Description
This is a sources sought notice to determine the availability and technical capability of potential small businesses for implementation of an activity in the e-governance sector. Interested U.S. small businesses are encouraged to submit capability statements in response to this pre-solicitation notice to the contact persons indicated below no later than October 18, 2018 9:00 a.m. ET. Capability statements shall include at least a description of the company's services including a list of past contracts for similar work. 1. Purpose of the Activity The purposes of the proposed activity are: a) To diminish corruption by automating processes, reducing interaction and increasing transparency in dealings between public officials and investors, businesses and citizens, reducing discretionary powers of public officials, and giving the stakeholders, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the general public tools for monitoring and scrutinizing government activities. b) To increase transparency and accountability: - in public procurements - through increased scrutiny over the public tender processes, improved data analytics, and information sharing with public. c) To provide the selected CSO organizations with the technical knowledge required for efficient monitoring of the public procurements, public finances and other processes of interest for wider public, which are being addressed under the components of this project. 2. Development Hypothesis If government processes are automatized and digitalized, the discretionary power of public officials is reduced, there is less frequent personal interaction between government employees and citizens, and there is a greater transparency in registration, permission-granting, budgeting, procurement, and other related government processes, then the level of corruption in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) will decrease. For this hypothesis to hold, the business community and governments at different levels must be willing and engaged, and the necessary regulatory framework must be developed and implemented. 3. Expected Results The Activity's expected results are: • Decreased corruption perception (as expressed by Transparency International Corruption Perception Index and Economics' Forum Global Competitiveness Report) • Improved business environment expressed in terms of reduced time, number of procedures, and costs (as measured by World Bank's Doing Business Report) • Improved overall ranking of the country at the World Bank and World Economic Forums ranking lists • Improved EU Progress report narrative on BiH in the section that reviews economic, e-governance and anti-corruption activities • Greater understanding of public finances and public procurement processes by the selected local CSOs • Increased interests of the BiH public in procurement and finance-related news. The expected results may be specified further by the activity's components: E-signature and related reforms - Governmental institutions and private businesses switching from paper to electronic documents; - Simplification of G2G, G2B and B2B interactions; - Greater security and transparency in transactions, easier data archiving and inspections; - Reduced number of procedures, time, and cost associated with permitting and business registration. E-procurement: - Greater involvement and capacity to absorb and analyze information by civil society and increased public scrutiny in public procurement processes; - Deployed IT platforms that enable interaction between stakeholders and PPA; - Deployed IT platforms that endorse honorable behavior and contractors who value integrity, performance, and quality through performance evaluations. Enhanced capacity of local CSOs to monitor and interpret public processes - Increased technical knowledge of the local CSOs; - New skills that will enable better monitoring and reporting; - Increased transparency in public processes. 4. Activity Approach and Components Component 1: E-Signature The use of e-signature service would allow citizens and businesses to interact with a range of institutions (tax administration, municipalities, land cadaster, utility companies, courts, businesses) without physically visiting these places. With e-signature every business or citizen could quickly and efficiently interact with administrative bodies and send documents that are recognizable and verifiable worldwide. The State government (Ministry of Traffic and Communications) is currently working on e-signature infrastructure. The BiH parliament adopted a law on electronic signature, along with the Law on Electronic and legal business traffic, and the Regulations on access to records and data exchange. Republika Srpska (RS) has adopted its own law on electronic signature in 2013 while FBiH adopted the similar Law in 2017. The laws however have not been fully implemented and coordination on the use of e-signature on the state level is missing. Recently it became clear to both entity governments that delays in implementation of such law are taking heavy toll on local economies. The use of e-signature requires the establishment of Certification Authorities (CAs) - public institutions or commercial enterprises performing the authorization of e-signature users. The only CAs that exist in BiH are at the issuing institution levels (RS government institutions, and RS and FBiH Tax Administrations). The State Office for Accreditation and Monitoring of CAs has been recently established within the Ministry of Traffic and Communication. With the relevant legislation already in place, USAID's role would be in drafting specific regulations associated with e-signature reform, as well as providing training and capacity building needed for the implementation. USAID could also help improve coordination between the state and entity certification authorities (particularly on issues related to authority over CAs), and it could assist in monitoring and supervision of the implementation through assistance to the inspection administrations. USAID can help create a public CA (or two entity-based ones, mutually acknowledged and recognizable throughout the state), and also work on creating conditions for the private sector to step in and take a CA role. This Activity would work on expanding e-signature services to include all aspects of interaction between government, businesses and citizens. Such development would, in turn, help create a platform on which other critical reforms, such as business registration and issuance of construction permits (both of which lack transparency) could be advanced. The reforms, which USAID will assist at different administrative levels, would focus on the following aspects of the business registration and construction permit processes: - Number of procedures required; - Number of days required; and - Cost associated with procedures. The goal would be to reduce the number of procedures, time, and cost. Component 2: E-Procurement E-procurement is a system which enables authorized employees or procurement authorities to purchase remote goods and services indirectly by using digital services. E-procurement automates purchases, increases their transparency and efficiency, and minimizes opportunities for fraud and corrupt practices. The Public Procurement Agency of BiH (PPA) already has a somewhat developed e-procurement system. GIZ funded the creation of the system and has also secured funding for updates and upgrades until summer 2019. Interventions proposed by this Activity are not being addressed by GIZ. USAID funding could focus on the following additional features of the system that would ensure better transparency and accountability in public procurement processes: 1. Open Dialog Module (E-box for communication between users and administration): Using the online platform, interested parties will be able to submit ideas, respond to questions posed by moderators, and comment on other suggestions. 2. Open Data Module (Public access to the PPA data and training of watchdog organizations): This module increases transparency and accountability in public procurement. 3. Social Witness Engagement Module (Audience participation in procurement process): This intervention would provide direct involvement of stakeholders in the procurement system for added scrutiny and full transparency. 4. E-archiving (Enhanced storing and archiving): Electronic storage is a safe and efficient way to ensure durability of sensitive data related to public procurement. 5. Contractor/Vendor Past Performance Report: Selection based on past performance. Component 3: Capacity building of the selected CSO to serve as the watchdog organizations Within this component, the project will work closely with civil society, watchdog organizations and media to establish a pool of stakeholders that will be equipped to effectively monitor the systems deployed under this project, analyze and interpret data, and inform the public on performance of these public service providers. Once trained, these CSOs will enhance their abilities to interpret technical data and information related to public processes (finances, permitting, procurement, etc.) for enhanced monitoring and reporting to the wider public. [End of synopsis] Responses to this notice will be evaluated solely for the purpose of making a determination to set-aside this activity for small businesses or to conduct a full and open competition. USAID does not seek questions at this time, only capability statements from small businesses. This sources sought is for informational purposes only. This is not a request for proposal. It does not constitute a solicitation and shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government. Responses are not considered offers and the Government is under no obligation to award a contract as a result of this announcement. This notice does not obligate the Government to pay any cost incurred in preparing and submitting responses.