Request for Expressions of Interest: Consulting Services for the Development and Population of the eLearning Management Platform for the CDTI

Caribbean Export Development Agency, headquartered in Barbados has received funding from the Inter-American Development Bank to implement the Caribbean Digital Transformation Institute (CDTI) Project (RG-T3992) to support digital transformation of the Region’s private sector. Caribbean Export seeks an experienced consulting firm to design and develop a Digital Transformation Institute (DTI) – an online platform that will deliver customized courses to MSMEs to help in their digital transformation initiatives. The courses offered to each business will be part of a recommended learning path based on the digital maturity level of that business as revealed by the results of a Digital Check-up tool. The platform will therefore have an in-built function that allows a user to select the learning path consistent with their digital maturity level.

What is the Digital Check-up Tool?

The Digital Check-up is an online assessment tool developed to assist smaller companies to, quickly and independently, carry out analysis of their strengths and weaknesses in terms of their digital maturity. The tool categorises users based on their input into four digital maturity categories/levels. The prior Spanish version of the tool is used in various Latin-American countries. An English version was created for this Project.

What is a Learning Path?

A learning path will consist of a set of courses that will be offered to Caribbean MSMEs following their Digital Check-up self-assessment, and that will be customized to meet the needs of their specific stage of digital maturity. The courses will be virtual in format, self-paced (with the option of synchronous learning) and housed on the platform developed through this consultancy. The digital learning paths will clarify the knowledge being transferred /curricula for each path, how this knowledge is broken into courses, the length and level of effort for each course, the expected results (in terms of knowledge acquired) at the end of each course, and the sequence. The synchronous learning feature would be especially useful if Caribbean Export or its partner agencies have appropriate content for a given learning path that to be delivered via the platform. It is expected that by the time the platform is ready for use, there will be at least 300 potential users of the platform at various Maturity Levels. Going forward it is expected that 50 new users will complete the Digital Check-up per month and ready to use the platform.

Courses to be included on the platform are expected to come from various sources:

1. Courses developed in-house by consultant (demonstrate that you have the capacity to develop courses in the relevant subject areas)
2. Courses acquired from third parties. The EOI should briefly outline the approach for the acquisition of the courses to ensure long-term availability on the CDTI platform.

• Appropriate pre-existing courses developed by participating business support organisations (BSOs). The consultant firm will be required to assess these courses for their suitability for inclusion on the platform. The ELM platform will have the capability to convert these courses in whatever format they exist originally to a format that is compatible with the platform.

Core Design Elements of the Platform to be Addressed in the EOI.

The EOI should answer to the extent possible, how the firm will satisfy the following design elements and requirements:

• The sustainability of the platform beyond the life of the project, including continued access to third-party courses procured through licensing. Other sustainability elements include training of appropriate Caribbean Export’s staff to manage and maintain the platform; updating, evaluating, and incorporating courses;
• Access management for multiple users: Businesses, BSO staff, Caribbean Export Staff
• How the platform will recommend courses and learning paths to individual businesses based on the results of their Digital Check-up (automation?)
• Recommended approaches for ensuring maximum engagement by business users, reducing attrition rates.
• How course completion would be monitored by BSOs and Caribbean Export staff to keep track of level of enrollment, pace of progress, and attrition in the use of courses.
• The types of reports that can be generated from the platform for the benefit of BSOs and Caribbean Export staff.
• What is expected of the Caribbean Export team for the daily management of the platform during and after the handover period. It is expected that the consultancy will propose an appropriate learning period for management of the platform where Caribbean Export and other authorized users will learn how to manage the platform given the extent of their access and responsibilities.
• The resources that Caribbean Export will have to provide for the hosting, management, and maintenance of the platform during the life of the project and beyond.

Interested consultants should provide information in writing demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services. The submission should include a brief overview of the approach to establish user needs, meet the core design requirements, including aspects that this REOI may have missed, and a basic mock-up of the platform with intuitive and easy to use and understand interface. The expression of interest should also propose an approach to develop and deliver a suite of training material and sessions for various users in the effective use of the platform.

The firm would possess and demonstrate where possible the following aggregate experiences, skills and competencies:

• Staff with formal training in coding, ELM platform design, data analytics.
• 5 years or more experience in designing and ideally managing ELM platforms.
• Proven competence in course development for digital transformation.
• Excellent communication and especially narrative skills.
• Knowledge of User Experience Design and Interface Design.
• Ability to work under pressure and deliver high quality results.
• Working experience in Caribbean countries would be an asset.

The expressions of interest will be evaluated based on the qualifications and relevant experience of the consultant firm, the proposed approach to the core design elements and the mock-up of the platform. Shortlisted firms will subsequently be invited to present technical and economic proposals on the basis of a request for proposals.

For further information please contact Phillip Jackson (Advisor – Innovation and Digital Business) at email: pjackson@carib-export.com or telephone number: +1 (246) 436 0578.

Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form to the email address above by Wednesday, August, 09, 2023.