Individual Consultancy to Develop Chatbot for Ipas Pakistan

1. Introduction/Background:

Ipas is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) that works to assist the Government of Pakistan in achieving the country’s commitment towards Sustainable Development Goal 3 (good health and well-being). It seeks to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity associated with complications due to unsafe practices. Improving reproductive healthcare is vital to preserve women’s reproductive capacity (fertility). We collaborate with provincial governments (in Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and the ICT region to provide technical assistance and support for strengthening the public and private healthcare system. We improve the provision of maternal healthcare services based on nationally approved guidelines and recommended technologies such as uterine evacuation and healthy spacing methods. We help to upgrade government-run hospitals and medical facilities by providing need-based equipment, supplies, and training to health care practitioners.

The objective of our project is to develop scalable, evidence-based solutions that result in increased uptake and improved continuation rates of contraceptive use after medical abortion (MA) among women and adolescent girls in Pakistan. Ipas, along with partner organizations, conducted formative research and is now designing interventions for women and adolescent girls seeking MA outside facilities, pharmacists/medicine sellers providing MA and contraceptives outside of facilities, and influential intermediaries who may influence both groups.

One of the interventions is a digital safe space (DSS) in the form of a chatbot. A DSS is a platform where participants receive carefully curated, empathetic, and consumable information that they currently lack access to. Our goal for the DSS is to provide content on Family Planning (FP) that considers post-MA psychographics and achieves the following:

• Engagement
• Awareness
• Behavior Change

Ipas Pakistan is seeking the services of a technical consultant (IT) for a chatbot. This consultancy aims to provide comprehensive support in the DSS initiative by contributing design and backend support for the platform. Additionally, the consultant will have a pivotal role in extracting insightful data from the digital intervention (chatbot) and translating it into a detailed report, the purpose is to utilize key report findings to ensure the chatbot’s functionality and procedures align with the intended design.

To maximize internal learning, this intervention will be led by a technical consultant and supported by an internal project team member of the Ipas staff.

2. Period of Performance: The Period of Performance for Deliverables 1-5 is July 2024- August 16, 2024. Once Ipas receives an amendment to extend the end date of our award from the donor, we plan to amend this consultancy agreement to extend the Period of Performance until March 2025 and to include deliverables 6-8

3.   Place of Performance: Ipas Country Office Islamabad and remote

 4. Scope of Work:

• The consultant should conduct a comprehensive review of the existing chatbot content and layout to ensure alignment with project needs, emphasizing clarity, relevance, and user-friendliness. Specific tasks include evaluating the language used, assessing the flow of conversation, and optimizing the user interface for seamless interaction.
• Enhance the chatbot to execute specific functionalities outlined in the project design, including but not limited to:
• Responding to user queries promptly and accurately.
• Providing relevant information based on user input and context.
• Guiding users through predefined processes or workflows efficiently.
• Ensure that the chatbot’s responses are contextually relevant and meet the project objectives.
• Enable functionalities such as automated notifications, task assignments, and communication channels to ensure optimal uptake of the content and efficient collaboration.
• Integrate mechanisms for periodic monitoring of chatbot performance, including metrics such as response time, user satisfaction, and task completion rates.
• Implement features for providing ongoing support to users, such as contextual help prompts, escalation paths for complex queries
• Develop automated mechanisms for generating performance reports and presentations on a monthly basis.
• Summarize key metrics, insights, and user feedback obtained from chatbot interactions for team review and decision-making purposes.
• Provide actionable recommendations for optimizing chatbot performance and enhancing user experience based on the analysis of performance data.
• Ensure an appropriate level of beta/testing of all modifications prior to launching new features.
• Consolidating updates and planning continuous feedback to partners on outcomes from the Chatbot findings on a monthly basis through meetings and onsite visits.
• Management and Performing reporting of analytics data for better Engagement of the platform on a weekly basis.
• Provide monitoring support as pre-criteria to ensure better functionality to align the results for the project.
• Present findings through the report and PPT to the project team on a monthly basis.
• Implement features within the chatbot to facilitate seamless coordination between stakeholders like project partners and Ipas management / Ipas focal persons.

The consultant would be expected to readily deploy an alternative approach, with prior approval of Ipas in the event of unforeseen circumstances to ensure that the assignment is duly completed on time and to a satisfactory standard.

5. Reporting:  The consultant will be expected to report to the RM&E Advisor for the fulfillment of this assignment and will also be accountable to the Acting/Head of Programs at Ipas Pakistan.

Deliverables

Phase 1- Deliverables (July- August 2024)
Deliverable	Due date
Report of the review of existing Ipas chatbot content and layout with specific recommendations to align it with project needs and any necessary safeguards for risk mitigation of users and Ipas as per local context and any applicable laws/regulations. Design specifications document containing the functional and non-functional requirements/features of the product, based on the commonly followed standards for similar projects.	-within 07 days from the start of the consultancy period.       Within 14 days of start of consultancy period.
Based on Ipas approval of the design specifications, configure all changes in the chatbot content and functionality as per agreed design specifications. The chatbot needs to be configured with bi-lingual option in English and Urdu. The chatbot must be configured and tested on a test environment with all required protocols and scenarios.	Within 30 days of the start of the consultancy period.
Conduct User Acceptance Testing (UAT) in the test environment and provide report. Once any modifications arising from this stage are completed, then with Ipas prior written permission, launch the chatbot on the live environment.	Within 40 days of start of the consultancy assignment   30 July 2024
Conduct training for 20-35 sample users (batch 1) in ICT area as identified by Ipas and its partner. Provide training report and training materials to Ipas.	August 2024
Phase 2- Deliverables (September 2024- March 2025)
Conduct training for 20-35 sample users (batch 2) in ICT area as identified by Ipas and its partner. Provide training report and training materials to Ipas.	October – November 2024
Provide monthly report of analysis of chatbot usage data trends and make recommendations for any improvements or troubleshoot as required in the application. Fix any bugs in the application as identified, with the approval of Ipas.	4th day of every month from September 2024 to March 2025
Submit the final report and presentation of the chatbot usage to Ipas	31 March 2025

The consultant will be expected to work closely with Ipas staff, its partner organizations, third-party firms, and users in order to complete this assignment.

6.  Skills and Experience Requirements:

Essential skills and experience:

• Experience working at the backend of software applications.
• Undergraduate degree in software engineering/development.
• Technical and applied knowledge of data-driven procedures, analytical and practice.
• The consultant should have a minimum of 2-3 years of hands-on experience in developing chatbots using platforms such as Dialogflow, Microsoft Bot Framework or equivalent.
• The consultant should have good analytical thinking, agile development experience, and database management skills.
• Experience in providing ongoing support, monitoring chatbot performance, preparing detailed performance reports and presentations.
• Experience in conducting beta testing and UAT.
• Strong references from previous clients or projects, showcasing successful chatbot implementations and positive feedback on the consultant’s performance
• Demonstrated experience in integrating chatbots with various platforms (e.g., websites, mobile apps) and deploying them to production environments securely and efficiently.
• Proven ability to effectively coordinate with project partners, client/supervisor, project team and other stakeholders to ensure seamless integration of the chatbot within the project ecosystem.
• Strong research and analysis skills.
• Track record of producing high-quality reports of complex information in accessible formats.
• Good facilitation skills for convening outcome-oriented discussions among small groups.
• Experience working in the international development sector Excellent written and spoken English and Urdu.
• Demonstrated track record and commitment to acting with integrity in software development, avoiding plagiarism and respecting others intellectual property.
• Willingness to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) as a mandatory requirement for undertaking this assignment and agreeing to software application development/configuration work undertaken within the scope of this assignment to be the exclusive intellectual property of Ipas.

Desirables:

• Prior work experience of chatbots or any other app development for development and humanitarian organizations.
• Fluency in spoken Pushto or Punjabi
• Master’s in computer sciences or backend development experiences

7.  Application Process

Interested applicants are invited to apply by 12:00 GMT+5 on 3rd July 2024.

8.Budget:

This will be a payment-based deliverables contract whereby Ipas Pakistan will pay only the consultancy fee as per the agreement between both parties.

Tax will be conducted as per Government of Pakistan policy.