Consultancy on the Procurement and Customization of a No/Low Code Information Management System – RFP-SOM-CO-2024-001

1. Who is the Danish Refugee Council?

Founded in 1956, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a leading international non-governmental organisation (INGO) and one of the few with a specific expertise in forced displacement. Active in 40 countries with 9,000 employees and supported by 7,500 volunteers, DRC protects, advocates, and builds sustainable futures for refugees and other displacement affected people and communities. DRC works during displacement at all stages: In the acute crisis, in displacement, when settling and integrating in a new place, or upon return. DRC provides protection and life-saving humanitarian assistance; supports displaced persons in becoming self-reliant and included into hosting societies; and works with civil society and responsible authorities to promote protection of rights and peaceful coexistence.
DRC has been operational in Somalia since 1998 and is currently among the largest international (INGOs) in the country, with country-wide programmes implemented through six main offices and nine sub-offices in South Central Somalia, Somaliland, Puntland and Galmudug regions. Somalia is vulnerable to extreme weather patterns and remains in a protection crisis where armed conflict, insecurity and natural disasters trigger the displacement of thousands of people.

2. Purpose of the consultancy

The Danish Refugee Council Somalia seeks proposals from a consultant to provide a no/low code information management system that manages, stores, processes, disseminates, and visualises big data coming from the main programme sectors in DRC Somalia which are Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM), Protection, Emergency Response, WASH, Economic Recovery, and MEAL. The information management system should be fully owned and/or managed by DRC either by having the source code of the Information Management system framework, or by having the source of the IM System web root /published version with DRC owning all systems derived from the Information Management framework along with receiving updated security batches released by the consultant or requested by DRC until 2030.

3. Background

DRC in Somalia is actively engaging in different coordination bodies to improve effectiveness of the humanitarian response in Somalia through joint data collection, analysis, planning, and response such as but not limited to CCCM Cluster, Somalia Cash Consortium, WASH Cluster, Protection Monitoring, etc.
Additionally, DRC Somalia implements an Integrated First Line Response (IFLR) package of multi-sector emergency support for new arrivals displaced to DRC-managed sites. The IFLR activities include but not limited to household registration with screening malnutrition children, non-food items distribution, multi-purpose cash assistance, two-ways referrals, WASH activities at site and household levels, Individual Protection Assistance “IPA”.
DRC Somalia are in the process of launching a biometric registration in DRC’s areas of operations – either alone or in partnership with other agencies where data is exchanged between DRC and relevant stakeholders. Moreover, DRC in Somalia is providing humanitarian assistance to persons of concern in need in hard-to-reach areas.
Currently the data is processed, collected and stored through different methods using offline excel files, online excel files on office 365, R Shiny application, paper forms, Kobo toolbox, and ONA.

4. Objective of the consultancy

The purpose of this consultancy is to deliver a low/no code Information Management System that allows DRC Somalia to centralise, manage, store, and disseminate information related to DRC’s programme sectors CCCM, Protection, WASH, and MEAL.
In relation to data centralisation and data collection, it is anticipated that the Information Management system will include the following programme tools should be developed:

• Persons of Concern centric biometric registration
• New arrival tracking
• IDP site monitoring
• Sectoral service mapping
• Safety audit
• Individual protection Assistance “IPA” registration and case tracking
• Multi sectoral referral tool
• One-time and continuous activity enrolment
• Non-food items distribution management, including stock tracking
• Advanced cash module,
• Needs assessments
• Community feedback mechanism,
• scoring and indicator performance tracking tools

In terms of data processing and information management products, the IM system should auto populate data in different formats such as GIS, PDF, word, excel/csv lists, 2-ways API, and all types of data visualisation charts and graphs and integrated with BI tools such as PowerBi, sharepoint, and R. All collected data including primary or secondary should be securely processed through an Artificial Intelligence and/or machine learning tools to produce predictive analysis through co-relating different data sets.
The IM System should be dynamic, flexible, in-dependent from the IM Consultancy once all features are developed, fully secured, customisable, using latest technology without third party libraries, and can be hosted locally or on the cloud on any operating systems mainly ubuntu or hosted on the cloud mainly Azure.
The consultant will be required to deliver the base of low/no code framework that contains the below features:

• Persons of concerns biometric/non-biometric registration where the registration could take place at household, family, or individual levels. The registration module should allow further addition of new born and/or other family members, track mortality, and update information.
• Person of concern centric integrated design that allows tracking the full journey of beneficiaries from biometric/non-biometric registration, activity enrolment, pre/post assessments, post distribution monitoring, and displacement routs.
• IDP sites and outreach areas profiling with full linkage between those locations with persons of concerns registered in those locations or service provisions provided to those locations by DRC Somalia
• Data collection forms, and assessments creation with dynamic data elements constraints, relevancy, sensitivity matrix for personal identifiers, default values, customisable form design in terms of grouping, paging, fonts, colours, etc.
• Survey and assessment management module that allows creating any type of questionnaires and process it through different stages: draft, test, deployment, modification, versioning, and re-deployment.
• Document management system that links directly to DRC’s office 365 SharePoint based on DRC’s Somalia existing emails permissions and access focusing mainly on updating means of verification soft files their relevant SharePoint folders.
• Attendance module that allows tracking of both one-time activities that does not require full registration such as one-time awareness sessions and short/long term activities with pre-defined curriculum that might last for days/months and require full biometric/non-biometric registration. The attendance module should have the ability to track re-enrolment, drop-outs,
• Multi-sectoral referral module to:
  1. Allow redirection internally, referrals internally and externally, re-refer, and/or bulk-referrals
  2. Referrals could be done at individual, family, household, site, and/or location levels.
  3. The referral module should be linked to an online smart service mapping that can be accessed by DRC or external actors.

  4. Sharing an online referral form in word or PDF format that can be auto encrypted based on the referred case type via the referral module’s built in email system. The email system should have similar features as office 365 outlook.
  5. The referral module can be accessed from any registration or vulnerability assessment in the IM system.
  6. One-time access to referrals sent to external stakeholders through a secure link.

• Scoring module that generates different scores and eligibility criteria with locking feature
• Relocation feature that tracks massive relocation of persons of concern as a result of emergency drought, flood, and/or conflict.
• Offline capability when using the IM system using PCs, and/or laptops.
• Mobile data collection tool linked to the IM system “RESPOND” that allows the teams retrieve data stored online and use their IOS/Android devices to de-duplicate cases using biometric registration or other personal identifiers.
• Two ways API to link DRC’ Somalia IM System “RESPOND” with other IM Systems in the country noting DRC Somalia is keen on exchanging data between RESPOND and other actors who use different IM systems. The API should also supports linking the IM system with other BI tools such as QGIS, R, and PowerBi.
• Approval procedural module that allows auto redirection of cases, and persons of concern lists based on pre-defined workflow.
• Notification and reminder module that can be integrated with any procedure in the system
• Flexible grid/data table feature that allows data edits from the data table that shows data of specific from/assessment in a grid view
• Support in server configuration that could be either on premises using Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or Cloud hosting.

• Desirable but not required:

  • Early warning system based on AI algorithm or other algorithms suggested by technical advisors/specialists at DRC. The early warning system should be able to generate a unique identifier for any emergency triggered by the system and link it with any service provision as result of that specific emergency.
  • Indicator tracking tool that measures pre-defined indicators set by DRC and relevant donors along with different types of breakdown. The indicator tracking tool should be able to present accumulative achievements already entered in the IM System “RESPOND” and should be able to be viewed at area and/or national level at monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual levels. The indicator tracking tool should be combined with a lock feature to allow locking/unlocking it based on admin approval.
  • User management module with user friendly screen(s) to create, verify, password reset, and permission/access management.
  • Advanced permission module up to question level, in addition to hashing feature to personal information.
  • BoQ module for CCCM and WASH activities at site level linked with the approval procedure module.

5. Scope of work and Methodology

The Consultant will be required to prepare a detailed methodology and work plan indicating how
the objectives of the project will be achieved, and the support required from DRC.

6. Deliverables

The Consultant will submit the following deliverables as mentioned in Annex F:

information management system should be fully owned and/or managed by DRC either by having the source code of the Information Management system framework, or by having the source of the IM System web root /published version with DRC owning all systems derived from the Information Management framework along with receiving updated security batches released by the consultant or requested by DRC until 2030. The Consultant will provide the documentation on DRC’s shared OneDrive

7. Duration, timeline, and payment

The total expected duration to complete the assignment will be no more than 100 working days. The consultant shall be prepared to complete the assignment no later than December 2024.
Payment Terms:
The payments will be divided into three instalments and after releasing a certificate of completion from DRC side on the Phases mentioned in above table. The table will be divided as follows:

• 50% payment on delivery of Phase 1 which includes the server configuration and installation/setup of the IM system base.
• 25% payment on delivery of Phases 2 and 3
• 25% payment on delivery of Phases 4 and 5

8. Proposed Composition of Team

• Project Manager
• Developers
• Technical support focal point
• Cyber security specialist

9. Eligibility, qualification, and experience required

Essential:

• ➢ Minimum 10 years of experience in developing information/data management systems in a humanitarian and/or development context including online platforms, preferably using ASP.Net Core
  ➢ Extensive experience in PostgreSQL or MSQL database engines
  ➢ Extensive experience in JSON
  ➢ Extensive experience in JavaScript
  ➢ Extensive experience in server configurations on premises and cloud
  ➢ Strong ability to organize work, meet deadlines, maintain composure, prioritize work under pressure, coordinate multiple tasks and maintain attention to detail
  ➢ Excellent interpersonal and problem-solving skills, creativity and flexibility
  ➢ Personal qualities: Works well in and promotes teamwork, comfortable in a multi-cultural environment, flexible and able to handle pressure well.
  ➢ High computer literacy

Desirable:

• ➢ Good experience in Linux sever management and configuration, mainly Ubuntu
• ➢ Azure hosting certificates
• ➢ Data protection and security experience mainly GDPR
• ➢ Knowledge of Activity Info, CPIMS+ and GBVIMS+ platforms.
• ➢ Experience User Interface User Experience “UIUX”
• ➢ Experience in GIS mainly leaflet
• ➢ Experience in IVR API
• ➢ Experience in Microsoft Office 365 sharepoint
• ➢ INGO experience is preferred

• Eligibility:

– The consultant is registered in their country of origin/residence

• Qualification:

– Bachelor degree in information management, Computer Science, Computer Engineering or other related fields.

• Experience:

– A minimum of 10 years of developing information/data management systems in a humanitarian and/or development context proven.

• Language requirements:

– Written Full proficiency in spoken and written English.

10. Technical supervision

The selected consultant will work under the supervision of:
• Information Management Coordinator, Omar AlHussein, Email: omar.alhussein@drc.ngo

11. Location and support

The consultant will be executing his/her tasks remote.
The Consultant will provide her/his own computer and mobile telephone

12. Travel

There is no travel required

13. Submission process

Refer to section V of the RFP

14. Evaluation of bids

Administrative

The documents listed below shall be submitted with the bid:
➢ Technical Bid Form or equivalent:

• Provide at least two references
• Provide Curriculum Vitae (CV) of key personnel offered to perform the consultancy services
• Similar projects related to developing online information management systems

➢ Financial Bid Form or equivalent
➢ Tender and Contract Award Acknowledgement Certificate
➢ All other documents requested in section III A of the RFP document.

Technical Evaluation

To be technically acceptable, the bid shall meet or exceed the stipulated requirements and specifications in the RFP. A Bid is deemed to meet the criteria if it confirms that it meets the conditions, procedures and specifications in the RFP without substantially departing from or attaching restrictions with them. If a Bid does not technically comply with the RFP, it will be rejected.

Financial

All bids that pass the Technical Evaluation will proceed to the Financial Evaluation. Bids that are deemed technically non-compliant will not be financially evaluated.
The service provider is required to submit a Financial Proposal in separate email “Annex F Financial Proposal”

• ➢ The Financial Proposal must provide a detailed cost breakdown in USD including consultant’s rate budget allowance, time and material, etc.
  ➢ Bidders must submit an overall firm-fixed price bid in USD.
  ➢ Invoicing and payment will be performed by bank transfer in USD.
  ➢ All costs will be fixed.

Only those shortlisted will be contacted for an interview with the panel to ensure their understanding of the consultancy services.