ICTworks

Last week, I had ChatGPT explain what to expect in the $95 million USAID Advancing Digital Democracy Request for Proposal (RFP).

Back then we only had the ADD Request for Information (RFI). Yet the same day, USAID published the real ADD 7200AA24R00083 RFP. While there are usually strong similarities between RFIs and RFPs, the former is general guidance while the latter are actual solicitations. Hence, let’s analyze the actual RFP today.

What Changed with ADD RFP?

I asked ChatGPT to analyze the difference between the RFI and RFP and after a few seconds of contemplation, it realized that the:

• RFI’s Objectives are focused on capacity building for governments and civil society, with emphasis on legal frameworks and digital technology development. It provides more granular details on privacy-by-design technologies and engaging with marginalized populations.
• RFP’s Objectives incorporate a broader range of digital ecosystem management, such as enhancing cybersecurity, establishing multistakeholder coalitions, and working closely with the private sector to drive rights-respecting digital innovation. The RFP also addresses digital repression more explicitly and emphasizes creating resilience to it.

How Should You Respond to the RFP?

Our favorite Generative AI solution says it is essential that you to emphasize these key activities in your response to the ADD RFP, showcasing how you will align with Advancing Digital Democracy’s objectives and expectations.

1. Strengthening Legal and Regulatory Frameworks: Demonstrate your organization’s capacity to assist governments in developing and implementing human rights-aligned digital policies. Highlight experience with technical assistance, training, and advisory services for policymakers, legislators, and judicial bodies to strengthen regulatory frameworks related to technology, data governance, and cybersecurity.
2. Promoting Human Rights and Democratic Values in Technology Development: Showcase your ability to foster rights-respecting product design by collaborating with local technologists and private sector actors. Emphasize previous efforts in working with tech companies to embed democratic values in software development, such as designing human rights impact assessments and privacy-by-design systems.
3. Engaging Multistakeholder Platforms: Your proposal should underscore experience in facilitating multistakeholder coalitions involving governments, private sectors, civil society, and academia. Stress your experience in creating or strengthening such platforms to build local consensus on digital transformation and human rights protections.
4. Capacity Building and Technical Assistance: Highlight your experience in capacity-building initiatives targeting government officials and civil society to manage and safeguard digital ecosystems. Include examples of training programs or advisory services related to digital literacy, cybersecurity, and human rights in the digital sphere.
5. Leveraging Private Sector Partnerships: Demonstrate your organization’s ability to partner with the private sector to achieve ADD objectives, including promoting private sector innovation that aligns with human rights and leveraging venture capital for local digital entrepreneurship. Illustrate previous partnerships with technology companies to advance rights-respecting digital transformation.
6. Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Systems: Illustrate your expertise in establishing robust monitoring and evaluation systems for tracking the impact of digital democracy programs. Mention any M&E frameworks you have used to assess program performance and adapt to evolving challenges in the digital governance landscape.
7. Flexibility and Adaptability in Local Contexts: Showcase your experience with locally-driven approaches to program design and implementation. Emphasize your ability to work with local stakeholders to tailor activities to specific country needs, such as managing grants under contract and adapting international standards for local application.

Use Grant Assistant’s Compliance Matrix

ChatGPT has a major weakness. It is a general purpose technology – not trained specifically on RFPs. For the most detailed understanding on how you should respond, you need to use specialized GenAI solutions.

My favorite is Grant Assistant. Grant Assistant is a whiz in building a compliance matrix. This is usually a complicated task that takes multiple people reviewing and rechecking a RFP over several days. Often compliance is where locally-led proposals fail.

You must be 100% complaint in your proposals!

I cannot stress this enough. Any error in compliance, and your proposal is disregarded, no matter how great your ideas. Sometimes a compliance issue is only identified in the final RFP reading, and whole proposals need to be reworked at the last minute.

I asked Grant Assistant to build an ADD RFP compliance matrix. Download that file and check the RFP yourself. From my read, this is an amazing list. Way better than ChatGPT. Grant Assistant’s compliance matrices will save you hours of careful reading with a highlighter.

Who Should Respond to the ADD RFP?

Last week, ChatGPT identified organizations like IREX, AccessNow, CIVICUS, IFES, ICNL, and Internews that have the expertise, resources, and experience needed to respond to USAID’s Advancing Digital Democracy RFP.

When looking at the real RFP, it suggested 10 more organizations that have a history of engaging in digital democracy initiatives, possess relevant expertise in advancing human rights through technology, and have established partnerships with key stakeholders like governments, civil society, and the private sector.

1. National Democratic Institute (NDI)

• NDI has a strong track record in supporting democratic governance and human rights across digital platforms globally.
• Their Democracy and Technology program aligns with the RFP’s focus on fostering rights-respecting digital governance.
• Extensive experience in building coalitions between civil society, governments, and the private sector to promote digital democracy.

2. International Republican Institute (IRI)

• IRI has a proven record in strengthening democratic institutions, particularly in countries experiencing political transitions.
• IRI’s technology and democracy initiatives fit well with the RFP’s objectives of promoting legal and regulatory frameworks and supporting digital transformation.
• Expertise in cybersecurity training and digital repression resilience aligns with Objective 1 of the RFP, which focuses on building government capacity and legal frameworks.

3. Mozilla Foundation

• Mozilla’s mission to promote an open and secure internet makes it a perfect fit for advancing digital rights and human rights online.
• Mozilla’s work on human rights by design and privacy-enhancing technologies directly matches the RFP’s Objective 2, which focuses on embedding human rights in technology development.
• Experience in promoting internet standards that support open and democratic online ecosystems is in line with USAID’s goals for multi-stakeholder engagement.

4. Global Partners Digital (GPD)

• GPD has vast experience in shaping digital policy and governance with a focus on human rights and multi-stakeholder approaches.
• GPD’s work on digital policy capacity building with governments and civil society fits the RFP’s focus on supporting governments in developing rights-respecting regulatory frameworks (Objective 1).
• GPD’s global convenings for multi-stakeholder collaboration align with USAID’s emphasis on building sustainable coalitions in the digital ecosystem.

5. Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL)

• DIAL specializes in digital transformation efforts in developing countries, focusing on inclusive and sustainable digital ecosystems.
• DIAL’s expertise in digital public infrastructure and support for digital inclusion initiatives fits well with the RFP’s focus on fostering inclusive digital ecosystems.
• Experience in public-private partnerships to advance digital development aligns with the RFP’s goals of engaging private sector actors to strengthen democratic values in technology.

6. Open Government Partnership (OGP)

• OGP’s commitment to enhancing transparency, accountability, and civic participation through digital tools makes it an excellent candidate.
• Their work on open data and civic tech aligns with the RFP’s focus on embedding human rights and democratic values in technology and supporting civic engagement (Objective 3).
• OGP’s multi-stakeholder platforms provide the ideal framework to implement the coalition-building aspect of the RFP.

7. Internet Society (ISOC)

• ISOC’s focus on ensuring the internet remains a global platform for communication, commerce, and collaboration fits with the RFP’s objectives.
• ISOC’s advocacy for internet governance standards aligns with the RFP’s goals of promoting democratic values in digital governance.
• Experience in building inclusive digital access initiatives fits well with the RFP’s objectives to foster equitable digital ecosystems.

8. Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT)

• CDT is at the forefront of policy advocacy on issues such as data privacy, free expression, and surveillance, all of which are central to the ADD program.
• CDT’s work on digital rights and governance perfectly aligns with the RFP’s objective to help governments implement legal frameworks related to technology.
• Experience with cross-cutting policy issues like AI governance makes them well-suited for addressing complex challenges in digital governance.

9. Association for Progressive Communications (APC)

• APC advocates for an open, fair, and sustainable internet, making them well-suited to respond to this RFP.
• APC’s focus on gender inclusion in digital policies aligns with the RFP’s emphasis on inclusive digital ecosystems

10. Freedom House

• Freedom House’s mission to promote freedom and democracy makes it a strong candidate for this RFP.
• Their work in measuring internet freedom and documenting digital repression aligns with the RFP’s focus on creating open and rights-respecting digital ecosystems​

You Should Use GenAI for Proposals

I hope by now that you are considering Generative AI for your business development processes. As I’ve shown last week and today, you can utilize generic tools like ChatGPT and specialized tools like Grant Assistant to predict solicitations, analyze RFPs, identify competitors, design proposals, and ensure compliance.

ChatGPT will not steal your business development job, yet someone using GenAI might just beat you in the Advancing Digital Democracy procurement.

Oh, and if you think using these tools is somehow “cheating,” consider this: how is using ChatGPT to improve your proposal any different from hiring a professional grant writer to polish your organization’s ideas and ensure compliance? USAID doesn’t see a difference. Neither should you.