Request for expressions of interest (consulting services- firms selection): Key stakeholder policy dialogue facilitation ( ref. no. 3A.3.23)

Objective: To continue working on industrial policies, the Project envisions several lines of expert interventions, such as working on the  smart specialization strategy (S3[1]), with a continuous public-private dialogue between the four spheres of a modern, innovative society (the so-called quadruple helix) – academia, government, private sector and civil society; strengthening the M&E functions, research and analytics contributing to and following-up on the horizontal effects of the Project; and strengthening the original expertise on the Project with adequate legal support, to be able to efficiently respond to a need for improved policy and changes in legislation.

The annual progress report on Serbia’s accession to the EU, published in May 2018, underlines the significance of RIS3. Namely, one of the conditions for closing Chapter 20 “Entrepreneurship and industrial policy” is the development of a comprehensive industrial policy based on EU principles and RIS3 findings. The consequence of such an association of industrial policy and RIS3 is the expansion of a range of key political, intermediary and financial stakeholders who are interested in participating in the planning and implementation of the smart specialization process. Therefore, RIS3 is gaining importance, which requires additional efforts to align the interests of a larger number of stakeholders.

The Ministry of Economy is in the initial stages of developing an industrial strategy based on continuation of RIS3 public-private dialogue within the EDP process and should rely on the conclusions of RIS3. From this perspective, the EDP process is of great importance, because it could result in a quality inventory of industry needs in priority areas. In the development phase of RIS3, it was focused on innovation-related needs, while further industrial policy needs to cover other needs, for example, improving the general economic environment.

The objective of this process is therefore to develop and improve the stakeholder consultation mechanism in order to extract more comprehensive, grass-roots-inspired policy inputs for evidence-based policy development and implementation. This mechanism is designed as a Smart Specialization Strategy preparation process that works via partnerships and bottom-up approach, bringing together local authorities, academia, business spheres and the civil society to identify and exploit a country’s own specific competitive advantages. It will further be used for the development of industrial policy, but also as a monitoring and evaluation tool in RIS3 implementation.

In order to achieve the above objectives, the PPS needs to engage the local Consultancy firm (herein after: the Consultant).

Activities: The Consultant needs to develop appropriate communication channels for each of the target groups, including:

–           general (TV, radio, news portals, daily newspapers with broader public reach, social media) and

–           specific (specialized magazines, specialized web portals, direct emails and newsletters, printed brochures, leaflets and posters),

as well as a set of tools/products necessary for efficient facilitation and promotion of the RIS3 process:

• Visual identity
• Official webpage
• Social Media Campaigns
• Professional magazines and websites – academic, scientific, business

In cooperation with the PIU and other Project experts, the Consultant should create a list of relevant magazines and websites which would act as media partners for the process.

• PR support to key stakeholders
• Media kit, Q&A, and other documents

Event planning and management

• Covering events and handling media on the spot

Duration: The Consultant is expected to be engaged a period of 25 weeks with approximately time effort of 100 man days.

The Terms of Reference for this assignment can be found at the following link: https://bit.ly/2k8UTSd

The PIU of the PPS now invites eligible Consultants to indicate their interest in providing the services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the services.

The shortlisting criteria are:

The Consultant must possess following qualifications:

• Be a legal entity
• At least seven (7) years of general experience in event management, PR and communications
• At least five (5) years of specific experience in providing similar services in Western Balkan countries.
• Proven record of at least 3 national wide assignments in conducting events, PR and communications is required.
• The Consultant should have capacity to assign a qualified and experienced team that will work on this assignment including at least one Lead Expert, one Event Specialists and one Associate. Lead Expert, Event Specialists and Associate need to be in-house staff of the Consultant. The qualifications and experience of presented staff should to be related to the assignments for developing and implementing event management, PR and communications.