Events Mobile and Web Application Service Provider

Established in 1889, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is the world organization of parliaments – a global forum for parliamentary dialogue, cooperation and action.

The IPU advances democracy and assists parliaments and parliamentarians around the world to fulfil their mandates.

The IPU promotes and defends democracy and the rule of law. It develops parliamentary standards, disseminates information on good practices and helps make parliaments and MPs more effective. It defends the human rights of members of parliament and promotes respect for universal values, norms and principles. The IPU works in support of gender equality and the participation of women, minorities and indigenous peoples in political and public life. It assists parliaments in coping with a growing international agenda and in contributing a parliamentary dimension to the work of the United Nations and similar multilateral institutions.

The Organization is financed primarily by its Member Parliaments (180 Members and 15 Associate Members) out of public funds and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

The IPU website can be accessed at https://www.ipu.org. 

Objectives

The IPU organizes several events throughout the year. 

The Organization’s main biannual events are its Assemblies, which take place in March/April and October each year. Assemblies attract 1,500+ delegates (170 to 190 delegations) from IPU Member Parliaments, Associate Members and permanent observers. Each delegation has a coordinator who is designated to complete online registration. The IPU also holds two to three smaller conferences annually, which take place at various times of the year, each with an attendance of 300-500 participants. 

The objective of this RfP is to solicit competitive proposals from service providers that could provide IPU event attendees with an easy-to-use web and mobile application for iOS and Android devices, serving as the central means of accessing key information, updates and documents, and communicating or networking with IPU staff and other attendees. The successful vendor’s system will potentially provide a fully multilingual (English and French initially, with the possibility of adding additional languages on request) mobile application for the IPU Assembly in the second semester of 2024. 

Audiences

The main audiences of the IPU web and mobile applications are its Member Parliaments from all over the world. Secondary audiences include IPU partner organizations (UN agencies and civil society) as well as media, academics and students.

Services and support to be provided

• Setup of the mobile application with the IPU developer iOS and Google Play accounts
• Setup of the web application with IPU organizational web domain (ipu.org)
• Application of IPU branding on the mobile application
• Import of IPU event delegate user information from the Cvent Events Registration Platform in order to grant access credentials
• Setup of all necessary security measures
• Setup of initial content sections and functions of the mobile application
• Pre-launch user acceptance testing
• Training for IPU staff that will manage the mobile application
• Technical documentation
• Technical support for reported issues

Required features and functions

• Allows both open and restricted access to event information through user login and security levels.
• Allows management of mobile application users and access credentials. 
• Ability to customize the mobile application’s colours, logos and design to match the IPU’s visual identity.
• Fully multilingual capability (initially in English and French) for the mobile application’s interface, including labels, content, email messages and notifications. Provision for manual customization of translations must also be available.
• Storage and archiving of all event and participant information.
• Ability to clone events or create templates when creating or managing events for the mobile application.
• Allows the upload of files, text, images and links.
• Allows custom content pages and sections.
• Allows custom content layouts for mobile application pages.
• Allows embedding of videos and other multimedia on created pages.
• Allows upload and management of speaker bios and photos.
• Allows upload and management of event sessions in a central calendar format, with links to the respective session pages containing information such as files, speakers, relevant links, room location, etc. Users should also be able to register for event sessions using the calendar. 
• Ability to set security levels for uploaded content. 
• Allows upload and management of venue maps or floor plans that provide users with visual guides/directions to event session locations. Venue maps and floor plans should allow linking to event sessions.
• In-app chat with participants individually or as a group.
• In-app social networking with participants.
• In-app polling and voting.
• Includes robust security measures to protect sensitive information.
• Ensures compliance with international data protection regulations (e.g. GDPR) and IPU personal data protection policy.
• Provides access to all IPU Members globally. 

Expected overall deliverables

Under the overall guidance of the IPU Conference Services team, the supplier will be responsible for the development and deployment of the IPU Events Mobile and Web Application with the required features and functions in section 5, supporting it with the services listed in section 4. All participant and event data, visual assets, uploaded content in the form of files, images, videos and text are the sole and exclusive property of the IPU. The supplier acknowledges and understands that the app must be designed to be accessible internationally. 

 Selection criteria

Vendors will submit video recordings demonstrating their respective web and mobile applications to the IPU Conference Services team. Additionally, links or sample “proofs-of-concept” may also be provided. Vendors will also submit a proposal document (in PDF format) outlining all features and services provided with all corresponding fees and costs. Selection will be based on the presentation and/or proof-of-concept that best meets all listed features and services with the most competitive pricing.