Republic of Albania Ministry of Finance CITIZEN-CENTRIC SERVICE DELIVERY PROJECT

Transcription

1 Republic of Albania Ministry of Finance PROJECT PREPARATION FACILITY NO.P472 CITIZEN-CENTRIC SERVICE DELIVERY PROJECT 1. Background Innovation against Corruption: Building a Citizen Centric Service Delivery Model for Albania (ISDA) Terms of Reference for Consulting Firm on the User Experience Expertise Ref. No The Government of Albania is determined to fundamentally change the way public services are provided in Albania through a variety of interventions under a citizen-centric approach, which combat corruption, foster a customer-care culture, enhance access, as well as increase efficiency in the Albanian public administration. Under the Innovative Good Governance priority, launched in April 2014, the Program Innovation against Corruption: Building a Citizen Centric Service Delivery Model in Albania (ISDA), led by the Minister of State of Innovation and Public Administration (MIPA), entails a multilayered reform that focuses on key administrative central government public services to reduce the time and burden for citizens and businesses and improve service delivery quality, transparency and efficiency by using innovative solutions and ICT. Its key pillars are i) the establishment and management of an integrated nationwide model of service delivery whereby, new/enhanced front office is focused on the provision of services and relations with the public through separately managed front and back office functions of various public institutions, integrated with the one-stop-shop and in-one-place approach of the Citizen Service Center; (ii) service provision standardization, simplification through business process re-engineering and digitization, with a focus on online services; iii) citizen feedback and performance monitoring on service delivery for ongoing improvement. As part of the reform, in October 2014, ADISA, the Agency for the Delivery of Integrated Services in Albania, was established to manage the centralized public service delivery to the citizens. Its expanded mandate includes the implementation of the separation of the front office (FO) from the back office (BO) in all central institutions. This process entails the overhaul of public service delivery in Albania with the establishment of service standards for the citizens and performance monitoring for service window clerks, based on a customer-care culture. To implement the program, the Government of Albania has received financing from the World Bank. As part of the Project Preparation Facility (PPF), now underway, the CFCU (Central Finance and Contracting Unit) at the Ministry of Finance, supported by the Project Management Unit, carries out the fiduciary aspects of the activities inc1uding procurement, financial Page 1 of 7

2 management and administration, and MIPA, the lead implementation agency supported ADISA, as beneficiary agency under the ISDA program, manages the technical aspects of the activities. NAIS, the National Agency for Information Society is a key partner in the program. 2. Objectives of the Assignment The ISDA program strives to ensure the adoption of ICT solutions for the delivery of central government public services to the citizens in an integrated approach. One of the channels of the service delivery will be the Online via E-Albania Portal. E-Albania is a unique government portal that offers public services for citizens, businesses and government. The term E-Albania portal here and after includes the Desktop and Mobile version of the portal and also the Mobile App called e-albania. More technical details of the E-Albania Portal are presented in the Annex1. Aiming to increase the usability of E-Albania Portal and to better connect with the citizen and businesses through it, an evaluation of it from the user experience viewpoint is required. Many questions should be addressed such as: Does the user perceive the functionalities of the Portal as useful and fit for the purpose? Does the user feel that it is easy to apply for the services on the Portal? Does the user see the system as visually attractive? Etc. In this framework, MIPA/ISDA and ADISA are seeking to hire a Consulting Company (further on referred to as Consultant ) with very good knowledge on design and usability of web portals and mobile apps. 3. Scope of Work/Main Tasks The consultant is expected to: Analyze and evaluate the e-albania portal from the user s viewpoint - Collaborate closely with NAIS and ISDA/ADISA team to fully understand the scope of the project and its future implications; - Understand its target users (citizens, businesses, young) and the services it provides and prepare a report on the current status of the portal focusing on the to-beimproved issues. - Analyze and evaluate samples of the services with automation level 1 and 2, which consist in informing citizens about all the procedure steps required to receive a particular service, the necessary documentation, respective costs if applicable, working hours, etc. - Analyze and evaluate all the services with automation level 3 and 4, identify the difficulties from the user point of view. The number of services with level 3 and 4 in the portal is 59. Fulfill an User Experience (UX) research of the E-Albania Portal - Conduct an experience testing and usability inspection and any other methods that the consultant deems necessary. Page 2 of 7

3 - User experience testing should give a qualitative evaluation of how usable the services offered are. For example, focus groups with at least 10 people study participants should generally be used in the user experience testing. Usability inspection or the heuristic evaluation should evaluate the portal against wellestablished usability guidelines, identifying and prioritizing areas for improvement. - Propose the suitable methodology of evaluation by defining the key criteria and the respective metrics for a comprehensive report that will enable qualitative analysis. Recommend the improvement of the Portal based on the findings of the research: - Propose specific solutions concerning the functionality, the usability, the content management and organization and the design, in order to maximize users' experience and increase performance in the portal; - Propose specific actions in terms of organization of content and identify missing and/or useless elements that should/should not be presented in the portal; - based on best practices, define precise parameters of functionality, according to different target users; - Recommend tailored design and layout solutions to maximize users' performance; - Recommend specific changes of the services with automation level 3&4; - Recommend changes for the services with automation level 1&2; - Define the parameters of usability according to different group of users and propose specific intervention. As described in the Annex 1, of the e-albania Portal, the Services of level 3 and 4 comprise the most important part of the portal and are the main focus of the scope of work of this TORs. 4. Timing The Consultant is expected to start the assignment in March The assignment is expected to be completed within two (2) months from the contract signature date, with a minimum input as of 60 working days, for both experts, with an anticipated duration of 30 working days in Albania (Tirana), in total. 5. Reports and Schedule of Deliverables The Consultant is expected to submit: An Assessment report of the E-Albania Portal that describes the followings but not limited to: - Analysis and evaluation of the e-albania portal from the user s viewpoint; - Findings of the User Experience (UX) research; - Results of the Baseline experience testing and usability inspection and any other methods that the consultant will carried out; - Recommendation and the improvement of the Portal based on the findings of the research Propose specific solutions concerning the functionality, the usability, the content management and organization and the design, in order to maximize users' experience and increase performance in the portal; - Propose specific actions in terms of organization of content and identify missing and/or useless elements that should/should not be presented in the portal; Page 3 of 7

4 - based on best practices, define precise parameters of functionality, according to different target users; - Propose specific actions in terms of application process for the services with automation level 3&4; - Propose specific actions for the services with automation level 1&2; - Recommend tailored design and layout solutions to maximize users' performance; - Define the parameters of usability according to different group of users and propose specific. An Inception Report, within 15 working days from contract signing, which includes: - A detailed work plan and implementation schedule; - Annotated outline of all outputs. A draft Final Report, 40 days from the contract signing which will: - The work progress and accomplished milestones; - Issues faced during the implementation; - Address the findings; A final report within 5 days after the submission of draft final report that shall reflect input by the stakeholders and address the findings of the baseline experience testing. 6. Reporting Requirements. The consultant shall report directly to the ISDA and ADISA. The ISDA program will provide quality assurance and management control on the achievement of results, and finalization of deliverables. The Consultant will work closely with NAIS. 7. Resources ISDA and ADISA shall provide the Consultant with the required documentation and information. 8. Qualifications The consultant will have at least the following qualifications: Minimum of 8 (eight) years of experience in Consulting is required, with special reference to UX involving government portals. At least two (2) similar contracts successfully carried out within the last four years with certificates of satisfaction issued by the contracting authority. Key staff with necessary qualifications and experience to successfully carry out all the tasks and deliverables of this assignment. These include but not limit: Key Expert 1 Interaction design Advanced degree in Web/Multimedia Design Minimum of 10 (ten) years professional experience; Page 4 of 7

5 Minimum of five (5) years working experience in Interaction design; In-depth knowledge and understanding of Portal design; Experience in requirements analysis and interactive design; Experience in ensuring the integration of all elements of the Portal and building a user experience platform; Ability to work in a team of international and local experts; Excellent communication and ability to ensure good communication and coordination with stakeholders; Excellent fluency of written and spoken English language. Key Expert 2 User Research B.S. in cognitive science, and or similar field of study Human Behavioral Neuroscience or Web designer ; Advanced degree in Human Behavioral Neuroscience, and/or similar degree relevant to the assignment; Minimum of eight (8) years professional experience; Minimum of five (5) years working experience in User research design; Ability to work in a team of international and local experts; Excellent communication and ability to ensure good communication and coordination with stakeholders; Excellent fluency of written and spoken English language. 9. Restrictions In addition to the standard conflict of interest restrictions specified in the consulting Contract, all materials created under this Contract will remain the sole property of the MIPA. Re-use of the materials will require the formal, written approval of the MIPA. The Consultant shall have no material interest in any of the outputs of this assignment. On the commencement of the assignment, the Consultant will jointly prepare with the MIPA a Statement of Confidentiality that will bind the Consultant to nondisclosure of any sensitive information that he/she may become knowledgeable of in the course of the assignment. The terms of this agreement shall be made consistent with the relevant privacy laws of the Republic of Albania. 10. Selection The service will be selected under the provisions of the World Bank s Guidelines for the Selection and Employment of Consultants, January 2011, revised on July 2014 based on Consultant Qualification Selection Method, Lump Sum Contract. Page 5 of 7

6 ANNEX 1. Technical Information of E-Albania Portal E-Albania is a unique government portal that offers public services for citizens, businesses and government. Link of the portal The services in the e-albania portal are organized into four levels of sophistication (automation), provided by central public administration institutions, independent and dependent ones. Services of level 1 and 2 consist in informing citizens about all the procedure steps required to receive a particular service, the necessary documentation, respective costs if applicable, working hours, contacts (the institution address, phone no or ), downloadable forms if applicable as well as the button that leads to the website of the corresponding institution. Services of level 3 and 4 comprise the most important part of the portal, as they create an opportunity for citizens and businesses to obtain the requested service without spending time in administration offices and avoiding therefore the unnecessary bureaucracy. The portal is built using.net technology in an IIS server and MSSQL database. Authentication and identification process is based on "Single-Sign-On" strategy, to create a unique identity for each user: for citizen is used NID and for businesses is used NUIS. There are four authentication ways in the portal: identification of government users, identification of citizens via the ID card, identification of government users via certificate and identification of citizens/businesses via password. The authentication method that uses FPSTS (Federation Provider Secure Token Service) and IPSTS (Identity Provider Secure Token Service), solutions are implemented in the portal, besides the authentication of the public sector s employees with Active Directory and electronic certificates. Lately, the ealeat platform has also been implemented in the portal. This platform enables the citizen s authentication via the ID card. The source code of the e-albania portal is owned by the National Agency for Information Society. The portal is connected to the Government Interoperability Platform (Government Gateway), an Enterprise Service Bus solution based on Microsoft technology, which uses BizTalk Server and is connected to all the institutions that serve as service providers. Through enabling the interoperability of all state systems/databases and offering a unique interface in a single platform, the portal provides electronic services in real time. The main components of e-albania portal are: a) Government Gateway; b) Payment gateway; c) Service providers; d) Frontend of the portal; e) The backend of the portal. While the Government Gateway is the hub that connects all the actors, the portal is a single window that makes the services accessible by users. In the e-albania unique government portal there are also e-services that include a payment, a process made through the Government Payment Gateway. In the portal, the initialization of online payments is accomplished through the Payment Gateway, which transfers the online payment to second level banks via the Payment Gateway. The portal works in different browser such as Internet Explorer 7.0 and newest versions, Mozilla, Page 6 of 7

7 Google Chrome, and Safari. The Mobile version is compatible with most of the browsers of the mobile equipment (Android, Windows, ios) and it offers all functionalities of the desktop version. The mobile app is compatible with the Operation system of the mobile equipment such as Android 4.0, ios 5 and newer versions, as well as for IPAD. ANNEX 2. The four Automation levels of online services in the e-albania Portal The following classification describes the level of automation according to UN model of e- government development. Level 1 Emerging information services Government websites provide information on public policy, governance, laws, regulations, relevant documentation and types of government services provided. They have links to ministries, departments and other branches of government. Citizens are able to obtain updated information in the national government and ministries and can follow links to archived information. Level 2 Enhanced information services Government websites deliver enhanced one-way or simple two-way e-communication between government and citizen, such as downloadable forms for government services and applications. The sites have audio and video capabilities and are multi-lingual. Some limited e-services enable citizens to submit requests for non-electronic forms or personal information. Level 3 Transactional services Government websites engage in two-way communication with their citizens, including requesting and receiving inputs on government policies, programs, regulations, etc. Some form of electronic authentication of the citizen s identity is required to successfully complete the exchange. Government websites process non-financial transactions, e.g. filing taxes online or applying for certificates, licenses and permits. They also handle financial transactions, i.e. where money is transferred on a secure network. Level 4 Connected services Government websites have changed the way governments communicate with their citizens. They are proactive in requesting information and opinions from the citizens using Web 2.0 and other interactive tools. E-services and e-solutions cut across the departments and ministries in a seamless manner, information, data and knowledge is transferred from government agencies through integrated applications. Governments have moved from a government-centric to a citizen-centric approach, where e-services are targeted to citizens through life cycle events and segmented groups to provide tailor-made services. Governments create an environment that empowers citizens to be more involved with government activities to have a voice in decisionmaking. Page 7 of 7