Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2019-12-13
Buyer: Norwegian Refugee Council
Country: NO
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Competitive procedure with negotiation
CPV classification: 72000000 | 72200000 | 72211000: Systems and user software programming services | 72212000: Platform-specific software programming services | 72230000: Custom software development services
Submission deadline: 2020-01-05
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: Υπηρεσίες τεχνολογίας των πληροφοριών: παροχή συμβουλών, ανάπτυξη λογισμικού, Διαδίκτυο και υποστήριξη
Today more than 65 000 000 people have been displaced globally. Over 50 % of the word’s IDP’s and refugees live in urban areas, many in informal settlements where the risk of marginalization and exclusion from assistance is higher. Based upon user research on the potential of digital platforms to serve these populations, NRC has identified digital rental agreements and relationship management as the critical component of its larger vision which needs to be tested early with tenant and landlord user groups. NRC believes its prior experience in analogue approaches to this aspect of housing can be of a high added value to the digitalization of this process. NRC is launching this RFP to identify a vendor with whom it can partner for the development a minimum viable product of an Android app and Admin console. This MVP will enable NRC to test it critical assumptions around digital rental agreements and relationship management in 1 or more of its country operations in the middle East region.
Product management from NRC from the headquarters in Oslo, NORWAY. Field-based user testing in 1 or more NRC country operations in the middle East region.
The purpose of this request for proposal (RFP) is identify 1 to 3 suppliers who have demonstrated capabilities in delivering a solution to match the desired scope of the Safe Nights Rest MVP.
The SNR-app is the envisioned software solution through which our clients — both tenants and landlords — in specific regions where NRC already operates subsidized shelter solutions, will be able to draft and sign legally binding rental agreements with clear and customized terms using their phone. The application is one of the means by which NRC will seek to mitigate pain points expressed by our beneficiaries during the user research, such as lack of clarity in the ongoing relationships between parties around contract duration, cost and house rules. The service will also aim at mitigating conflict and potentially abusive behavior — by offering in-app reporting tools to flag incidents and/or report an abuse. Through this channel landlords will be able to access a simple rental contract template developed by NRC in line with local and national legal framework, customize specific parts of the agreement template such as asking price, space description, house rules and duration and share it with prospective tenants. Once both parties agree on the terms, the contract can be legally signed in digital format by both parties and securely stored on their devices for future access. Through the use of the SNR app services, tenants and property owners will no longer be reliant upon the physical presence of NRC staff during the contract negotiation and signing process, all parties will have greater transparency in dispute resolution process and have easier access to information regarding their rental.
The SNR MVP aims validate that the use of digital tools can improve the trust and relationship management between tenants and property owners during a housing rental period. The MVP will initially be tested with tenants and property owner with whom NRC has a pre-existing relationships established through its housing programs. If successful, NRC will seek to expand user testing to those that NRC may only have a pre-existing relationship with one of the parties.
The minimum viable product will be tested in the middle East region (Jordan or Lebanon) and as such the bidder should have the in-house capacity to carry out interactions with Arabic speaking users during the design and testing phase. While this process will be facilitated by NRC staff on the ground, NRC staff do not necessarily have UX design experience. It will be of critical importance that the bidders design staff can directly interact with the user so that critical feedback is not lost in translation.
The full description of functional and non-function requirements can be found in the request for proposal narrative description and the requirements annex.
All submissions of RFP replies must be made by 5.1.2020 at 17:00 CET. A subset of bidders will be selected and notified by 10.1.2020 for further engagement. NRC will evaluate bids based on, but not limited to, the following criteria: