Amendment 2 Attachment - BEACON Industry Day Documentation.pdf

Industry Day

Better Access and Connectivity

(BEACON)

6 February 2020 US Embassy, Manila

Participants:

1. Krystyna Oseña, GHD Philippines

2. Arnel Paciano D. Casanova, AECOM Philippines

3. Laurence Kristoffer P. Espiritu, AECOM Philippines

4. Olivia Holmes, Chemonics International

5. Meliza Agabin, Chemonics International

6. Edgar E. De Las Alas, Roche, Philippines Inc.

7. Mary Grace Mirandilla-Santos, The Asia Foundation

8. Princess Lou M (Princess) Ascalon, IBM Philippines and Asia Pacific Market Support

9. Elizabeth Crebassa, US-ASEAN Business Council

10. Norika Pineda, US-ASEAN Business Council

11. Jesse Jerome Adrian L. Garcia, Micro-D International, Inc.

12. Yolanda Fernandez, KPMG in the Philippines R.G. Manabat & Co.

13. Dr. Enrico L. Basilio, RESPOND Project

14. Alex Ginn, Nathan Associates

15. Kristen Roggemann, DAI

Sandra Jansen, Contracting Officer Regional Acquisition and Assistance Office

USAID welcomes and thanks all participants. The purpose of the Industry Day is to seek the participants' opinions about the BEACON solicitation. At the same time, this is the participants’ opportunity to ask questions and clarify their concerns on the new design. USAID is still in the process of refining its design.

The proceedings of the Industry Day are recorded, and the documentation will be released as addendum to the Request for Information (RFI). The RFI closes on 2 March 2020.

Jeffrey Lehrer, Chief Office of Economic Development and Governance

Background information relevant for the RFI includes the Journey to Self-Reliance, a new approach initiated by USAID Administrator Mark Green. USAID Missions are encouraged to ensure that host countries are supported in ways that empower them to become less dependent on foreign assistance.

Another important new approach is USAID’s Private Sector Engagement Policy which is focused on enterprise-driven development and market-based solutions. The aim is to partner with the private sector towards common objectives.

The US Government is also advancing its Indo-Pacific vision to strengthen partnerships with key strategic countries such as the

Philippines. This Indo-Pacific vision includes three pillars: Economic, Governance and Security.

BEACON contributes to the objectives of the Economic Pillar:

a. Digital Connectivity and Cybersecurity Partnership (DCCP)

b. Infrastructure Transaction and Assistance Network (ITAN)

c. Trade and Competitiveness (T&C)

Finally, USAID Philippines very recently released its new Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS), 2020-2024. This is a product of review and consultations with the government, mentioning the goal. Development partners can support the Philippines.

Further details of the policies mentioned can be accessed through USAID’s website.

John Avila, BEACON Planner Office of Economic Development and Governance

Several references provide more context and clarity to USAID’s design for BEACON.

Indo-Pacific vision. This is a US government initiative that targets three pillars, namely Economic, Governance and Security. BEACON aims to contribute to three objectives under the Economic Pillar. For DCCP and ITAN, the draft Statement of Objectives (SOO) makes references to the infrastructure and logistics. For T&C, the draft SOO is relevant to the extent that ICT and logistics contribute to greater trade competitiveness initiatives.

USAID’s draft Digital Strategy. This can be sourced online.

Private Sector Engagement Policy. This initiative is often emphasized by USAID Administrator Mark Green’s statements. In the context of the Philippines, logistics and ICT are heavily supplied by the private sector, and it is important that BEACON proposals describe ways to foster private sector engagement beyond simply leveraging funding.

● BEACON’s Theory of Change was reiterated: if ICT infrastructure and logistics performance are improved, then access and connectivity are enhanced, which will lead to more trade and investment. Poor access and connectivity contribute to higher costs of doing business.

Thus, a more efficient system is expected to lower costs

● On-going Economic Growth awards, including RESPOND and DELIVER, are pursuing related objectives on trade and investment. BEACON is envisioned to provide complementary effort to these activities.

● ICT and logistics are linked, especially in connection with the growth of the e-commerce sector. USAID foresees a fast-growing digital economy that will affect all other aspects of the economy beyond just the internet economy. This may include mainstream industries such as food, exports and manufacturing, and even the government's delivery of public services.

All these services have a direct link to the transportation and logitics sector. E-commerce platforms will not be efficient without an efficient shipping industry.

● At the start of the solicitation process, USAID plans to publish a SOO which will lay out the problem and its context. Offerors are expected to provide the solutions. USAID recognizes that there are reform initiatives being implemented by the government sector, private partners and other donors. The challenge in coming up with solutions will be to advance greater coordination, more inter-agency actions, stakeholder cooperation. USAID does not want to duplicate but rather complement existing efforts.

● In the RFI, addressing cybersecurity and privacy issues were not emphasized on its discussion of DCCP. USAID expects to encourage Offerors to propose initiatives to strengthen cybersecurity in a future solicitation.

● The participants were informed that USAID has developed indicators for each of the Pillars and objectives under the Indo-Pacific vision. USAID awards will be required to monitor and report indicators relevant to BEACON.

● In the discussion of BEACON’s sub-objectives, USAID encourages the Offerors to refer to the global indices such as:

1. Logistics Performance Index is an annual index that includes ratings for Customs and

Borders Management. The latter is a sub-component of BEACON.

2. World Economic Forum (WEF) Competitiveness Report which both measures infrastructure and ICT readiness of countries.

3. WEF Network Readiness Index is an annual comparison of the Philippines across its peers.

4. The International Telecommunications Union publishes relevant reports about cybersecurity readiness as well as the Philippines’ relative position against its peers.

● In USAID, the Philippines is often compared to its ASEAN peers. That is Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia. Currently, the Philippines is behind its neighbors, example, in terms of speed and cost of the internet. The definition of improvement is not just move the Philippine’s ranking above but to be at par with its peers.

● A greater private sector engagement will be one of the items that will be highlighted in the solicitation. More than funding leverage, USAID would like to see coinciding objectives between the private sector partner and BEACON. Offerors should also recognize that the two sectors under BEACON, in the case of the Philippines, are mostly private sector supplied.

● The White House announced the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative to support women’s economic empowerment. This is a cross-cutting objective adopted by USAID across all its activities. This could mean highlighting women-led businesses, using technology for women empowerment or for mitigating crimes against women like human-trafficking.

● Environmental and Climate Risk Management is one of USAID’s mandatory sectoral review in all of its activities. The Offerors are encouraged to conduct an assessment of the infrastructure and technology assistance and its implications to the environment. At the same time, all USAID activities are called to be conscientious of the Philippines’ vulnerability to climate risks. Investments to ICT and logistics should be made resilient to these risks.

Questions and Answers:

1. The draft RFI touched on several aspects of ICT. In terms of procurement, are you looking at several vendors?

Sandra Jansen: This activity is for a single award. If your organization only specializes in one component, you can partner with other organizations that can handle the other half of the activity. This session is a market research and USAID is still at the design stage.

If, based on your experience, the industry thinks that putting together several aspects of ICT and logistics together does not make sense, USAID would like to hear about that.

John Avila: This particular concern was posted as a question in the RFI. USAID would appreciate the market opinion on this. As for USAID, we do recognize that the combination of these sectors will be challenging, both technically and in administrative management. However, USAID also has its financial, management and time limitations, which are reasons for consolidating multiple components into a single award.

2. Agreed to point raised by the first question and separating the components will be more manageable. Based on her company’s experience, coordination was a challenge especially with companies that tried to push forward their products.

Sandra Jansen: Thank you.

3. Requesting USAID to update the forecast for potential Offerors to see the objectives, timeline and expected funding.

Sandra Jansen: The Industry Day is still part of the design process. At the same time, USAID is also working on securing management approval. As soon as USAID is ready with the solicitation, all information will be provided.

4. Requesting for USAID’s expectation on the size and value of this opportunity.

Sandra Jansen: As stated in the initial RFI, this is expected to be a $35 million award for a 5-year implementation period.

John Avila: It is also important to consider that there are on-going activities under the Office of Economic Development and Governance, including E-PESO, DELIVER and RESPOND. The goal is to complement their related efforts and avoid duplication.

5. Status on the RFA released by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) on Cybersecurity

John Avila. The USTDA is another US government agency and has its own programming priorities. USTDA’s priority is to provide support on US government exports. USAID is cognizant of these activities and the agencies are working too coordinate certain activities. It is important that USAID activities complement other US government initiatives and not duplicate.

6. Follow-up question on the procurement. Will specific deliverables be identified?

John Avila: USAID plans to release a Statement of Objectives (SOO). The SOO will have the overall objective, a narrative to provide the context and the illustrative results.

Offerors are expected to provide solutions on how to accomplish the objectives, provide the most cost-efficient way of achieving it.

Sandra Jansen: This will be a full and open competition. Organizations can form partnerships with other organizations that can work on other components of the activity.

7. How flexible is the activity? This is in the context of the upcoming National Election by

2022. Policy reform initiatives that were put forward under the current administration may no longer be the priority of the next set of legislators. And even if 2022 is still two years down the road, 2021 will already start the transition year.

John Avila: Usually these types of concerns are tackled during the drafting of the annual workplans. It is where the Activity’s flexibility can be exercised but within the bounds of the overall objectives of the Activity. It is different from drafting the proposal wherein you provide an approach to solve the problems. USAID assumes Offerors are aware of these issues as they prepare their analysis and proposals.

As a default, USAID also aligns itself to the priorities of the Government of the Philippines. In the Offeror’s analysis of the sector, there are certain “must-do reforms” that need to be accomplished by the government. It will be the Offeror’s strategy to move these must-do reforms up in the list of government priorities.

8. Will this Activity touch on the healthcare sector? Roche Philippines is looking at opportunities to improve the healthcare sector with the use of technology.

John Avila: The way the activity RFI was worded, it is sector neutral. It is up to the Offeror to justify its emphasis, for example if it proposes to focus on the healthcare sector.

9. What is the timeline of the project? Knowing the timeline will help the Offeror risk mitigating strategy and scheduling.

John Avila: USAID would like to make an award before the end of the year. BEACON is anticipated to have a five-year implementation life. With regards to the risk mitigation strategy, USAID will provide guidance on how to navigate the project to achieve its contractual objectives despite the political uncertainties and risks.

10. How to complement initiatives of the on-going activities, like RESPOND and DELIVER?

John Avila: OEDG conducts periodic meetings with the various implementers of its economic growth activities. This also includes some activities of USAID Philippines’ Office of Education. The coordination meetings intend to avoid overlaps, instead complement each other. At the same time, this will ensure that all USAID activities are working towards the same direction and speaking with one voice, especially on communicating with partner government offices. Activity coordination happens not only on the Economic sector but also across the Mission and with other U.S. government agencies working in this space in the Philippines.

11. Since the government will be the end-user of this Activity, who will handle the relationships with the government client? To what extent does USAID coordinate with the government clients.

John Avila: Most of the activities of USAID are under a bilateral agreement with the Government of the Philippines. In the past, when USAID was managing the Partnership for Growth, USAID had a senior-level structure where high-level outcomes, priorities and relationships between the two governments were discussed. USAID still maintains a high-level reporting structure to communicate these initiatives with the government.

Closing Participants were thanked as Sandra Jansen closed the session. Participants were reminded that the RFI closes on 2 March 2020. All comments and suggestions to help refine this design will be welcomed. The documentation of the Industry Day will be released as an attachment to the RFI. Once USAID has a decision on the solicitation, it will be announced on its website.

While waiting for the USAID management’s decision, solicitation documents will be completed for release in the coming months.