81305874-BenInnovation-Strengthening the digital tranformation in Benin

The "Beninnovation" project enhances cooperation between public administration and local private companies in the field of digital transformation in the public sector, especially as regards the digitalisation of public services. So far, the main achievements in the digitalisation of public services in Benin have been realised by the Agency for Information and Digital Systems (ASIN) with the help of Estonia"s E-Governance Academy and advisory services provided by Cybernetica (an Estonian ICT company). As a result, several e-services are available to the citizens. However, as the Government"s objective is to digitalise all administrative services (referred to "industrialization of e-services"), this exceeds by far ASIN"s capacities. Consequently, the private sector is needed to fill the gap. As of today, only a few local companies seem to have the necessary skills and expertise to effectively contribute to the digitalisation of public services. Several additional companies are working in similar fields (finance sector) or show interest to enter this potential market. The Beninnovation project is building the capacities of two stakeholder groups: first, civil servants and sector experts working in the Directorates for Information Systems (DSI) at different ministries and government agencies overseeing the digitalization of their own institutions. Second, technical staff and managers of local private service providers who are willing to contribute to an innovative and inclusive digital transformation of the Beninese public administration, especially as regards administrative services. The project aims to consolidate its capacity building approach by contributing to the establishment of a community of practice (CoP). The primary objective of the CoP established under this tender is to foster a collaborative and dynamic environment where members collectively enhance their knowledge, skills, and expertise in the field of digital solutions for the public sector. Anchored within a local organisation, the CoP will serve as a key element for capacity building activities as well as the sharing, distribution and application of training materials, best practices and innovative strategies. In this sense, the CoP will contribute to the sustainability of the project"s achievements. Alongside activities supporting the development of this CoP, the contractor will design and provide several trainings in the fields of: - User experience and Design Thinking, - e-government architecture, - Data Management and Introduction to new technologies. These trainings are part of a comprehensive training programme that Beninnovation is providing to the beneficiaries of the public and private sector. The content of the trainings and the experience drawn from the training sessions shall be incorporated into the work of the CoP. Finally, the consultancy will facilitate the digitalisation of several public services in collaboration with local companies in order to create practical and hands-on experiences that can be shared as lessons within the CoP. These project scenarios shall focus on the digitalisation of a new service or on the improvement of an existing e-service and shall be designed and carried out with the use of innovative methods putting user centricity and inclusiveness in their center. The learning activities could, amongst others, include learning exchanges at the start of the project phases (design, implementation, testing, etc), retrospective activities after key milestones, the identification and sharing of lessons learnt, etc. The contractor will make sure that local companies are able to apply what they learned and share the learnings (within the CoP).