Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)

Request for Expression of Interest

(Consulting Services – Firms Selection)

Country: IGAD Secretariat

Name of project: Eastern Africa Regional Digital Integration Project

Project No.:  P176181

Grant No.:  IDA-E1670

Assignment Title:  CONSULTANCY SERVICES TO DEVOLOP AN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN TO ESTABLISH A REGIONAL INFORMATION SHARING AND ANALYSIS CENTER (ISAC) FOR THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL AUTHORITY ON DEVELOPMENT (IGAD)

Reference/Contract No: DJ-IGAD-426334-CS-QCBS

1. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has received financing from the World Bank towards the cost of the Eastern Africa Regional Digital Integration Project and intends to apply part of the proceeds for consulting services.
2. The consulting services (“the Services”) to develop a plan to establish a regional Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC) within the IGAD membership (“the Plan”). The Plan will reflect the needs, requirements and objectives of the region and will detail the service framework the regional ISAC should provide, its target audience and constituency, and necessary resources. The Plan should also include a step-by-step roadmap for establishing the regional ISAC, as well as relevant draft procurement documents. The Consultant will incorporate widely accepted Good Practices to enable the regional ISAC established through the Plan to participate in international cooperation initiatives and fora. The consultant will also provide recommendations to facilitate cooperation with other regional organisations in the area.
3. The assignment is expected to take five (5) calendar months from the date of contract commencement. The detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) and Scope of Work for the assignment can be found at the following website: https://igad.int/consultancies or can be obtained at the address given below.
4. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) now invites eligible consulting firms (“Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services. The shortlisting criteria:

The firm selected will need to demonstrate:

• Having strong skills and experience in cybersecurity and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), particularly in the following areas: incident response, information sharing, cyber threat intelligence, digital forensics, with at least 5 years of relevant experience.
• At least 2 project references in the of Integrating and customization of ISAC/ISOC/CSIRT/CERT/CIRT/SOC Tools; Developing policies and procedures related to ISAC/ISOC/CSIRT/CERT/CIRT/SOC operations (operational workflows, SOPs, information sharing and incident management processes, service level management frameworks, among others); Setting up ISAC or Cybersecurity Operation center tools; or similar.
• Extensive knowledge of cybersecurity policy, strategy and operations in a government context.
• Demonstrating an understanding of relevant frameworks, methodologies, and best practices in cybersecurity.
• Prior experience working with the public sector is preferred.
• Experience in a developing country context, in particular in the IGAD context, is considered an advantage.

While the Key Experts will not be evaluated at the shortlisting stage, however, the firm shall demonstrate as having the requisite technical capacity to undertake the assignment in the submitted company profile. At later stage; the firm shall propose a core team comprising of at minimum (1) Team Leader, (1) Information Sharing/Incident Response specialists, (1) Cybersecurity Governance and Risk Management specialist, and (1) legal and policy expert, (with the qualifications described in the Terms of Reference “ToRs”) plus any additional support staff deemed necessary to deliver the assignment. All team members must be fluent in English.

At the proposal stage, the consulting firm must provide a staffing plan with names, roles, and CVs for the core project team as part of the proposal.

5. The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to Section III, paragraphs, 3.14, 3.16, and 3.17 of the World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers” First Published July 2016 and revised Fifth Edition September 2023 (“Procurement Regulations”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest.
6. Consultants may associate with other firms to enhance their qualifications but should indicate clearly whether the association is in the form of a joint venture and/or a sub-consultancy. In the case of a joint venture, all the partners in the joint venture shall be jointly and severally liable for the entire contract, if selected.
7. A Consulting firm will be selected in accordance with the Quality and Cost-Based Selection method set out in the Procurement Regulations.
8. Further information can be obtained at the address below during the following office hours 0900 and 1600 hours from Monday to Friday excluding lunch hour (1300 to 1400hours East African Time (EAT) and public holidays.

Expression of interest must be delivered in a written form to the address below by 19/07/2024 at 1100hours EAT using one of the following modalities: (i) deposit in the IGAD Office in the address below or (ii) send by e-mail to:  procurement@igad.int with copy to hassan.salah@igad.int and quote the Assignment title and Contract No (: CONSULTANCY SERVICES TO DEVOLOP AN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN TO ESTABLISH A REGIONAL INFORMATION SHARING AND ANALYSIS CENTER (ISAC) FOR THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL AUTHORITY ON DEVELOPMENT (IGAD) – Contract No.: DJ-IGAD-426334-CS-QCBS) in the subject row. For expressions of interest that will be deposited at IGAD Office in Djibouti the packages should be clearly marked with assignment title and reference/contract No. as mentioned above.

Address:
IGAD Secretariat
P.O Box 2653, Ave Georges Clemenceau
Djibouti, Republic of Djibouti

Download attached ToR document in PDF below 
TOR_CONSULTANCY SERVICES TO DEVOLOP AN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN TO ESTABLISH A REGIONAL INFORMATION SHARING AND ANALYSIS CENTER (ISAC) FOR THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL AUTHORITY ON DEVELOPMENT (IGAD) (1)