Request for Proposal to Develop Chatbot

Request for Proposal (RFP)

RFP No. PK-RQ -0602

RFP to Develop Chatbot

Release Date:  05/06/2024.

Instructions to Offerors

1. Offer Deadline: Offers must be received no later than 5:00 PM on June 12, 2024, by applying on Ipas Procurement portal, by mentioning office contact details (office address, landline number and email address, and office/company website if any).
2. Scope of Work: Section 9 contains the scope of work.
3. Negotiations: Best- proposals are requested. It is anticipated that awards will be made solely on the basis of these original proposals; however, Ipas reserves the right to conduct negotiations and/or request clarifications prior to awarding a contract.
4. Evaluation and Award: The award will be made to a responsible offers whose offer follows the RFP instructions, meets the technical specifications and requirements, and is judged to be the most advantageous in terms of lowest cost.
5. Terms and Conditions: Issuance of this RFP does not in any way obligate Ipas-Pakistan to award a contract order, nor does it commit Ipas Pakistan to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of a proposal. Any resultant award or lease will be governed by these terms and conditions.
6. Partner Eligibility Criteria: Experience in working at the backend of software applications, and proven record of developing chatbots, integrating chatbots, with various platforms (e.g., websites, mobile apps), and successful chatbots implementation.
7. Technical Specifications: The technical application will have more significant importance than cost application in the selection of a successful applicant. It should demonstrate the applicant’s capabilities and expertise with respect to achieving the goals of this proposal. Therefore, it should be specific, complete and presented concisely. The suggested outline for the technical application is:

      a) Cover Page A single page with the following details:

• RFP number
• The name of the firm law/regulation under which it is registered with Government of Pakistan, date of such registration and corporate website link, if any.
• Contact person for the prime applicant, including individual’s name (both typed and his/her signature), title or position with the organization/institution, postal/ office address, landline and mobile telephone, fax numbers and e-mail address.
• Details of a primary bank account with account number, bank name and branch number will also be required to establish banking experience.

   b) Institutional Capacity & Technical Approach

Applications must include the following information:

Technical Proposal including:

• The approach to completing the deliverables outlined in this SoW and the estimated time required for each task.
• Quality assurance mechanism to be deployed for completing this assignment
•  Proof of assignments of similar nature carried out in the past
•  CV of the proposed key person or key personnel to work on this assignment

  c)Financial Proposal: Financial proposal must be submitted as per     Statement of Work mentioned in Section 9.

8. Evaluation Criteria for Scope of Work: The various functional elements of the technical criteria are assigned weighted scores, so that the applicant will know which areas require emphasis in the preparation of applications. The relative importance of each criterion is indicated by the number of points assigned.

Overall evaluation shall be carried out based on weighted average methodology wherein technical evaluation will carry 70% and financial evaluation will carry 30% weightage.

Mandatory Requirements:

	Mandatory Eligibility Criteria Checklist	Yes/No
1	Proof of Certificate of Incorporation or Registration or equivalent with relevant authorities
2	Proof of NTN Certificate
3	Original affidavit (not older than one month) on Stamp Paper(s) of worth Rs.100 or more that the applicant is not insolvent, bankrupt and is not blacklisted or debarred by PPRA, Government, Semi-Government, Private, Autonomous body or any other international organization
4	Original affidavit (not older than one month) on Stamp Paper(s) of worth Rs.100 or more that the applicant is an active taxpayer and has submitted its tax return for the preceding fiscal year. Taxpayer list serial number (downloadable from FBR’s website) is also to be mentioned.
5	Valid bank maintenance certificate in the name of organization

Technical Evaluation Criteria	Points
a.       Proposed approach and methodology to scope of work (Technical Proposal)	20
b.       Experience in working at the backend of software applications, and proven record of developing chatbots, integrating chatbots, with various platforms (e.g., websites, mobile apps), and successful chatbots implementation.  A minimum of 2-3 years of hands-on experience is required in developing chatbots using platforms such as Dialogflow, Microsoft Bot Framework or equivalent	30
c.       Profiles (CVs) of proposed key personnel for the assignment.	10
d.       Strong references from previous clients or projects, showcasing successful chatbot implementations and positive feedback on the consultant’s performance.	10
Financial Evaluation Criteria
a.       Cost quoted to complete the whole assignment	30
Total	100

9. STATEMENT OF WORK

Introduction: 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.

9.1 Period of Performance: The Period of Performance for Deliverables 1-5 is June 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.

9.2 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.

9.3 Place of performance: Ipas office, Islamabad and remote

9.4 Travel: local travel required

9.5 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:
  1. Responding to user queries promptly and accurately.
  2. Providing relevant information based on user input and context.
  3. Guiding users through predefined processes or workflows efficiently.
  4. 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.