Evaluation and Road mapping of COVID-19 Information Technology Architecture of the Department of Health, Philippines

The purpose of this Request for Proposals (RFP) is to enter into a contractual agreement with a successful bidder and select a suitable contractor to evaluate current information technology architecture prior to development of a redesign and transition plan for the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) information technology (IT) enterprise architecture of the Department of Health – Epidemiology Bureau (DOH-EB).

BACKGROUND 

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple applications have been donated or otherwise endorsed to the Department of Health for use in the response against COVID-19. Examples of these applications include COVIDKaya for case data, COVID-19 Document Repository System for laboratory data and Case Investigation Form (CIF)  data, COVID-19 Epidemiology Data Insights for case data analysis, feasibility analysis of Syndromic Surveillance Using Spatio-Temporal Epidemiological Modeler For Early Detection of Diseases for modelling and projections, TanodKontraCovid for contact tracing and workplace surveillance, StaySafe for contact tracing, and the Vaccine Information Management System. These applications are being managed by the DOH. However, the multiplicity of applications with different needs and implemented standards has led to overlaps and difficulties in integration; these challenges affect the ability of the DOH to manage and maintain these applications.

The DOH is in the process of transitioning COVID-19 surveillance into its routine epidemiology and surveillance functions. In the early stages of this transition, it is important to understand the systems currently in place across the COVID-19 response and routine systems in place for infectious disease surveillance and epidemiology to enable successful integration and sustainable information systems. Many lessons in data management, surveillance and reporting have been identified throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and there is a need to integrate these lessons learned into the DOH management of epidemiology and surveillance data.

Objectives:

General: To review and redesign of the information technology enterprise architecture of selected public health surveillance systems of the Department of Health (DOH)

Specific:

1. Review the functionality of COVID-19 and other respiratory infectious disease surveillance applications currently owned or maintained by the DOH;
2. Develop an enterprise architecture design that will enable the DOH to meet the mandates of public health surveillance response;
3. Provide prioritized strategic and operational recommendations on the improvement and/or redesign of the COVID-19 and other respiratory infectious disease surveillance to address system gaps/weaknesses and in view of the strategic directions set for EB-managed surveillance and information systems; and
4. Develop a transition plan that will allow DOH to integrate COVID-19 surveillance information systems into its routine surveillance systems and processes.

WORK TO BE PERFORMED 

In coordination with WHO Philippines, Department of Health, and the Department of Information and Communications Technology, and guided by the provisions of Republic Act No. 11332 (Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act), the selected contractual partner shall perform the following activities:

Output 1: Conduct an in-depth review and evaluation of DOH-EB’s current COVID-19 and  other respiratory infectious disease surveillance information technology enterprise architecture landscape and technical capacity.

• • Deliverable 1.1: Inception report detailing the plans and procedures the institutional partner shall conduct towards fulfilling this Technical Assistance.
• • Deliverable 1.2: Evaluation framework, design, and methods to be used for the review
• • Deliverable 1.3: Report on assessment of the current information technology enterprise architecture design and component applications of the DOH in terms of current technical capacity, the functionality and service lifespan of currently used applications, other relationship factors and overlaps among the different health surveillance systems and COVID-19 functionalities of other National Government Agencies, and the adequacy of business process controls

Output 2: Propose improvements on or new organizational design of COVID-19 information technology, including integration into routine surveillance.

• • Deliverable 2.1: Framework of refined DOH-EB COVID-19 information technology enterprise architecture framework, including comparison with the current architecture design.
• • Deliverable 2.2: Recommendations for enhanced suitability, feasibility, implementation, and scaling up of the current DOH COVID-19 applications

Output 3: Develop a roadmap for the phased transition of DOH-EB COVID-19 applications into the routine epidemiology and surveillance IT framework.

• • Deliverable 3.1: Change management plan setting clear milestones for transition and evaluating which new process controls or changes can be implemented immediately in day-to-day activities.
• • Deliverable 3.2: Report detailing additional staffing or resource needs for routine work and additional architecture design needs with proposals to address human resource needs.
• • Deliverable 3.3: Identify possible areas for improvement through outsourcing

Output 4: Final Technical Report

• • Deliverable 4.1: Final report documenting methodology and results from all four outputs, including all evaluation recommendations, change management plans, resourcing needs, and other critical factors to implement recommendations.

CHARACTERISTICS OF PROVIDER 

Mandatory:

• • Proven experience in the field of enterprise architecture design, IT systems evaluation, or data engineering with at least 3 years experience in the last 5 years..
• • Previous work with WHO, other international organizations and/or major institutions in the field of  is desirable.

Desirable:

• • Previous work with DOH in the field of enterprise architecture design, IT systems evaluation, or data engineering

SUBMISSIONS

Qualified and interested specialists should submit the following documents to the Supply Officer through WP RO UNGM at < wproungm@who.int > by 25 January 2023

• • Company Profile {for institutional applications}
• • Technical proposal indicating solution, methodology and timelines, in addition to the below annexes: 
  • o   Annex 1: Acknowledgement Form
  • o   Annex 2: Confidentiality Undertaking
  • o   Annex 3: Proposal Completeness Form
  • o   Annex 6: Self-Declaration Form
• • Financial proposal

Please use Tender Notice No. WHE-2023-002 as subject to all submission. Only successful candidates will be contacted.

Last day of receiving queries for this tender is on 20 February 2023