Zambia announces early market engagement to discuss digital ID procurements

The Smart Zambia Institute (SZI) has announced the holding of an early market engagement (EME) session next month to fine-tune preparations for two digital transformation project procurements.

The SZI is the government body overseeing Zambia’s digital transformation, and it is planning two procurement packages within the framework of the Digital Zambia Acceleration Project (DZAP) financed by the World Bank.

One of the procurements is for the design, reengineering, development, and deployment of digital services and integration with the government digital ecosystem.

The second is to engage a system integrator for the deployment, customization, and integration of foundational digital ID and CRVS core modules, including data migration, supply, and configuration of server, backend infrastructure, and biometric enrollment kits.

In an EME invitation, the SZI says it is inviting “qualified vendors, firms, and system integrators” to participate.

They are expected to register for the session which is scheduled to take place on September 9, physically at the SZI offices, and virtually for what the body says is “inclusive participation.”

Interested vendors must provide their company details, and indicate which procurement package they are interest in, or both if that is the case.

The buyer also expects participants to have demonstrated expertise in specific areas, namely digital government platforms and digital public infrastructure (DPI); foundational digital identity and CRVS systems; large-scale systems integration, and secure backend infrastructure and data migration.

“This engagement is intended to provide early visibility into the planned scope of work and evaluation approach, and to gather feedback from industry stakeholders to help refine the procurement strategy, associated risks and technical requirements,” the SZI says.

The Institute warns that all information discussed during the engagement is preliminary and subject to change, and that participation is not a precondition for subsequent bidding for the said contracts.

Article Topics

Africa  |  biometrics  |  civil registration  |  digital government  |  digital ID  |  government purchasing  |  procurement  |  SMART Zambia  |  World Bank  |  Zambia