Invitation

The Water & Sewerage Company Inc. (WASCO) invites suitably qualified consultants to submit proposals to design and develop a website for the company.

Brief Background

The Water and Sewerage Company Inc. (WASCO) is a company established under the Company Act (1999). It is licensed under the Water and Sewerage Act of 2005 as amended in 2008 to :

a)    Provide the people of Saint Lucia with adequate water services and any other incidental service or facilities; and
b)  Provide the service for removal of sewerage by means of the sewerage system, or any part of the sewerage system, including services incidental to it, and permitted under the Water and Sewerage Act of 2005 as amended in 2008.
 
WASCO provides water services to 64,346 accounts island-wide of which 16,984 are currently inactive.  It currently provides sewerage service connections to 4,097 accounts in Castries and Gros Islet.  

WASCO’s customer base is classified as follows:  

(a) Domestic     - 91%;
(b) Government - 3%; 
(c) Commercial - 6%;  
(d) Hotels, Boats and Ships < 1%

WASCO is currently undertaking an 'Institutional Improvement Programme' in which the design and development of a website is an integral component.  

Objectives

The consultant's overall objective is to design, develop and implement, the optimum website architecture for WASCO which must have appropriate functionalities and applications. The consultant is not required to develop the information content of the website. 

The specific objectives are  :

1.    Design and develop a web presence for WASCO that will enable the company to produce general, company and location specific information for the benefit of the public and its customers.
2.    Allow the public and customers to communicate directly with WASCO on reports of damaged infrastructure, leaks, supply and service issues, concerns, queries, problems, notices, updates, etc via an online forum.
3.    Allow customers to access up to date billing information via web and/or mobile properties.
4.    Facilitate online payment of accounts.
5.    Enable relevant staff members to capture location specific meter reading information via the mobile platform.
6.    Send location specific bulk SMS alerts from the web platform.

Specific Tasks

The consultant will complete the following specific tasks: 

1.    Meet with WASCO's Management and other assigned staff individually and collectively, to identify expectations, requirements and features for the website.
 
2.    Meet with key customer groups and stakeholders identified by WASCO, to identify their expectations of a WASCO website.  

3.    Discuss with Management, the content, the management of the content and the frequency of updates, to advise the design.

4.    Discuss and review social-media requirements and incorporate approved social-media sites in the design and development of the website.

5.    Consider and propose any other relevant design need for the website.

6.    Conceptualize and propose at least 3 significantly different layouts/architecture of how the website will look (versions) to satisfy WASCO's expectations and requirements.

7.    Complete the technical design and development of functionalities on the approved website design 

Deliverables

The consultant will provide the following deliverables: 

1.    A concise report on meetings, discussions and consultations on expectations, requirements, features and their feasibility, held with WASCO and approved customer groups and stakholders. 

2.    At least three (3) significantly different layouts/architecture of how the website will look (versions) to satisfy the approved expectations and requirements.

3.    Preparation and presentation of a fully functional powerpoint (ppt) version of how the website will look like (in terms of visitor’s use, hierarchy of the content, etc.) and function.

4.    Refinement and re-presentation of architecture and development, following comments from WASCO and any other approved stakeholders.

5.    Subject to approval, undertake the necessary actions to bring the website live and into use. 
 

Required education, experience and competencies 

1.    A recognised university degree in communications or related discipline. 

2.    Demonstrated ability to conduct communications research.

3.    Experience in editorial practices for any media such as newspapers, magazines, websites, television. 

4.    Documented experience in web design, web behaviour knowledge and local knowledge. In the proposal the consultant must provide links to websites designed or edited by the consultant, as well as any proof of successful communications/web assignments undertaken previously. 

Timeframe/Duration 

The consultancy must not exceed a total of ninety (90) calendar days in duration. The consultant must propose a work programme which outlines the activities to be undertaken and the number of days which will be required to accomplish each of them. The proposed total number of days must be clearly stated. 

Fee Proposal

The consultant must provide a clearly itemised fee proposal in the submission of the proposal.

Submission of Proposals and Deadline

In the assessment of proposals, significant consideration will be given to relevant qualifications, quality of experience, availability and fee proposal. Further information may be obtained from 

between the hours of 08:30 and 16:00, Mondays to Fridays until Wednesday March 02, 2016. 

Following the assessment of submissions, a shortlist of the three (3) most suitably qualified consultants will be invited to make a presentation of their proposals to WASCO. WASCO reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal or to cancel this invitation partially or in its entirety. It will not be bound to assign any reason for not selecting any applicant/consultant and will not defray any costs incurred by any applicant/consultant for the preparation and submission of their proposal. 
    
Interested consultants are required to submit by post or hand delivery, their Proposal in a sealed envelope marked 'Proposal for the Design and Development of Website' and must be addressed to :

To reach him no later than Wednesday March 16, 2016 at 4:00PM.

Nb. email submissions will not be accepted.