request for submission of a proposal (rfp)...request for submission of a proposal (rfp) production...

RfP for Selection of a Vendor for the ICC Academy 201 Online Courses

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Request for Submission of a Proposal (RfP)

Production of ICC Academy’s eLearning courses

Certified Trade Finance Professional Curriculum

(GTFP 201 Courses)

(Version 14 January 2016)

1. Project Background 1.1. Through its global network, the International Chamber of Commerce reaches over

6.5 million businesses, chambers of commerce, and enterprises in over 130 countries. The ICC Academy wants to use this reach, reputation and expertise to provide global business communities with the highest standards of education, knowledge, professional development and inspiration.

1.2. The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has recently launched a ground-breaking educational initiative – the ICC Academy. Based in Singapore – a thriving trading hub and a leading centre for business education – the ICC Academy is a unique offering that will open the door to world-class business education around the globe, making use of digital delivery platforms and leveraging ICC’s unrivalled network of experts and practitioners.

1.3. The ICC Academy will promote the highest global standards of excellence in professional education – providing an extensive range of specialized certification programmes that are recognized worldwide. In line with ICC’s mission to promote international trade and investment, the ICC Academy will help professionals develop the skills required to succeed in the modern business world. The ICC Academy will launch with an initial programme in the field of trade finance, one of ICC’s strongest areas of expertise. A broader suite of professional education courses will be built up over time, leveraging ICC’s expertise across a range of commercial issues.

1.4. The content is to be led by experienced ICC network of contacts, business and policy leaders and successful completion of a course is rewarded by a ICC Academy Certificate(s). The Academy will offer a full catalogue of courses designed to be made up of core courses and electives which will form a ‘certified course’. Topics will include a wide range of areas relevant to banking such as trade, investment, anti-corruption, taxation, energy and the environment with the objective to reach +5,000 professions in the first year.


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2. Objectives 2.1. The ICC Academy will need to produce an extensive set of formatted digital courses,

through an industrial production process and making use of a global cloud-based LMS, combining digital learning, group-based project work, and optional in-person components to reach large numbers of students.

2.2. The vendor shall be responsible for adapting the raw subject matter content

(provided by ICC Academy) into e-Learning courses that can be uploaded onto the LMS and meeting our deadlines. This will include all audio-visual creations, instructional design work (eg. creation of story boards), and any subsequent edits following draft presentations to the various stakeholders prior to the designated deadline.

2.3. The vendor must through their creation, offer the ICC Academy members a new and

dynamic on-line learning and teaching methods, by adapting the subject matter content in the best way that will encourage and engage students, industry specialists and corporate employees with the aim of fostering their continued professional development. Consequently, the vendor will need to use the latest methods and technologies available with multimedia content that are entertaining, useful and accessible anytime, anywhere and from any device.

3. Scope of work

3.1. The initial services contract will hold the vendor accountable for the first 9 courses of

the ICC Academy. These will be linked directly with the launch of our second certification, the Certified Trade Finance Professional (GTFP) curriculum. See Annex A for further details on the concept of GTFP.

201-1 Core Advanced Trade Finance Working Capital 201-2 Core Advanced Documentary Credit 201-3 Core Advanced Guarantees 201-4 Core Advanced Standby LCs 201-5 Core Advanced Supply Chain Finance 201-6 Core Export Finance 201-7 Core optional Managing Trade Sales 201-8 Core optional Managing Trade Products 201-9 Core optional Managing Trade Operations 201-10 Core optional Digital Trade and Trade Finance

3.2. The purpose of the assignment is threefold:

a) Propose a robust pedagogical approach and enabling technologies to produce

online content as specified in this RfP with a goal to maximize the learning experience for users. In collaboration with the ICC Academy team, the vendor will need to propose clearly articulated pedagogical principles;


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b) Develop a single user interface that will be used to mass produce online courses in an effort to reduce production costs and enhance efficiency of the production chain. It should be noted that the vendor will propose a precise workflow for the production of online courses; and

c) Recommend solutions for production of other 201 courses, knowing that the ICC

Academy shall be in a position to streamline the production process and produce an average of 4 online courses per month.

3.3. Following the successful delivery of the first phase related to the 9 courses above, a

new contract may be negotiated for another round of courses (the actual number of courses for this phase is to be determined).

4. The context of the digital learning at ICC Academy

4.1. When replying under this RfP, the vendor shall add the following information: • Audiences • Training pathways • Constraints (e.g. users have not a lot of time to spend on the elearning and

needs to navigate easily through the interface, assessment questions to be provided, etc.

• Global deadlines: Phase 1, Phase 2, other phases in new thematic areas… • Intented exam process • Distribution modes (volume purchase under licencing agreement with

corporates, polys, MDBs…)

5. Requirements (Evaluation Criteria)

5.1. Pedagogical Approach:

This initial phase (CTFP Certification Phase) requires the development of nine courses. Each course’s duration is estimated to be 120-180 minutes. All courses are to have Level 1 interactivity. Level 1 interactivity is defined as having the following elements and characteristics: - • A series and variety of activities to assist the learner in acquiring the knowledge

intended to be transferred by that particular course; • illustrative and diagrammatic examples to bring about an understanding of a concept,

idea or principle; • use of “Reading-Question-Answer” formats that allows learners to do self-reading,

followed by knowledge reinforcement questions to enhance understanding; and • infographic-styled animations to facilitate understanding of a concept, idea or

principle. • Animated case studies • Videos producing to illustrate specific part of the lessons (Video authors will need to

be included in the overall costs)

As stated in Annex A, these 201 courses are aimed at experienced trade finance professionals who wish to focus on specific areas of trade finance and/or gain in depth understanding of concepts and specific jurisdictions pertaining to that industry. These


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courses will also cover the ICC Banking Commission (and other industry) rules governing trade finance on a much more granular level. The raw content for the core courses will be put into production on a priority basis and are to include various activities such as knowledge evaluation questions, audio-visual presentations and videos (recorded by the ICC), graphs and case studies in order to enrich the overall learning experience.

5.2. User Interface: All courses shall employ a single User Interface (“UI”) design. The UI shall comprise inter alia the following features: -

• Multiple platforms: PC, tablet, smartphone, online or offline

• Table of Contents and Sitemap. This is to provide users with adequate and

succinct information on the general layout and chapters of that particular course. The first page will provide information on the course, the course objectives, the course author(s), …

• Progress Indicator to provide users with information of his/her progress.

• Introduction video(s), with the Subject Matter Experts, if possible.

• “Help” Function. Provide users with general help information on the functions (e.g. buttons, accessing the table of contents) within the course.

• Navigation Controls: - Next – Move the e-learning page to the next page - Previous – Move the e-learning page to the previous page - Play/Pause – play/pause the animation of the page - Fast Forward/Rewind – forward/rewind the animation within the page

• Audio Control. Volume and mute control

• Voice-Over Text On/Off control. Show/hide voice over text

• Exit. Users to close and leave the course. The last visited page will be bookmarked

so that the learner can return to it subsequently.

• Reporting information: The ICC Academy will have the ability to extract data across courses for marketing purposes. In addition, the ICC Academy will need to collect specific information from the use of the course, eg

ü The results of an assessment or exam ü The number of questions answered in a quiz or exam. ü The time spent on a quiz or exam ü The number of attempts at a quiz or exam ü The exam or quiz attempt dates ü SCORM module progress ü Time spent on the SCORM modules


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ü The login and logout dates in each course ü The session duration in each course ü Etc.

Branding: User Interface and colour palette shall abide by ICC Academy’s established corporate guidelines which will be provided to the Vendor by the ICC Academy. Wherever voiceovers or narration is required, the voice talent shall be a female voice of UK English accent and captions / subtitles shall be provided. The vendor will propose a clear plan of action and ideas for strengthening the existing user interface developed by ICC Academy during the recent pilot phases (Access to this ICC UI will be provided to the vendor)

5.3. Production Process: The production process shall include the following phases / milestones: -

i. Content analysis – to build the e-Learning course curriculum from the raw subject

matter course content that the ICC Academy provides to the Vendor;

ii. UI design – Designing the user interface based on the requirements and corporate guidelines which the ICC Academy provides to the Vendor;

iii. Prototyping – to produce and present to the ICC Academy a small part of the

course to be produced as a sample of the course so as to receive comments and inputs before proceeding to develop the rest of the course;

iv. Storyboarding – to decipher the key messages and knowledge points from the

subject matter content and produce the “script” (of which will be the basis for the course) for the review and inputs from the ICC Academy before proceeding to develop the rest of the course; and

v. User acceptance tests – Final testing of the course as uploaded onto the LMS

before handover and final signoff by the ICC Academy.

It shall be agreed that at each of the aforesaid phases / milestones during the production of a course, progress of all deliverables are subject to review by representatives as appointed by the ICC Academy. Course production will not proceed without the relevant signoffs by ICC Academy and the Subject Matter Experts.

5.4. Project Management: The production team is expected to be experienced and sufficiently staffed to ensure that the courses are produced based on best efforts and of the highest possible quality. The production team shall include minimally the following personnel: -

• Project Manager

He or she shall be the single point of contact and liaison between the Vendor and the ICC Academy.


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• Instructional Designer

He or she shall lead and/or be in charge of a team of designers responsible for the design aspects of the e-Learning course(s).

• Graphics Designer He or she shall be responsible for the creation of all graphics, images and/or any other similar representations for the production of the e-Learning course(s).

• Course Developer He or she shall be responsible for the holistic development of the e-Learning courses – ie. bringing together the various aspects and constituents that combined would complete the e-Learning course(s).

• Video authors, if applicable.

During review or progress meetings, the Project Manager must always be present. All meetings shall also be documented by the vendor. Milestone reports are expected to be submitted at the end of each process milestone. Progress meetings are to be conducted weekly.

5.5. Timeline and Deliverables: This project covers nine courses in total. Six courses are expected to be delivered by end of May 2016. The remaining three are expected to be completed by July 2016. In order to meet these deadlines, the vendor will be selected no later than end of January 2016. The Subject Matter Experts for the core courses will need to be procured in early 2016 as well.

Upon completion of each course, the following shall be delivered in a CD/DVD ROM to ICC Academy:-

• Standalone version. With this version, users will be able to play the e-learning

modules on his computer/laptop without requiring a Learning Management System (LMS) – ie. to have off-line access capability. However, learner’s progress will not be tracked in this “standalone mode”;

• SCORM 1.2/2004 or AICC standard version. This version will be used for the

purposes of uploading to the lCC Academy’s LMS;

• Source Code. Source codes for all the learning pages will be provided in HTML5 with Javascript format, Articulate Storyline or in FLA format (this will be discussed during the project implementation phase in order to ascertain which would be the most appropriate format);

• All graphics, images and any other illustrations that are used during production and/or contained in the completed e-Learning course(s); and


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• All audio files that are used during production and/or contained in the completed e-Learning course(s).

6. Confidentiality

6.1. The vendor shall agree to ensure and maintain the confidentiality of any information

(including but not limited to the subject matter content, the identity of the subject matter experts, the relevant timelines etc…) which is being shared with them by the ICC Academy and or any of its representatives or assigns.

6.2. This agreement to ensure and maintain such confidentiality shall be set out either as a standalone agreement between the parties, or as a clause built into the service agreement contract which will be signed by the parties.

7. Guidelines for the proposal

7.1. The ICC Academy requests your proposal for the above subject item in accordance

with this document. Proposals are required to be submitted to the ICC Academy no later than:

12 February 2016, midnight.

7.2. Please note that the terms set forth in this document will form part of any contract

should the ICC Academy accept your proposal. Any such contract will require compliance with all factual statements and representations made in your proposal.

7.3. Your proposal must include information in sufficient detail to allow the ICC to consider whether your company has the necessary capability, knowledge, expertise, financial strength and the required capacity to perform the work specified satisfactorily.

7.4. Your proposal must be submitted in by email (containing both the technical and the

financial information) at the following email address:

[email protected] and [email protected]

7.5. It is the exclusive responsibility of the bidder to ensure that the proposal reaches the above email address before the time and date indicated above. Your proposal should remain valid for a period not less than 60 days after the deadline date specified for submission. This document does not commit the ICC Academy to award a contract or to pay any costs incurred in the preparation or submission of the offers.

7.6. The Proposal will comprise the following components: - Operational and technical sections, including documentation to demonstrate

that the vendor meets all requirements and understand the services expected;


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- Team structure, including the focal point that will become responsible for the project. The roles and responsibilities for the implementation of services will be to be clearly articulated;

- Resource planning in terms of personnel and facilities necessary for the

performance of the requirements, and any plans for their expansion. The complete CV’s of proposed staff is to be submitted.

- Proposed approach, methodology, technology to be used, timing and outputs.

This section should demonstrate the bidder’s responsiveness to the requirements indicated these ToRs.

- A project cycle showing the important delivery milestones and production flows.

- A detailed financial proposal in Euros. See Annex B to serve as a guideline for

the anticipated statement of work.

7.7. The evaluation of the proposal will be based on the following criteria, listed in order of importance:

- Project Implementation and Organization: The organization of the project team

and how the activities and tasks are to be achieved, including deliverables, communication between team members and with ICC Academy and any other stakeholders, e.g. SMEs. See Annex C to have an overview of the current production processes. These processes can be amended as needed.

- Solutions to meet the desired output: The proposal will describe specific

solutions, technical and organizational, to ensure that the project is created on time (First 6 core courses by 1st July 2016 and remaining electives by 31 September 2016).

- Personnel, qualifications, experience, and commitment of assigned Staff.

- Financial proposal: A clear and concise financial proposal will be important.


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ANNEX A

201 Curriculum

Certified Trade Finance Professional (CTFP)

Concept Note (Version of 4 December 2015)

1. Target audience The 201-level program is aimed at experienced trade finance professionals who wish to focus on specific areas of trade finance and/or gain in depth understanding of concepts and specific jurisdictions pertaining to that industry. These courses will also cover the ICC Banking Commission (and other industry) rules governing trade finance on a much more granular level.

2. Structure The overall structure of the 201 curriculum will include five core courses and a number of electives including trade finance-focused training on: Managing Trade Sales, Operations and Products.

Core courses

Requisite: 201-level GTC Final Examination

1. Advanced Trade Finance Working

Capital 2. Advanced Documentary Credits 3. Advanced Guarantees / Standbys 4. Advanced Supply Chain Finance 5. Advanced Export Finance 6. ONE of the following:

Managing Trade Sales Managing Trade Product Managing Trade Operations

Elective Options o Any other 201-level course o Attendance to:

• Accredited trainings and seminars

• ICC Banking Commission Meeting

• ICC Supply Chain Finance Summit

o Obtaining an IFS Certification :

CDCS, CITF, CSDG o Taking an advanced Coastline

Solutions-ICC course

10 credits each 30 credits required

90 required credits Courses Each individual eLearning course will take upwards of 180 minutes (3 hours min.) to complete and include 30 assessment questions. The core courses will include practical case studies from real-life examples and sample documents to be completed. Final Examination


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The final exam will be taken online via remote proctoring service and cover the 6 core courses. The final exam will last two hours. Renewal – valid 24 months Once an individual has passed the final examination and obtained her CTFP printed certificate, the validity period will last for 24 months. The individual will have 30 credits to complete to renew her CTFP certificate over the 24 month period.

3. Subject Matter Experts The protocol for this advanced 201-level program is to bring back on board the same subject matter experts as for 101 GTC whenever appropriate. The idea is avoid any overlaps in content and ensure a smooth transition for those taking both 101 and 201. 201-1 Core Advanced Trade Finance Working Capital 201-2 Core Advanced Documentary Credit 201-3 Core Advanced Guarantees 201-4 Core Advanced Standby LCs 201-5 Core Advanced Supply Chain Finance 201-6 Core Export Finance 201-7 Core optional Managing Trade Sales 201-8 Core optional Managing Trade Products 201-9 Core optional Managing Trade Operations 201-10 Core optional Digital Trade and Trade Finance

4. Course Descriptions 201-1 Core Advanced TF Working Capital The Advanced Trade Finance Working Capital course introduces the various methods of developing working capital to support a commercial customers’ international business. The course will take you through many of the methods commonly used by customers and how products to support the customers are provided by banks. 201-2 Core Advanced Documentary Credit This course builds on the Introductory Documentary Credits course to cover more in-depth issues related to issuance, document examination, transport documents as well as more complicated transactions involving transfer and assignment. The course includes case studies in issuance, document examination and other ancillary products to assist in gaining a better understanding of how documentary credits work in daily practice. 201-3 Core Advanced Guarantees Building on Introduction to Guarantees this course provides more detailed information on the issuance of guarantees, the use of counter guarantees and more complex transactions. It includes case studies to assist the learner in gaining a better practical understanding of the use of guarantees on a daily basis.


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201-4 Core Advanced Standby LCs Building on Introduction to Standby Letters of Credit course this course provides more detailed information on the issuance and uses of standby letters of credit. It includes case studies to assist the learner in gaining a better practical understanding of the many uses of standby letters of credit on a daily basis. 201-5 Core Advanced Supply Chain Finance Given the growth of supply chain finance over the past few years the Advanced Supply Chain Finance course takes the understanding of these products forward introducing the more complex transactions being used to meet customer demands. You will gain a better understanding of the complexities of all players in the supply chain and their integral role in the financing of trade. 201-6 Core Export Finance A significant part of any banks international services are specific export finance transactions. This course introduces these products as well specifics as to how export finance is provided through the various programs of multilateral organizations and export credit agencies.

201-7 Core optional Managing Trade Sales

The process of selling trade finance to customers and developing new customers is a critical part of a banks trade finance business and the role of managing this process is critical to a banks success. This course will provide you with the background and specifics on what it takes to manage this entire process for a bank. How to develop sales officers, strategies for developing new business and ways to sell trade finance services.

201-8 Core optional Managing Trade Products

Product development is crucial for a bank in staying current with industry developments and product evolution to meet the needs of customers as well as increasing the efficiency of providing trade finance products. This course will provide you with the background and specifics on managing the trade product area as well as strategies for developing new product and enhancements to existing products.

201-9 Core optional Managing Trade Operations

Critical to providing trade finance products and services to customers is the actual operational aspects of the products. Managing Trade Operations will provide you with detailed information on managing the trade operations function for multiple products as well as strategies for continual product improvement and efficiency and human resource development.


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ANNEX B

Indicative Statement of Work

Product Names: COURSE 201, GTFP

Description of the Work:

Production of online courses: - Preparation of assets - Content checking and course creation - Course integration into LMS

Delivery Date(s): The applicable delivery dates for the deliverables will be set out in the Implementation plan agreed by both parties after selection of the Vendor

Estimated scope of work:

Web Designer (in days) 10.00 Frontend Developer (in days) 15.00 Content Developer (in days x 3) 30.00

Total Module Production Man Days 55.00

Content Release 1 (Days) 1

Platform Integration 1 (Days) 1 Total Amend/ Fix Days 2

Video production (Days) 1

Total Additional Days 1

Total Days

Grand Total Man Days 58.0

Special Terms: It is assumed that for the Amend/Fix item, one designer and/or frontend developer will be needed, assisted by a content developer in order to implement the changes.


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ANNEX C

Current Production Flows and Sign-Off Process under the first certificate (GTC)


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