Strengthening the technical capacity for AI projects within the Flemish public administrations

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) hereby invites qualified companies to submit sealed tenders as follows: 

The development objectives of this Project are to contribute to improved AI-readiness and increased adoption of AI across the Flemish public administrations in a safe, robust, trustworthy, and ethical manner. 

The immediate objective of this Project is to strengthen the technical capacity to implement AI projects across Flemish public administrations, with a view to improving knowledge and expertise on AI-ready Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure, including cybersecurity and data stewardship. 

The outputs that are necessary to accomplish the immediate objective are: 

1. Reference architecture framework for AI-ready ICT infrastructure, including an assessment of the added value and potential of reusable AI components for Flemish public administrations. 

2. Reference documentation on data governance strategy, data and AI interoperability and data stewardship. 

The activities that need to be carried out to achieve each output include but are not necessarily limited to: 

a. Conduct workshops and interviews to assess current ICT infrastructure. 

b. Develop reference AI-ready architecture framework. 

c. Provide analysis on potential reusable AI components. 

d. Piloting the AI-ready reference architecture framework and potential reusable AI 

components with stakeholders. 

e. Develop reference documentation on data governance strategy in the context of 

AI, data and AI interoperability and data stewardship. 

The total consultancy duration is 18 months, starting 01 November 2024. 

The purpose of this notice is to provide general information on the requirements for the procurement process and to inform interested suppliers how to obtain a copy of the Solicitation Documents.  

Interested companies who wish to participate in the OIC must request a complete set of Solicitation Documents, available free of charge, from UNESCO contact person at the address shown below. 

The offers, comprising of technical proposal and financial proposal, must be delivered through two separate emails no later than 14 October 2024, 23h59 CET. 

The technical proposal should be sent to the following email, with the mention “Technical Proposal – 2024_RFP_SHS/EAI_AI-Ready_Flemish_Public_Administration_Technical_Capacity – name of the bidder” in the subject: shs.procurement@unesco.org 

The financial proposal should be sent to the following email, with the mention “Financial Proposal – 2024_RFP_SHS/EAI_AI-Ready_Flemish_Public_Administration_Technical_Capacity – name of the bidder” in the subject: shs.procurement@unesco.org 

Offers addressed to any other email accounts will be disqualified. It should also be noted that all files together should not exceed 10 Mo per email. 

UNESCO reserves the right to amend the documents at any time during the solicitation process. Any amendments or clarifications will be communicated directly to all Bidders who have requested for a complete set of solicitation documents and officially confirmed their intention to submit a sealed tender. No remuneration will be made to companies for preparation and submission of their tenders. 

UNESCO Contact Information: 

UNESCO Social and Human Sciences Sector 

Irakli Khodeli, Head of the Ethics of AI Unit 

admin-ai-ethics@unesco.org 

Further details are to be found in the Request for Proposal (RFP) and the Procurement Notice/Advertisement Open International Competition (OIC), enclosed as documents to this notice.