Acquisition of Certificate and Professional ID Card printing materials on framework of the Regional Certification Scheme

Background

For successful RE and EE installations and projects, there is a need for quality assurance at various levels. This includes quality assurance of equipment e.g. through the establishment and enforcement of product standards. However, high-quality products will only provide the desired services if RE and EE systems are designed, installed and maintained by highly qualified individuals. As such, ECREEE in cooperation with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and other partners initiated the establishment of a Regional Certification Scheme (RCS) in 2015 for member states. The RCS is based on a Job-Task-Analysis (JTA) and initially focusing on certifying the competencies and skills of off-grid photovoltaic systems technicians but will gradually covers other RE and EE professions. By certification of skills, there is a reassurance that a technician/professional has the competencies required to complete a job safely and effectively. Lastly, certification requires (i) regular training that forces the practitioner to stay current, and (ii) work on multiple types of jobs, learn new skills, and network with peers.

The RCS will provide quality credentialing for practitioners who will participate and be successful in these competency-based examinations. These credentials will be recognized in all ECOWAS Member States and promote mobility of these Certified Sustainable Energy Practitioners (CSEP). Again, in order to strengthen the reputation of the Scheme at the regional level, ECREEE as the Regional Certification Body will seek accreditation to the international standards such as ISO/IEC 17024:2012 norm “Conformity assessment – General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons”. Persons who want to acquire these credentialing of the RCB must meet all the requirements set by the Scheme and pass the regional competency-based examinations that will be hosted by selected Partner Examination Centres (PEC) in each member state. Inexperienced persons that want to be certified will be trained in Partner Training Centres (PTC) selected by the RCB.

Objectives

The overall objective of the regional certification programme is to support the development of renewable energy (RE) markets in the ECOWAS region by improving the skills of RE professionals and credentialing through a regional certification system, which is to be based on unified and harmonized technical guidelines (JTA) for each target group and skills level.

Required Tasks

The first phase of this programme aims to carry out this required task for the operationalisation of the RCS first for installers of off-grid solar PV systems. As such, ECREEE and GIZ hereby call for applications from interested bidders to provide quotations for certificate and professional ID card printing materials together with a sample certificate that meets the criteria listed in the Annex and below features:

Expected Results

1. Soft copy certificate delivered meeting the below criteria:

• Protection against falsification and adulteration
• Online authentication, verification via TrackMatriX® or GlobalSign digital security
• Security graphic design services to improve or create strong copy protection
• State-of-the-art designs

2. Paper for certificate printing delivered meeting the below requirements:

• Security ink, for example, heat sensitive thermochromic ink, invisible UV fluorescent ink, fugitive & solvent sensitive ink, colour changing ink, taggant ink, etc.
• Security paper with custom-specified security features
• Engraving intaglio / gravure hand-feel wording.
• Guilloche pattern.
• Micro-text / Nano-text.
• Sequential numbering barcode.
• Security paper with watermark and other security features
• Holographic hot stamp and foiling, stripe or laminates (logos)
• Security inks specially designed for long-term document authentication
• Lifetime protection against adulteration

3. Printers for printing of certificates and professional ID Cards (including Blank ID Card with security and digital features) delivered meeting specification listed in the Annex

Profile of Tenders

• The bidder should have experience in providing certificates that offer maximum protection for certification bodies, education bodies and institutes, and protecting the integrity of the institutions and the qualifications of the candidates.
• Develop certificate and ID cards for highly ranked institutions.

Proposal and Deadline

• Send samples of the certificate together with the technical and financial proposal in separate envelops to ECREEE/GIZ office address: Achada Santo António, ECREEE Building, 2nd Floor, c.p.288 Praia, Cabo Verde before 9 November 2018.
• For inquiries on the content, logo of the certificate etc., kindly contact:

certification[a]ecreee.org; jbarbosa[a]ecreee.org; jbarros[a]ecreee.org; ibrahim.soumaila[a]giz.de