SIGNED_REQUEST_FOR_INFORMATION_SOL--OAA-16-000055_04-08-2016_signed.pdf

Request for Information

USAID RFI- SOL-OAA-16-000055

Digital Programs & eGovernment Capacity Building Activity Liberia

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

Issuance Date: April 8, 2016

Closing Date and Time: April 22, 2016; 1:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time

Subject: Request for Information No.: SOL-OAA-16-000055;

Title: Digital Programs & eGovernment Capacity Building Activity

Liberia

The United States Government, represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development

(USAID), is hereby issuing this Request for Information (RFI) from any interested organizations and individuals that are current GSA Schedule holders of the professional support services to obtain information about interest, capabilities and market information related to potential activities and enhancing proposed services and strategies.

Note: This is a Request for Information (RFI). This is not a Request for Proposals (RFP) or

Request for Applications (RFA) and is not to be construed as a commitment by the U.S

Government or USAID to issue any solicitation or Notice of Funding Opportunity, or ultimately award a contract or assistance agreement on the basis of this RFI or to pay for any information voluntarily submitted as a result of this request. USAID reserves the right to retain and utilize materials and information, ideas and suggestions submitted in response to this RFI without liability in its planning efforts. USAID is not responsible for any cost incurred in responding to this RFI.

The RFI can be downloaded from http://www.fbo.gov. Interested parties who are not able to retrieve the document from the internet can request a copy from jbanks@usaid.gov.

Please submit your comments electronically to Julia Banks, Acquisition and Assistance

Specialist, at jbanks@usaid.gov by Wednesday, April 22, 2016, at 1:00 pm, Eastern Standard

Time.

Thank you for your interest in USAID’s activities.

Sincerely, Roderick D. Watson

Contracting/Agreement Officer

USAID/Washington rwatson@usaid.gov http://fbo.gov/ mailto:jbanks@usaid.gov mailto:jbanks@usaid.gov mailto:rwatson@usaid.gov

Digital Programs & eGovernment Capacity Building Activity Liberia

Glossary of Terms & Abbreviations

CDCS Country Development Cooperation Strategy

CIO Chief Information Officer

CMS Content Management System eGov Electronic Government

EVD Ebola Virus Disease

FAR Federal Acquisition Regulation

FBO Federal Business Opportunities System

GoL Government of Liberia

GovNet Government Network

GSA General Services Administration

ICT Information and Communications Technology

IT Information Technology

LAN Local Area Network

MACs Ministries Agencies and Commissions

MICAT Ministry of Information, Culture & Tourism

MoH Ministry of Health

OGP Open Government Program

PDIA Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation

PSS Professional Support Services

RFA Request for Applications

RFI Request for Information

RFP Request for Proposals

SIN Special Item Number

USAID United States Agency for International Development

WAN Wide Area Network

1. Introduction

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) established the U.S Global Lab in

April 2014, believing that science, technology, innovation and partnership can accelerate development impact faster, cheaper and more sustainably through modern tools and approaches.

The U.S. Global Development Lab (The Lab), is an entity within United States Agency for

International Development (USAID) that works collaboratively within the Agency and with external and diverse partners to test and scale breakthrough solutions to end extreme poverty.

2. Background

The recent Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) crisis revealed a paucity of advanced information and communications technology (ICT) tools within the Government of Liberia for information collection, mobilization of resources, prioritization of strategies, deployment of personnel, coordination of responders, dissemination of public information. Among the key lessons learned from the EVD crisis are, the fragile ICT ecosystem coupled with the weak state-managed command and control systems leaves Liberia vulnerable in the event of Ebola resurgence or similar crises and constrains Liberia’s ability to rebuild its economy and restore public confidence in government.

USAID is considering a possible multi-year Digital Programs and Electronic Government

(eGov) activity that builds on the momentum started both before and during the Ebola crisis and that aims to strengthen the capacity, infrastructure, connectivity, as well as institutional and content components of modern, scalable, national eGov systems and capacity that will be better prepared to prevent, detect and respond to future potential health crises.

2.1 Key Findings:

The GoL ICT policy lacks specific accountability mechanisms and procedures required for effective implementation. Further, in many parts of the GoL there are ICT capacity gaps with insufficient human and financial resources to execute the ICT policy.

Many Post-EVD activities are consolidated around the Ministry of Health (MoH) and related procurement, logistics and financial management capabilities at the Ministry of

Finance & Development Planning (MoFDP). There is currently no shared infrastructure approach to achieve a “whole of government” capacity to respond to future outbreaks.

Many Ministries, Agencies, and Commissions (MACs), health and education facilities lack the necessary funding to acquire critical ICT hardware, connectivity, or new applications and effectively integrate ICT into daily operations.

An analysis of the level of ICT implementation in the 96 MACs shows that only 15 percent are adequately equipped and staffed with sufficient operating resources. Only 35 percent of MACs meet minimum ICT standards for hardware/software (equipped with a

LAN, internet access and basic cybersecurity) and have at least two professional ICT staff members. Half (50 percent) of the MACs fall well below minimum standards, deploying only basic personal computers and one or two staff to maintain them.

Upgrading the ICT staff capacity in MACs is needed to expand the GoL’s ability to implement the eGovernance strategy.

The ICT systems in MACs vary widely and are often compromised by constraints, such as irregular power supply and unreliable and costly bandwidth, and are not integrated with other parts of the GoL to optimize flow of information.

The GoL has established a laudable Open Government Program (OGP) Action Plan to be led by the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs & Tourism (MICAT) which faces many challenges to realize its potential. It lacks sufficient staffing, an adequate data portal, and connectivity with responsible MACs. MICAT does not have the ICT tools to consolidate GoL data and information to effectively carry out OGP goals related to civil society.

The GoL lacks the resources and expertise to establish best practices from Change

Management, Strategic Communications, and Human Capacity Development frameworks for its development activities.

Liberia has sufficient international capacity via the ACE submarine fiber optic cable but only a rudimentary (12 km) Metropolitan Fiber Network currently exists in Monrovia.

The absence of a national backbone means severely limits broadband communication options outside of Monrovia which impacts budget sustainability due to the higher cost of rural connectivity for community health facilities and the Ministry of Health’s county offices. Electricity is undependable even in Monrovia, although prospects for distribution grid reliability and reach may be improving.

3. Objectives

The activities considered in this RFI are consistent with USAID/Liberia’s Country Development

Cooperation Strategy’s first Development Objective (CDCS) -- supporting an effective, accountable, and inclusive Government -- and are intended to strengthen GoL and

USAID/Liberia’s development opportunities across the Mission’s portfolio. It is envisioned that by creating a government-wide digital infrastructure that will dramatically improve information management, enhance operational management capacity across government, and increase national electronic communications between national government agencies and government public service providers (through public health & education facilities).

A critical element of this work is likely to be in establishing an eGov platform capable of sharing

IT and data services across the whole of government and managed by a more operationally functional CIO structure equipped with skilled and experienced personnel. The primary goal of this work is to enable the GoL to respond more effectively to a potential re-emergence of EVD or similar threats, more effectively communicate with citizens to support public services and rebuild citizen confidence in government, and realize critical economic and social elements of its

Agenda for Transformation.

https://www.facebook.com/micatliberia1/

Key components of this effort likely include:

1) Establish an effective, efficient and sustainable GoL Shared ICT Services Center available to support IT and IT services for multiple MACs. Shared services would be designed in collaboration with the GoL and may involve numerous business functions and IT processes and be delivered from several different physical locations. In effect, it would be a single GoL point of service, able to facilitate MAC business functions and enable faster decision making, more informed policy making, more effective workforce management and improved alignment and utilization of GoL resources across GoL

MACs.

2) Expand Government-Wide Connectivity through a GoL Wide Area Network (WAN), or “GovNet”, for the delivery of electronic services and to meet the operational needs of the individual MACS in Monrovia.

3) Expand the capacity and infrastructure of the nascent National Data Center to provide data storage, firewall, directory, web, portal, and integration management services with sufficient resources to ensure 99.5% uptime.

4) Strengthen Liberia’s commitment to the Open Government Partnership related to

Technology and Innovation, Transparency and Citizen Participation thematic areas. The proposed Shared Services Platform offers new opportunities for implementing the GoL

OGP plan; however, the MICAT will require a Content Management System (CMS), using an open source data publishing platform with tools to manage content, documents, and the user community, as well as data sets.

5) Develop an integrated GoL Asset Management System at the General Services Agency

(GSA) to maintain a complete cradle-to-grave reporting environment for all GoL assets with associated data and business process standards and policies that will facilitate the free flow of information within and outside the GoL, increase efficiency and build greater transparency.

6) Provide technical assistance to build human ICT capacity for the CIO, ICT managers, and staff at associated MACs. The overall eGov process needs to be guided by and incorporated within a scaled down and targeted methodology adapted from the Problem

Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) approach. The fundamental change management principle of "start small and stay small" needs to be strictly enforced. Over-reach with unsustainable levels of technical assistance required for complex hardware and software integration and functional requirements expansion has plagued most eGovernment efforts. Level of effort should be calibrated to what is essential and realistic to achieve.

The preferred training modality will be through apprenticeship, mentoring and on-the-job coaching, rather than through classroom instruction. Pulling key actors out of their already challenged organization will only be done as a last resort.

7) Establish and implement a plan to improve two-way communications between national

Government MACs and county level facilities to support decentralization of essential government services, leveraging support from other partners working in (or interested in supporting) these areas. This may include support for expansion of connectivity, building utilization capacity, and identifying priority needs for select health, education, and government facilities in Monrovia and at the county level.

8) Identify solutions with Mobile Network Operators (MNO), private sector and development partners to expand ICT infrastructure and services for MAC offices, health and higher education to connect facilities outside of greater Monrovia.

4. Request for Information Guidelines

Responders are free to address any or all of the items in Section 2 as well as provide additional information relevant to the effective building of GoL ICT capacity and infrastructure to improve whole of government approach to preventing and responding to an EVD or future crisis. Please note that USAID is not seeking technical or cost proposals at this time. Do not submit any proposal in response to this RFI. Only information requested will be considered, any information submitted outside of the requested information will be discarded. Issuance of this notice does not constitute an award commitment on the part of the United States Government, nor does it commit the Government to pay for any costs incurred in the preparation of responses. The

Government reserves the right to not issue an RFP/RFQ for this potential procurement.

4.1 Response Specifications

Specific questions USAID’s Global Development Lab and USAID/Liberia are interested in gathering input to include:

USAID would like to gauge the level of expertise and capabilities to implement the ICT capacity building- and ICT hardware-related activities in Liberia described in the Objectives. Due to the unique operating environment in Liberia, USAID requests that respondents highlight Liberia-specific experience and/or experience in similar political and economic environments in Africa.

Please include information about your organization’s specific achievements, lessons learned in each of the six (6) activity areas listed in the key objectives (section 2) of this request. USAID is also interested in gauging the level of expertise and capabilities to coordinate across multiple actors to leverage diverse partner capabilities, interests, planned and unplanned resources into coherent, holistic ICT programming across multiple facilities. In addition to specific achievements and lessons learned information, include any information that distinguishes your organization and potential partnering organization’s capacity to deliver high quality ICT-related consulting services in Liberia. Respondents will also need to identify relevant GSA Schedule(s)

(i.e. MOBIS, OASIS, etc.) for which they are currently holding that are appropriate for the activities as described in Section 2 of this RFI.

5. Response Submission Instructions

All comments must be submitted electronically to Julia Banks via jbanks@usaid.gov. Responses to this RFI will be accepted through the date and time indicated. Responders will not receive individualized feedback. No basis for claims against the United States Government shall arise as a result of a response to this request for information or from the Government’s use of such information.

Specific questions about this RFI should be directed only to the email address aforementioned in

Section 4.

Responses are to be formatted as follows:

Page 1 - Cover (should not exceed 1 page) including:

Corporate information/profile - Affiliation/Organization Size and type of ownership for the organization/Identify Current GSA Schedule(s) holding(s) appropriate for the activities described herein

Reference Number: USAID Global Development Lab SOL-OAA-16-000055

Date

Contact Name and Email

Page 2 - Mission/Statement of Objective (should not exceed 1 page)

Page 3 - Response(s) to Objectives listed in Section 2 (should not exceed 10 pages)

The Following items will not be included in the page count:

1 Page Cover

1 Page Table of Contents

1 Table of Corporate Structure

2 Flow Charts to support Objectives Responses

The submitted information must not exceed ten (10) pages; attachments of documents that support your comments to the questions asked are not included in the page count and should not exceed 10 pages. All responses are to be submitted in English. Each page, excluding the cover page requires page numbers.

mailto:jbanks@usaid.gov

Sample Cover Letter

COMPANY INFORMATION:

Reference

Number:

Date:

Company

Name:

Address:

City, State &

Zip Code:

Type:

Size:

Current GSA

Schedule(s) holding(s)

PRIMARY CONTACT INFORMATION:

Name:

Title

Address:

City, State &

Zip Code:

Phone: Fax:

E-mail: