Procurement of Electronic Document Management System

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

(CONSULTING SERVICES - FIRMS SELECTION)

IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: COMMON MARKET FOR EASTERN AND SOUTHERN

AFRICA ( COMESA)

NAME OF PROGRAM: REGIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCE FACILITY

(RIFF) PROJECT

PROJECT ID : P180547

ASSIGNMENT TITLE: PROCUREMENT OF AN ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. REFERENCE NO. ZM-COMESA -445856-CS-LCS

1.0 INTRODUCATION

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is a regional grouping of 21 African States which have agreed to promote regional integration through trade development and transport facilitation. COMESA's objectives include sustainable economic development through economic and social progress in all Member States through increased co-operation and integration in all fields of development particularly in Trade, Customs and Monetary Affairs, Transport, Communication and Information Technology, Industry and Agriculture, Energy, Environment and Natural Resources including Gender and Social Development. The Secretariat is based in Lusaka, Zambia.

Currently, information management is manual with offices filling with files, extra storage spaces that are quickly running out, and low accountability on records management. Manual management of records has been time consuming as the retrieval mechanisms are tedious, document loss has been witnessed occasioning repeat processes, inefficiency, and delayed decisions. Duplication of information has become common as divisions are not able to establish whether the same information exists in other divisions, and this has added to the costs of managing information.

Therefore, the COMESA Secretariat is planning to acquire an Electronic Document Management System to digitize the management of documents.

2.0 OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The COMESA Secretariat is planning to acquire an Electronic Document Management System to digitize the management of documents. The system shall assist the Secretariat to strengthen its processes with a view to ensuring that it is efficient and effective in its operations. It is expected that An Electronic Document Management System at COMESA will achieve the following:

• Processes: Manual processes should be automated to achieve effectiveness and efficiency

• Accessibility: Staff should be able to access authorized documents anytime and from anywhere. Storage should be centralized.

• Integration: The application should be able to fully integrate with current and future relevant application systems.

• Data Integrity and Security: Data Integrity and Security should be enhanced through proper access controls and other electronic means. The manual system does not adequately protect information assets.

• Scalability: All applications/systems at COMESA should be able to accommodate new features/modules to meet the changing organization needs.

• Electronic Signatures: Ability to incorporate different forms of electronic signatures including digital signatures.

The detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment are attached to this request for expressions of interest

3.0 SHORTLISTING CRITERIA

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa now invites eligible consulting firms (“Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services. The shortlisting criteria is as follows;

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