Rwanda Development Board/ Information Technology Supply, Installation, Customization, Training and Support of an Electronic Forms Management System

Rwanda Development Board/ Information Technology Rwanda
(P098926) - eRwanda Project Contract
Ref: RDB/IT/eRDA/CTR/19/2009

Request for Expressions of Interest

Supply, Installation, Customization, Training and Support of an Electronic Forms Management System.

1. Introduction and Background

The Government of Rwanda has received a Grant from the World Bank to implement its' eGovernment strategy. This Grant has been provided under the eRwanda project which is being implemented by the Rwanda Information Technology Authority (RITA) based in Kigali, Rwanda.

The RDB-IT through the eRwanda Project has committed funds to support the Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration's efforts to improve service delivery to both Migrants and Emigrants and to modernize the Directorate's online services while providing a scalable platform upon which the Government of Rwanda can build to extend the solution to streamline business processes in the other Ministries and PSOs.

The Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration, in support of its National Migration Policy, intends to upgrade its online service offering and streamline its internal processes in order to increase service levels to Rwandans and Foreigners who require its services.

In particular, the Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration intends to web enable all of its services, including Passports, Visa, Permits, Citizenship, NGO Certificates, Refugee ID, Refugee travel document, Laissez Passer and Foreigner ID Card.

The Directorate also plans to introduce online payments to eliminate the need for tedious manual payment procedures.

Currently, the web site of the Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration is currently in operation and has served its purpose in the migration service sector.

In 2006, the Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration introduced an innovative method for applying for entry visa to Rwanda by designing an online entry visa application system that allows travelers to apply and obtain pre-clearance to travel to Rwanda without visiting or sending their travel documents to any of the few Rwandan missions abroad or risking to travel without entry visa.

The applicants get automatic responses in the form of PDF documents.

An online tracking facility is also provided to applicants for entry visa, passports and Visas/Work Permit. This service was developed in response to the need for facilitating the follow up on one's application once it has been submitted. An application can be in different states during the application process.

The remaining services are still manual based. The web site provides applicants with the ability to download and print PDF forms to apply for passports, visas and laissez-passers, however they are still required to come in person with the required documents.

2. Objective of the Assignment

The Key results expected are:

• Reduction in application processing time both at the Directorate's headquarters and at the point of entry.
• Decreased administrative costs resulting from the elimination of manual data entry.
• Reduced printing and distribution costs.
• Increased Immigration worker productivity.
• Improved request tracking and activity monitoring capabilities.

It is anticipated that the above objectives will be met through:

• The deployment of online, user friendly electronic forms with advanced features such as online form field filling, capability to save the form, automatic validation before submission, barcodes, and support for encryption and digital signature.
• Integration with the Directorate's existing back end systems and databases in order to streamline business processes involv¬ing multiple actors.
• Delivery of enhanced services to customers such as visa issuance, border registration and archive applications through an interactive web enabled system.
• Streamlined and coherent e-services by receiving all applica¬tions online, storing data in a central database, routing applica¬tions after submission, retrieving application data using the barcode printed on the form and improving internal processes through automated workflow (being implemented under a separate initiative sponsored by RDB/IT).
• Online payments using the latest secure checkout technology (to be determined).
• The capture and routing of relevant migrant information to the appropriate authorities.
• The establishment of a migrant information center.
• Online verification of visas by providing the Immigration Officers with an interface that displays visa and migrant data and allows the Immigration Officers to record actions taken at the border.
• Support for Rwanda's three official languages: Kinyarwanda, English and French.

3. Scope of the Consultancy Services

The selected Firm shall perform the following:

• Develop a detailed project implementation plan that will outline the project objectives, define roles and responsibilities, identify the main stakeholders, and define the key milestones, activities, level of effort and implementation timeline for:

1. The analysis, design, development, testing and deployment into production of a solution that will streamline the Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration's key work processes using electronic forms as the foundation technology.
2. A government-wide system rollout strategy that will plan for the introduction of electronic forms for the remaining work processes and institutions using RDB's existing business deployment plan as a basis for the rollout schedule.

• Through consultative sessions with key stakeholder groups and business owners, gain a thorough understanding of the business priorities and identify the key business drivers and external influencers that may influence and/or shape the architecture of the solution.
• Document the business and functional requirements the solution is required to satisfy.
• Review existing documentation and conduct interviews with the technical teams in order to assess the existing online applications and back-end systems functionality and architecture.
• Develop and document a technology architecture that will enable and support the Directorate's line of business services while taking into account the requirements for:

1. A highly scalable, reliable and available platform that will meet current demand and allow for future growth;
2. Ensuring the confidentiality, security and integrity of the data entrusted to the Directorate by its clients;
3. Interoperability between the proposed solution and the Directorate's back-end systems and databases;
4. Adhering to the Government of Rwanda's ICT policies and standards;

• Conduct regular Joint Application Development (JAD) sessions with the business and technical teams in order to confirm the requirements and validate the proposed approach.
• Supply, install, configure and test all software and related components required for the solution.
• Develop plans for and deliver training to end users, software developers and system administrators using a "train the trainer" approach.
• Regularly present progress status at each stage of the project.
• Provide local support and maintenance of the solution during and after commissioning for 1 year.

4. Competences

Interested firms must indicate their interest in providing the software and associated services and to qualify, interested firms shall have minimum of 5 years experience and capabilities in the field of web applications, electronic forms and systems integration and shall provide a brief summary of proven experience and capabilities in developing solutions based on the proposed technology and of similar nature, size and scope to the solution under consideration.

The firms must provide client references and contacts for previous similar assignments.

The Firm shall provide concrete evidence that the key staff have previous experiences of similar solutions developed using the proposed technology. At a minimum, the Firm must have staff with competences in Project Management, Technology Architecture, Application Development, Data/Information Security field as well as-in training (Trainers).

5. Selection Procedures

RDB-IT through the eRwanda Project now invites eligible consultants (firms) to indicate their interest in providing the above mentioned services.

Interested firms must provide information indicating that they are qualified to perform the services (description of similar assignments, availability of skills among the staff etc.

(indicate their interest in providing the software and associated services).

Consultants may associate to enhance their qualifications.

The Consultant will be selected in accordance with the procedures set out in the World Bank Guidelines for Selection and Employment of Consultants by World Bank borrowers, May 2004, following Selection using "Quality and Cost Based Selection Method".

Only consultants with demonstrated experience and good track record in similar assignments will be short-listed.

6. Deadline Date and Time

Expressions of Interest must be received at the address indicated below by 1600hrs Rwanda time, on Friday 23rd of October, 2009 clearly marked "Expression of Interest for Consultancy Services for the Supply, Installation, Customization, Training and Support of an Electronic Forms Management System".

7. Submission Address

Expressions of interest must be delivered, to the Procurement Office, eRwanda Project, Rwanda Development Board Office Block, Gishushu, 4th Floor, P.O. Box 6239, Kigali, Rwanda or by email at bids@rita.rw with a copy to wilson.muyenzi@rita.rw.

Acknowledgement will only be made valid by a "read confirmation" receipt from eRwanda Project.

Done at Kigali, on
Patrick NYIRISHEMA
DCEO-IT
Rwanda Development Board.

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