CALL FOR FEASIBILITY STUDY AND SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT

WHO WE ARE

The Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) is a body established by media practitioners with the aim of promoting freedom of the media and ensuring the highest professional standards and accountability in Tanzania. It is an institutional membership organization, an independent, voluntary, self-regulatory body established on June 30, 1995.

WHAT WE DO

The Council’s main objective is to enable legal and media viability environment that promote self-regulations, freedom of the media, safety and security of journalists, editorial independence and ensuring highest professional media standards and accountability in the country. The Council envision to create an environment that enables a strong and ethical media that contributes towards a more democratic and just society with a free, responsible and effective media.

HOW WE DO IT

The Council believes in strengthening the capacities, systems and resources at MCT, leading to credibility and legitimacy to effectively, efficiently and timely coordinate the collaborative efforts of media stakeholders and coalitions towards enabling healthier information environment for a functioning independent media system in the country contributing to a democratic Tanzania with free, responsible and effective media.

OBJECTIVES OF THE CALL FOR PROPOSAL

General Objective:

The general objective of the call is to communicate with systems developers about the existing needs for transforming the Council from the traditional ways of delivering services and products to automated or digitalized systems aimed at operationalizing everything in a more effective, efficient and timely manner.

Specific Objectives:

  1. To conduct feasibility study as a first step to deliver a comprehensive feasibility study report with Bill of Quantity (BoQ) for systems development to inform the 2025 annual planning and budget.
  2. To develop systems based on the comprehensive feasibility study report and other dynamics.

 Specific Expectations from the Systems

The systems developer is expected to advise the Council on technical expectations based on own expertise and systems development experiences but addressing among others, the following key problems: –

  1. The Council has been doing its day-to-day activities manually or without a synchronized systems for all its operations for almost 30 years now. The activities include planning, organizing, coordinating, execution, monitoring and evaluation of all programme activities, documentation and reporting, financial management including online payments, budget versus expenditure tracking, safeguarding, etc. This need to be transformed through strengthened systems to deliver operations effectively, efficiently and timely.
  2. The Council is a membership-based organization and it keeps regular communication with its members by reminding them for payment of the membership fees, sharing various reports and confirmation to attend to the National General Convention (NGC). The communication between the Council’s secretariat and members needs to be digitized to make it faster and perfect.
  • Arbitration and alternative dispute resolutions is one of the core services offered voluntarily by the Council where some processes and steps are to be followed by any complainant. In the process, alleged media content for defamation is subjected to the media codes of ethics to evaluate the ethics violation intensity. The two parties are finally invited for arbitration meeting after communicated to each of them. Involvement of the Council and the two parties or any other interested third party in the process towards reconciliation sounds complex and time consuming as it takes up to maximum of three months to finish one case. It needs more simplified systems to fasten the process and improve transparency and accountability.
  1. The Council currently has accounting package and payroll systems to keep financial records, transactions and reporting. However, the packages do not link with human resources management in terms of their staff capacity development, outstanding leaves, imprest status, work performance progress, work and payments approvals and their whereabout during working hours. It needs a system that will make the work life easy and comfortable.
  2. Media monitoring on press freedom violations, ethics violations, adherence to journalism professionalism, quality standards and accountability of the media is a daily business at the Council. It is mandated to watch the media how they fulfil their roles such as watch-dog role, information role and agenda setting roles. Other areas monitored daily include inclusivity, gender mainstreaming and diversity. It has been easy to monitor print media content as compared to broadcast media content both from radio and television. There is a need to bring all media content in one platform by use of technology and create a call center where pool of monitors are installed with artificial intelligence to perform the tasks in a simplified manner delivering report to the public in an effective, efficient and timely manner.
  3. The Council has been organizing Excellence in Journalism Awards for the last 15 years. Journalists are informed to submit entries in various categories and financial resources are locally mobilized mostly from Government institutions and agencies. In 2024 awards, the Council launched digital Tuzo Magazine and Jarida la Tuzo whose objective is to promote excellence across all sectors. Journalism sector was a starting point aimed to add value for their sponsorship. There is a need to explore on how to monetize the digitized magazines and reach large audience.
  • The Council is chairing Coalitions on Right to Information (CoRI) bringing together 16 media stakeholders and Civil Society Organizations aiming at advocating for the right to information and friendly media legal environment. In 2024, CoRI has put effort to develop three important instruments; i) CoRI Strategy, ii) CoRI Communication Strategy and iii) Memorandum of Understanding for CoRI members. There will be an implementation plan of the strategy and agreed means of communications. All of them will need to be transformed to take advantage of the systems developed at the Council for the benefit of all CoRI members.
  • Dar es Salaam Declaration on Editorial Freedom, Independence and Responsibility (DEFIR) is a declaration where media stakeholders append their signatures to abide with principles of editorial freedom, independence and responsibility. To-date, hundreds of people have signed the declaration but a system is required to follow-up on them as to how they abide with the principles.
  1. Every two years, the Council releases a State of Media Report. The latest report covered 2022 and 2023 was released in July 4th, 2024. The next report is expected to be released end of 2025 covering year 2024 and 2025. The next report needs to be informed by public perception survey report, audience research report, content analysis report, press violations reports, World Press Freedom index report, general media monitoring reports, specific election media monitoring report, media rapid response report and voice of journalists report. In addition, research on themes related to international celebrations such as Radio Day, World Press Freedom Day (WPFD), International Day to End Impunity (IDEI) and International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI). A system need to be developed to integrate the research reports in a digitized manner for accessibility and friendly reading.
  2. Systems need to be developed to integrate and accommodate the Council intention to launch Media Expo and Awards which bring together professionals, companies, creators, government officials and any other enthusiasts in the media industry to show case new technologies, discuss trends, share insights and network. The package includes National Media Reflection Forums (Jukwaa la Tafakuri ya Tasnia ya Habari) whose content will be covered in a newly established National Media Reflection Forums Magazine. Participants will be highly encouraged to demonstrate their quality public interest media content that triggered accountability and changed life of ordinary people in their respective areas in the last 12 months. A panel of independent judges both local and international will be given opportunity to engage and evaluate in line with provided criteria to all exhibited media work at the Media Expo. There will be an Access to Information Desk: A platform provided at the Media Expo event to every government institution to show case the information they have for public consumption and demonstrate with evidence connecting to any public interest media content that was covered in the media with information balanced from the respective institution. A panel of independent judges both local and international will be given opportunity to engage and evaluate in line with provided criteria to announce the best winners who enabled journalists and public in general to access quality and sufficient information timely.
    1. Other packages include; Seminars Chamber: A provided chamber at the Media Expo on selected contemporary issues where facilitators both from the country, in the continent and abroad will be invited to run sessions that will abreast participants on current media related issues. MCT will encourage politicians, government officials and the public at large to attend on sessions for example on effective communication with the media through well written press release or well-prepared press conference or how to get connected with the media and hit on the front page or get the lead story.
    2. Media Tech Connect: An opportunity for market on new technologies that benefit media sector. MCT in collaboration with Embassies such as UK and USA will explore Suppliers, manufacturers and innovators from abroad who will bring media equipment, devices, accessories and technologies and connect with interest buyers in Tanzania, East and Central Africa countries.
    3. Media Awards: A Gala Night event organized by MCT during the last day of the Media Expo to honor individual journalists, media outlets and organizations as well as productions within the field of media for outstanding achievements in various categories such as journalism, broadcasting, film, television, radio and digital media. The format of the media awards popularly known as EJAT abbreviation for Excellence in Journalism Awards in Tanzania will be adapted to recognize excellence in content creation, storytelling, reporting, news bulletin presentation, quality production, quality editing, editorial independence, innovation within the media industry and access to information. The current Life Time Achievement Awards under EJAT will continue.

Scope of Work: Two-System Approach

  1. Internal Operations System
  • Initial proposed Core functionalities:
    1. Staff management and HR processes
    2. Financial tracking and reporting
    3. Online payment
    4. Document management system
    5. Internal communication tools
  1. External Services Portal
  • Initial proposed Core functionalities:
    1. Member registration and management (Membership Portal)
    2. Press freedom violations register
    3. Online and digital payment
    4. Basic arbitration case submission (Complaint Management)
    5. Simple event calendar
    6. Public information sharing
    7. Digital Publications
    8. Media Expo and Awards
    9. Digitized Resource Centre
    10. Website
    11. Publishing Platform and content management
    12. Omnichannel Integration
    13. Analytics and engagement tracking (Data Analytics and Reporting)
    14. Media Monitoring and Reporting
    15. Training Management

 For each area, the feasibility study will provide:

  1. Technical requirements and specifications
  2. Cost-benefit analysis
  • Implementation timeline
  1. Resource requirements
  2. Risk assessment

Comprehensive Feasibility Study Report will include:

  1. Analysis of business environment, market conditions, technical aspects, and financial implications
  2. Project objectives, deliverables and expected outcomes
  • Market assessment and competitor analysis
  1. Technical requirements evaluation including product design and equipment needs
  2. Financial analysis covering cash flow, costs, capital requirements and ROI
  3. Bill of Quantity (BoQ) for systems development to inform 2025 annual planning and budget

Assignment Timeframe:

Comprehensive feasibility study and design must be planned to last for six weeks effective from the date of contract signing whereas the systems development, testing and go live/become operational effective must be planned to last for 12 weeks effective from the date of contract signing.

Feasibility Study Timeline (6 Weeks)

Week Deliverable Description
Week 1 Inception Report Detailed project scope, methodology, work plan, and preliminary findings.
Week 4 Interim Report Progress update with draft findings, preliminary recommendations, and feedback.
Week 6 Final Report Comprehensive analysis, recommendations, and presentation of final results.

Systems Development Timeline (12 Weeks)

Phase Weeks Deliverable Description
Phase 1 Weeks 1–4 Requirements Specification and System Design Requirements document, system architecture design, and detailed project plan.
Phase 2 Weeks 5–8 System Development and Prototyping Functional prototype, testing plan, and mid-development progress report.
Phase 3 Weeks 9–12 Testing, Deployment, and Handover Fully tested system, user documentation, training sessions, and final project report.

Eligibility

Any individual consultant, group of consultants or firms from Tanzania or abroad registered to operate business in Tanzania and interested in feasibility study and/or systems development.

Requirements for Consultant Firm and Team Consultants

Eligible firms must be:

  • Registered business entity in Tanzania
    1. Minimum 3 years of experience in IT consulting and systems development
    2. Proven track record of successful digital transformation projects
    3. Proven experience in conducting feasibility studies
    4. Strong financial standing with annual turnover of at least Tsh 100M
    5. Valid business licenses
    6. A multidisciplinary team with expertise in IT, Project Management, and Stakeholder Engagement

Required Capabilities

  • Technical expertise in:
    1. Business process automation
    2. Web development and cloud infrastructure
    3. Systems integration
    4. Database management
  • Experience in:
    1. Feasibility studies
    2. Digital transformation projects

The selected consultant firm must be able to complete the feasibility study within the 6-weeks timeline and potentially execute the subsequent 12 weeks systems development phase.

Core Team Minimum Requirements for the Feasibility Study

Role Education Experience Key Skills
Project Manager Bachelor’s degree in IT/Business 5+ years managing IT projects Project planning, stakeholder management, agile methodologies
Business Analyst Bachelor’s degree in Business/IT 3+ years in requirements analysis Process mapping, documentation, user interviews
Technical Architect Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science 5+ years in system design Cloud architecture, API design, system integration

All team members should have experience in digital transformation projects and strong communication skills.

Core Team Minimum Requirements for the System Development Team ( 12 weeks)

Role Education Experience Key Skills
Project Manager Bachelor’s in IT/Business 5+ years in software project management Agile methodologies, team leadership, risk management
Solution Architect/Lead Developer Bachelor’s in Computer Science 5+ years in full-stack development Modern frameworks, cloud services, API development
Frontend Developer Bachelor’s in Software Engineering 3+ years in UI/UX development React/Angular, responsive design, JavaScript
Backend Developer Bachelor’s in Computer Science 4+ years in backend development Node.js/Python, database design, API architecture
Database Engineer Bachelor’s in IT/Computer Science 3+ years in database management SQL/NoSQL, data modeling, optimization
QA Engineer Bachelor’s in IT/related field 3+ years in software testing Test automation, security testing, performance testing

The development team will work closely with the feasibility study team to ensure smooth transition from planning to implementation phase.

Evaluation Criteria

The RFP (Request for Proposal) will be evaluated based on the criteria below: –

  1. Alignment with submission requirements,
  2. Submitted CV’s alignment with relevant abilities and/or competences,
  • Evidence of competences,
  1. Track records on similar assignments
  2. Costs affordability

 Required submission

  1. Response to Request for Proposal (RfP)
  2. Consultants’ CV’s
  • Profile with evidence of competences and track records on similar assignments
  1. Certificate of incorporation and business licence (only for firms)
  2. Indicative costs for undertaking the feasibility study and projected Bill of Quantities (BoQ) for systems development

 Submission Deadline: 17th December, 2024 at 16.00 hours

Note: Shortlisted firm will be informed for virtual interview

Submission address:

Email mctender@mct.or.tz

Postal address:

Secretary to the Tender Board,

Media Council of Tanzania,

House no. KUN/MTN/532, Skanska Area, along Bagamoyo Road, 

P.O. Box 10160, Dar es Salaam

MCT has the right to reject Request for proposal that does not meet the required criteria. For clarification regarding this expression of interest please email to ernest@mct.or.tz