RFP Development of Value Chains information System

The overall vision of the Information System is to provide a single platform that would help MSMEs be more profitable, increase their productivity, competitiveness and ease new business link creations. It should also help the value chain influencers and supporters have a global and historical vision of the sector as well as have early warning signs.

Value chain stakeholders (actors, influencers and supporters) should be able to access, store, track, manipulate, process and distribute relevant information as long as they have been granted the proper rights by the IS administrator. They should be able to access it using any device (smartphone android & iOS, Tablet, PC …) and from anywhere using the internet. The platform, services and data should be highly available, resilient, flexible, secure, and easy to add upon / upgradable; the platform should be able to accommodate new modules and offer new services at any point in time. For this, the back-end services need to be exposed to all clients (be it mobile or desktop) through a REST API with full documentation of all the REST resources in terms of their signatures, inputs, and outputs. Information integrity is also a key element of this platform.

The information System will be available in 2 languages Arabic and English configurable per user.

            The Information System will be constituted from several modules and sub-modules including but not limited to the following main modules/features:

• Market Information
  • Local/domestic
  • International
• Value Chain Directory
• Library
• Push Notifications
• Polls
• Chat/Inquiry
• FAQ
• Contact us/Support

However through the Information System lifecycle many other modules can be added depending on stakeholder’s needs and priorities. Modules like bookkeeping, weather information, epidemic alerts as well as others might be considered in the near future.

For the time being we are planning to develop the Information System under two versions we shall start with Version 1 and its related functionalities and later on we shall add to those functionalities further functionalities in Version 2 of the Information System.

You may find below a brief and non-exhaustive description and objective of each of the modules that will be developed in Version 1 and Version 2:

Market Information Module: divided into two sub-modules (local and international) will be offering fresh and up to date price information from the local wholesale markets (most probably the 6 markets in Lebanon), retail stores and international markets (the target international markets will be defined at a later stage of the project by the Key Marketing Expert). This information will help the end user (depending on who he is) achieve better business results, do market studies, get early warning signs (very high or low prices) …

The local market pricing will be collected by local data collectors, and will be sent to CCIAZ using the mobile application (they will use most probably a tablet with a data SIM card).

For the international markets; API (Application Programming Interface) integration between the IS and the International Data Service providers platforms is required in a future phase of the project (not in Version 1 nor in Version 2). Therefore the design of the Information System must take into account this need to make the future implementation of this requirement feasible. The aim of this integration is the complete automation of the data publishing (target is to reduce to the maximum the need to enter data manually). The overall objective of this submodule is to help exporters define new target markets, know more about the competition and increase their business gains

Value Chain Searchable Directory Module: classifying the different stakeholders of the chain and offering: small description of their role, contact numbers, address, website and email (where available) of these different stakeholders in order to ease collaboration and facilitate the creation of new business links.

The below picture gives a (non-exhaustive) visual representation of the parties involved in the value chain

Library Module: This is a repository where a user can find information like: documentations, trainings, technical sheets, articles etc. This module will help users cultivate their technical and business knowledge, get introduced to new agricultural techniques, know what are the requirements in order to export goods to another country  … the aim of this module is to enhance the user’s competitive edge.

Push Notifications Module: The primary aim of this module is to enable CCIAZ to broadcast information to the mobile user-base by different user groups. The feature can be used to send brief summaries of the latest relevant news, invitations to events (related to PSD project, CCIAZ, or other), as well as hyperlinks to online surveys or polls.

Polls: This feature would allow CCIAZ to push questions to targeted groups or to all users. Polls should be structured to prompt single or multiple responses to a question. Results of a poll can be made available to users immediately, after voting, after the closing date, or never. The objective of this module is to have the users opinion on a specific project/subject in order to take actions and/or necessary measures later on.

This entire module is planned for implementation in version 2 of the Information System.

Chat/Inquiry: The chat/inquiry feature would allow to a user/beneficiary the possibility to contact specific persons (for some specific topics) at the CCIAZ using text message as well as photos and short voice messaging. This module has different objectives but the most important one is for the IS to be a 2 ways communication platform, to have interactivity between CCIAZ and the end users which would encourage the users to use the platform again and again. This entire module is planned for implementation in version 2 of the Information System.

Frequently Asked Questions: listed questions and answers, grouped by context, and pertaining to a particular topic. In order to help users, find a solution for a problem/issue before reverting back to support. This entire module is planned for implementation in version 2 of the Information System.

Contact Us/ Support: This is where a user can find CCIAZ full contact information as well as get technical support related to the application

CCIAZ shall contract a service provider to deliver the Version 1 of the project directly after the evaluation of bidders process finish. As for Version 2 it will be contracted after the full successful delivery of Version 1 (exact date will be communicated by CCIAZ at a later stage).