(SOLICITATION) USPSC Information Integrity and Resilience (IIR) Advisor

SOLICITATION NUMBER: 7200AA24R00071
ISSUANCE DATE: June 4, 2024
CLOSING DATE AND TIME: July 5, 2024 at 9:30AM EDT
SUBJECT: Solicitation for U.S. Personal Service Contractor (USPSC)

Dear Prospective Offerors:

The United States Government, represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is seeking offers from qualified persons to provide personal services under contract as described in this solicitation. Offers must be in accordance with Attachment 1 of this solicitation. Incomplete or unsigned offers will not be considered. Offerors should retain copies of all Offer materials for their records.

At USAID, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) is a priority, and we are greater than the sum of our parts. When we integrate DEIA in our programs, policies, partnerships, and people (workforce), we are better able to understand and meet the needs of those we serve worldwide. USAID will evaluate all offerors based on the stated evaluation criteria. USAID encourages all individuals, including those from disadvantaged and under-represented groups, to respond to the solicitation.

This solicitation in no way obligates USAID to award a PSC contract, nor does it commit USAID to pay any cost incurred in the preparation and submission of the offer. Any questions must be directed in writing to the Point of Contact specified in Attachment 1.

Sincerely, 

Mir Ershadullah, Contracting Officer

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The Global Trends and Technology Office’s focus includes responding to emerging trends and threats to democracy, including digital repression, polarization, information manipulation, economic capture that undermines self-determination and related authoritarian tactics that corrode democratic governance. It also includes understanding the tactics used to undermine democratic governance such as reducing institutional checks and balances, restricting civil society and media, corrupting electoral and political systems, utilizing information manipulation and information disorder, abusing digital technologies for repressive purposes, and engaging in economic capture and coercive practices, among other approaches. GTT applies cutting-edge thinking, research, and practice to promote resilience in development policies and programs which address global challenges and develop new ways to advance the development and dissemination of democracy-enhancing technology norms, policies and practices.

As part of GTT, the Information Integrity and Resilience Advisor would serve as a subject matter expert and exercise technical leadership to bring innovative and evidence-based approaches to strengthen information integrity and resilience. This position provides critical, cutting-edge technical leadership in the field of information integrity and resilience. This includes in-depth knowledge of media programs with an understanding how technology, including Artificial Intelligence, can both facilitate and mitigate information disorder, what drives that diffusion (i.e. group identity, cognitive bias) and how that diffusion exacerbates social polarization which corrodes the foundation of democratic consensus building and collective solution finding. The Advisor is expected to work to advance research and learning, evidence-based approaches and promising and novel experimentation in this space to advise USAID Mission teams and Washington on state-of-the-art research and programming bolstering information resilience and integrity. At the core of this position is the ability to support USAID Missions to implement programs that address information disorder by pulling from cutting edge lessons learned cross-sectoral from health to countering violent extremism with democracy, human rights, and governance considerations being the core driver.