SOLICITATION NOTICE
B -- Uzbekistan: Center for Women's Training in Telecom and IT
- Notice Date
- 7/23/2002
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- Contracting Office
- United States Trade and Development Agency, TDA, Tashkent University of Information Technologies, Tashkent, Uzbekistan. C/o U.S. Trade and Development Agency, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA, 22209-2131
- ZIP Code
- 22209-2131
- Solicitation Number
- Reference-Number-0280032A
- Response Due
- 8/15/2002
- Point of Contact
- Evangela Kunene, Procument Data Manager, Phone 703-875-4357, Fax 703-875-4009,
- E-Mail Address
-
ekunene@tda.gov
- Description
- The Tashkent University of Information Technologies (TUIT) invites submission of Proposals from interested U.S. firms, which are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to conduct a feasibility study on establishing a Center for Women's Training in Telecom and IT in Uzbekistan. Tashkent Electro-technical Institute of Communications, which has been transformed into Tashkent University of Information Technologies ("TUIT"), was founded in 1955. It is now the most prominent higher educational institution in Central Asia in the fields of communications and information systems. More than thirty-five hundred students study at TUIT, an institution that features thirty-one departments, forty-eight educational laboratories, seventeen scientific-research laboratories, a TV center for internal broadcasting, a computer center with local networks, and a library with 380,000 books. Currently, TUIT offers a wide range of undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs, most of which lead to a doctorate for national and international students, TUIT's instructional programs provide education in various specializations: computer technology, radio and automatic telecommunications, military communications, and economics and communications management. TUIT created a program for the development of post-graduate curriculum in co-operation with a number of international institutions. This Post Academic Degree in Telematics ("PADITEL") Center includes: a curriculum developed according to the latest Western standards and techniques; a modern multimedia laboratory; an established Internet connection, providing a high level of information exchange. TUIT faculty members and students regularly visit Europe for training on specific technical topics. TUIT's LIBANTA project (Library Antwerp Tashkent), in collaboration with Hogeschool Antwerpen, promotes the use of new information and communication technologies by students and staff of TUIT through TUIT's modern library and information center. TUIT was involved in a United Nations Development Program project on development of distance education system and is now a member of the Regional Union of Communications of the NIS and the International Union of Electro-communications. TUIT has always been open to innovative joint ventures and partnerships. The current TUIT curriculum needs to be updated to include new business related courses. In addition, TUIT economic and management faculty need to be trained in specifically targeted economic and management programs that will enable these departments to develop new business-related courses. Within this overall national Uzbek education goal, TUIT since the beginning of 2001, under the authorization of, and funding by, Uzbek Post and Telecommunications (UAPT), began to take a number of innovative educational initiatives including the establishment of the Base System of Distance Learning (BSDL) program for the Republic of Uzbekistan. BSDL is a corporate Intranet network developed and based on technical, programming and information resources of TUIT. BSDL covers all of Uzbekistan. Within the project's framework and in close collaboration with regional branches of UAPT creation of Regional Centers of Distance Learning in each province of the Republic has begun. Pilot Regional Centers of Distance Learning have been established and are successfully working in Tashkent, Samarkand, and Bukhara. These Centers provide public access to remote educational and informational resources of TUIT through corporate Intranet facilities. In the future, the BSDL network will also include small rural districts in the country. It is anticipated that public schools, colleges, institutions of higher education, various organizations and local population will become clients of BSDL. Although the Uzbek government has established the development of a national educational system as a priority, inherent difficulties constrain the development of numerous aspects of higher education - including the absence of specific training programs for women and minorities. There has recently been a decline in enrollment in higher education, and particularly among women because the costs have become unaffordable. There is also relatively little variety of higher education programs that women can pursue, which puts them at a disadvantage in the job market. In keeping with TUIT's innovative role in Uzbek higher education, this Study would explore the establishment, at TUIT, the Central Asian Center for Women's Training in Telecommunications and Information Technology (the "Center"). The Center's objectives would include: 1) To promote higher educational opportunities for Uzbek (and other Central Asian) women in the telecommunications and information technology sectors; 2) To promote the professional development of women Faculty members at the Center; 3) To provide financial resources and scholarship programs that would enable Uzbek (and other Central Asian women) to enroll in the Center; 4) To establish a long term partnership with an American university that has the ability to provide on-going technical and financial assistance to the Center; 5) To promote the professional development of women in the Uzbek (and Central Asian) telecommunications and IT sectors; and 6) To acquire the necessary equipment from U.S. manufacturers to further these objectives. The U.S. firm selected to conduct this feasibility study will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $187,185 grant to the Tashkent University of Information Technologies from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA). A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP) is available from TDA, at 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131. Requests for the RFP should be faxed to the IRC, TDA at 703-875-4009. In the fax, please include your firm's name, contact person, address, and telephone number. Some firms have found that RFP materials sent by U.S. mail do not reach them in time for preparation of an adequate response. Firms that want TDA to use an overnight delivery service should include the name of the delivery service and your firm's account number in the request for the RFP. Firms that want to send a courier to TDA to retrieve the RFP should allow one hour after faxing the request to TDA before scheduling a pick-up. Please note that no telephone requests for the RFP will be honored. Please check your internal fax verification receipt. Because of the large number of RFP requests, TDA cannot respond to requests for fax verification. Requests for RFPs received before 4:00 PM will be mailed the same day. Requests received after 4:00 PM will be mailed the following day. Please check with your courier and/or mailroom before calling TDA. Only U.S. firms and individuals may bid on this TDA financed activity. Interested firms, their subcontractors and employees of all participants must qualify under TDA's nationality requirements as of the due date for submission of qualifications and proposals and, if selected to carry out the TDA-financed activity, must continue to meet such requirements throughout the duration of the TDA-financed activity. All goods and services to be provided by the selected firm shall have their nationality, source and origin in the U.S. or host country. The U.S. firm may use subcontractors from the host country for up to 20 percent of the TDA grant amount. Details of TDA's nationality requirements and mandatory contract clauses are also included in the RFP. Interested U.S. firms should submit their Proposal to the Tashkent University of Information Technologies c/o TDA by 4:00 P.M., August 15, 2002, at the above address. Evaluation criteria for the Proposal are included in the RFP. Price will not be a factor in contractor selection, and therefore, cost proposals should NOT be submitted. The Tashkent University of Information Technologies reserves the right to reject any and/or all Proposals. Tashkent University of Information Technologies also reserves the right to contract with the selected firm for subsequent work related to the project. The Tashkent University of Information Technologies is not bound to pay for any costs associated with the preparation and submission of Proposals.
- Record
- SN00123773-W 20020725/020723213824 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
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