office in Oslo for the entirety of the engagement”. Does this one key member need to be the same person, or can it be different persons? Also, can the proposal be to have a series of extended visits?
A: Does not need to be the same person, and yes, the proposal can be to have a series of extended visits.

Q: Can you share what the existing data model is?
A: Current data repository (data.eiti.org) runs on the same installation of Drupal 7 and MySQL as the rest of the site (eiti.org). It runs on a dedicated hosted server.

Q: What kind of geospatial data, such as licence information, is to be included?
A: Most EITI data is no more granular than by country. Not yet explored whether and how licence data could be included. Drawing on easily available datasets with geospatial information is an option (such as World Bank indicators).

Q: Does the project include mapping of beneficial ownership?
A: While beneficial ownership will probably not be an immediate priority, it could be considered as an option.

Q: To what extent does it include developing solutions for future data needs?
A: Not in scope. But as a general rule extensible solutions are preferred over less extensible solutions.

Q: How to achieve ‘agile’ within the parameters of a fixed cost arrangement as the standard World Bank contract?
A: It is important to us to use an agile approach. We are looking at how to achieve this, including the terms of the contract.

Q: Should we provide cost estimate or daily rate in the proposal? If both - which will be a assessed by?
A: These are important questions that will be answered in time before the Request for Proposals phase.

Q: Can you provide a ballpark figure or range for what the budget is for the project?
A: No, but the provisions in the list of qualifications can be used to estimate the number of consultant days required.

Q: Can components/phases be done in parallel?
A: Yes, certain components can be started in parallel, such as 1 and 2. We would prefer to limit too many components in parallel and instead focus on  "shipping" components that pass an agreed MVP test. Note in this regard that components 2, 3 and 4 have to be concluded by December 31.

Q: What do you do if you do not get 6 companies with a geographical spread that can be shortlisted?
A: The WB consultant guidelines has a method for solving this.