The Grantee ("CODATA") invites submission of qualifications and proposal data (collectively referred to as the "Proposal") from interested U.S. firms that are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to develop the Paraiba State ICT Modernization Technical Assistance.

As of July 2016, Brazil was estimated to have 139 million Internet users, ranking it the fourth largest market in the world, according to an annual survey conducted by the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee. However, the number of fixed broadband subscribers (i.e., broadband access in homes and businesses, in contrast to cellular and mobile access) in the country has reached only 26 million out of a population of approximately 205 million (equivalent to only 12.7 percent of the population). While mobile connections are relatively common among the population, the benefits of platforms pertaining to e-learning, e-health and e-Government cannot be fully realized using smartphones alone. There are still vast unconnected rural areas, particularly in the north, northeast and west of the country. For example, in the northeast region, fixed broadband penetration is only
1.5 percent for rural areas.

Paraíba is located in the northeast region of Brazil and has a population of 4 million people. As the state's most important economic sector is services, comprising 73 percent of the state's GDP in 2013 (mostly within commerce, tourism, and government services), reliable ICT services are vital for the state's economy.

CODATA is the state IT company responsible for providing ICT services to all entities within the State Government of Paraíba. CODATA is seeking technical assistance to:
• Estimate state government demand for data center services over the next five years;
• Assess the current capacity of CODATA's data center, the other principal state data centers and smaller server rooms (particularly for the Secretariat of Revenue (Secretária de Receita) regarding equipment, software and physical facilities.
• Design a plan for the integration and consolidation of the state's data centers, including full active-active backup of all the data centers, to ensure they operate securely under a cloud computing architecture, significantly reduce costs and improve quality of service as compared to the present system and satisfy the projected demand for data center services and

• Determine the requirements for new hardware and software for the integrated and consolidated system of data centers, including the possible use of a private or public cloud computing architecture;
• Propose a design and business model for the expanded broadband network; and
• Support implementation of the upgraded data center and backup data center.
The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a US$733,830 grant to the Grantee from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).

A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes requirements for the Proposal, the Terms of Reference, and portions of a background definitional mission report are available from USTDA, at 1101 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1100, Arlington, VA 22209. To request the RFP in PDF format, please go to:

http://www.ustda.gov/business-opportunities/request-proposal-form

Requests for a mailed hardcopy version of the RFP may also be faxed to the IRC, USTDA 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 USTDA 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 USTDA to retrieve the RFP should allow one hour after faxing the request to USTDA 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, USTDA 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 mail room before calling USTDA.

Only U.S. firms and individuals may bid on this USTDA financed activity. Interested firms, their subcontractors and employees of all participants must qualify under USTDA's nationality requirements as of the due date for submission of qualifications and proposals and, if selected to carry out the USTDA-financed activity, must continue to meet such requirements throughout the duration of the USTDA-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 USTDA grant amount. Details of USTDA's nationality requirements and mandatory contract clauses are also included in the RFP.

Interested U.S. firms should submit their Proposal in English and Portuguese directly to the Grantee by 3:00pm, on January 7, 2019 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 Grantee reserves the right to reject any and/or all Proposals. The Grantee also reserves the right to contract with the selected firm for subsequent work related to the project. The Grantee is not bound to pay for any costs associated with the preparation and submission of Proposals.