New Solutions Social Innovation Hub

Short description

The Contracting Authority invites Tenders for the establishment of a single party framework agreement with a suitably qualified service provider(s) to design, develop and operate a Social Innovation Hub to deliver a suite of supports to social innovation initiatives. The Hub will also provide ongoing case management to social innovation initiatives who receive funding under this project. The Hub will design and implement an early-stage idea generation, validation and foundational skills programme (Ideas Academy) to help individuals and groups turn emerging ideas for social change into viable, impactful initiatives. The Hub will be required to develop a detailed social innovation project plan spanning the term of the Framework Agreement as well as a series of reports outlining progress, lessons learnt and impact of the Hub’s activities. New Solutions is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the EU through the European Social Fund Plus EIST 2021-2027 Programme. The EIST Programme involves a total investment of over Eur1.08 billion (Eur508 million from the EU and Eur573 million from the Government of Ireland). Under the EIST Programme, the breakdown of co-funding specifically for New Solutions is as follows: EU allocation: 95 percent; Government of Ireland: 5 percent. The overarching objective for New Solutions is to enhance the social innovation ecosystem in Ireland by, ‘fostering active inclusion, promoting equal opportunities, non-discrimination and active participation, and to improve employability, for disadvantaged groups including through the social enterprise business model.’ This objective of the fund has been broken down further as follows: Objective 1: Support the development of a social innovation ecosystem through awareness-raising and maximising synergies with other key public policies in the areas of social inclusion, social enterprise and community led local development Objective 2: Capacity building supports for Social Innovation initiatives at national, regional, local and/or community levels Objective 3: Fund Social Innovation Pilot Programmes to address significant social and environmental challenges Objective 4: Create an enabling environment which will allow social innovation to thrive and to support scaling up of social innovations This competition is to award a single party framework agreement from which an initial contract for 39 months, with a maximum spend of Eur 2.8m including VAT, for the following five tasks: 1. Development of a Social Innovation Hub 2. Development of a blended reporting framework 3. Design, develop and roll out an early-stage Social Innovation Ideas Academy programme 4. Ongoing case management of social innovation initiatives 5. Design, develop and implement an appropriate grant funding model Note: This competition is being run in accordance with Regulation 74 of the European Union (Award of Public Authority Contracts) Regulations 2016 and accordingly is subject only to limited aspects of the Regulations.

Description

Tenderers must provide details of the implementation of Sustainable Practices (consideration given to environmental and social impacts as well as economic) for all services under the Framework Agreement. This may include procurement practices, staff practices, operational practices and promotion of sustainability throughout all service elements.

Additional information

Please consult the associated documentation, which contains full instructions regarding the submission of tenders and is available to download from www.etenders.gov.ie using eTenders Resource ID – 5714976
(1) Interested parties must associate their organisation with this competition on the eTenders web site (www.etenders.gov.ie) in order to be included on the mailing list for clarifications and to upload tender responses. To do this you must do the following: Log-in to the eTenders portal; Locate the competition using the Advanced Search by searching under the Contracting Authority or Resource ID. Click on the hyperlink for the competition which will bring you to the CfT Workspace. In the Show CfT Menu for the competition click on the “Expression of Interest in the drop-down menu. Complete the Association with the CfT tab. This will then provide you with a link to Tender under the Show CfT Menu where you can prepare your submission.
(2) When finalising your tender submission please upload your final response as a ZIP file as individual documents may lose their titles if uploaded individually. Also ensure that you receive a message under the status header called Submitted, as the percentage tab does not necessarily imply you have successfully submitted your response.
(3) There is a maximum upload limit of 250MB per file and 500MB per tender submission.
(4) Suppliers should note the following when making their submission suppliers must ensure that they give themselves sufficient time to upload & submit all required documentation before the submission deadline. Suppliers should consider the fact that upload speeds vary and that the new eTenders system operates in a different manner to the previous platform operated by EU-Supply. The submit button will be disable automatically upon the expiration of the response deadline.
(5) If you experience difficulty when uploading documents, please contact the eTenders Support Desk for technical assistance. Email irish-eproc-helpdesk@eurodym.com or Telephone: +353(0)818 001459 (09:00 – 17:00 hours).
(6) Tenders submitted by any other means (including but not limited to email, post, messaging system on etenders or hand delivery) will not be accepted.
(7) All information relating to attachments, including clarifications and changes, will be published on the Irish Government Procurement Opportunities Portal (www.etenders.gov.ie) only. Registration is free of charge. The contracting authority will not accept responsibility for information relayed (or not relayed) via third parties.
(8) All queries regarding this tender requirement or process must be submitted through the Irish Government Procurement Opportunities Portal www.etenders.gov.ie as a specific question. Responses will be circulated to those tenderers that have registered an interest in this notice on www.etenders.gov.ie. The details of the person making a query will not be disclosed when circulating the response
(9) The estimated value range for the framework is €2,800,000 - €9,000,000 (including VAT). It is emphasised, however, that these figures are provided strictly for indicative purposes only as there is no guaranteed expenditure under the framework agreement.
(10) The contracting authority will not be responsible for any costs, charges or expenses incurred by candidates or tenderers. Contract award will be subject to the approval of the competent authorities.
(11) Without prejudice to the principle of equal treatment, the contracting authority is not obliged to engage in a clarification process in respect of the procurement documents with missing or incomplete information. Therefore, respondents are advised to ensure that they return completed documentation in order to avoid the risk of elimination from the competition.
(12) Where applicable, please note in relation to all documents, that where reference is made to a particular standard, make, source, process, trademark, type, or patent, that this is not to be regarded as a de facto requirement. In all such cases it should be understood that such indications are to be treated strictly and solely for reference purposes only, to which the words "or equivalent" will always be appended.
(13) At its absolute discretion, the contracting authority may elect to terminate this procurement process, the framework agreement or any contract awarded under the framework agreement at any time.