Co- funded by the EU

Open Call for Consultancy Services

Title: Development of the Western Balkans Innovation and Research

Platform Website

Contracting Authority: Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) Secretariat

Reporting to: RCC Secretariat

Duration: November 2021 – December 2021

Application Deadline: 12 November 2021

Reference Number: 095-021

Eligible: Consulting companies/individual experts within bidding consortia

TERMS OF REFERENCE:

I. BACKGROUND

Purpose

The purpose of the assignment is to support the implementation of the Common Regional Market

(CRM) Action Plan 2021-2022 (hereinafter: CRM). The Leaders of the Western Balkans endorsed

the Declaration on CRM and the respective CRM Action Plan 2021-2024 in the Sofia Summit of

the Berlin Process in November 2020. The CRM aims to enable an unobstructed flow of goods,

services, capital and people making the region more attractive for investment and trade, while

accelerating convergence with the European Union (EU), to bring about prosperity to the citizens

of Western Balkans.

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The CRM’s Regional Innovation Area (RIA) component aims to build a dynamic regional

innovation ecosystem by supporting the region’s businesses in priority industry sectors to innovate,

grow and contribute to European and global value chains. Having in mind the WB innovation

ecosystem’s current embryonic stage, the RIA’s foreseen actions in the immediate future will focus

on creating a favourable environment for its growth through connecting and empowering various

stakeholders including businesses, governments, academia and civil society.

One of the RIA’s measures envisages the introduction of the Western Balkans Innovation and

Research Platform as a regional information sharing instrument to support the implementation of

a number of CRM’s measures and the region’s full integration into the European Research Area

(ERA). An important step to enable a free flow of timely information in the field of innovation

and research is the creation of a website (WB Innovation Platform) envisaged as an online regional

innovation hub.

The specific purpose of the assignment is to: (1) design an online WB Innovation Platform, (2)

create and make it accessible online; and (3) secure content curation over the set period.

Background information

The CRM endorsed by the Western Balkan Leaders, under the RIA component foresees

the introduction of the Western Balkans Innovation and Research Platform. Broadly, its purpose

is to assist the region’s integration in the European Research Area (ERA). In addition, the WB

Innovation Platform aims to contribute to the promotion of regional cooperation through the

networking of various stakeholders in the region that require online communication tools to enable

the smooth exchange of knowledge and contacts with the ultimate goal of facilitating the

development of regional innovation ecosystem. The Network on Open Access Research

Infrastructures in the Western Balkans and the regional Network of Women in STEM currently

coordinated by the RCC already requested websites to encourage regional interactions, while the

forthcoming networks of Technology Transfer Offices and Digital Innovation Hubs indicated that

a regional website would greatly contribute to making functional connections. Furthermore, the

WB Innovation Platform would add value to exchanging knowledge and good practices within the

regional Diaspora Knowledge Transfer Initiative, and information sharing aimed at supporting

other regional innovation initiatives, in particular vulnerable early-stage innovation enterprises.

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Aside from the CRM’s goals, innovation practitioners and policy-makers in the region face

similar challenges when attempting to learn more about innovation and existing opportunities.

Despite various projects promoting their achievements online, there are no websites at the moment

dedicated solely to the promotion and development of innovation in the Western Balkans. As a

result, innovation practitioners and policy-makers struggle to see the regional innovation landscape

fully and comprehend its underlying dynamics. The RCC’s consultations with various stakeholders

have identified the lack of information sharing in the region that leads to duplication of efforts and

asynchronous actions on the ground. Hence, an online regional hub focusing on innovation would

be very much welcome. The WB Innovation Platform is conceived as the main dissemination tool

for sharing knowledge and information on the innovation process, available training, statistics on

research and innovation, meaningful insights to allow learning from successful experiences and

failures of innovative teams in the region and beyond. Overall, it aims to make innovation more

understandable to various stakeholders, and encourage and facilitate the CRM’s implementation.

Instead of creating several websites that would sit in isolation and incur additional costs to

build and maintain the RCC aims to assist the advancement of the regional innovation ecosystem

and ensure transparent networking by creating a single website. The WB Innovation Platform

should feature relevant information including partners’ short presentations, news, open calls,

existing and upcoming opportunities, collecting achievements of past and present projects, reports,

etc. The website should feature regular updates on regional innovation trends to assist both the

region’s policy-makers and practitioners to respond to the COVID-19 crisis effectively and plan

strategically the post-Covid recovery. Furthermore, the website should facilitate the active

exchange of information on good practices and advocate on priority actions with international

stakeholders operating in the WB such as the Enterprise Europe Network, European Institute of

Innovation & Technology and its Knowledge and Innovation Communities, COST Association,

Eureka Network, European Innovation Council, international development agencies and

international financial institutions. In this sense, the WB Innovation Platform aims to assist in

catalysing the innovation processes in the Western Balkans, fostering collaboration, developing

innovation capabilities, and knowledge and information sharing among the region’s innovation

actors.

II DESCRIPTION OF RESPONSIBILITIES

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Objectives and scope of the assignment

This consultancy aims to design an interactive and user-friendly website (WB Innovation

Platform) that will facilitate RIA’s implementation and support the development of the region’s

innovation ecosystem. The website will be used as a tool to disseminate information and

knowledge related to innovation and research in the Western Balkans.

The selected consulting firm will deliver the following services and outputs:

1. Create a specification document

Run a meeting with RCC staff and develop the work plan with a specification document that will

reflect the RCC’s needs and requirements. The specification document will serve as the basis for

the design of the WB Innovation Platform and has to be agreed upon by RCC and the consulting

firm. The bidders are encouraged to submit the specification document as a part of the concept

note elaborating the key elements of the WB Innovation Platform and suggest innovative ways of

promoting the WB Innovation Platform.

2. Create the WB Innovation Platform

The consulting firm will:

• Design an interactive and intuitive website, with a consistent interface, quick loading,

uploading, and downloading function;

• Create a user-friendly and highly secure website on a standard Content Management

System (such as Wordpress) that is easy to access, maintain and update;

• Create webpages and databases including (HTML5/PHP/Java in frontend part of the

website, and MySQL/PostgreSQL database in background part of the website): about us,

news, key information about partners, blogs, publications (studies, reports, etc.), video

gallery, etc. in consultations with the RCC;

• Provide the RCC with a hosting package and a domain name registration (5 years

duration);

• Create consistent subdomains to feature the RIA’s components as agreed with the RCC;

• Ensure the compatibility of the design with major browsers (Firefox, Chrome, IE);

• Integrate a search function with autocomplete suggestions;

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• Develop and imbed the subscribed newsletter functionality that will be developed and

circulated automatically;

• Ensure the website is compatible with mobile devices;

• Provide the Search Engine Optimisation and site analysis;

• Develop accounts on three most influential social media to promote the WB Innovation

Platform, accounts’ ownership to be transferred to the RCC;

• Create content for the WB Innovation Platform with the support of the RCC staff;

• Submit reports and areas for improvement during the consultancy.

Note that the language of the website will be English. The contractor will maintain a full backup

of the website throughout the contract. The backup, code and source files will be delivered in full

to the RCC at the closing of the contract.

3. Maintain the website

The consulting firm will provide support for 2 years after the go-live date of the WB Innovation

Platform with the possibility of contract renewal based on performance. It will undertake the

necessary updates and bug fixes throughout the contract. These include:

• Necessary enhancements to the website and activities to increase the system’s

performance or user interface;

• Provide website security regular checks to prevent online threats;

• Fix problems during operation and provide support against flaws, either design or

development;

• Data entry, including, but not limited to, updating links, text and graphics as supplied by

the client;

- Site/pages archiving (in case of old websites/pages);

- Website visitors reporting (available 24 hours on Google Analytics web page).

Note that the website hosting and maintenance, and all other foreseeable costs of the WB

Innovation Platform must be budgeted in the financial offer. The contractor will assist with the

content update where necessary.

4. Train RCC staff

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The consultant will provide training to the RCC’s staff to learn content curation and maintenance.

The workshop has to be tailored for up to five RCC staff members and has to cover all important

elements to ensure that the RCC can take over the website after the end of the consultancy.

Deliverables

Meeting convened with the RCC to agree and approve detailed Work Plan and to discuss

the website’s main features, layout and timeline;

• Three different design concepts for the landing page and inner pages developed and

submitted to the RCC for review and approval;

• Final attractive and user-friendly designs of the entire website presented for the RCC’s

approval;

• A test mode of the WB Innovation Platform delivered to RCC for review;

• WB Innovation Platform launched, functions properly on all major browsers (Firefox,

Chrome, IE, etc.) and is compatible with mobile devices;

• Secured and authenticated access to the website for registered users;

• Newsletter software designed and linked to users’ subscriptions on the platform;

• Training delivered to RCC staff;

• User guide for the website administrators developed (in English).

In all its stages, the deliverables will be developed in close consultation with the RCC’s Senior

Expert on Human Capital Development and IT Officer.

Timeframe

The engagement related to designing and launching the website will be starting on November

2021 and finishing by 31 December 2021, while the website’s maintenance will end on 31

December 2023.

DELIVERABLE DEADLINE/TIMEFRAME

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A meeting with RCC to agree on WB

Innovation Platform’s main features and

functionalities

1st week after the inception

Design and submit three different design

concepts

3rd week after the inception

Presented final designs 4th week after the inception

Deliver a test mode Mid-November 2021

Website content creation November 2021 - December 2023

Launched the WB Innovation Platform Last week of November

Website maintenance November 2021 – December 2023

Deliver training to RCC staff December 2021

III. COMPETENCIES

Qualifications

Company requirements:

- The company must have previously demonstrated experience in similar assignments, i.e.

experience in developing similar websites and database/web application solutions;

- The proposal needs to include the company’s short background and experience, including

personalised CVs of the key staff;

- The company must provide a reference list of previous similar works/projects with contact

details and permission for reference check indicating the e-mail addresses or fax numbers

of contact persons (indicate links to previous assignments).

Qualifications of personnel:

- The proposed personnel must have a University Degree in Information Technology and/or

corresponding IT knowledge and skills certificates;

- Minimum 5 years of professional experience in the field of the assignment;

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- Previous experience in software technology for the development of websites and

database/web solutions;

- Fluent in written and spoken English.

IV QUALITY CONTROL

Quality control by the Regional Cooperation Council

The consultants’ outputs shall be reviewed by the RCC. The approved output will be subject to a

quality assessment by the Senior Expert on Human Capital Development in the RCC’s Programme

Department and IT Officer.

V. APPLICATION RULES

The application needs to contain the following:

Technical Offer;

Financial Offer.

Technical Offer

For companies and consortia of individual consultants:

Company profile including a brief description (up to 2 pages) of the company. In case of

a bidding consortium, the team leader should submit the profile of the consortium stating

the key expert and experts;

Copy of Company’s Registration Certificate (in case of consulting companies). In case of

a bidding consortium a corresponding written authorisation, power of attorney is treated

accordingly;

Financial records - company’s balance sheet and profit-and-loss statement for the past 2

years (only in case of a bidding of consulting companies);

CVs of key staff (stating the key expert and experts), outlining relevant knowledge and

experience as described in Section III Competencies of the Terms of References, along

with contact details of referees;

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Reference list with client contacts for reference check indicating e-mail addresses or fax

numbers of contact persons;

Clear presentation of approach/work plan/product describing either all the steps for the

development of content management site or the elements and functions of the product

which will lead toward the completion of the assignment;

Application Submission Form (Annex I);

Signed Statements of Availability (Annex II).

Financial Offer (Free format)

The financial offer should reflect the following:

All figures should be expressed in EUR;

VAT amount, if applicable, should be presented.

When preparing the financial offer, the applicant should take into account the following:

- Use a free format for the budget providing the global price for the work to be provided;

- The fee rates should be broadly consistent with the regional framework rates for these types of

professional services.

Note: The price ceiling for this assignment is EUR 20,000

Submission of applications:

Applications need to be submitted by 12 November 2021, by 17:00 Central European Time

to the following address ProcurementforRcc@rcc.int

Please make sure that the application is submitted in two separate folders one containing

Technical Offer and the other Financial Offer. The documents should be submitted in a

form of copies of the originals.

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VI. EVALUATION RULES:

The consultancy will be awarded to the highest qualified bidder based on the relevance of

skills and expertise to this assignment;

The applications are evaluated following these criteria:

EVALUATION GRID Maximum score

A. Technical Offer (A.1+A.2+A.3) 100

A.1. Work experience, references list:

Relevant work experience; evidence of other contracts of

the size comparable to that of the Call; experience with

clients comparable to the Contracting Authority.

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A.2. Quality and professional capacity of the

consultant(s):

CV(s) satisfy the criteria outlined in the Terms of

Reference, education and experience demonstrate

professional capacity and experience required.

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A.3 Quality of the work presentation:

Clear presentation of approach/work plan/product

describing either all the steps for the development of

content management site or the elements and functions of

the product which will lead toward the completion of the

assignment;

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B. Financial Offer/ lowest price has a maximum score 100

The score for offer X =

A: [Total quality score (out of 100) of offer X / 100] * 80

B: [Lowest price/price of offer X] * 20

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In addition to the results of the technical and financial evaluation, a competency-based

interview may be held with the selected bidder.

Information on a selection of the most favourable bidder

The RCC Secretariat shall inform candidates and bidders of decisions reached concerning the

award of the contract as soon as possible, including the grounds for any decision not to award a

contract for which there has been competitive tendering or to recommence the procedure.

A standard letter of thanks for participation to unsuccessful bidders shall be sent within 15 days

after the contract is signed with the awarded bidder.

The candidates and bidders wishing to receive feedback may send a request within 15 days after

receipt of the standard letter of thanks.

The request may be sent to the e-mail address ProcurementforRcc@rcc.int or the address of the

RCC Secretariat:

Regional Cooperation Council Secretariat

Attention to: Administration Department

Building of the Friendship between Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Trg Bosne i Hercegovine 1/V

71000 Sarajevo

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Appeals procedure

Bidders believing that they have been harmed by an error or irregularity during the award process

may petition the RCC Secretariat directly. The RCC Secretariat must reply within 15 days of

receipt of the complaint.

The appeal request may be sent to the e-mail address ProcurementforRcc@rcc.int or the address

of the RCC Secretariat:

Regional Cooperation Council Secretariat

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Attention to: Administration Department

Building of the Friendship between Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Trg Bosne i Hercegovine 1/V

71000 Sarajevo

Bosnia and Herzegovina

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ANNEX I: APPLICATION SUBMISSION FORM

REF: 095-021 Open Call for Consultancy Services

Subject:

One signed copy of this Application Submission Form must be supplied.

1 SUBMITTED by:

Name(s) and address(es) of the bidder submitting this tender

Full Name of the Entity

2 CONTACT INFORMATION (for this Call)

Name

Surname

Address

Telephone

Fax

e-mail

3 DECLARATION

[Name of the Entity] ______________ hereby declares that we have examined and accepted

without reserve or restriction the entire contents of the Open Call for Consultancy 095-021.

And we are not in one of the following situations:

(a) Bankrupt or being wound up, are having their affairs administered by the courts, have

entered into an arrangement with creditors, have suspended business activities, are subject

of proceedings concerning those matters, or are in any analogous situation arising from a

similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations;

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(b) Have been convicted of an offence concerning their professional conduct by a judgment

which has the force of res judicata;

(c) Have been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which the

Contracting Authority can justify;

(d) Have not fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or the

payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the country in which they are

established or with those of the country of the Contracting Authority or those of the country

where the contract is to be performed;

(e) Have been the subject of a judgment which has the force of res judicata for fraud,

corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation or any other illegal activity.

(f) Are civil servants or other agents of the public administration of the RCC Participants,

regardless of the administrative situation, excluding us from being recruited as experts in

contracts financed by the RCC Secretariat.

We offer to provide the services requested in the open call for consultancy on the basis of supplied

documentation subject of this call, which comprise our technical offer and our financial offer.

Name and Surname of

Authorized Representative

Signature

Date