ICT Mentor

Background

The Alianza por la Solidaridad (Alianza) in partnership with Culture and Free Thought Association (CFTA), Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association (PFPPA), Palestinian Information Technologies Incubator (PICTI), Women´s Affairs Technical Committee (WATC) are currently implementing the project “Equal rooting: Greater gender equality in Palestine” funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency - SIDA.

Under the framework of this project, PICTI is looking to support 2 Green Economy Enterprise/ICT SME creating an ICT solution that serves the green economy sector. By providing them with the needed guidance, mentoring and training in the areas of innovation & entrepreneurship before and during the incubation phase. By the end of the incubation programme, the entrepreneurs are to be connected with outside interested parties to get more information and resources that are of immense benefit to their businesses.

As such, PICTI is to select a highly qualified ICT Mentor/ Expert, to guide and coordinate the process of developing technological solutions applied to Green Economy, as part of the project’s aims to support sustainable development without degrading the environment.

The selected mentor will provide guidance and mentorship to 2 Green Economy Enterprise / ICT SMEs creating an ICT solution that serves the green economy. The mentor is to help them expand and improve their business ideas to reach sustained growth through understanding their vision and goals, assess strengths and weaknesses, and also help optimize current business practices while developing new and improved management methods.

Roles of the ICT Mentor:

• Provide full guidance and mentorship along the programme.
• Introduce new business methods and systems.
• Help with implementing suggested plans and strategies.
• Provide technical assistance.
• Perform a Gap analysis regarding the capacity strengths and weaknesses of each business idea.
• provide ICT solutions with the understanding of related policies and how technology can be effectively integrated into subject disciplines.
• Encourage and guide ICT solutions to participate in professional development efforts such as lesson studies or action research.
• Provide consultancy support to ICT solutions during the implementation of their plan.

And to fulfill the following activities:

• An introductory meeting with the implementing enterprises to identify where they may need mentorship and adjust if needed the originally planned timeline to ensure delivery within 6-months. The mentor will share any supporting documentation, including a summary of initial recommendations, points for attention about ICT solutions applied to Green Economy, etc.
• Ongoing support over the implementation period, including providing feedback periodically on beneficiaries’ progress to PICTI. This may on average be a bimonthly meeting to review progress with each beneficiary and then reporting back to the Project. 
• Participate in the mid-term and final evaluation exercises to ensure good progress and quality.

Important Notes:

• The ICT solutions are divided between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, one in each location.
• The above activities for the mentor are estimated to consist of 40 hours (including preparation hours) over the 6 months of implementation.

Selection Criteria:

• Have at least 5 years of professional experience in the creation of technological solutions;
• Have professional experience in ICT solutions applied to Green Economy;
• Have experience in design thinking and/or product/market validation;
• hold a university degree in a relevant field;
• Have an excellent working knowledge of the English language.

Guidelines and Selection Criteria:

In undertaking this assignment, the service provider should consider submitting:

• Technical proposal (70%) covering the following items:

1. An updated CV, indicating how their areas of competences and professional experience correspond with the objectives of this call. (30%)

In addition, to a cover letter of 1 page, describing in detail the relevancy of their professional experience and skills.

2. Methodology/Approach used to achieve the final report (include appropriate data collection instruments and procedures such as questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups). (20%)
3. Action Plan to achieve the final report (Including all working days for conducting interviews and focus groups with all aforementioned parties). (20%)

• Financial proposal (30%). The price quotation for the training delivery should be in EURO.

Please note that the price quotation should be submitted in:

1. English language.
2. The Price must be in Euro Including income Tax– and PICTI is not responsible for any currency differences.
3. The price offer must be valid for a period of 6 months.
4. PICTI has the right to withdraw or cancel the solicitation, without incurring any costs and without any justifications.
5. The consultant to whom the quotation is awarded bears all responsibility in the case that they submit a quotation and is unable to submit any of the reinforcements necessary for the payment.
6. The payment with the selected expert will be made after signing the contract, completing the required service by submitting the work completion report, and providing the financial payment request, 10% of the total amount will be deducted as income tax to be submitted to the Ministry of Finance.
7. PICTI 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.
8. 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.
9. PICTI 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.
10. Any clause or any of the general conditions relating to PICTI that have been inadvertently omitted and is not mentioned within these Terms of Reference, is subject to PICTI internal standard procedures or the Palestinian Procurement and Supplies Law or any financial procedures related to that.
11. Please stamp and sign all pages of the quotation.

Please take into consideration that the budget is highly limited, therefore provide us with the lowest price offers as possible.

Application Submission and Deadline

Interested agencies are encouraged to submit their price offers to envelopes to the following address: Al-Irsal Street; Ougarit Building; 4th Floor, indicating on the cover page “ICT Mentor” no later than Tuesday, Feb 7th, at 4.00 pm.

Note: If you have any further inquiries, please contact Hind Harb, on the following number:  2 297 1990