REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

“Artificial intelligence (AI) Virtual Assistants”

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

Avenue Joseph Anoma, 01 B.P. 1387, Abidjan, CÔTE D’IVOIRE

Corporate IT Services Department (CHIS)

E-mail : IT_Recruitment@AFDB.ORG

Telephone : (+225) 20 26 22 61/ (+225) 20 26 25 83

1. The African Development Bank (AfDB) hereby invites Consulting Firms to indicate their interest in the following Assignment : Artificial intelligence (AI) Virtual Assistants ;
2. The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is seeking the services of a Consulting firm (hereafter called “The Consultant”) to support its corporate wide virtual assistant project. In specific :

• As first step, the Consultant will provide expert level support to design and implement AfDB Bot and RPA, and eventually AfDB Virtual Assistant solutions ;
• The Consultant should take a phased approach to perform business review for AfDB business processes starting from Corporate Services Complex which include Human Resources, Information Technology, Language Services, General Services and Medical Services. Then extended to AfDB corporate-wide ;
• The overall objective is to have a Smart Shared Service Center using RPA based process reengineering design integrating AfDB virtual assistant solution ;
• The Consultant will provide engineering know-how to AfDB Virtual assistant, RPA, and AI Chatbot projects. As part of this assignment, the Consultant will develop new corporate service process that is digital by default and that is aligned with AFDB digital strategy and Enterprise Architecture.

The detailed terms of reference are attached as Annex 1.

3. The Corporate IT Services Department (CHIS) invites eligible firms to indicate their interest in providing these services. Interested eligible Consulting Firms or associations of Consulting Firms shall provide information on their qualifications and experience demonstrating their ability to provide the services (documentation, references for similar services, experience in comparable Assignments, availability of qualified staff, etc.) ;
4. The eligibility criteria, the establishment of a short list and the selection procedure shall be in conformity with the Bank’s Procurement Policy and Procedures for Recruitment of Corporate Consultants. Please, note that interest expressed by a Consulting Firm does not imply any obligation on the part of the Bank to include it in the shortlist ;
5. The Bank will follow a phased approach for the implementation of chatbot, RPA, and Virtual Assistant solutions. The implementation timeline will be over a period of twelve (12) months. The tentative start date is 01 June 2020 ;
6. The work will be carried in the Bank’s office at Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, Pretoria, South Africa and off-shore development if necessary ;
7. Interested Consulting Firms may obtain further information at the address below during office hours 09:00 to 17:00 hours, Abidjan Local Time ;
8. Expressions of interest must be sent by email at the address below before Thursday 07 May 2020 17:00 hours, Abidjan Local Time and mention “Artificial intelligence (AI) Virtual Assistants”.

For the attention of : IT Recruitment Team African Development Bank

Corporate IT Services Department (CHIS) Avenue Joseph Anoma, 01 B.P. 1387, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Tel : (+225) 20 26 22 61

Email : IT_Recruitment@AFDB.ORG

ANNEX 1: TERMS OF REFERENCE

Artificial intelligence (AI) Virtual Assistants

1. BACKGROUND

1.1. Introduction to African Development Bank :

The African Development Bank (“the Bank”) is the premier multilateral development finance institution for the continent. Its mission is to contribute to the economic development and social progress of its regional member countries (RMCs), mobilize resources for the financing of development projects, and promote economic integration on the continent. The Bank’s 81 Shareholders comprises of 54 African member countries and 27 non-regional member countries. It enjoys a strong relationship with its member countries, a good reputation on the capital markets, and established cooperation ties with an extensive network of international development partners.

1.2. The Human Resources and Corporate Services (CHVP) Complex :

The Human Resources and Corporate Services (CHVP) Complex ensures the delivery of efficient, people-centered, client-oriented, corporate services to ensure overall institutional effectiveness in all aspects of the Bank’s corporate services. The complex leads efforts to ensure the competitiveness of the Bank as the employer of choice and is responsible for providing leadership in the formulation and implementation of Bank’s strategies on people, Information Technology (IT), general services and institutional procurements, language services, business continuity and, health and safety strategies.

1.3. Corporate Information Technology (IT) Department (CHIS) :

The strategic objective of the Corporate Information Technology department (CHIS) at the Bank is to align the IT delivery strategy along with the Bank’s business strategy, to increase the organizational effectiveness through efficient use of the Information Systems (IS). Under the leadership of the Bank’s Information System’s Director, CHIS department is mandated by the Bank to deliver the best possible IT services for Bank staff and help achieve the results that will get the Bank closer to accomplishing its development goals.

2. CONTEXT :

The use of chatbots and virtual assistants is exploding across the enterprise.

In the context of its Digital Transformation journey, the Corporate Information Technology (IT) Department is initiating a project for the implementation of Chatbot, RPA and Virtual Assistant solutions with the main objective to: (i) build a Smarter Shared Service Center (IT, HR, Facilities and Language Services) and (ii) creation of Smart and Connected Offices Using Virtual Assistants.

The scope of this project includes three main work streams :

1. Work stream 1: Set up of CHVP Smart Shared Service Center (Integrating IT Service Desk, HR Direct Services, Facilities Service Desk and Language Services) ;
2. Work stream 2: Integrating Virtual Assistant with ServiceNow Application and other business applications ;

• Work stream 3: Building Use Cases for Smart and Connected Office.

3. OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT :

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is seeking the services of a Consulting firm (hereafter called “The Consultant”) to support its corporate wide virtual assistant project. In specific :

• As first step, the consultant will provide expert level support to design and implement AfDB Bot and RPA, and eventually AfDB Virtual Assistant solutions ;
• The Consultant should take a phased approach to perform business review for AfDB business processes starting from Corporate Services Complex which include Human Resources, Information Technology, Language Services, General Services and Medical Services. Then extended to AfDB corporate-wide ;
• The overall objective is to have a Smart Shared Service Center using RPA based process reengineering design integrating AfDB virtual assistant solution ;
• The Consultant will provide engineering know-how to AfDB Virtual assistant, RPA, and AI Chatbot projects. As part of this assignment, the Consultant will develop new corporate service process that is digital by default and that is aligned with AFDB digital strategy and Enterprise Architecture.

4. SCOPE OF THE WORK :

The services required under the assignment include the following :

• Take a phased approach to perform an end to end business process review for AfDB corporate services – HR, shared services, call center, IT service desk, General services, procurement services, etc. ;
• Assess AfDB capabilities of chatbot, RPA, and virtual assistant solutions ;
• Identify the underlying requirements or prerequisites for implementation of chatbot, RPA, and virtual assistant solutions ;
• Provide guidance on how to get started with the first project. Prepare a comprehensive project plan ;
• Provide guidance in the definition of solution design practices and standards that link back to industry best practices, ISO, ITIL, etc. ;
• Redesign the selected process to be an RPA and Bot centric process that is integrated with virtual assistant and AI ;
• Support AfDB Enterprise Architecture (EA) including Business Architecture, Information Architecture, and Technology Architecture to ensure EA has an integrated view to address business and technical needs. Design virtual assistant, RPA, and Bot architecture so it can be integrated with AfDB EA ;
• Designing RPA process solutions in accordance with standard RPA design principles and conventions (Robotic Operating Model) ;
• Design a roadmap for a customized platform and business solution for AfDB RPA, virtual assistant, and Chatbot ;
• Develop and implement the solution for AfDB RPA, virtual assistant, and Chatbot. Development and support of the platform and automated data integration services ;
• Design, development and testing of data integration services and APIs with other AFDB enterprise systems: SAP HRM, SAP Success factors, IT service desk, corporate directory, AfDB Portal, and other systems ;
• Design, development and testing of AfDB RPA, virtual assistant, and Chatbot self-service features ;
• Facilitate local Help Desk function; provide support to users of telecommunications and IT tools.

5. DELIVERABLES :

Throughout the engagement period, the Consultant should develop and deliver the following :

• AfDB capabilities of chatbot, RPA, and virtual assistant solutions ;
• Chatbot, RPA, Virtual Assistant architecture and integration for AFDB AS-IS business process ;
• To be business process that is RPA and virtual assistant enabled Solution design ;
• Databases and system integration guidelines APIs and integrated solutions ;
• Requirements Specification Document and Virtual Assistant Use Cases ;
• Project Plan consisting of milestones and periodic Project progress reports. Building/training technical team/specialists ;
• As built Chatbot, RPA, Virtual Assistant implementation document and user guide Project closing document.

6. DURATION & TIMELINE

• The Bank will follow a phased approach for the implementation of chatbot, RPA, and Virtual Assistant solutions ;
• The implementation timeline will be over a period of twelve (12) months. The expected start date of the assignment is 1^st June 2020.

7. LOCATION :

The work will be carried in the Bank’s office at Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, Pretoria, South Africa and off-shore development if necessary.

8. REPORTING :

The consultant (s) will provide weekly update to CHIS Management Team about progress made and any issues that may arise during the assignment and that need quick resolution.

9. EXPERIENCE OF THE FIRM AND PROPOSED CONSULTANTS

8.1. Experience of the firm :

• The Firm should have proven experience and track record in implementing chatbot, RPA, and Virtual Assistant solutions for international institution ;
• Knowledge of the African Development Bank and its operations would be a plus ;
• The firm must provide proof of successful delivery of the services listed in this Terms of reference in at least three (03) public or international institutions with a scope of activities like the Bank.

8.2. Team Composition & Qualification Requirements for the Key Experts :

The composition of the team working on the assignment is of critical importance and should include at minima :

Leadership team : A committed project leadership team with personal experience working in Africa with both public and private sectors, composed of :  1 Executive, at least at Director Level o 1 Manager

Core team  :

The proposed experts should have the following skills :

• Hands-on experience in chatbot, RPA, and Virtual Assistant solutions development with at least 05 years’ experience in similar assignment with NLP expertise.
• Expert level knowledge in web, mobile and Open source development
• Technical knowledge on leading automation tools, e.g., Blue Prism and UiPath o Excellent software development background, e.g C#, C++, Java, .NET;
• Programming knowledge on HTML, JavaScript (or any scripting language) o Experience with Databases (SQL or NoSQL) often preferred ;
• Python master, React guru, or AWS ops ninja or full stack dev. will be a plus ;
• Bonus if you have experience with ML infrastructure / backend / frontend support o Proven experience in translating data into actionable business insight ;
• Ability to document and analyze business process flows to propose and implement improvements. Experience with Agile development methodology ;
• Ability to communicate and produce reports either in English or French.