REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
CONSULTANCY SERVICES – FIRM SELECTION
Improving Equitable Access to High Standard Public Services Through Govtech Project for
a Firm for technical assistance related to Open Data
ALBANIA
Project: Improving Equitable Access to High Standard Public Services Through Govtech
Job tittle: Firm for technical assistance related to Open Data
Given the World Bank’s (WB) longstanding support to the GoA in service delivery and digitalization, the GoA has requested further Bank support of the implementation of its digital transformation agenda. The GoA and WB launched a new Program for Results (PforR), which became effective in July 2023. The Program is called “Improving Equitable Access to High Standard Public Services through GovTech” and its development objective is to increase the equitable access to and quality of selected digital services in Albania. The operation seeks to strengthen national systems to accelerate the transition to a fully user-centric mode of digital service delivery, to enable the Government of Albania (GoA) to harness new digital innovations for tangible impact and to move Albania into the advanced rankings of GovTech.
The Program supports the GoA in achieving selected objectives under its digital transformation agenda in three Results Areas (RAs):
- Enhancing E-Service Quality and User Experience
- Improving Digital Skills and Digital Inclusion
- Strengthening Priority GovTech Enablers.
Under Results Area 3 of the above-mentioned Program, among other data governance reforms, the GoA committed to improving data transparency and analytics by: (i) creating a “Data Lake” to store a large amount of data in their native format for data analytics, while respecting data protection requirements; (ii) conducting an Open Data Readiness Assessment (ODRA); etc
The objective of this assignment is to hire a Consultant Firm (henceforth, the consultant) to support the AKSHI and the GoA in meeting its OD commitments under the Open Government Partnership and the Program for Results currently under implementation with the WB.
The total duration of this assignment is estimated at 17 weeks. Contingent upon signature of the contract, the deliverables should be submitted according to the timeline at the Terms of Reference. This timeline will be more detailed in the proposal and inception report.
The Consultant main responsibilities include:
- Produce an Open Data Readiness Assessment (ODRA) report. This will include an open data program action plan to be implemented by ministries (Intermediate Results Indicator for Year 1 of the PforR implementation);
- Produce an Inventory of datasets of all line ministries able to support the publishing of data on the Open Data Portal. This will also include clear recommendations, based on agreed criteria, for 5 priority institutions to publish datasets on the Open Data Portal (Disbursement-Linked Indicator 6 and Intermediate Results Indicator for Year 2 of the PforR implementation);
- Provide guidance to priority institutions on the selection of the appropriate and relevant standard licenses for their open datasets, as defined by the sub legal acts of Law 33/2022.
- Offer expert guidance and recommendations on the effective publication of the identified data on data.europa.eu, a central point of access to European open data from international, European Union, national, regional, local and geodata portals.
- Produce a Technical note related to the 5 priority institutions.
- Produce a Strategy and Methodology for OD Reuse and Impact.
- Propose Activities for Publishing Meta-Data.
More information on the detailed scope of work can be found in the ToRs that are published at AKSHI website.
The Consultant will report to AKSHI and will closely coordinate its activities with the Program’s Coordination Unit (CU) in AKSHI. All report drafts and deliverables will be reviewed by the AKSHI, World Bank and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that the findings are acceptable, and the deliverables revised accordingly.
The International Consulting Firm/Consortium that will engage for this project will have to have the following expertise and experience:
- Specific experience of no less than 10 years in providing consultancy services in the fields of e-governance, GovTech, informative systems, e-services, re-engineering of public services, etc;
- Proven experience of, at least, 2 similar projects in the last 5 years;
- Proven experience on open government data; familiarity with OD ecosystems, the international open data community, and realization of ODRA in developing countries;
- Previous Experience working in an international environment. Experience in in the Western Balkans would be considered an advantage.
The Consultancy firm will assign three consultants to this work. It is anticipated that this would be two international experts alongside one local Albania expert. More detailed information about the qualification of experts can be found in the Terms of Reference where the call is published on the AKSHI website.
Applicants that fulfill the qualification requirements will be further evaluated based on the below criteria:
- General Qualification – 30 points
- Adequacy for the assignment – 60 points
- Language – 10 points
The service will be selected under the provisions of the World Bank Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers “Procurement in Investment Project Financing Goods, Works, Non-Consulting and Consulting Services (July 2016, Revised August 2017, November 2020), based on the method of Consultant Qualifications Based Selection Method (CQ) Lump – Sum Contract. The Bank requires that firms or individuals involved in Bank IPF procurement shall not have conflict of interest.
Further information can be obtained from the address below during business hours from 08:00 to 16:30, Monday to Thursday and from 08:00 to 14:00 on Fridays.
Expressions of interest (CV, cover letter and documentary evidence of obtained qualifications) must be submitted in writing to the address below in person, or by post, or by e-mail at burime.njerezore@akshi.gov.al within March 12th, 2024.
National Agency of Information Society
Council of Ministers
St. “Papa Gjon Pali2”, Tirana, Albania
info@akshi.gov.al