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sidebar_label: 'Terms of Reference'
sidebar_position: 1
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# TERMS OF REFERENCE

## Statement of Requirements

**UPGRADE OF THE NATIONAL PETROLEUM INFORMATION SYSTEM**

## Background

The National Petroleum Information System is used by the PSD on a daily basis to carry out most of the department's activities. It is important that the system runs smoothly, efficiently and effectively without any interruptions or hiccups.

The Ministry of Energy and Minerals Development has been using a browser-based system, designed on .Net platform referred to as National Petroleum Information System (NPIS) that is used by the department to make work easy. The NPIS consists of the following modules.

- Licensing and Permits
- Volume tracking
- Facility management
- Stock and storage module
- Importation / Explorations and consumption module
- Environmental Data
- International, Regional and Local Group Prices
- Monitoring and enforcement
- Laboratories and Quality Assurance

The current system is an in-house electronic solution that is no longer operating effectively with some modules still not being effectively used: The reason for the low usage is due to the complex functions defined in the processes that make the electronic processes seem more complicated to maneuver

## Objectives of the Project

The overall objective of the consultancy is to Upgrade the National Petroleum Information System (NPIS) by averting the slow, cumbersome and inefficient workflows in the current system, making most of its functions available to the customers, improving on the scalability and reducing overhead costs relating to maintenance of the system

The specific objectives of the consultancy are:

- Conduct an assessment of the information system needs and gaps within the various departments;
- Upgrade the entire NPIS
- Migrate old existing data from the system to the new
- Integrate the system with legacy systems like URA
- Provide technical support for the system for a period of 6 months from the go-live date.

The expected outputs of the assignment are:

- An Inception report containing the project plan agreed upon with the purchaser;
- System design prototype including configurations of each module and detailed documentation that include but is not limited to, attributes, rules/algorithms, triggers, relations used to configure the system;
- Test runs and test scripts signed off upon successful testing of the system by the employer/purchaser. The purchaser will issue a User Acceptance Certificate upon satisfactory user acceptance testing;
- User training that includes an agreeable Training Plan and Training Manuals and materials The consultant will be expected to issue a training report at the end of the training upon which a Training Completion Certificate will be issued by the purchaser/employer;
- An acceptable operational tool which will be acknowledged by a Go-Live Sign off on the Go-Live date and an Operational Acceptance by the purchaser.
- All the above outputs will be subject to approval by PDU project management team.

## Scope of the task

Specifically, the objectives of this consultancy shall include:

- Design and development of a secure and scalable web-based application which will automatically generate license numbers and permit numbers after a successful creation of user profile.
- Incorporate and create login interface onto the Authority's web portal, leading to various forms requiring necessary fields to enable authentication and eventual creation on Licences.
- Develop a client facing interface for applications, downstream petroleum information entry and client profiles.
- Define Institutional arrangements and undertake training and capacity building for effective system implementation and sustainability.
- To enable signing and printing of licenses so created.

# KEY TASK DELIVERABLES

For all the key activities and deliverables mentioned below, the Consultants will have to collaborate with the ICT personnel and the task committee. The Consultants' task will include but not limited to the following:

## Task 1: User Requirement Assessment

The Consultant will:

- Improve familiarity with all project activities through project documents, site visits and discussions with stakeholders.
- Determine detailed user requirements for the Licensing; based on the business requirements of the Authority at different user levels, including:
- Determination of the systems stakeholders (all those who have a role in data acquisitions, processing, reporting, use and decision making)
- Determination of detailed project management and tracking indicators.
- Determination of various types of reporting contents, formats and frequency
- Determination of various types of information to be catalogued and stored by the system (eg alphanumeric data, location, reports, photographs etc) relating to the status of and effectiveness of various activities.
- Basic information flow requirements (into, within, and out of the system)
- Basic additional hardware, software and database requirements.
- Detail design recommendations in a Systems Requirements study for the proposed system. The design should be based on close interaction with the system users or their representatives and be flexible to incorporate changes and features through the system development stages.

## Task 2: The System

The most crucial output of this system is to automatically generate licenses and permits numbers at the copy printing stage, after securely going through various user stages. This will include:

Development of a computerized system database; Although this information is largely with the User, the Consultant shall be required to gather and establish other pertinent system requirements from the appropriate offices/users, with the facilitation of the ICT unit and the task committee. They will then have to evolve data formats and digitize the gathered information into a computerized database, precisely, a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS).

Appropriate Phasing will be undertaken- this work will be carried out in phases, with first priority being given to coming up with a prototype and demonstrating the functionality.

## Task 3: Project Management and Monitoring

The primary activities of the Consultant in this regard will include:

Development of a web-enabled system; This will include the development of software system, with a high level programming tools such as, C.net and visual studio, share point or any other, which will be appropriate for the effective data storage and retrieval and generation of license numbers. The system will need to be accessible in both networked (over internet) or offline modes. The online remote Database shall have to be intelligently structured to ensure ease of entry, quality management, access control, processing visualization and reporting. Appropriate security arrangements shall have to be made like access control levels and the necessary authentications.

The system developed shall have to be compatible with the regular and computer operating systems for both the servers and workstations.

Phased Deployment: The system will be deployed in phases, starting with a prototype, testing each module independently; dependent on the logical relationship. The system will then go live for the full functionality after drills and performance tests have been carried out.

Appropriate phasing-in/backup procedures will be designed and employed to ensure business continuity.

## Task 4: System Integration and Data conversion

The consultant will develop a hosted online database system which shall to be the central repository of all department data. Among other activities involved under this shall include:

- The Electronic system shall also export the queried data into XML, Excel, PDF or CSV format.
- There are also vital external systems like URA that need to be linked to the system for easy reconciliation
- The system will be open source and a copy of the source code provided to the Ministry

## Task 5: Institutional Capacity building

The primary activities of the consultant in this regard will include:

**Institutional Arrangements:** The consultant in partnership with the ICT personnel will suggest appropriate staff/positions within the Authority (based on consultative visits) that can effectively manage the various system related tasks, such as data entry, computerization, validation, processing, reporting as well as systems administration, security, updating and sustainability. The consultant will also conduct regular online and other surveys to determine user satisfaction and solicit for suggestions for improvement. At least 2 training sessions for Insurers shall be conducted, each taking 100 people.

**Document and Training:** The consultant will develop electronic and hard copy documentation for all aspects of the System developed, and provides appropriate training to the relevant system stakeholders at all operational levels. This will include on-job support and handholding (including in-person, telephone and on-line support), as well as formal courses at regular intervals throughout this assignment.

Precisely:

- The developer shall fully demonstrate to key users the functionalities of the system, ably relating the various logical inter-linkages of different features therein embedded prior to going live.
- Known areas of possible system failures, circumstances and conditions of bug effects shall be documented and possible remedies communicated.
- The developers shall provide in 2 consecutive months courteous maintenance and support to the Authority's technical team.

## COMPLIANCE MATRIX TO THE SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS

<div class="joplin-table-wrapper"><table><tbody><tr><th><p><strong>Item</strong></p></th><th><p><strong>Features/Functions</strong></p></th><th><p><strong>Vendor Response (CF / CP / NC / LC / NS)</strong></p></th><th><p><strong>Vendor Comments</strong></p></th></tr><!--  --><tr><td colspan="2"><strong>1.0 Operating System Support</strong></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>The software implementation must be compatible with both Linux and Windows Server operating systems compatibility for server installations</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td colspan="2"><strong>2.0 Database Engine Support</strong></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>The upgrade should support databases like firebird or MySQL among other databases like MS SQL, Oracle.</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr id="row-one"><td colspan="2"><strong>3.0 System Administration</strong></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>Support for one defined System Administrator</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>Support for unlimited Assistant System Administrators with defined roles below those of the System Administrator</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td colspan="2"><strong>4.0 Licensing and Source code</strong></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>The system should support both perpetual unlimited licenses for the users in order to drop on overhead costs of support</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>Support flexible regimes of user groups based on preference like read only, concurrent usage…</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>The consultant shall be required to provide the working source code of the upgrade</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>The source code shall be property of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development.</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td colspan="2"><strong>5.0 Web interface</strong></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>Support for customizable multi-portal web pages</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>Provide customer facing dashboards with unlimited usage for both individuals and companies</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>Support multipage or tabbed portal structure with other convenient tools available on pages or tabs</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>Support for determining which pages appear in portals in order to limit access to facilities and resources for specific user categories</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>Support for placement of shortcut tools on the hope page or any other page of portals to ease operations such as uploading content and extracting content without having to open the repository cabinets</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr id="6.0"><td colspan="2"><strong>6.0 Workflows and form builders</strong></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>Support for a single person or group of persons to be responsible for an action in the execution process of the workflow with option of one or all persons being required to complete or approve an action defined in the workflow process</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>Workflow defined as in (a-c) above should be saved and reused by authorized users without them needing to modify the designed process</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>Workflow should provide for the option of a blank action person for the first task to enable the submitter select the person to execute the first task in the series of tasks comprising the workflow design.</p><p>This feature is important to enable a single workflow to take multiple paths through selection of first task players at the time of assigning an automation sequence</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>Workflow should support dasboard notification and mail notification for assigned workflow tasks to assignees, assigners and supervisors</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>Workflow should provide for notification of assigners on completion or delay in completion of assigned tasks</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>Workflow should provide for notification of assigners the successful completion of tasks</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>Workflow should provide for notification of assigners the rejection of an approval process originated by an assigner</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>Workflow should support inclusion of supervisors in the chain for escalation of unfinished tasks</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>Workflow should allow for attachment of additional content in the execution path apart from the main content which triggers process</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>Workflow should allow for the applying comments to content</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>Workflow should allow for editing content in workflow</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>Workflow should allow for submission of content from other applications to facilitate integration of processes from other</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>The form builder should support easy and dynamic building and updating of the forms in the system</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td></td><td><p>The form builder should allow easy updating, publishing and unpublishing of the organizational forms</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>The form builder should be able to support building of sections of the data that is to be captured</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>The form builder must support both generic and user defined data types, including integration of administrative units in Uganda up to village level</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><!--  --><tr><td colspan="2"><strong>7.0 Ad hock Tasks</strong></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>The system should support creation of ad hock tasks on the fly which are used once and expire on completion</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>Ad hock tasks should have all the features stated in workflow above except that they should be limited to a single step of execution</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><strong>8.0 Content Search and Retrieval</strong></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>Support for Google like such using operators "AND", "OR", "NOT" used to concatenate search strings</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>Support an Advanced search engine which enables the user to select among a large variety of search parameters such as:</p><ul><li>Folders</li><li>Content</li><li>Content Name</li><li>Partial content name using "*" for wild character substitution</li><li>Date of creation</li><li>Date of modification</li><li>Content type</li><li>Content owner</li><li>Content publisher</li><li>Metadata</li><li>Category</li><li>etc</li></ul></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>Support saved searches to facilitate reuse of common search parameters</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>Support special saved searches for quick finding of content such as "all invoices whose value is Shs 1,000,000/- and above"</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>Support text search for document content types so that documents containing a specified text string can be found</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><strong>9.0 Content security</strong></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>Support structured access security to cabinets, sub-cabinets and content</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>Provide for the following minimum levels of content access classes:</p><ul><li>No Access</li><li>List</li><li>Read</li><li>Add</li><li>Change/Edit</li><li>Delete</li></ul></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr id="10.0"><td colspan="2"><strong>10.0 User related features</strong></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>Support creation of users within the system using in-built user authentication</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>Support importation of users and user groups from Active directory so that users can login using their Windows Authentication</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>Support creation of user groups for ease of system security administration</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>Support the declaration of a user active or inactive while remaining in the system</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>Support deletion of users from the system</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>Support allocation of content access classes to individuals and groups</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>Support allocation of a user to more than one group</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>Support re-assignment of user ownership for content and workflow to handle cases such as delegation, out of office etc</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>Support the creation of super users to assist the system Administrator in managing the system</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>Provide personal dashboards which offer quick convenient tools to users to be able to access features like:</p><ul><li>My Recent documents</li><li>My Profile</li><li>My Tasks</li><li>etc</li></ul></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><strong>11.0 System Audit trails</strong></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>Support Audit trails for all security related functions. As a minimum, the system should provide audit trails for the following activities</p><ul><li>User login</li><li>Content creation</li><li>Content modification</li><li>Content deletion</li><li>Content opening</li></ul></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><strong>12.0 Systems Integration</strong></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>Integrate with the Uganda Revenue Authority portal for tracking of taxation</p></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table></div>

# GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF SYSTEM DESIGN

In order to minimize the complexities in designing and in using the system, the consultant shall be expected to adopt the following key principles to achieving the right system.

## Documentation

- As a systematic way of managing the progression and timelines of the project, standard workflow diagrams shall be provided by the developer, while mindful of the fair urgency to deploy this system.
- A detailed system maintenance manual together with the 'As-built' diagrams shall be provided by the developers at the commissioning of the project, for the ease of management and continuity of the system.

| Deliverables | Description | Timing (from contract signing) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Inception Report | Inception report (detailing schedules of work, key staff deployment, methodology, etc) and Inception workshop to discuss with Client. | 1 week |
| Systems Requirement study. | All key aspects of system design (structure, report formats, information flow, integration onto the MEMD website, back end applications, additional software/hardware, data/ connectivity requirements, institutional arrangements etc) | 1 week |
| The System - NPIS | With a known programming languages and tools, compatible with the NPD's current ICT infrastructure and operating systems.Design Stage: Indicators, information flow, institutional arrangements, software, and hardware and process design. | Design: 2 weeks |
| Project Management and Monitoring System. | Pilot stage: Software testing, full data entry and roll out for selected modules.Full Roll-out stage: deployment of the designed system or going live, for full functionality.Post Roll-out: handholding support, proactive use surveys, bug fixes & updates till the end of project. | Pilot: 1 weekFull roll out : 2 wksPost roll-out support; all through and 2 months after going live. |
| System Integration | Demo on how the public will access to system resources. | Same duration at full roll-out. |
| Documentation and Training. | System documentation (design, use and training manuals, organizational roles, etc), on-job-training. | All through the assignments, meetings at all key project stages and for all key deliverable stages- draft & final version. |
| Final Report(Completion Report) | Final overview of activities, review of system use, user perspectives, issues, suggestions for improvement and sustainability. | 1 month after full roll out. |
| Commissioning Report |     | After commissioning |
| Defects liability Report |     | At the end of the defects liability period (six months after commissioning) |

## Payment Schedule

Payments will be made to the consultant on receipt and approval of satisfactory reports

| **Deliverable** | **Description** | **Payment as %** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Approved Inception Report | Inception report (detailing schedules of work, key staff deployment, methodology, etc) and Inception workshop to discuss with Client. | 20% payment |
| System design model | Design Stage: Indicators, information flow, institutional arrangements, software, and hardware and process design. Demo on how the public will access to system resources. | 30% payment |
| Final Report(Completion Report) | Final overview of activities, review of system use, user perspectives, issues, suggestions for improvement and sustainability | 30% payment |
| Defects liability Report and source code | At the end of the defects liability period (six months after commissioning) | 20% payment |

NB. The total duration of this consultancy will be **12 months**.

All deliverables should be in electronic forms; (on CD/DVD- 2 copies of draft version and 5 for the final versions). Same number of copies for color hard copy formats. This should include all data, manuals, illustrated training manuals, etc. Scheduled meetings should accompanied with all key draft deliverables to ensure that any comments for improvement can be discussed and agreed upon in a constructive, interactive manner.

- Testing and Quality Assurance**.**
- The solution developer shall code, install, test and assure proper functionality of the system before going live or final deployment. Remedial patches shall be made in the first month after the deployment.
- Prior to going-live, the system functionalities and all the general performance abilities shall be subjected to thorough testing. The system shall be subjected to simulated conditions to ensure resilience.

## Qualifications of the Consultancy Firm and Key Personnel

The consultant should have an experience of at least three (03) years of designing, developing and implementing computerized and web-based systems licensing system for in an energy sector. The consultant is required to submit no more than five (03) references for similar assignments.

The consultant shall be required to provide evidence of supporting and enhancing systems for at least 4 years.

## STAFFING

**Key staff, qualifications and Experience**

The consultant shall submit CVs of the following staff with evidence of the required qualifications and experience.

| Position | Key Qualification | Experience |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Project Manager | Atleast a relevant Bachelor's Degree.Possession of relevant professional certification in computer and IT will be added advantage.Diploma in project management | Atleast Five (05) years experience in supervision of system and software development, atleast three of which should be in web enabled systems development. Indicate any five projects worked on and the value/cost of the project.Experience of at least 5 years implementing Information management systemsExperience in project monitoring and evaluation |
| Web Developer | Atleast a relevant Bachelors Degree. Possession of relevant professional certifications will be an added advantage. | Minimum 5 years experience in development of internal and external secure web based systems for medium and large projects. Indicate any five projects worked on and the value/cost of the project. |
| Programmer | Atleast a Bachelors degree in IT with a bias in object oriented programming languages. | Minimum 3 years experience of web based software and RDBMS design and implementation. Indicate any five projects worked on and the value/cost of the project. |