Background
The African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP) is a regional non-profit research and policy institute established in 2010 to help bridge the gaps between research, policy, and practice in development efforts in Africa.
The Institute seeks to entrench a culture of evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) by supporting governments to address institutional and systemic barriers to evidence use, growing the community of practice in EIDM, translating practical evidence, and providing technical assistance to promote the uptake of EIDM processes.
Evi4Dev Conference Goal
The goal of the Evi4Dev Conference is to entrench the sustained engagement of EIDM actors in centring EIDM practice as a requite for Africa’s development efforts. The key EIDM actors targeted by the Evi4Dev Conference include policymakers in government agencies and parliaments (i.e., government officials), researchers (based in universities, research institutes and think tanks), policy implementers and practitioners, knowledge brokers, civil society, media, development partners, and private sector representatives. The conference will be hosted as a hybrid forum with in-person and virtual participation.
The Evi4Dev Conference Microsite
The microsite will act as a dedicated online space that serves as the central hub for information about the event.
Specifically, the microsite will contain:
- Clear event details
- Event name, date, time, and location (physical or virtual).
- Concise event description that highlights its purpose and benefits.
- Relevant images or graphics that reflect the event’s theme or content.
- Event Registration
- Event registration page with payment functionality.
- Agenda and schedule
- Detailed schedule with session names, times, and locations (if applicable).
- Speaker or presenter names and affiliations for each session.
- Option to add sessions to a personal schedule if possible.
- Speaker and performer profiles
- Brief bios and photos of speakers, performers and presenters.
- Links to their social media profiles or personal websites.
- Venue information
- Address, map and directions to the event venue.
- Virtual event platform details and access instructions.
- Sponsor and exhibit details
- Logos and descriptions of event sponsors and exhibitors.
- Links to their websites or dedicated pages.
- Networking opportunities
- Social media integration and buttons with links to event profiles.
- Discussion forums or chat features for attendees to interact.
- FAQ and support
- Comprehensive list of frequently asked questions and answers.
- Contact information for event organisers or customer support.
- Media and resources
- Videos, images, or promotional materials related to the event.
- Downloadable resources such as presentation slides or handouts.
Objective of the Assignment
Through this Terms of Reference (ToR), AFIDEP is inviting proposals from reputable and qualified companies with a track record of success in designing and producing digital solutions for nonprofit, education, and non-governmental organisations to design and develop a microsite for the Evi4Dev Conference and provide maintenance services. The proposed designs should incorporate an appropriate and attractive look-and-feel, user-friendly navigation, and an organised display of content.
Deliverables
- Develop the Evi4Dev Conference microsite with a modern visual look, optimised URLs, with its functionalities accessible and enhanced to provide a better experience to users (refer to part 2),
- Support and maintenance: Administrative and technical support for a period of 12 months. Contracts are renewed on an annual basis subject to approval,
- Deliver training for the support staff and system administrators to perform the content upload, system maintenance, and administration,
- Create a website management manual,
- Source code handover: Full source code including all developed libraries shall be handed over to AFIDEP’s IT Administrator.
Work Setting
The work setting for the assignment will include different aspects:
Timing and duration of the assignment
- The duration of the contract will be one month and the expected starting date is as soon as possible.
- The development of the Evi4Dev Conference microsite will be ready in three weeks’ time starting from the date of signing the contract.
- The user manual, training, and maintenance will be done from the fourth week of the contract.
Working Relationships
The selected company will work under the supervision of AFIDEP’s ICT Officer and in close consultation with the Communications and Policy Engagement Manager.
Support Provided
AFIDEP will provide all necessary documents and files for this assignment.
Technical Specifications
(Any plugins used on this project should not be on trial or be free-to-use to avoid issues with updates. If they are commercial, they should at least be paid for a minimum of one year.)
| Component | Specifications |
| Preferred Content Management System | WORDPRESS CMS |
| Website Hosting | Client Specific |
| Security Features | Provisioned secure authentication certificate (SSL). Security would include monitoring of logs and also implementation of Cloudflare or other similar technologies to avoid DDoS attacks, SQL injection, cross site scripting, malware and brute force attacks. A defence in-depth strategy should be implemented to ensure maximum security of information including confidentiality, integrity and availabilityWORDPRESS CMS updates every 6 months to ensure stable version updates. Authorised access for content managers. Three-level backups to ensure integrity. |
| Analytics Tools | SEMrush, Google analytics, GTmetrix |
| Performance Review | Google Lighthouse |
Scope Requirements
| Requirement | Details |
| Usability Requirements | A design that includes browser compatibility, multiple page styles and custom post types. A design that also optimises user experience including low bandwidth situations, responsiveness and seamless interaction across web, mobile devices, and social media integration. Comprehensive search functionality to the website by free text, news, type of publication/resource, events, country, and issue. |
| Data Requirements | The website will have a signup feature to collect subscription data for email newsletters and a training/conference registration module that are compliant with GDPR requirements |
| Content Requirements | The microsite will initially offer content in both English and French with the potential for Portuguese as the project gets buy-in. The design needs to support and deliver a multilingual platform. |
| Analytics & Reports | The website shall be integrated to Google Analytics to provide reports and insights including but not limited to traffic, engagement, and conversion. |
| Support and Maintenance | Technical support shall be provided for a period of 12 months after launch of the website. Content updates when the changes to be made are not possible from the CMS user interface. An automated testing system that checks for broken hyperlinks. The contracted web development company will maintain a full backup of the website throughout the duration of the contract. |
Requirements
The company should have:
- Proven experience of web design and support in the education, nonprofit, and international development sector designing visually appealing and navigation-friendly websites,
- Familiarity and relevant experience in using different Content Management Systems (CMS),
- Have a broad knowledge of current web development technologies and design tools in the field, and new software and other web programming languages and programs including the use of HTML, XHTML, CSS, XML, XSLT, Macromedia Flash, Java
- Have excellent knowledge of recent trends in graphic design, websites, including online video publishing, and social media networking,
- Understanding of end user needs to match with adequate technical solutions.
- Strong track record in website design; security and administration; Google Analytics; Search Engine Optimisation.
Technical Proposal Details
- Description of the firm and the firm’s qualifications
- Copy of company certificate of incorporation
- Up-to-date tax compliance certificate
- Brief description of understanding of the requirements for services, including assumptions.
- Proposed approach and methodology
- Proposed team structure
- Proposed project team members
- Executive brief of relevant similar projects undertaken in the past 5 years (past experience)
Financial (Price Component)
- A summary of the price
- The period of its validity
- Applicable taxes
- Payment terms (provisions) – African Institute for Development Policy is to pay for contractual services based on performance of contractual services rendered. Under this project, AFIDEP intends to make payments based on pre-agreed project deliverables and/or milestones at agreed instalments percentages until the project is completed.
Deadline for Submission
The proposals clearly marked EVI4DEV CONFERENCE MICROSITE should be submitted by e-mail to [email protected] by 5PM EAT on 13th May 2024.
click here to access full job description Call for Proposals: Development of Evi4Dev Conference Microsite