Consultancy for Updating and Reviewing Organizational Bylaws

I. About PITA:

The Palestinian Information Technology Association of Companies represents more than 180 major ICT companies in Palestine’s emerging technology and startup ecosystem. PITA has become the driving force in advancing the ICT sector’s interest, and the leading information source about this sector in Palestine.

Based in Ramallah, PITA was founded in 1999 by a group of Palestinian entrepreneurs with the vision of creating a non-profit organization to advance the interests and positive societal impact of Palestine’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Sector.

Through its programming, contents, events and global outreach, PITA is now poised to not only continue advancing its mission towards innovation, but also to serve as the region’s drive for its start-up ecosystem. PITA’s mission is to lead the ICT sector towards an innovation-based economy and its strategic goals are; the emergence of an open, secure cloud, the consumerization of IT, and ability to do business in a global, borderless environment, makes Palestine an ideal place to discover, innovate and disrupt traditional thinking.

II. Scope of Work:

PITA intends to update its bylaws and manuals in order to create a governing body over the ICT sector and its institutions. This in turn is to enhance the competitiveness of the private sector, and to facilitate and support the integration of Palestinian startups and entrepreneurs in the business market through the capacity building of PITA’s executive team and its member companies; both improving its service provision to member businesses and to lead ICT-related policy reform initiatives.

With that being said; PITA is seeking the service of a consultancy firm for updating PITA’s bylaws that were created in the past years, since there is a critical need to update such bylaws due to new emerging circumstances and conditions that PITA is encountering so such bylaws would be truly responsive to PITA’s needs and the ICT sector as a whole.

III. Objectives:

The overall objective of this consultancy is to provide technical support in the review and update of PITA’s current bylaws.

The selected consultancy firm will not have to start from the scratch but to review and consolidate the available PITA’s bylaws and build on them. The consultancy firm is required to streamline the provided material, as well as consider credible external resources for developing and updating what’s required.

Key Informants:

• PITA’s different departments that operate in both WB and GS.
• PITA’s Board of Directors.
• PITA’s sub-sectors committees and the established ad-hoc bylaw committee.
• PITA’s General Assembly Members.

The assigned consultancy firm will ensure that the development and the drafting process of this task align with the interests and needs of PITA’s key stakeholders including relevant government ministries and Official representatives, i.e., MTIT, the Ministry of National Economy, donors, and partners.

IV. Specific Tasks to be Undertaken by the Consultancy Firm:

The internal bylaws of PITA have not been updated since 2010, and this has created a disconnect between the status of the IT sector and the flexibility of PITA to meet its demands and everchanging nature. In order to bridge this divide, PITA seeks within this consultancy to conduct a general review of all governing bylaws and the role of the governing bodies within PITA and their relationships vis-a-vis each other.  Specifically, PITA aims to update its bylaws through a consultive process that includes its BoD, members, and stakeholders, and the tasks to be undertaken by the consultancy company can be abridged as the following:

1. Inception Meeting: Carry out an inception meeting with PITA’s team to understand the aims and requirements of this assignment; and develop a basic understanding on the concept, scope of work and required deliverables.
2. Document Review: Conducting desk review of existing documents (bylaws), available within PITA. Bylaws should be reviewed from aspects such as: Statement of Purpose, Members, Board of Directors, Committees, Financial Affairs, The General Assembly, Elections and other aspects.
3. Consultation with Key Informants: consultations with the related key informants and discussions with PITA’s team (this could take the shape of focus groups and/or workshops)
4. Gap Analysis: Conduct a gap analysis on the existing bylaws to examine all governing documents; this analysis will thus determine which of PITA’s bylaws need updating and adjustment.
5. Draft Revisions: Based on the literature review/discussion and gap analysis, develop an outline of all adjustments, and share with PITA for review. This will be done through repeated discussions, workshops, focus group meetings, and expert consultancy. These discussions and workshops will target the executive team staff, BoD, General Assembly members, members of PITA, as well as other stakeholders within and without the ICT sector.
6. Prepare and Conduct a Validation Workshop: The validation workshop will be held to obtain feedback from on the draft versions, including PITA’s BoD and General Assembly.
7. Finalize the draft versions: Based on the feedback received during the validation workshop, all versions will be finalized and formulated. the consultant will incorporate all findings and suggestions in the final deliverables and will seek for endorsement of the updated bylaws from the concerned ministries.
8. Promote the new bylaws and seek endorsement: The selected consultancy company will support PITA in seeking endorsement of the bylaws from the Ministry of National Economy.

V. Deliverables

The Consultancy Firm shall inform PITA periodically on progress achieved against the agreed action plan for the assignment. Specifically, the Consultancy Firm is required to submit the following items:

1. Inception report and an action plan; a clear action plan shall be submitted to the PITA within two weeks of the signing the contract and that is subject to approval.
2. Report on data, meetings, group discussions within a week of their completion.
3. Drafts of the updated bylaws (In Arabic and English) shall be submitted to PITA.
4. Validation Workshop for feedback and engagement.
5. Final versions of the bylaws based on the results of the workshop (In Arabic and English); shall be submitted in its final edited format.
6. A Final presentation to be used for promotion and informational purposes.

VI. Type of the Contract:

Short Term Consultancy, fixed budget contract.

VII. Duration of Contract and level of effort:

The assignment is expected to be accomplished within a period of 5 months.  The expected start date is Jan 2022, with an end date of March 2023 upon a satisfactory submission of the deliverables outlined in the ToR.

VIII. Qualifications of the Consultancy Firm:

In order to accomplish the objectives of the assignment and the scope of work, the consultancy firm is required with the following qualifications and competences:

• Must be a firm with at least five (5) years of institutional operational experience of consultancy services, including legal drafting and development of local level regulations.
• Proven previous work experience on the development of legal guidelines and bylaws within business associations and NGOs. Experience within the ICT sector is preferred.
• Human resource capacity of the consultancy firm with available/potential staff for the proposed assignments from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Staff with required credentials, knowledge and skills for the required assignment, including strong communication/reporting and editing/proof-reading skills.
• Understanding of the Palestinian legal system, local labor laws, safeguarding requirements (organizational code of conducts), procurement rules and internationally accepted best practices and standards.
• Knowledge and experience on the Palestinian context, gender issues.

IX. Selection Process and Criteria:

Interested firms are required to submit following documents:

1. A Technical Proposal detailing the interpretation of the TORs and highlighting the methodology and workplan that will be followed during the implementation.
2. A Financial Proposal indicating the daily rate for reviewing and providing the required deliverables, in USD excluding of VAT.
3. CV(s) of staff who will be engaged for this assignment reflecting at least the academic qualification, previous relevant experience, current location etc. Each CV should not exceed four (4) pages and should be annexed in the Technical Proposal.
4. Documented evidence, such as: Similar samples previously developed, contract award or reference letter from the clients stating scope of services and deliverables related to previously completed similar assignments.
5. Registration certificate of the consultancy firm, clearly mentioning the date and the type of establishment.

The consultancy firm will be evaluated through a competitive selection process, and the following overarching criteria will be followed:

• Adequacy of the methodology proposed. 20%
• Staff skills, credential and knowledge as reflected in the ToR and CVs. 15%
• The proposed work plan in responding to the ToR. 20%
• Quality and relevancy of previous work – as reflected in sample manual/guidelines submitted or previous contract/reference letter submitted. 15%
• Financial Offer. 30%

Please note that the price quotation should be submitted in:

1. English language.
2. The Price must be in USD EXCLUDING VAT – and PITA is not responsible for any currency differences.
3. The price offer must be valid for a period of 6 months.
4. The individual/company bears all responsibility in the case that he/she submits a price offer and is unable to provide a valid source of deduction or any official certificates that require the payment process.
5. PITA has the right to withdraw or cancel the solicitation, without incurring any costs and without any justifications.
6. The supplier to whom the quotation is awarded bears all responsibility in the case that they submit a quotation and is unable to issue invoices or bring a valid source of deduction or clearance from the Added Tax Department or any of the reinforcements necessary for the payment.
7. The payment with the selected firm will be made after signing the contract, completing the required service by submitting the work completion report, and providing the financial payment request. If the service provider is an individual, 10% of the total amount will be deducted as income tax to be submitted to the Ministry of Finance.
8. PITA reserves the right to reject any offer without stating the reasons and to solicit offers from abroad in the case of rejection of the submitted offers and in case of violation and non-compliance with the required specifications.
9. The amount due to the supplier shall be paid by Checks or bank transfer from the bank account of the project, after submitting the necessary.
10. PITA is not obligated to the lowest prices without giving reasons, and it is also entitled to split or cancel without giving reasons, Therefore, the offers will be evaluated from a technical and financial point. Assuming that the evaluation percentage of the Financial proposal (30%).
11. Any clause or any of the general conditions relating to PITA that have been inadvertently omitted and is not mentioned within these Terms of Reference, is subject to PITA internal standard procedures or the Palestinian Procurement and Supplies Law or any financial procedures related to that.

Please stamp and sign all pages of the quotation.

X. Application:

Interested consultants shall submit the following documents in sealed envelopes to the following address: Al-Irsal Street; Ougarit Building; 4th Floor, indicating on the cover page “Consultancy for Review and Update of Organizational Bylaws – PITA” no later than Dec, 29th 2022.

If you have any further inquiries, you can contact our office at +970 2 297 1990