Consultant to develop digital MobileApps

 Terms of Reference (TOR)

To develop a digital Mobile Application for Electric Cooking (eCooking) Solution in Laos

 BACKGROUND

SNV is a mission-driven global development partner working in more than 20 African and Asian countries. Building on 60 years of experience and grounded in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we work on the core themes of gender equality and social inclusion, climate adaptation and mitigation, and strong institutions and effective governance. Together with our team of over 1,600 people, our mission is to strengthen capacities and catalyse partnerships that transform the agri-food, energy, and water systems, which enable sustainable and more equitable lives for all. For more information on SNV, visit our website: www.snv.org

With support from Energising Development (EnDev), SNV Laos promotes electric cooking (eCooking) through smoke-free village initiatives. The EnDev Program is a joint impact-oriented global programme facilitating self-sustaining markets for modern energy solutions, financed by various donors and implemented by SNV in Laos.

2. CONTEXT

One of the key activities in the current phase of the EnDev 2023 project is piloting smoke-free village initiatives, which aim to promote electric cooking (eCooking) through Behaviour Change Communication (BCC). To generate demand for eCooking, it is essential to provide users with adequate information to make informed decisions. In other countries, mobile apps have proven very effective in disseminating information about eCooking devices and their benefits.

In this context, SNV Laos is seeking consultancy services to develop a digital mobile app that includes essential information about eCooking solutions in both Lao and English.

3. OBJECTIVE

The main objective of the assignment is to develop and deliver a mobile-based app for potential and existing e-cooking users (HHs and MSMEs), which shall include information on:

• Types of eCookstoves, price range, specification and other features
• Benefits and ways of using e-cooking solutions to promote cleaner and healthier kitchens and households
• Recipes and methods for cooking various Lao meals using eCooking devices (Induction/Infrared Cooktop, Multifunctional Rice cooker with advanced functions).
• Understanding and implementing measures for electrical safety at household/ enterprise levels

Note: All the necessary content for the mobile app will be provided by the project team.

4. SCOPE OF WORK

The assignment includes, but is not limited to, the following tasks:

• Orientation and Data Collection: Train the project field team to gather the necessary data from the field and provide the required data collection tools/formats.
• Mobile App Development: Develop a mobile app for both Android and iOS platforms.
• Hosting and Credentials: Recommend suitable hosting server requirements and provide login credentials.
• Maintenance and Updates: Provide annual maintenance and updates for at least two years.
• User Manuals and SOPs: Develop user manuals and standard operating procedures for installing and operating the applications.

The app’s current scope is to serve as an informative and educational tool for potential and existing eCookstove users. However, it should be designed to allow future upgrades, enabling registered suppliers to update their sales information and facilitating financial transactions between buyers and sellers of services and products.

5. DELIVERABLES

The following deliverables are envisioned in this study:

• An Inception report and presentation
• Live and functioning mobile and web applications
• A zipped copy of all the codes as well as databases
• A coding manual and a user manual for both the applications
• Root login access to hosting server

The details of the mobile/ web-based applications are given in Annex 1

6. COMPOSITION OF THE CONSULTANT TEAM

The Consultant team shall have a Team Leader, Mobile Application Developer, System Analyst, Designer, and Tester. The Team is required to have a proven track record of at least five years of developing mobile applications and be able to demonstrate the products they have developed.

The Team should be able to collaborate and communicate proactively with people at all levels. The Team has to work closely with the project team from SNV Laos and its partners and in the guidance of the Project Manager to carry out the above-mentioned assignment

7. BUDGET

The consultant should provide a budget specifying all the cost items. The amount should include all applicable taxes, which will be deducted at the source. After finalising the inception report, 30% of the total cost shall be made. The second and third instalments, each of 35%, will be paid against the progress and final report of development and live functioning mobile-based applications. All expenses should be included in your budget plan with a proper budget breakdown.

8. TENTATIVE TIMELINE:

The assignment is expected to commence in the third week of November 2024, and the applications should be live and functioning by the end of January 2025. The following timeline needs to be followed to complete the assignment:

Timeline
Contents
Remarks

20/Nov/2024
Contract Signing

10/Nov/2025
The consultants review key documents and refine the methodology of the assignment.

prepare inception report with user and process flow diagram and present the inception report
Discussions with project team

During the Assignment

Regular updates and discussions with the project team

15 January 2025
The team submits a progress report and demonstrates the progress to the broader team
Discussion with the wider

project team

15 february 2025
Final report; Live and functioning

system and all deliverables
Incorporating all the comments received during the discussions

9. EVALUATION OF THE PROPOSAL

All received proposals shall be reviewed following different indicators. These will be but not limited to a sound understanding of the assignment, competent methodology, consistency, coherence and compliance, the experience of the proposed consultants, inclusiveness of the team and efficient budget planning

10. INVITATION FOR THE LETTER OF INTEREST

SNV Laos requests registered consultant firms to submit (i) an application highlighting the letter of interest (LoI); (ii) a brief technical proposal along with your proposed methodology and design; (iii) recently updated CVs of all proposed personnel, organization profile and legal documents (VAT registration, tax clearance, etc); and (iv) a financial proposal with a detailed cost breakdown to conduct the proposed work to the following address on or before 17:00 hrs., 10 November 2024. The proposal can be submitted by email or physically to the following address. The subject in the email or the envelope should be marked as “Developing Mobile App for eCooking”

SNV Laos

Sanpanthong Tai Village, Sisattanak District, Vientiane, PO Box 9781

Phone: +856 2141 4091

Email: laos@snv.org

Annex 1: System Requirements Specifications

Learning/Informative App for Users

Broadly, this app provides information on Four areas:

• Types of eCookstoves, price range, specification and other features
• The benefits of e-cooking in terms of health, fuel cost, time saving, convenience, etc., compared to biomass (firewood/charcoal) and LPG.
• Recipes and methods for cooking various Lao meals using eCooking devices solutions (Induction/Infrared Cooktop, Multifunctional Rice cooker with advanced functions).
• Understanding and implementing measures for electrical safety at household/ enterprise levels

The system should have provisions to upgrade/update as needed and can be developed further to enable users to interact with the app and buy the product online.

The project team will be responsible for providing the app content, which may be periodically updated.

1. Front end

The app should be available in Lao as well as in English, with the option to change the language on the go.

Offline feature

Things that have been downloaded/viewed should be available offline.

Sections

1. List of eCookstoves

• Type
  1. Infrared
  2. Induction
  3. Hybrid (Infrared and Induction)
  4. Electric Pressure Cooker (EPC)
  5. Rice Cooker
  6. Frying Pan
  7. Steamer
  8. Kettle/Boiler
• Pictures/Videos
• Description
• Price
• Power Consumption, Rated Power
• Number of burners
• Warranty
• Brand
• Standard/Label

Filter to narrow down options

• Type
• Price
• Size
• Power consumption
• Number of burners

2. Recipes

Videos/Pictures/Text

3. Safety

Videos/Pictures/Texts

1. Electrical safety
2. House wiring
3. Power requirements
4. Kitchen placement
5. Basic precaution
6. Cleaning process
7. About Us
8. Settings
9. Update app (check app version and ask to update)
10. Comment

Need to have a generic comment/complaint/enhancement system so that users can send in their comments and views

These are just feature outlines, and the consulting firm should provide a good-looking but lightweight, intuitive and easy-to-use design to present the information above on the app. We should also be able to track users, their journeys and the events that they trigger.

1. Backend

Admin module should include:

• Ability to add/edit/delete sections
• Manage recipe category
• Product database: Update/Synchronize product database update will help administrators manually sync the app product database (including product-specific details and other related details like category and so on.)
• Manage recipes:
• Add/edit/delete recipes
• Title
• Description (WYSIWYG editor)
• Video
• Category (dynamic drop-down list from Manage recipe category)
• Cooking time
• Estimated Power consumption
• Image (this image should be used while showing the recipe along with the title and a short description)
• Ability to connect a recipe to multiple cook stoves. This will feed into the cookstove page/screen where recipes will be shown when users visit the respective cookstove page.
• Password reset option for the admin (sending email to the registered account email address)
• Manage About Us page (WYSIWYG) editor

PS: Given the multi-language option, we are not sure what other features we might need to be able to add translations to standard messages or menus so we expect expert suggestion from the consulting team on that regard and on any modules/sections that will be required to fulfil the requirements outlined above or for basic app usage/installation.