Developing company- Virtual youth platform

Background information

The Lebanese Observatory for Workers & Employees Rights-L.O.W.E.R. is an independent non-profit organization, reg # 365, which was initiated by a group of civil society activists & unionists in 2011.

The Observatory whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice & legal protection, and its members' focus is to advocate the values of social justice, freedom of assembly, association, and equity. They are committed to principles supported by the international conventions, declarations, and agreements on human rights, particularly, the International Convention for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in addition to recommendations set by the International Labor Organization-ILO as a benchmark for practice and vision.

Under this specific call, LOWER in partnership with Diakonia is working together under this project to

promote workers' voices to effectively influence Lebanese government responsiveness & accountability towards adopting reformed nondiscriminatory social protection policies & procedures.

1. Purpose

LOWER is looking for a specialized company to support LOWER in technically designing and developing a Web-based open-access interactive virtual youth platform that has the following roles:

• Empower youth by giving access to our e-learning tools
• Inspire the youth community in formulizing a clear vision for their involvement
• Involve youth in the co-building process with policymakers, integrating their rights in the political debate & concrete actions

As a result, the virtual platform will provide youth with the opportunity to connect and communicate, attend seminars, open discussions & forums, participate in surveys, trainings, and other events. At the same time, to receive digital content regularly uploaded, such as videos, podcasts, research & articles.

The following basic requirements for the virtual platform have been identified:

• The web application platform should be accessible on multiple devices
• The data displayed on the platform from existing sources (such as lebaneselw.com) should update automatically.
• A Content Management System to enable LOWER to upload, update and tag new content Display multimedia content.
• Features such as notification system, and specifications for target devices.
• The interface will be designed for English and Arabic languages.
• The platform should enable practitioners to collaborate and gather knowledge.
• It must allow LOWER to communicate directly with the users/chat rooms & to organize virtual interactive events with participants.
• Focus on simplicity, great performance, and attractive design.

Expected outputs and estimated timeframe:

• platform research and ideation, discovery, and specification for infrastructure technology (present pros and cons for development options: native, hybrid, web-app), options data sources, API, and design requirements.
• Consult with LOWER to enable the harvesting of data and other data sources.
• Creation of wireframes and detailed description of platform features and user interface, including an interface for displaying project data, featured stories, information, and other multimedia (video, audio, images, interactive maps, etc(
• Development of the design (at least 3 options to be submitted for review)
• Wireframes and design submitted for review and approval to LOWER followed by updates based on feedback.
• Development and configuration of an Alpha version of the platform focusing on key features (to be defined during project ideation. (
• Review and approval of the Alpha design and functionalities by LOWER.
• Quality, security, and performance testing and fix.
• Full implementation and delivery of the features and design of the (Beta version)
• Finalization, including final quality testing and approval.
• Support for the application process and launch of the platform.

Institutional Arrangement

• The service provider will report directly to LOWER.
• The provider will continually interact with the team throughout the stages of developing the product to seek approval. 
• The provider will share a progress report weekly with the tasked team.

Qualifications  

• The applicant should have a proven record of innovation in the virtual platforms and web application field.
• The applicant should have a team of experts that includes technology experts and coders, social media experts, and mobile platform innovation experts.
• Working experience with NGOs & INGOs is an asset.