Request for Proposals for Digitization of Finance Records at ARIPO

1. BACKGROUND

The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) is an Intergovernmental Organization created in 1976 under the Lusaka Agreement concluded under the auspices of the United National Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Membership of the organization is open to all members states of the African Union (AU) or of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The present members of the Organization include Botswana, Cape Verde, The Kingdom of Eswatini, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, The Kingdom of Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. (Total: 22 states).

ARIPO has records which are currently in hard copy that it intends to digitise and store in an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS). The estimated number of sheets to be digitised in Phase 1 is about 250,000.

2. OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The main objective of the assignment is to digitize ARIPO’s records for the Finance department and to upload them into an Electronic Document Management System.

3. SCOPE OF THE WORK

The consultant is expected to provide their own equipment for digitization and to upload the electronic records into the ARIPO EDMS. The work will include the following tasks;

  1. Arranging the records in an agreed sequence;
  2. Scanning of hard copy records;
  3. Indexing and Uploading of the records in the EDMS

The consultant is expected to work on-site at the ARIPO offices and no documents shall be allowed to be taken outside from ARIPO premises at any point during the assignment.

4. DELIVERABLES

The following are the major deliverables for the project:

  1. Ongoing reporting
  2. Inception report within one week after the start of the assignment detailing a full implementation work plan and workflow;
  3. Draft final report one week prior to the end of the project duration, detailing all activities undertaken; and, Final report due one week after ARIPO has submitted its comments on the draft final report, if any.
  4. Indexing of records following any agreed index criteria and fields;
  5. Handing over of the digitized records through hard disk;
  6. Indexing and uploading of the records in the EDMS;
  7. All digitised documents should be Optical Character Recognition (OCR) enabled to allow for text search; and,
  8. Bulky files to be batched into multiple volumes.

5. PROJECT DURATION

The consultants must complete the project within 30 (thirty) calendar days from the agreed commencement date after contract signing.

6. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

The following are the key technical specifications for the project;
1. Data accuracy: 100%
2. Scanning requirements:

  • Resolution
  • Optical: 300 dpi or greater
  • Black and white or grayscale output: 300 dpi or greater
  • Color output: 300 dpi or greater
  • Output options:
  • Black and white: 8 bit
  • Color: 24 bit
  • Scanning quality: 90% readable

3. Search and retrieve: <3 sec
4. Image output: PDF/JPEG/TIFF
5. Data and Image delivery (backup copy): Hard Disk (HDD)

7. QUALIFICATIONS OF THE CONSULTING FIRM

At the minimum, the consulting firm should be duly registered and have the following:

  1. Record of a minimum of 2 (two) years’ experience and expertise on similar assignments;
  2. Minimum 3 (three) similar assignments in the last 2 (two) years;
  3. Details of works completed in the last 2 (two) years including clients’ names, brief description of engagements, contract period, contract value, etc;
  4. Brief CVs of Project Manager and key project personnel;
  5. List of available personnel structure for the envisaged assignment with information about education, professional experience and specific project-related experience; and,
  6. Description of the organization’s capacity and resources.

8. SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

Interested companies who are eligible are invited to submit their Technical and Financial proposals detailing capabilities, experience and a list of completed and ongoing similar projects on or before Friday, November 4, 2022 at 1600 hours. No late submissions will be accepted. Proposals clearly marked “ATIN:2022/10/DIGITIZATION-FINANCE/13” should be addressed to:

The Director General
African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO)
11 Natal Road, Belgravia
P O Box 4228
Harare, Zimbabwe
E-mail: procurement@aripo.org