Developing a web portal, IOS and Android platform

-+Terms of Reference for Consultancy Assignment

Assignment Title:   Developing a web portal, IOS and Android platform

Consultant’s Name:

Location of Assignment:  BULAWAYO

Duration of Assignment:  45 days

Reports to:  Product Manager

 

1. Background

The Centre for Innovation and Technology (CITE) is a digital media and creative hub that was formed in 2015 and registered in 2016. It sprang from the need to have an organisation that will ride on the use of new technologies and art to support social movements, talented change makers, and innovators. The organisation was formed after realisations that while new media plays a very important role in creating awareness and raising different social, economic and political issues it cannot be fully effective if it not fused with other offline media. The success of this hub hinges upon the involvement of young people who are mostly the ones who use new media and those in the art sector. It also depends on being rooted in the community and the participation of the community. The Centre for Innovation and Technology seeks to provide a space where young people from different backgrounds and professions can meet to discuss ideas and collaborate on various projects and innovations. It combines digital media and activism to push for positive social change in Zimbabwe.

 

 

Project Description

This app and website portal development will provide information and track service delivery issues happing in City Councils, the purpose of this assignment is to modify, upgrade, update CITE’s fix my city platform using latest development tools and programming languages.  The platform and app(s) IOS & Android  will geo-locate the user so that the municipality know exactly where the issues are and can move to correct them much quicker than before.

Mobile App Development and Website portal: In a quest to implement the above stated project activities CITE is planning to develop a. We require the services of a competent and professional IT firm/technology house to design and develop an android and IOS based mobile application

Objective : Following are the main objectives to develop the app ;

Accountability and Information sharing:

Citizens, civil society organisations, Journalists and development practitioners would be able to track service delivery issue being render by the City councils of Bulawayo

Efficiency: Access to data will help the policymakers, bilateral agencies, and multilateral organisations manage development more effectively and efficiently to achieve greater impact on service delivery

Trust building: Accessibility to information, accountability and transparency are for creating development partnerships that are based on trust. Through this app all aforesaid good governance elements will be ensured and trust of citizens will improve on public departments.

 Features

The mobile app, will provide the service delivery issues from the City councils of Zimbabwe. Major service delivery issues such as Health, and Water and Sanitation department pertaining to a particular City Council shall be enlisted. The service delivery shall be tracked daily and data will be updated at back-end server to make available for its user. This mobile app will not only provide the information of service delivery issues to the users but also give them access to give feedback on the ongoing progress of their service delivery issue from the City council of choice

 General Requirements & Proposal Submission:

 Other than the data handling features mentioned above following features are also required must in the app;

• Simplicity for the user. Convenient user interface/ user friendly interface. Must adhere to platform specific UI standards provided by website portal, Apple store and Google play store respectively.
• Mobile Apps: Native mobile apps for iOS and Android platforms are required.

3) Administration Panel: A web admin panel with options to manage the Mobile Apps data must be developed using latest combination of technologies.

4) Good performance/Loading Speed. Speed of loading mustn’t keep users waiting.

5) Offline Access. Once data of any district downloaded/checked from this app must be available to the user offline afterwards.

6) Feedback. It must open to everyone and engage users into mutual communication. Users should be able to leave suggestions, rates, and reviews.

7) Search. It must have system of search and filters.

8) Link with web portal: It must be linked with project web portal.

9) Interface to simply reflect the citizens’ priorities for development projects. One interface is required to simply reflect the priorities shared by citizens for development of their districts.

10) Technologies: Bidder must provide details of tools and technologies to be used and why the chosen combination is best suited for the said project. The bidder must consider platform, security and usability while proposing a solution.

11) Execution Plan & Deliverables: The bidder must provide a detailed execution plan with deliverables list.

12) Support: The bidder must provide support for minimum three months after the launch of the mobile apps on both Play Store and AppStore.

13) Intellectual property: All information and assets related to the mobile apps will be property of CITE. The bidder must submit all source code and documentation to the CITE upon successful launch and expiry of three months support period.

14) Proposals: The bidder must submit both technical and financial proposals for the project. The technical proposal must cover all important aspects of the solution and the financial proposal should cover development and support cost.

These details can further be refined modified and amended when the developer and CITE discuss the technical and financial aspects of the app development. The bidder must submit both technical and financial proposal

Scope of Services, Expected Outputs and Target Completion

The task of the provider will be to develop, design and assist in the launch of a multi-platform mobile application focused

The mobile platform will be linked to the existing web-based platform,

While not exhaustive, the following basic requirements for the app have been identified (the list of features will be expanded based on the findings resulting from the ideation phase):

The mobile platform should be accessible on multiple platform

The data displayed on the app from existing sources

A Content Management System to enable CITE staff to upload, update and tag new content Display multimedia content

The applications interface will be designed for English but possibility of being expanded to Zimbabwe 16 official languages

he mobile platform should enable practitioners to collaborate and gather knowledge

ocus on simplicity, great performance and attractive design

 Expected outputs and estimated timeframe:

 Mobile platform research and ideation, including: stakeholder interviews with CITE, discovery and specification for infrastructure technology (present pro and cons for development options: native, hybrid, web-app),

Development of the design (at least 2 options to be submitted for review);

Development and configuration of an Alpha version of the App focusing on key features (to be defined during project ideation);

Review and approval of the Alpha App design and functionalities by App CITE Task team;

Finalisation, including final quality testing and approval;

Support for the application process and launch of the app in the various stores. Play store and Apple Store

Institutionnel Arrangement

The service provider will report directly to the CITE team

The provider will continually interact with the team throughout the stages of the developing the product to seek approval.

The provider will share progress report on a weekly basis to the task team. .

Duration of the Work Services delivered by the service provider will take place over 1 months.

The service provider is expected to start no later the

Qualifications of the Successful Service Provider at Various Levels

The applicants should be a technology company with a proven record of innovation in the mobile platform and application field. The company should have a proven record of applications on the market in both Android and Apple iOS.

The company should have a team of experts that include technology experts and coders, social media experts, mobile platform innovation experts.

 

A working knowledge of mobile android and iOS platforms

The team leader should have at least 3 years of relevant technology and innovations experience

The team leader should have a proven ability of innovation with

Scope of Proposal Price and Schedule of Payments

2. Tender standards:

Applications must be sent by email to info sean@cite.org.zw copy. info@cite.org.zw  by close of business on Friday 09 July 2021

The tender should be no more than 5 pages, and is expected to include;

• A cover letter outlining motivation and summarising relevant experience
• Contact details for at least two independent referees with in-depth and proven knowledge of the applicant’s expertise and relevant work experience.

• • Background of the consultancy company/individual
  • Proposition on how the project would be conducted.

• CV of consultant/-s involved in the project and examples of previous work should accompany the tender.
• Charge for the consultancy.