IT Inc's time arrives to bid for unique ID initiative

With the deadline nearing, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has formally invited proposals from consulting firms to pitch in for country’s most prestigious project —— Unique ID initiative (UID).  It has called for proposals for selection of consultants to provide services for setting up of Central ID Data Depository (CIDR) as also Managed Service Provider (MSP).

On its part, the authority, according to Director General & Mission Director R S Sharma, to assess technical implications of CIDR, is planning a Proof-of-Concept (PoC)/pilot solution, whose learnings will be dove-tailed into full-fledged CIDR solution to be implemented by the managed service provider.
The consultant will work closely with PoC team and other stakeholders of UIDAI while formulating detailed functional and technical requirements specifications for CIDR IT systems. 

The authority said the winning bidder must provide consultancy services for designing programme management strategy and implementation roadmap for UID project. To be selected under Quality-and Cost-Based Selection (QCBS) procedures, consultants have to submit applications with Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) of Rs 5 lakh besides performance bank guarantee equivalent to 10 per cent of contract value, apart from Rs 5,000 towards tender fees.

Advising & consulting
A Consultancy Evaluation Committee will evaluate the bids before awarding the contract.  The bidder must be a reputed and experienced entity operating in the field of IT Consultancy/ IT Advisory practice with registered office in India for last three years with average annual turnover of minimum Rs 100 crore during last three financial years ending March 31, 2009. Likewise, an annual turnover of Rs 25 crore each year during last three financial years must be from IT Consultancy/ IT Advisory services.

The consultant, while planning and formulating the overall PMS must prepare a roadmap and implementation plan for the UID project, identifying and developing strategy, business models for potential revenue streams from CIDR.
The growth and capacity demands increase over time, technology trends and roadmaps must be borne in mind while devising multi-pronged approach to enable growth and diversity for next three – ten years, the authority said.