Invitation to tender to develop a digital tool to make parliamentary data more accessible and user friendly
Overview
Westminster Foundation for Democracy (“WFD”) is the UK public body dedicated to supporting democracy around the world. Operating internationally, WFD works with parliaments, political parties, and civil society groups as well as on elections to help make political systems fairer, more inclusive and more accountable.
We are a problem-solving, practitioner-led organisation that offers:
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Specialist analysis, research, and advice to inform policy makers on a range of democratic governance issues;
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High quality and impactful programmes that directly support the full spectrum of institutions in political systems to develop inclusive political processes, more accountable political systems, protection of rights and freedoms, and more pluralistic societies; and
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International elections observation on behalf of the UK.
Aim of this Invitation to Tender
WFD is issuing this Invitation to Tender (“ITT”) to a range of potential suppliers of goods and/or services and would welcome a bid from your organisation.
WFD Taiwan did an parliament data user experience research and identify the need to develop a more user friendly digital tool for advocacy groups and the public to better understand and monitor the legislature. Therefore, WFD Taiwan is looking for a service provider to develop a digital tool to make parliamentary data more accessible and user friendly based on the findings from our previous research.
Bid submission
All bids should be submitted by November 11th, 2024, in writing, must comply with the requirements of this ITT, and must include the information requested in the Bid Requirements below.
The bid should be sent electronically and addressed to: Nai-chia Chen at naichia.chen@wfd.org.
The same email address should be used for any questions related to this ITT.
WFD’s standard terms and conditions for tendering and key policies are found at https://www.wfd.org/policy/wfd-general-terms-and-conditions-tendering and you can find a copy of WFD’s Code of Conduct at https://www.wfd.org/policy/code-conduct
Detailed Specification
Objective
Based on WFD’s user experience research in Taiwan, data from Taiwan’s parliament, the Legislative Yuan, although open and available online, is scattered across more than five websites, which creates obstacles for advocacy groups, scholars, and relevant stakeholders to trace and monitor the legislative progress and policy debates. To support a more inclusive and transparent democratic governance environment, WFD Taiwan is looking for a service provider to design and develop a digital tool that integrates Legislative Yuan’s public data, optimises search functionality, and presents information in a user-friendly manner, with the aim of lowering the barriers to tracking legislation and monitoring parliamentary activities.
Scope of work
- Collaborate with Taiwan’s civic tech community and relevant stakeholders to design a new web-based digital tool based on WFD’s parliament data user experience research report.
- Develop an open-source new digital tool with the following features:
- Easy search function for users to find meeting minutes and bill history using keywords.
- User friendly presentation of revision history and progress of bills and amendments.
- Generate comparison chart with multiple proposed versions of one bill.
- Easy data sharing functions with editable document formats.
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Organise events to promote the digital tool and gather user feedback.
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Coordinate with WFD to develop the operational plan for this digital tool after the contract expires.
Deliverables
- The digital tool should be web-based platform or a website.
- The digital tool must be in Traditional Chinese using the public data from Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan.
- The digital tool should at least integrate and provide access to these following legislative data:
- Legislative Yuan Meeting Minutes
- Law revision history
- Proposed bills and amendments
- Stage and progress of each bill
- The service provider should organise at least 4 events with at least 30 participants/ users to promote the digital tool in Taiwan.
Timeline
Start date: November 18th, 2024
Midterm: January 17th, 2025
End date: March 10th, 2025
Please note that this digital tool will continue to operate after the project end date, and WFD is currently developing the plan for future hosting with potential hosts.
Reporting
A midterm report in English summarising the progress of development, presenting a prototype ready, and detailing the event plans.
An email update on the launch of the digital tool.
A completion report in English summarising the 4 events and gathered feedback.
Working arrangements
- This service should be based in Taiwan.
- The copyright of the code belongs to WFD.
- This digital tool is open source; therefore, its usage rights are freely available to the public.
Payments
A maximum of GBP £28,000 will be applied depending on experiences and expertise needed.
WFD shall pay in 3 instalments within 30 days of receipt of a valid invoice to be submitted as follows:
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20% on satisfactory signing the contract.
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30% on satisfactory submission of the midterm report and present the prototype.
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50% on satisfactory submission of the completion report.
Invoices need to include reference to the Programme Code and Job Task number.
Minimum experience and expertise
- Experienced in developing digital tools with open-source data for Mandarin users.
- Familiar with Taiwan’s legislative process.
- Experienced in working with Taiwan’s civic tech community.
- Well connected with Taiwan’s democratic actors that would use parliament data for advocacy or policy research work.
- Working professional fluency in English and Mandarin/Taiwanese.
Bid process
Timescale
Below is the proposed timescale for the tendering process. Please note the dates are indicative and subject to change.
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Description |
Date |
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Issue ITT |
Oct. 25, 2024 |
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Closing date for receipt of completed tender proposals |
Nov. 11, 2024 |
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Shortlisting of bids |
Nov. 12, 2024 |
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Supplier interviews/presentations to tender committee (if applicable) |
Nov. 13 &14, 2024 |
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WFD announces preferred supplier |
Nov. 15, 2024 |
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Contract finalised and signed |
Nov. 18, 2024 |
Bid requirements
In general, the bid should include the following:
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Organisational profile
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Proposed solution and how it meets the specification
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Financial proposal
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References
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Confirmation of compliance with General Terms and Conditions of Tendering
Organisational profile:
- Company profile, including brief history and financial overview
- Case studies/credentials demonstrating relevant experience and skills profile
- Names and brief biographies of key staff
WFD is particularly keen to receive bids from organisations which are – or are working towards becoming – living wage employers and that have a broadly representative and balanced Board from gender and ethnicity perspectives.
Proposed solution:
- Clear explanation as to the proposed approach to meeting the specification set out in this ITT.
- Detailed project plan, including timelines, assumptions and dependencies, resourcing and risks.
Financial proposal:
- Full breakdown costings for the proposed solution in sterling.
- Separate accounting of VAT and/or any other applicable tax, duty, or charge.
- Detailing of any discount applied in view of WFD’s not-for-profit status.
References:
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The bid should include details of two references relating to similar goods/services provided in the last three years. Please note – referees will only be contacted once Preferred Bidder status is assigned.
Confirmation of acceptance of General Terms and Conditions of Tendering:
- All bids should include a signed copy of the Confirmation of Compliance form as annexed to this ITT.
- All bidders should also note the following:
- all bids should be submitted in English;
- all bids should be submitted in electronic form only;
- this ITT and the response may be incorporated in whole or in part into the final contract;
- only information provided in response to questions set out in this documentation will be taken into consideration for the purposes of evaluating the ITT;
- bids which are poorly organised or poorly written, such that evaluation and comparison with other submissions is notably difficult, may exclude the bidder from further consideration; and
- any bids which do not fully comply with the requirements of this ITT may be disregarded at the absolute discretion of WFD
Evaluation criteria
WFD does not provide a mathematical formula by which bids will be weighted evaluated, but the procurement committee will usually consider the following criteria, among others in the evaluation of all responses:
- Quality of bid document
- Service offer and solution fit to specification
- Quality, capacity, and track-record of bidders based on references
- Value for money and pricing factors
- Professional profile, track record, and references
- Relevant experience, including case studies
WFD will score each criterion using the following table:
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0 |
The proposal submitted omits and fundamentally fails to meet WFD’s scope and specifications. Insufficient evidence to support the proposal to allow WFD to evaluate. Not Answered |
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1 |
The information submitted has a severe lack of evidence to demonstrate that WFD’s scope and specifications can be met. Significant omissions, serious and/or many concerns. Poor |
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2 |
The information submitted has some minor omissions in respect of WFD's scope and specifications. The tender satisfies the basic requirements in some respects but is unsatisfactory in other respects and raises some concerns. Satisfactory. |
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3 |
The information submitted provides some good evidence to meet the WFD’s scope and specifications and is satisfactory in most respects and there are few concerns. Good. |
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4 |
The information submitted provides good evidence that all of WFD's scope and specification can be met. Full and robust response, any concerns are addressed so that the proposal gives confidence. Very Good. |
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5 |
The information submitted provides strong evidence that all of WFD's scope and specification can be met and the proposal exceeds expectation i.e. exemplary in the industry. Provides full confidence and no concerns. Outstanding |
Tender Queries
Any questions related to this tender should be addressed to Nai-chia Chen at naichia.chen@wfd.org.
Equal Information
Should any supplier raise a question that is of general interest, WFD reserves the right to circulate both question and answer to other respondents, either via WFD’s website or by email. In this event, anonymity will be maintained.
Annual reports
Please provide a link or copy of your company’s latest audited annual accounts with the bid.
Other information
If the potential supplier believes that there is additional information that has not been requested in the ITT but is relevant to your bid, please include that information as a separate attachment and explain its relevance to this ITT.