PROCUREMENT DOCUMENTS
PROCURER
Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications
Reg: 70003158
Name of the Procurement
International training sessions on the impacts of the Estonian
information society
01.December 2014 at 12.am
Deadline for submission of tender
[email protected]
and address:
Procurement type: A service to be purchased in accordance with a
simplified procedure (RHS §19)
Contract type: Contract for Services
Common procurement vocabulary
80300000-7 Higher education services
and specification:
1. Background information
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications (hereafter MKM) is responsible for the
formation and successful implementation of Estonian information society policies and ensures the
development of information society through knowledge-based decision-making procedures.
For smarter governance and widespread implementation of information and communication
technologies (hereafter ICT) in the country, it is necessary to raise the competencies in all sectors by
teaching field related ICT-skills. In institutions of higher education, special ICT modules need to be
created within other subject areas, specific subjects have to be offered and other educational events
and international cooperation have to take place. For specialists already in employment,
supplementary and re-training educational options have to be available.
Admission statistics to universities show that the growing trend of choosing so called “soft” subjects
(like politics, sociology, psychology, law) is continuing. At the same time, the salaries for most
graduates of these subjects on the Estonian job market are quite low and with little international
competitiveness. In order to change the situation, MKM has set the goal of finding ways to increase
the competitiveness of non-ICT fields through additional training in ICT.
What makes the situation more complicated is that the export balance of “soft” subjects in the current
Estonian economic model is marginal. For example, while law graduates charge one of the highest
hourly rates, their only export article is the advising of foreign companies of the Estonian legal space.
Today, the legal sector lacks the understanding of how to make lawyers more capable to export their
skills. While there are examples of solitary consultants, the Estonian Bar Association has concluded
that there are no significant legal companies that export their services. To help develop the field, the
Estonian Bar Association has created a relevant committee.
A similar problem concerns Estonian political scientists, sociologists, behavioural scientists and other
social science graduates who tend to find employment in the Estonian public sector or on the local
market. The potential that might stem from long-term studies of Estonian information society and the
sale of such knowledge internationally is unused.
2. Work to be purchased
MKM is implementing the European Social Fund period 2014-2020 intervention action “Increasing
digital skills”. One objective of the action is training of career-specific ICT skills to working age
people to increase their competitiveness. The maximum length of the contract is 4 years, but the
procurer is allowed to end the contract 12 months after signing if its circumstances change. To achieve
set objective, this procurement will purchase training sessions on the impacts of information society
for non-ICT students in Estonian universities, as well as the international high-class research on
Estonian information society in the volume and terms as set out below:
2.1. Target group for the training and the number of participants:
The target group for the trainings are non-ICT students on all levels (undergraduate, postgraduate and
PhD) in Estonian universities studying for degrees in social sciences and other curricula related to estate governance.
Over the next 4 years, MKM will procure two two-day trainings every academic year for at least 150
students which need to be based on research on topics set in Article 2.3 and which have been set as
training materials for those trainings.
The training sessions need to be conducted in Estonia and in conjunction with local universities or
academic institutions. At the end of the training, all participants must receive a certificate from the
supplier.
2.2. Knowledge
and
skills
obtained
during
the
training
sessions:
Having participated, the student:
2.2.1. Has knowledge of the functioning of information society and e-governance in the
international context;
2.2.2. Can associate information society issues with their subject and research;
2.2.3. Can analyse Estonian e-government services and technologies in research in their field;
2.2.4. Understands the competitive advantages that expert knowledge of Estonian information
society in conjunction with the professional experience can give;
2.2.5. Is able to sell their professional expertise, advising a variety of target groups on egovernment and information society development issues both in Estonia and
internationally.
2.3. The research papers (including articles, conference papers, theses, etc.) that form the basis for
these training sessions could answer (separately or in conjuncture) the following research
questions on Estonian information society:
2.3.1. What are the drivers of and obstacles to technology adoption in the expansion of the
information society and the accompanying benefits to governance and citizen inclusion?
2.3.2. Political and cultural preconditions of successful e-government systems as revealed by
e-voting experiments.
2.3.3. Mobilisation of European end-users as drivers of e-health innovation.
2.3.4. Benefits of “data embassies” for the continuity of government in a security crisis.
2.3.5. Mechanisms for the management of international cyber crises and conflicts based on the
Estonian example.
2.4. During one academic year, MKM is purchasing at least 4 research papers and the tenderer
must make them publicly available.
2.5. The tenderer can propose additional research topics related to Estonian information society
issues. They will be negotiated after submission of tender on the bases of the conditions set in
Article 9.
3. Cost of the procurement
The cost of the procurement is up to 1 100 000 euros excluding VAT. Due to the nature of the
procurement, more than 50% of the final cost needs to be made up of training-related costs.
The procurement contract will be funded by the European Union Structural Funds.
4. Requirements for the tenderer
4.1. In the conduct of this procurement, the procurer will verify whether the financial and
economic standing and the technical and professional ability of a Tenderer comply with the
award criteria specified in the contract notice.
4.2. The procurer has the right to verify the suitability of a tenderer throughout the entire
procurement procedure and if the procurer learns that the financial and economic standing or
the technical and professional ability of the Tenderer does not comply with the award criteria
provided for in the contract notice, the procurer has the right to make a new decision on
qualifying the tenderer or candidate and disqualify the tenderer or candidate.
4.3. Technical and professional competencies required:
4.3.1. The tenderer’s team must have proven (by submitted CV’s or tenderers written
confirmation) knowledge and competencies in conducting international research on
subjects related to information society as specified below;
4.3.2. The tenderer’s team must comprise of:
4.3.2.1. A lead researcher with a PhD in social sciences who possesses at least 15 years of
research experience in the fields of political science and / or international relations and
has extensive experience in teaching at a higher education level;
4.3.2.2. A co-researcher with a PhD and at least 5 years of research experience and experience
in teaching at a higher education level in the fields of political sciences and / or
international relations;
4.3.3. The tenderer has been position in the top-10 universities in a widely recognised ranking
table (for example QS World University Rankings1, Times Higher Education World
University Rankings2) for at least the previous five years.
4.4. Tenderer holds right to change members of the team set in Article 4.3.2. only subject to prior
written approval of the procurer. Substituted members must hold equal qualifications.
4.5. Tenderer that is registered outside of Estonia must submit appropriate proof about the legal
authority representation of the signatory of the tender.
4.6. Joint tender must include a statement, that tenderers are severally liable for performance of the
contract for service.
5. Tender verification and declaration of conformity
5.1. Tender must comply with the conditions set out in the procurement document. Tenderer shall
submit a statement of compliance according to given form in Form 1 "Confirmation of the
Tenderer".
5.2. Tender is declared compliant if it satisfies all the conditions of the procurement document.
5.3. Procurer may declare the tender as compliant, if there are no substantial deviations from the
procurement document terms and conditions.
5.4. Procurer has the right to reject the tender if it does not comply with the conditions set out in
procurement document or exceeds the procurer’s economic opportunities.
5.5. Tenderer whose tender has been rejected, does not participate in the subsequent procurement
process.
6. Structure of the tender
6.1. Tender validity period:
6.1.1. Tender must be valid for at least one hundred twenty (120) calendar days from the due
date for submission of tenders.
6.1.2. Procurer has the right to ask tenderers an extension of tender validity period.
6.1.3. The tenderer may refuse to extend the validity period in that case the tender will end at
time indicated in tender.
6.2. Form of the tender:
6.2.1. Tender must define a person who is a contact person through whom communication
takes place.
6.2.2. Tender may be prepared in Estonian or English. Submitted documents, certificates and
other documents must be originals.
6.2.3. Tender must be signed by the legal representative. Authorized representative must be
accompanied by proof of the right of representation.
6.2.4. Tenders must comply with the conditions set out in procurement document and may not
be in any way misleading. Tender shall be considered compliant if it satisfies all the
conditions set out by the procurer.
6.2.5. Tender must contain all of the required documents. If it does not meet requirements of
the procurement document, the tender will be deemed non-compliant and will be
rejected.
6.3. Structure of the tender:
6.3.1. An expression of will to take part in the tender;
6.3.2. A letter of confirmation about conformity on set from Form 1;
6.3.3. A letter of confirmation about the technical and professional ability of the Tenderer set
on Form 2;
6.4. A tender, which includes:
6.4.1. Description of the conduct of the training sessions, the amount of participants (min. 150
students) and a description of learning outcomes;
6.4.2. A vision document about the work procedures in producing research papers and
organising training sessions (as detailed as possible, including cooperation with Estonian
1
2
http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/
universities or students, overview of other relevant (international) partners and target
groups, and other relevant details that might impact the conduct of the work). The
document must also include a description of different departments or research groups
included in the work within the tenderer’s organisational structure.
6.4.3. A vision document where the tenderer presents their take on the set research questions
and proposes their own, including reasons behind choosing the topics and approaches to
the research, as well as how these papers can be used for teaching purposes and how the
quality and adherence to international standards can be ensured.
6.4.4. Proposed timeline for submitting work. The timeline must include an exact overview of
training sessions as well as research papers that will be used as basis for the training
sessions. The Tenderer must take into account that the procurer is only able to pay for
completed work.
7. Cost of the tender
7.1. The cost of the tender must include all related expenditures, including the cost of producing
the research papers and given in euros.
7.2. Tenderer needs to bear in mind that more than 50% of the total cost needs to be trainingrelated costs. Procurer reserves the right to exclude all tenders with a cost over 1 100 000
euros, excluding VAT.
8. Submission of tender
8.1. The deadline of the tender is 1.December 2014.
8.2. The tender shall be submitted e-mail [email protected].
9. Negotiations
9.1. The procurer reserves the right to negotiate with tenderers. After the submission of tenders, the
tenderer decides whether to initiate negotiations or not.
9.2. The procurer may negotiate with tenderers in all aspects of the tender.
9.3. The participants in the negotiations must be at least the person indicated in Article 6.2.1. and
authorised as a representative of the tenderer.
9.4. The procurer and tenderer shall agree on the negotiations period.
9.5. Negotiations will take place at the procurers address at 11 Harju, Tallinn and / or
electronically (e-mail, Skype, video conferencing).
9.6. During the negotiations tenderer will introduce the tender, if necessary; parties will specify the
tasks, work volumes, costs, and other compliance requirements of the contract.
9.7. At the end of the negotiations, the tenderer shall submit a revised tender. Revised tender must
be valid for 120 calendar days from the submission of revised tender from the closing date.
10. The format of obtaining additional information about the tender
10.1. Additional information can be asked up to two (2) business days prior to the deadline for
submission of tenders.
10.2. The questions will be answered within two (2) business days.
11. Evaluation of the tender
The tender evaluation will be carried out using the following method
11.1. The completeness of the tender - worth 70 points (representing 70% of total points)
The Committee will assess the completeness of the tender based on the documents submitted.
Each member of the procurement committee will evaluate the proposed solutions on an
individual basis, giving either 9, 5 or 1 points in each of the sub criteria:
Description of the conduct of the training sessions – based on the formula a max of 20 points
(representing 20% of total points):
9 points - "excellent". A score of 9 points can be awarded if:
 The description is appropriate and realistic
 Description includes the amount of trainees and it is realistic,
 Description includes a specific vision of the learning outcomes.
5 points - "passable". A score of 5 points can be awarded if:
 The vision is mostly appropriate and / or realistic and / or
 The description of the amount of trainees does not seem very feasible and / or
 The vision of the learning outcomes is lacking.
1 point - "poor". A score of 1 point can be awarded if:
 The vision is too general and / or irrelevant and / or only marginally realistic and / or
 The amount of trainees does not seem realistic, and / or
 Learning outcomes are not in line with the goals of the tender.
Points awarded by the members of the committee will be added up. 20 points will be awarded to the
tender which received the most points cumulatively from the Committee. Other tenders receive fewer
points than 20 in proportion to the points they scored less than the top tender in the first sub-criterion.
The points will be calculated using the following formula: “final amount of points” = “score of the
tender for the first sub-criterion” / “score of the top tender for the first sub-criterion” X 20.
11.2 A vision document about the work procedures in producing research papers and organising
training sessions - based on the formula a max of 20 points (representing 20% of total points):
9 points - "excellent". A score of 9 points can be awarded if:
 The vision focuses on the goals set out in the procurement documents,
 The research process is appropriate and realistic,
 A specific vision of the involvement of Estonian universities, students or research institutions,
and other key audiences or partners is presented,
 Factors affecting the implementation of the works are described.
5 points - "passable". A score of 5 points can be awarded if:
 The vision is generally consistent with the goals of procurement,
 The research process is to a large extent appropriate and / or realistic and / or
 The vision of the involvement of relevant target groups / individuals / universities is somewhat
irrelevant or unrealistic and / or
 Factors affecting the implementation of the works are not fully considered and / or
 The tender includes minor deficiencies which do not allow evaluators 9 points.
1 point - "poor". A score of 1 point can be awarded if:
 The vision is too general to assess its coherence with the goals of the procurement and / or
 The research process is appropriate and / or realistic only in part, and / or
 The vision of the involvement of target groups / individuals / Estonian universities is
appropriate and / or realistic only in part, and / or
 The vision of the project is not clear enough to analyse the conduct of the works and / or
 The tender contains major deficiencies, which do not allow 9 or 5 points to be awarded.
Points awarded by the members of the committee will be added up. 20 points will be awarded to the
tender which received the most points cumulatively from the Committee. Other tenders receive fewer
points than 20 in proportion to the points they scored less than the top tender in the second subcriterion. The points will be calculated using the following formula: “final amount of points” = “score
of the tender for the second sub-criterion” / “score of the top tender for the second sub-criterion” X 20.
11.3 Description of research topics - based on the formula a max of 30 points (representing 30% of
total points):
9 points - "excellent". A score of 9 points can be awarded if:
 The tenderer has offered specific research topics, together with an explanation of the selection
of topics and a description of the research process,
 The vision describes the practical use of research in the teaching sessions,
 The vision describes how the provider ensures the quality and compliance with international
standards of the research used as training materials.
5 points – “passable". A score of 5 points can be awarded if:
 The tenderer has offered research topics, together with an explanation of the selection of topics
and a description of the research process which are too general and/or,
 The vision describes the practical use of research in the teaching sessions only in part and/or,
 The vision describes how the provider ensures the quality and compliance with international
standards of the research used as training materials only in part.
1 point - "poor". A score of 1 point can be awarded if:
 The tenderer has offered research topics, together with an explanation of the selection of topics
and a description of the research process which are too general and/or need more specificity
and/or are not relevant,
 The description of the practical use of research in the teaching sessions does not seem realistic
and/or,
 There is no clarity about how the provider ensures the quality and compliance with
international
standards
of
the
research
used
as
training
materials.
Points awarded by the members of the committee will be added up. 30 points will be awarded to the
tender who received the most points cumulatively from the Committee. Other tenders receive fewer
points than 30 in proportion to the points they scored less than the top tender in the third sub-criterion.
The points will be calculated using the following formula: “final amount of points” = “score of the
tender for the third sub-criterion” / “score of the top tender for the third sub-criterion” X 30.
The procurer reserves the right to reject any tenders which have received lower than an average score
of 4,00 in any of the sub-criteria above based on the scores given by members of the procurement
committee (who award points 9, 5 or 1).
The total cost of the tender to the procurer * - based on the formula a max of 30 points.
The maximum value of the points (30) will be the cheapest tender. Other tenders receive fewer points
than 30 in proportion to the points they scored less than the top tender. The points will be calculated
using the following formula: “final amount of points” = “cost of the cheapest tender” / “cost of the
tender” X 30.
* Because the procurer is liable to pay VAT, the cost price to be used in this criterion inclusive of all
taxes the procurer will pay on top of the tender’s price. The cost to be considered here will be the final
one to the procurer.
11.4 Summation of the scores
11.4.1. The scores from all sub-criteria will be added together for the final score. The maximum
value of the total score is 100.00.
11.4.2. All calculations shall be rounded to two decimal places.
11.4.3. The successful tender will have the highest amount of points.
11.4.4. In case of an equal final score, the tender with a higher score in the sub-criterion “A vision
document about the work procedures in producing research papers and organising training
sessions”
will
be
successful.
11.4.5 If the tenders are equal even after the measure taken in 11.4.4., then the committee will
declare the winner based on a simple majority vote.
12. The person responsible for the procurement document:
Karoliina Raudsepp, MKM, State Information Systems Department, leading specialist.
Form 1, Confirmation of the Tenderer
Name of the Customer: Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications
Name of the Procurement: International training sessions on the impacts of the
Estonian information society
Name of Tenderer:
Name of Representative:
Position of the Representative:
Email of the representative:
Phone number of the representative:
Postal address:
Website:
1. We have studied the terms of the procurement and we agree to the terms and conditions;
2. We accept all the basis of elimination from the procurement set out in the documents;
3. We are in compliance with all the qualifying terms set out in the documentation and we
are in a position to complete the work successfully and in a timely manner;
4. All documents that we have supplied are true to the best of our knowledge;
5. We are not bankrupt or under liquidation, or business operations have not been suspended
and we are not in another similar state under the legislation of our country of location;
6. A compulsory liquidation procedure or another similar procedure has not been initiated
against us in accordance with the legislation of our country of location;
7. We have no tax arrears;
Tenderer:
Signature:
Form 2, Tenderer’s team’s CVs3
LEAD RESEARCHER
Name
Education
Contact information: Phone number, email address
Academic work experience:
MM.YYYY – MM.YYYY Position and name of institution, including description of
relevant research and teaching experience and research
areas
MM.YYYY – MM.YYYY
CO-RESEARCHER
Name
Education
Contact information: Telephone, email address
Academic work experience:
MM.YYYY – MM.YYYY Position and name of institution, including description of
relevant research and teaching experience and research
areas
MM.YYYY – MM.YYYY
Tenderer:
Signature:
3
A CV can be presented in any form as long as the information necessary in this form is present and signed by a
representative.