PPP Standards and Instructions

Public-Private Partnership for Implementing e-Government Projects Standards and Instructions Consolidated Standards and Instructions Introduction: The partnership between the public and private sectors is one of the most effective means in the application of e-Government transactions in many countries. There are several reasons for the use of these the most important means is the access to the qualified personnel and the optimum allocation of the necessary financial resources to implement the eGovernment projects, and the nature of the activities for which the partnership established and its implementation requires speed and flexibility is not usually available in the performance of governmental agencies. The greatest impact in the continuation of such a partnership occurred by the positive results achieved as a consequence of it and also by the improvement of the service delivery level. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has demonstrated its vision of this partnership in many occasions, and considered it an essential and integral part of its national strategy for e-Government transactions. The culmination of this trend has been issued the Council of Ministers resolution No. (110) and the date of 5/4/1425 H that approved the rules governing private sector participation in the e-Government according to the method of income participating in the version attached to the resolution. According to paragraph (5) of those Rules, which states that "The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the Communications and Information Technology Commission are to develop consolidated standards for systems used by governmental agencies with regard to the studies needed and the requirements and conditions of competition, shared with stakeholders in the analysis process and award of tenders and follow-up implementation of the projects. " These consolidated standards and instructions have been prepared to assist the governmental agencies in applying the method of public-sector partnership with the private sector, easily and implemented very effectively to help in achieving the desired objectives of the provision of services through the e-Government transactions. YESSER E-Government Program 1 Consolidated Standards and Instructions Article I: Definitions The Meanings of the following words and terms - wherever they mentioned in this document - have the meanings set forth unless the context requires otherwise: • Program: e-Government program • The concerned government: the governmental agency that owns the project • Partnership: the partnership between the public and private sectors to implement e-Government projects • Partner: The executing agency of the private sector • Transactions: e-Government transactions YESSER E-Government Program 2 Consolidated Standards and Instructions Article II: Objectives The application of these consolidated standards and regulations, is to achieve the goals of e-Government program in particularly the following: 1.Provide rapid provision of governmental services in high efficiency. 2. The establishment of the necessary infrastructure for the application of e-Government projects. 3. Improve the level and scope of the delivery of governmental services electronically. 4. To achieve speed and flexibility in the approval processes for projects related to the implementation of services and e-Government transactions. 5. Reduce the risks during the implementation of governmental services and control when they occur. 6. Provide the overall and appropriate framework of the method for the partnership that ensures governmental agencies support in providing their services with the required level , as well as to enable the agencies to focus on developing their core business continuously. 7. Reduce costs and increase revenues through effective project management of e-Government transactions. YESSER E-Government Program 3 Consolidated Standards and Instructions Article III: Consolidated Standards and Instructions of the Partnership The implementation of the Partnership is occurred in accordance with the followed consolidated standards and regulations: 1. To give priority in the implementation of e-Government transactions projects to the method of the partnership between the public and private sectors. 2. The establishment of an effective partnership between the public and private sectors characterized by flexibility, cooperation , mutual understanding and full compliance with the specific roles for each of them to achieve the desired success. 3. Guidance in the design of the partnership towards the provision of services in the best level. 4. Fit all the obtained by the partner from the private sector with the services provided by the public sector. 5. Preparation of procedures for the implementation of all competitions and procurement projects in the e-Government transactions projects according to fair and transparent method and also according to competitive system, government procurement and its approved operational and financial rules and regulations. 6. Provide all information and necessary actions within the governmental agency during the application of the partnership, coordination between various departments and branches within the governmental agency in order to clarify all the details of it for all and to ensure their cooperation and contribution to the success of the project of the partnership. 7. Encourage small and medium companies to contribute to the partnership, either directly or in conjunction with key partner in the implementation of some of the work as subcontractors. 8. Each governmental agency is to supervise the implementation of the requirements related to the framework of the partnership, as well as other actions relating to contracts and procurement in general, and the agencies can consult the e-Government program and asking its help with regard to the methods of the best experiences available to the partnership and its application. YESSER E-Government Program 4 Consolidated Standards and Instructions Article IV: Governance 1. The concerned governmental agencies are to coordinate with the relevant agency in the Ministry of Finance with regards the studies that had been prepared on the financial returns and the proposed method of competition, before the commencement of the bidding of the project is, or to request information from competitors, to ensure the convenience of such a process with the relevant governmental systems. 2. The relevant agency in the Ministry of Finance handles the cooperation and coordination with the e- Government program to address issues related to e-Government transactions projects, and to ensure consistency of instructions developed by the relevant agency in the Ministry of Finance in line with the objectives of the e- Government program and its implementing regulations, and the e- Government program is to give its consultations of the relevant agency instructions before being informed to the other involved governmental agencies. 3. Apply the regulations and related decisions of the conflict of interests on the e- Government transactions projects, including the inadmissibility of any personal interest for any member of the staff associated with the project. YESSER E-Government Program 5 Consolidated Standards and Instructions Article V: Reporting and Experiences Transfer 1. The program have the responsibility of documenting the resulted practices of the partnership, and the lessons that come out of those practices, compiled, coordinated and made them available to all governmental agencies. 2. Governmental agencies provide the program with a periodical report per the program format and in dates determined in such a version and so contains all the necessary information to follow the course of the project and draw lessons and practices from the experiences. YESSER E-Government Program 6 Consolidated Standards and Instructions Article VI: Economic Feasibility Study 1. The governmental agency is to prepare an economic feasibility study of the project; such a study is to include in particular the following matters: A) Clear definition of the services to be provided to beneficiaries in terms of name, type, beneficiaries and the criteria for adapting the beneficiary’s needs. B) The current status of the method of service delivery, procedures and the new method, which will be followed after providing it electronically and after the submission of the procedures. C) Identification of the necessary financial, human and technical resources to provide the service and the funding mechanism, distribution of shared revenues, also identification of advertising and intellectual property rights relating to e-Government transactions and others between the governmental agency and the partner with the determination of the amount of those revenues, and the mechanism of each revenue type. D) The necessary requirements of information security, protection and privacy for making e-Government services available in the concerned governmental agency. 2. Such studies are carried out in accordance with internationally approved methods for conducting the economic feasibility study. 3. This study includes a number of possibilities based on different expectations. The two Templates of Business Case and Feasibility Study are implied in Supplements No. (A) and (B). YESSER E-Government Program 7 Consolidated Standards and Instructions Article VII: Risk Assessment 1. The economic feasibility study carried out by the concerned governmental agency must include a study of the potential risks of the project, in particularly includes , the following: A) How to overcome the potential risks of the project, and the elimination of their effects. B) A statement of the factors that may affect the service, both in terms of lack of demand for the service, technical, human, economical errors, or any other regulatory impediments. The Risk Template is implied in Supplements No. (C) . YESSER E-Government Program 8 Consolidated Standards and Instructions Article VIII: Selection of Partnership Model 1. The concerned governmental agency is to conduct a study to choose the best methods to implement the partnership, with priority given to the method of income participation, in a condition of being the method that achieves the highest financial return For the government. 2. The concerned governmental agency is to conduct a comprehensive internal assessment to determine services that can be submitted electronically and put them into an integrated package for the partnership, in order to be meaningful and attractive to the private sector. 3. The partnership must meet the needs and objectives of both sectors, in terms of : the bided project's objectives and needs of partnership, the cost, possibility of the effective implementation and managing of the project to achieve the expected incomes, skills availability, choosing the right time to start the application and other goals. YESSER E-Government Program 9 Consolidated Standards and Instructions Article IX: Public Consultations 1. The concerned governmental agency is to prepare a document for public consultation with the whole consistent with the requirements of Supplement No. (D) of such consolidated standards and instructions. 2. The public consultation document includes a general description, a current mode of service delivery, the method of the proposed submitting , the organizational factors , the financial return and other topics that are designed to obtain public consultations around. 3. The public consultation document is to be formulated through explaining the matter for which the public consultations document is requested with an introduction to the questions the public ought to answer. 4. The governmental agency Studies the received public consultations and provides a study to the program includes available options that represent the results of those consultations and recommendations. YESSER E-Government Program 10 Consolidated Standards and Instructions Article X: Request for Information 1. The concerned governmental agency that owns the project is to prepare a request for information document from those wishing to engage in a partnership project in accordance with the request for the model information contained in Supplement No. (R). 2. The concerned governmental agency that owns the project is to coordinate with the program on such a document and approve it before being sending to the private sector. YESSER E-Government Program 11 Consolidated Standards and Instructions Article XI: RFP Document 1. The concerned governmental agency after analyzing the responses, received from the private sector over the request for information document, is to prepare a RFP document in accordance with the request for model proposals contained in Supplement No. (S). 2. The concerned governmental agency is to coordinate with the program over such a document and approve it before sending to the private sector agencies. 3. The RFP document must be clear ,set out the rights and obligations , all actions of the general competition are supposed to be open and transparent and consistent with the requirements of the competition and governmental procurement. 4. The received offers are to be considered by a Committee chaired by a senior official of the concerned governmental agency that owns the project and the membership of a number of technical specialists, financial and legal, with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Finance , the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the Communications and Information Technology Commission. 5. The provided offers are to be considered from all aspects of technical, operational and financial, according to an evaluation mechanism be developed in advance of biding the project, and the mechanism should be clarified within the RFP document. 6. Recommendation of the Committee is to be for the best offer from all aspects of technical, operational, financial and which receives the highest points in the evaluation set. 7. Place award by the authority in accordance with the recommendation by the Evaluation Committee and in accordance with the followed statutory procedure. YESSER E-Government Program 12 Consolidated Standards and Instructions Article XII: Contract The contract of the implementation of the Partnership between the concerned governmental agency and the winning project award agency after tender, is to be formed according to the wording of the model contract contained in Supplement No. (Q). YESSER E-Government Program 13 Consolidated Standards and Instructions Article XIII: Service Level Agreement To ensure the best level of providing service the concerned governmental agency that owns the project is to prepare A service Level Agreement in accordance with the model contained in Supplement No. (SS). YESSER E-Government Program 14 Consolidated Standards and Instructions Article XIV: Implementation Follow-up 1. The concerned governmental agency is to make the follow-up of the implementation of the project, to ensure the commitments of the project awarded agency to fulfill its obligations in an accurate way . 2. The concerned governmental agency is to conduct periodical and comprehensive review of the project in coordination with the program, during the implementation period, in accordance with the mechanism and procedures of the program. 3. The agency committed to the project and the partner are to prepare the required reports as specified by the program and schedule and submitted to the program, which is competent to provide the concerned agency in the Ministry of Finance with a copy of it. 4. The program is to compile reports classify , disseminate the best practices, including its advantages; obstacles and their causes in order to be a reference for all agencies to take advantage of them. YESSER E-Government Program 15 Consolidated Standards and Instructions Article XV: Control 1. All the projects of partnership with the private sector formed according to the existing control, audit and scrutiny systems. 2. The agency owning the project is to name competent regulatory external auditors to audit the project and submitting a report to the concerned control authorities after coordination with the concerned agency at the Ministry of Finance and control authorities . YESSER E-Government Program 16 Consolidated Standards and Instructions Article XVI: Project Structure The agency committed to the project is to be responsible for the development of appropriate structures and procedures for the management of the project, and ensuring the performance of the private sector partner to work with all the ease and accessibility to ensure access to the expected financial return in exchange for providing the service. YESSER E-Government Program 17 Consolidated Standards and Instructions Article XVII: Marketing and Awareness 1. The agency committed to the project or the project implementing partner is to be committed to make a marketing plan for the project includes the definition of the service and its method of submission, with the allocation of appropriate means to receive the observations of the beneficiaries and their complaints and suggestions. 2. The agency committed to the project is to take all the needed actions to solve the problems received from the beneficiaries and to receive their observations according to specific and clear actions. YESSER E-Government Program 18 Consolidated Standards and Instructions Article XVIII: Human Resources The agency committed to the project is to work for taking advantage of the project in the development of human resources available to it, and oblige the implementing partner of the project incorporate and utilize them through training and providing opportunity to work in such a project. YESSER E-Government Program 19 Consolidated Standards and Instructions Article XIX: Conflicts Resolution The program puts a friendly solution of resolving the conflicts that may occur between the parties of the partnership, apply to this method binding before resorting to the judicial authorities in K.S.A to decide on such a conflict . YESSER E-Government Program 20