Consultancy for Implementation of a chatbot framework and the implementation of new chatbot use case(s) for the public sector Tender at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Reference number: 83493986

1. General information

1.1. Background

1.1.1. About GIZ Rwanda and the Digital Transformation Center

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a federally owned international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with worldwide operations. The GIZ Office in Kigali covers GIZ’s portfolio in Rwanda and Burundi. GIZ Rwanda/Burundi implements projects on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the European Union and other commissioning authorities in the following priority areas: Sustainable Economic Development, Good Governance, Climate, Energy and Sustainable Urban Development, Digitalization and Digital Economy, Mineral Governance, Peace and Security in the Great Lakes Region.

To advance digital transformation in Rwanda and beyond, GIZ and the Rwandan Ministry of ICT and Innovation (MINICT) have formed the Digital Transformation and Digital Economy Cluster. The activities, themes, topics, and projects of the cluster are dedicated to delivering impact-driven digital solutions, developing the capacities of the local innovation ecosystem, and replicating and scaling up digital solutions at regional and continental level. The initiative supports both the public and private sector by transferring knowledge and skills and building organizational, structural, and technological capacities. It also provides a modern space to the Rwandan partners and innovators to boost creativity and collaboration: The Digital Transformation Center Rwanda (DigiCenter). 

1.1.2. About the Digital Transformation Center’s AI Hub

One of the focus areas of the Cluster Digital Transformation & Digital Economy is Artificial Intelligence. Through the AI Hub, based at the Digital Transformation Center, GIZ particularly contributes to sustainable and open approaches to AI in Rwanda and at the regional level. The vision of the AI Hub is to co-create a vibrant and inclusive ecosystem in harnessing the benefits of open and ethical AI. The mission is empowering our partners through providing open AI training data, capacity building, and development of ethical policy frameworks towards building community-driven AI solutions. 

A specific objective is to make AI solutions available for the Rwandan population in Kinyarwanda. Therefore, the AI Hub has contributed to the creation of AI training data sets and has piloted AI-based solutions in the areas of natural language processing (NLP, e.g.: voice assistants) and machine translation, for example through a recent collaboration with the Rwandan Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) and its AI Innovation Lab.

1.1.3. C4IR and the AI Innovation Lab

The AI Innovation Lab is part of the non-profit organisation Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR). C4IRs mission is to promote AI technologies in Rwanda. The AI Innovation Lab facilitates AI projects through different services, e.g., technical and business consultancy. 

1.1.4. GovStack Initiative 

In 2020, the GovStack Initiative was launched by Estonia, Germany, the International Tele-communication Union (ITU) and the Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) together with partners such as Smart Africa, the World Bank, GSMA and SAP. The initiative aims to create a common framework for and foster technical practice with regards to developing reusable and interoperable digital government elements – so-called “digital building blocks” – which are needed to create full-fledged digital government services. 

The global GovStack Community invests in these digital building blocks to help governments reduce costs, time, and resources required to create or modify digital services and applications. As these digital building blocks are interoperable and based on open-source software, they are easier to customise, design and implement, combine as needed, and scale across multiple sectors. Examples of digital building blocks include: 

• Digital registries
• Identification and authentication
• Payments
• Registration
• Security

In addition, the GovStack Initiative supports partner governments in making their digital administration more efficient, faster, and secure and to reduce system duplication. By providing building blocks that increase security and transparency, as well as accountability of how government services are delivered, fraud is prevented, and corruption reduced. GovStack also aims to increase country ownership of e-government solutions and digital sovereignty, e.g. by making governments less dependent on individual software solutions (vendor lock-in) thanks to the open-source nature of the building blocks. As a central pillar of all its activities, GovStack focuses on adherence to international data protection and IT security standards while working hand in hand with civil society and academia to ensure a rights-based approach to e-governance. 

1.1.5. RISA and the Centre for Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) 

As Rwanda’s leading public agency mandated to implement national ICT policy, RISA oversees infrastructure planning, innovation programs, and the integration of digital solutions to enhance service accessibility and socio-economic progress. 

The recently launched Center for DPI is Rwanda’s strategic hub for inclusive, interoperable, and scalable digital systems. Hosted by RISA, the Center promotes open frameworks, modular architectures, and gender-responsive solutions while serving as a testbed for emerging DPI technologies that support national and regional transformation. 

1.2. Context for this project

1.2.1. Chatbots and digital public goods

A chatbot is a computer program or artificial intelligence application designed to simulate human conversation and interaction through text or voice-based interfaces. It is designed to engage in natural language conversations with users, responding to their queries, providing information, and performing tasks.

Chatbots can be utilized as digital public goods to improve access to services and information, particularly in underserved or remote areas, whilst adhering to privacy and other applicable laws, do no harm by design, and help attain the SDGs (as per the DPG standard of the Digital Public Goods Alliance). By providing automated responses to common queries and tasks, chatbots can help reduce the burden on human service providers and improve the efficiency of public services. For example, chatbots can be used to provide information on healthcare services, education, and government services, among others. This can help improve access to information and services for people who may not have access via channels such as government websites or government offices. Additionally, chatbots can provide round-the-clock assistance and support, ensuring that citizens can easily obtain information about services when needed.

Your EOL has to be submitted in 2 separated emails to RW_Quotation@giz.de until latest 28.11.2025:

1. The technical offer has to be submitted in 2 PDF file format (eligibility/technical) and as attachment to the email with the subject: 83493986 -Technical offer.
2. The financial offer has to be submitted in PDF format and as attachment to the email with the subject: 83493986 - Financial offer.

For more information, please find the document in the other attachments 

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