Tender Description

1. Background
   The National Electoral Commission (NEC) of Somaliland has conducted national elections since 2002—presidential elections in
   2003, 2010, 2017 and 2024 (along with political party elections), parliamentary elections in 2005 and 2021, and local council
   elections in 2002, 2012 and 2021. NEC operated an IRIS-based biometric voter registration system (IBVR) since 2016 and with
   biometric verification (BVVS) at polling stations in 2024. The independent systems audit (June 2024) found the 2016 system at
   end-of-life and recommended replacement, not repair; the 2025 assessments, NEC's post-election evaluation, the departmental
   challenges register and the 2024 institutional capacity assessment confirmed material data-integrity weaknesses in the voter
   register, disconnected modules across registration, update, verification, card printing and results tabulation, and operational
   service-delivery gaps (detailed findings at Annex A). On this evidence NEC adopted the Concept Note on the New Voter
   Registration System and Integrated Electoral Management System (IEMS) Direction: replace rather than repair, beginning with
   fresh voter registration as the first module of a full Integrated Electoral Management System (IEMS), sequenced over 27 months
   to the October 2028 Parliamentary and Local Council elections. As part of this direction, NEC is transitioning to on-the-spot card
   printing and issuance at the point of registration, requiring the IEMS to support real-time online deduplication, printing and card
   issuance.
   Thus, NEC requires a technical feasibility study before procurement; this TOR commissions that study. The direction is decided.
   This consultancy does not revisit whether Somaliland should adopt an IEMS or which registration model to use. It determines how
   the approved direction is implemented: the institutional reforms required, the technical architecture, the investment, the
   procurement approach, the implementation roadmap, and the management of risk.
2. Objectives
   The consultancy delivers an implementation-ready programme design package enabling the Commission to (a) adopt an IEMS
   Transformation Blueprint, (b) approve a costed, evidence-based feasibility study and business case, and (c) launch procurement
   on a complete tender-ready documentation set.
   Specific objectives:
3. Assess current hardware and infrastructure by physical inspection (BVVS kits, registration kits, servers, network,
   storage, server room, software and licensing), determining condition, remaining useful life and an
   upgrade/replacement recommendation per asset class, and establish the capability maturity baseline.
4. Design the future state: business processes, target operating model, and the voter registration model confirmed by
   the Concept Note, including the transition to on-the-spot card printing and issuance and the real-time online
   deduplication this requires.
5. Produce the enterprise architecture, IEMS module catalogue, enterprise data model, interoperability framework, and
   functional, non-functional, cybersecurity, data governance and data protection requirements.
6. Conduct a market assessment of commercial, cloud, on-premises and hybrid IEMS solutions with full source-code
   handover required to avoid vendor lock-in—indicative pricing, and a defensible ten-year total cost of ownership.
7. Deliver the IEMS Transformation Blueprint, feasibility study and business case, including the challenge traceability
   matrix and legacy data policy.
8. Draft the tender document: technical, hardware and software specifications; indicative bill of quantities; vendor
   qualification and evaluation criteria including a pre-award demonstration stage; and service level, ownership, full
   source-code handover, warranty and knowledge-transfer requirements.
9. Create the IEMS system implementation roadmap and deployment timeline.
10. Establish the programme governance model, capacity and staffing transition plan, and benefits realization plan.
11. Assess and recommend the shift from server room to a comprehensive data centre.
12. Review the voter registration lifecycle from enrolment through verification to on-the-spot card issuance, including the
    real-time online deduplication this requires. (see D3 — future voter registration model)
13. Scope of work

3.1 Phase 1 — Inception and desk review
● Kick-off meeting with the Commission, Director General and NEC counterpart team.
● Review of the complete knowledge base and evidence-gap protocol (Annex A).
● Evidence synthesis: consolidated findings from the KPMG assessments, post-election evaluation, challenges register
and observation reports—the consultancy builds on this record and does not repeat completed analysis.
● Validation of the IEMS Transformation Vision with the Commission.
● Methodology, work plan, stakeholder engagement plan and data collection instruments.
Output: Deliverable 1 (Inception report).
Somaliland National Electoral Commission — TOR: IEMS Programme Design and Feasibility  Consultancy

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3.2 Phase 2—Field assessment
● Stakeholder consultations: Commissioners, NEC departments, regional electoral officers (if needed), political parties
task force, the Ministry of Interior and telecommunications companies.
● Physical inspection of ICT infrastructure: server room, servers, network, storage, BVVS kits, registration kits, printers,
peripherals, software and licensing, including assessment of connectivity and infrastructure readiness for real-time
online deduplication and on-the-spot card printing and issuance.
● Business process observation across the departments in the challenges register.
● Capability maturity scoring with NEC counterpart input.
● Debriefing current state and capability assessment with stakeholders before leaving the field.
Output: Deliverable 2 (Current state and capability assessment).
3.3 Phase 3—Analysis, design and reporting
● Parallel workstream production of deliverables 3–9 under a single integration editor.
● Draft IEMS Transformation Blueprint, feasibility study and business case (day 22).
● Validation workshop with NEC and stakeholders.
● Final versions of all deliverables and final presentation to the Commission (virtual), by day 28.

Skills Required

Attachment

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