REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) BY Ministry of Communications and IT (MCIT), Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Kabul

RFP No: MCIT/ICTDP/e-Governance Dept. /Training for CIOs and Other IT Professionals of the Government of Afghanistan

To: All recipients of this requestDate of Issue: 30 May, 2015

SUBJECT: Advanced Level ICT Skills Development Training for CIOs and other IT Professionals of the Government under Capacity Building Initiatives of MCIT

Afghanistan’s ICT Sector Development Project (ICTDP), as funded by the World Bank, is being implemented by MCIT. E-Governance Department of MCIT has planned to utilize a portion of the Capacity Building/Training Fund of ICTDP for carrying out Advanced LevelICT Skills Development Training for CIOs and other IT Professionals of the Government under Capacity Building Initiatives of MCIT. The training will need to be imparted by a Qualified and Authorized Training Institute/ University/Training Centre/Firm at Kabul and abroad.

Ministry of Communications and IT (MCIT) aims to provide high quality Communications, IT and Postal Services for the Afghan people at affordable prices. The ministry has been actively advocating for a positive change in the society by connecting the Afghan people to the knowledge resources, to enable them to improve the quality of their lives. The vision of the Ministry of Communications and IT (MCIT) is to transform Afghanistan into an Information Society.Priorities of MCIT for the next five years are:

  • To deliver the Telecom and IT services to remote areas throughout the country
  • To supply high speed internet to the people in Afghanistan
  • To design, develop and deploy the technical platform of the National Identity Card (NID) and provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Interior (MoI) on the successful implementation of the e-ID Card Project
  • To expand the fiber optic networks in the country
  • To replace the existing analogue television (TV) broadcasting systems by digital TV broadcasting systems in the country and strengthen the regulations for broadcasting companies
  • To enhance the capacity of the Afghan government by introducing the concept of e-Government and encourage all the ministries to integrate ICT within their main work

This training plan is for the capacity development of Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and Technical Managers working in different ministries and government departments. These officials are working in various ministries and are handling many e-gov. projects supported by MCIT. This plan aims to build their knowledge & skills in IT disciplines so that there is better coordination with MCIT and also there is improved efficiency.

CIOs are Director level or Heads of Departments level officials while Technical Managers are other IT technical officials.Advanced Level ICT Skills Development Training in two Parts A and B is required to be organized for100 Senior Management ICT Staff Members of the Government selected from Line Ministries and other Government Organizations.

Training on Specialized Subjects and Project based Training will need to be imparted here at Kabul for 02 months to 100 CIOs/Heads of IT Departments/Other selected IT Professionals under Part A and thereafter, 30 out of 100 will be selected for getting trained abroad for a period of 10 Working Days on specially selected subjects, under Part B.

Part A: Selected senior level IT Professionals of the Country need to be grouped into 20 Project Teams and each Team will be assigned a Project related to m-Governance/e-Governance/MIS/GISApplications and have to be related to the Application and Content Development for Mobile Applications as included in the Mobile Platform Project of the Ministry. These Applications and the Contents need to be developed within the Country within two months. Results achieved will be assessed by an Evaluation Committee of MCITand thereafter, 30 ICT Professionals will be selected for training abroad in any Country having advanced level ICT Skills/Applications.

Part B: Training abroad would be organized just for 10 Working Days, focussed to cover the following Subjects:

Topics: / Working Days
e-Gov. Strategy and Implementation / 1
e-Services Designs (e-health, e-education…etc.) / 1
Mobile Applications enabling m-Governance and e-Governance / 1
IT Project Management / 1
ICT Network Technologies / 1
Cyber Security Frameworks / 1
Facilities given by IT Parks / 1
MIS Development and GIS / 1
Tours of Advanced Level IT Centres and Facilities / 2
Total / 10

Qualification Requirements:

The Training Institutes/Training Centers/Universities/Training Firms should meet the following Qualification Requirements:-

i)Every teacher should have at least Master degree in any ICT Field;

ii)Every teachers should have at least 10 years relevant ICT relatedexperience;

iii)Every teachers should be able to teach in English language; However, it will be preferable for teachers or their Assistant Teachers to know Pashto/ Dari;

iv)Teachers should have previous experience of having taught Advanced Level ICT Subjects including those listed above in Part B, and with experience in mobile applications development;

v)The Training center should have 05 years of experience inimparting Advanced Level ICT training including in mobile applications development;

vi)The Training Center should have at least 05 years relevant experience in organizing relevant ICT related Project-oriented Training;

vii)The Training Center should have established an internationally reputed and recognized ICT training facility outside of Afghanistan to be used for Part B of this training, with at least three years of operation and a minimum of 300 students successfully trained in the ICT and related fields.

Request for Submission of Proposals:

a)Interested partiesare invited to submit a combined Technical and Financial Training Proposal for conducting the training as specified in this RFP.Proposals should be addressed to:

General Manager of Foreign Procurement Division(FPD),

Ministry of Communications and IT (MCIT);

14th Floor of MCIT’s Main Building;

Muhammad Jan Khan Watt;Kabul;Afghanistan

{Proposals sent by E-Mails or any other Electronic Means will not be accepted}

b)Two Copies of theprinted and signed Proposals and the related Documentsshould be submitted in English language.Proposals will not be accepted if sent by Electronic Means (E-Mails or Fax).Proposals received by E-Mails or Faxes will not be considered by the Evaluation Committee of MCIT.

c)Prices should be quoted in United States Dollars and, in the event of a Training Contract, shall be fixed for the duration of the Training and shall not be subjected to any adjustment on any account. Other fully convertible currencies may also be used and the conversion rate used will be that of the Central Bank of Afghanistan (DAB) as published on the working day following the deadline for receipt of the Proposals.

d)Proposalsshould be valid for a period of 60days from the date of the deadline for receipt of the Proposals.

e)The deadline for receipt of your Proposalsis4th July, 2015(02.00 PM-Kabul time). Received proposals will be opened at 02.00 PM onthe same day. Representatives of the Training Institutes can attend the Proposal Opening Session. However, their attendance is not compulsory (it is the choice of the Institutes). Proposals (both Technical and the Financial) will be opened by the Evaluation Committee of MCIT in the IV- Floor of MCIT’s Main Building at Mohammad Jan Khan Watt of Kabul.

f)AISA License/any other Training/Business Registration: All the Interested Institutes must attach their valid AISA License or any other valid Business /Training License along with their Proposals.

g)Evaluation of Proposals:MCIT intends to assess received Proposals based on the following key criteria:

  • Comprehensiveness of proposals
  • Cost
  • Time frame to implement the program

MCIT will evaluate the proposalsto determine to conform to all stated terms, conditions and specifications.

Award of theContract and Payment Terms:

a)MCIT will sign a Training Contract with the selected Training Institute for giving training to all the 100 Staff Members at Kabul and to 30 selected IT Professionals abroad. However, every Month, MCIT will evaluate the effectiveness of the imparted Training and based on the satisfactory performance by the Training Institute, it will be decided by MCIT whether to continue with the training or discontinue the Program. Feedback Forms will be filled up by each Trainee on monthly basis and scoring of 70 % Satisfaction Score (Average) will be considered as successful conduct of the Training by the Training Institute. In case the Training Institute doesn’t score 70 % Satisfaction Score from Trainees, the Training will be considered to be discontinued by MCIT.

b)Payments will be made to the Training Institute after successful completion{70 % Satisfaction Score from Trainees} of each Part of the Training as under:-

*30 % of the Contract Value after successful conduct of First month of the Training;

*30 % of the Contract Value after successful conduct of II month of the Training;

*40 % of the Contract Value after successful conduct of training abroad.

c)Payments will reach the Training Firm’s Account within two months after completion of the trainingsuccessfully and after submission of all the required documents, in duplicate, both in English and local language (Pashto or Dari).

d)MCIT will award the Contract to the successful Training Institute whose proposal has been determined to be substantially responsive, Qualitative and who has offered the lowest evaluated price. Notwithstanding the above, MCIT reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal and to cancel the process and reject all proposals at any time prior to signing of the approvedcontract.

e)The Institute, who’s Proposal is accepted, will be notified of the award of Contract by MCIT prior to expiration of the Proposal validity period.

f)All the Queries and any other E-Mails should be sent to: ;

g)Please confirm by e-mail the receipt of this RFP and whether or not you intend to submit your Technical and Financial Proposals.

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(Janat Khan Fahim)

Director-Admin and Procurements;

Ministry of Communications and IT;Muhammad Jan Khan Watt;Kabul;Afghanistan

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