TENDER FILE / TERMS OF REFERENCE
(Competitive bidding procedure / Framework Contract)
Purchase of online technical and communication services
Contract N° 1/2020 IAD division
In that context, the Council of Europe is looking for Provider(s) for the provision of online meeting organisation, communication and public relations, multimedia and graphic design services to be requested by the Council on an as needed basis.
A. TENDER RULES
This tender procedure is a competitive bidding procedure. In accordance with Rule 1395 of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on the procurement procedures of the Council of Europe[1], the Organisation shall invite to tender at least three potential providers for any purchase between €2,000 (or €5,000 for intellectual services) and €55,000 tax exclusive.
This specific tender procedure aims at concluding a framework contract for the provision of deliverables described in the Act of Engagement (See attached). A tender is considered valid for 120 calendar days as from the closing date for submission. The selection of tenderers will be made in the light of the criteria indicated below. All tenderers will be informed in writing of the outcome of the procedure.
The tenderer must be a legal person except consortia.
Tenders shall be submitted by email only (with attachments) to the email address indicated in the table below, with the following reference in subject:Online technical and communication services.Tenders addressed to another email address will be rejected.
The general information and contact details for this procedure are indicated on this page. You are invited to use the CoE Contact details indicated below for any question you may have. All questions shall be submitted at least 5 (five) working days before the deadline for submission of the tenders and shall be exclusively addressed to the email address indicated below with the following reference in subject: Q&A – Online technical and communication services
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Type of contract ► |
Framework contract |
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Duration ► |
Until 1 October 2022 |
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Deadline for submission of tenders/offers ► |
19.09.2020 |
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Email for submission of tenders/offers ► |
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Email for questions ► |
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Expected starting date of execution ► |
01.10.2020 |
B. EXPECTED DELIVERABLES
Background of the Projects
The cooperation activities carried out by the units within the Inclusion and Anti-discrimination Division Programmes aim at reducing social exclusion and fostering inclusion, in line with Council of Europe’s standards and recommendations, as well as by mutual exchange of good practices between stakeholders.
Specifically, the Intercultural cities programme (ICC) supports cities in reviewing their policies through an intercultural lens and developing comprehensive intercultural strategies to help them manage diversity positively and realise the diversity advantage. The Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Unit activities aim at achieeving equal rights and dignity of all human beings, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons. The No hate speech and cooperation unit carries out a range of programmes to address discrimination, inequality and exclusion and strengthen inclusion. These programmes are guided by the organisation’s standards to safeguard democratic values and fundamental human rights.
The Division includes cooperation activities within members states of the Council of Europe, as well as with its neighbours.
For example, the Division organises online meetings such as online conferences and seminars, webinars, online training sessions, etc. Usually these could take between half a day (2 hours) to several sessions in different days. They could include between 15 and 100 participants, with the exception of webinars for which higher participation could be foreseen. Some meetings require simultaneous interpretation.
All activities foreseen have to be planned in line with the different workplans within the Division, while all graphic and communication elements have to be aligned with Council of Europe visibility rules and/or those agreed with donors.
Lots
The present tendering procedure aims to select Provider(s) to support the implementation of the programmes and is divided into the following lots:
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Lots |
Maximum number of Providers to be selected |
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Lot 1: Technical services related to management of online meetings/activities |
12 |
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Lot 2: Multimedia / video post-production services associated to online meetings |
12 |
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Lot 3: Communication, PR and graphic design services related to online meetings |
12 |
All Lots will have a gender equality and non-discrimination mainstreaming approach in all stages of implementation.
The Council will select the abovementioned number of Provider(s) per lot, provided enough tenders meet the criteria indicated below. Tenderers are invited to indicate which lot(s) they are tendering for (see Section A of the Act of Engagement) . Tenderers may tender for one or more lots; tenderers may tender for all or part of the services included under each lot, in the latter case marking with ‘N/A’ those fees box(es) where they are not able to provide services.
Scope of the Framework Contract
Throughout the duration of the Framework Contract, pre-selected Providers may be asked to:
- Provide the virtual meeting room and sub-rooms/ breakout rooms upon needs to the organizers and based on the provided agenda and visual identity;
- provide a short training ahead of the events to speakers;
- ensure a simple and accessible registration of participants to the main meeting room and breakout rooms;
- provide technical moderation and back-up support throughout the event, including to resolve connection issues;
- ensure the security of the meeting rooms, for example by protecting them with passwords;
- manage the chat during the event;
- monitor the flow of participation throughout the event and generate statistics;
- ensure some pictures of the discussion and of speakers’ interventions upon request;
- ensure that the virtual tool used has remote simultaneous interpretation embedded;
- ensure interpreters are connected to the meeting room and conditions are met for their service in different channels;
- host live streaming according to the arrangements taken with the organisers, including by connecting it to the requested web-site or social media account/channel;
- produce the live subtitles in English (and/or other) language during the event;
- provide technical services to ensure sign language interpretation can be delivered during the event.
Under Lot 2:
- include sub-titles in English upon need (in case of other languages, they will be provided in writing by the organizers to be edited);
- assemble shorter video excerpts (clips, speakers’ interventions, etc.) or podcasts upon request;
- provide transcripts of the meeting.
- Plan, design and implement creative concepts in the promotion of certain events, topics etc. to better reach out specific social groups;
- ensure the logos of the Council of Europe and its programs are included in the invitations, virtual spaces, audio-visual products requested, including the above referred creative concepts;
- design gifs with integrated graphic design services to promote the activity.
- handle invitation and registration to the event for participants and related correspondence (technical instructions; updated agenda, promotion of public events, sending reminders, follow-up message after the event etc.), based on the skeleton agenda provided by the organisers and the initial list of participants;
- prepare and distribute media advisories and press releases cleared by COE staff, in English, ahead of the meeting, to the list provided by organizers;
- design and manage survey, during the event (on substance topics, with the support of organizers),pre and post events (on satisfaction);
- provide sign language simultaneous interpretation to public events of the Division and the programme it manages.
The above list is not considered as exhaustive. The Council reserves the right to request deliverables not explicitly mentioned in the above list of expected services, but related to the field of expertise object of the present Framework Contract for the lot concerned.
In terms of quality requirements, the pre-selected Service Providers must ensure, inter alia, that:
· The services are provided to the highest professional/technical standard;
· Any specific instructions given by the Council – notably on visibility – are followed.
In addition to the orders requested on an as needed basis, the Provider shall keep regular communication with the Council to ensure continuing exchange of information relevant to the project implementation. This involves, among others, to inform the Council as soon as it becomes aware, during the execution of the Contract, of any initiatives and/or adopted laws and regulations, policies, strategies or action plans or any other development related to the object of the Contract (see more on general obligations of the Provider in Article 3.1.2 of the Legal Conditions in the Act of Engagement).
Unless otherwise agreed with the Council, written documents produced by the Provider shall be in English (see more on requirements for written documents in Articles 3.2.2 and 3.2.3 of the Legal Conditions in the Act of Engagement).
C. FEES
Tenderers are invited to indicate their fees, by completing and sending the table of fees, as attached in Section A to the Act of Engagement. These fees are final and not subject to review.
The Council will indicate on each Order Form (see Section Dbelow) the number of units ordered and the global fee corresponding to each deliverable, calculated on the basis of the unit fees, as agreed by this Contract.
D. HOW WILL THIS FRAMEWORK CONTRACT WORK? (Ordering PROCEDURE)
Once the selection procedure is completed, you will be informed accordingly. Deliverables will then be delivered on the basis of Order Forms submitted by the Council to the selected Provider (s), by post or electronically, on an as needed basis (there is therefore no obligation to order on the part of the Council).
Pooling
For each Order, the Council will choose from the pool of pre-selected tenderers for the relevant lot the Provider who demonstrably offers best value for money for its requirement when assessed – for the Order concerned – against the criteria of:
- quality (including as appropriate: capability, expertise, past performance, availability of resources and proposed methods of undertaking the work);
- availability (including, without limitation, capacity to meet required deadlines);and
- price.
Each time an Order Form is sent, the selected Provider undertakes to take all the necessary measures to send it signed to the Council within 2 (two) working days after its reception. If a Provider is unable to take an Order or if no reply is given on his behalf within that deadline, the Council may call on another Provider using the same criteria, and so on until a suitable Provider is contracted
Providers subject to VAT
The Provider, if subject to VAT, shall also send, together with each signed Form, a quote[3](Pro Forma invoice) in line with the indications specified on each Order Form, and including:
- the Service Provider’s name and address;
- its VAT number;
- the full list of services;
- the fee per type of deliverables (in the currency indicated on the Act of Engagement, tax exclusive);
- the total amount per type of deliverables (in the currency indicated on the Act of Engagement, tax exclusive);
- the total amount (in the currency indicated on the Act of Engagement), tax exclusive, the applicable VAT rate, the amount of VAT and the amount VAT inclusive.
Signature of orders
An Order Form is considered to be legally binding when the Order, signed by the Provider, is approved by the Council, by displaying a Council’s Purchase Order number on the Order, as well as by signing and stamping the Order concerned. Copy of each approved Order Form shall be sent to the Provider, to the extent possible on the day of its signature.
E. ASSESSMENT
Exclusion criteria and absence of conflict of interests
(by signing the Act of Engagement, you declare on your honor not being in any of the below situations)[4]
Tenderers shall be excluded from participating in the tender procedure if they:
- have been sentenced by final judgment on one or more of the following charges: participation in a criminal organisation, corruption, fraud, money laundering;
- are in a situation of bankruptcy, liquidation, termination of activity, insolvency or arrangement with creditors or any like situation arising from a procedure of the same kind, or are subject to a procedure of the same kind;
- have received a judgment with res judicata force, finding an offence that affects their professional integrity or serious professional misconduct;
- do not comply with their obligations as regards payment of social security contributions, taxes and dues, according to the statutory provisions of their country of incorporation, establishment or residence;
· are or are likely to be in a situation of conflict of interests;
· are or if their owner(s) or executive officer(s), in the case of legal persons, are included in the lists of persons or entities subject to restrictive measures applied by the European Union (available atwww.sanctionsmap.eu).
Eligibility criteria
General for all Lots:
- The provider must be a registered company specialized in IT support; communications, public relations;
- The Provider must have at least 3 years of experience in the field of IT support and/or communication, organizing online meetings, video editing etc.;
- Fluent English.
Award criteria
· Quality of the offer (70%):
For LOTs 1 and 2: outline of the IT & service solution offered, in particular its completeness (ability to provide all specific service elements) (30%)
For LOT 3: outline of the communications services proposed in particular its completeness (ability to provide all specific service elements) (30%)
For all LOTs: similar experiences in the international environment (10%).
· Financial offer (30%).
The Council reserves the right to hold interviews with eligible tenderers.
Multiple tendering is not authorised.
F. NEGOTIATIONS
The Council reserves the right to hold negotiations with the bidders in accordance with Article 20 of Rule 1395.
G. DOCUMENTS TO BE PROVIDED
Tenderers are invited to submit:
· A completed and signed copy of the Act of Engagement3 (See attached)
· For tenderers subject to VAT only: a quote, describing their financial offer, in line with the requirements of section C of the Tender File (see above);
· A list of all owners and executive officers, for legal persons only;
· Proof of compliance with the eligibility criteria (e.g. registration documents, contact details of 3 referees to whom similar services have been provided, outline of the company. etc.);
· An outline of the proposed services for the LOT/s applied, including information such as the specific online platform(s) the tenderer proposes, the detailed way in which the services will be organized, etc;
· Recent examples of similar services and products.
All documents shall be submitted in English, failure to do so will result in the exclusion of the tender.
If any of the documents listed above are missing, the Council of Europe reserves the right to reject the tender.
The Council reserves the right to reject a tender if the scanned documents are of such a quality that the documents cannot be read once printed.
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[1]The activities of the Council of Europe are governed by its Statuteand its internal Regulations. Procurement is governed by the Financial Regulations of the Organisation and by Rule 1395 of 20 June 2019 on the procurement procedures of the Council of Europe.
[3]It must strictly respect the fees indicated in the Financial Offer attached to the original Provider’s tender as recorded by the Council of Europe. In case of non-compliance with the fees as indicated in the original Provider’s tender, the Council of Europe reserves the right to terminate the Contract with the Provider, in all or in part.
[4]The Council of Europe reserves the right to ask tenderers, at a later stage, to supply the following supporting documents:
- An extract from the record of convictions or failing that an equivalent document issued by the competent judicial or administrative authority of the country of incorporation, indicating that the first three above listed exclusion criteria are met;
- A certificate issued by the competent authority of the country of incorporation indicating that the fourth criterion is met;
- For legal persons, an extract from the companies register or other official document proving ownership and control of the Tenderer.
[5]The Act of Engagement must be completed, signed and scanned in its entirety (i.e. including all the pages). The scanned Act of Engagement may be sent page by page (attached to a single email) or as a compiled document, although a compiled document would be preferred. For all scanned documents, .pdf files are preferred.