DEADLINE: 11:59 pm EST on Wednesday September 19, 2012
equest for Expressions of Interest (REOI) are invited for establishing a Regional Climate Innovation Center in the Caribbean. InfoDev is now seeking expressions of interest (REOI) from organizations or consortia interested in establishing and operating the Caribbean CIC.
INFODEV (www.infodev.org), with support from the World Bank and CIDA’s Entrepreneurship Program for Innovation in the Caribbean (EPIC), is launching a Regional Climate Innovation Center (CIC) in the Caribbean. The Caribbean CIC will provide a country-driven approach to climate change and directly support the region’s objective to achieve green growth and energy security.
As one of the first set of CICs in a global network supported by INFODEV’s Climate Technology Program, the Caribbean CIC will be a high-visibility organization that will attract attention from international organizations, regional bodies, governments, investors, multi-national corporations, and others. Additional background on the INFODEV Climate Technology Program is available here.
Each CIC provides a range of services to enable domestic industry and SMEs to pro-actively and profitably develop innovative climate technology (cleantech) solutions that meet local needs. This supports countries’ economic development, job creation and industrial competitiveness in clean technologies, the most promising sectors of the 21st century.
INFODEV is now seeking expressions of interests (EOIs) from organizations or consortia interested in establishing and operating the Caribbean CIC. The business plans of other CICs should be reviewed before responding. Bidders nonetheless should not be bound to the specifics of other CIC business plans as will need to develop a model and operational plan specifically suited to the Caribbean context. INFODEV is also currently developing a business plan for the Caribbean CIC, and this process will be run in parallel to the selection of the CIC host.
A grant award of up to USD 3.5 million will be made to support the two phases of the CIC establishment, including Phase 1: Launch (years 1)
Phase 2: Scale-Up (years 2 to 5). This funding will cover operations, programs, and implementation.
The proposed services to be provided by the Caribbean CIC include:
infoDev now invites eligible organizations (e.g. private firms, NGOs, universities, research institutes, civil society) or consortiums to submit EOIs. The selected organization or consortium will be responsible for all aspects of the CIC establishment and operations including securing appropriate facilities, identifying a world-class management team, providing the services and programs described in the business plan, ensuring effective monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of programs, reporting to INFODEV, and ensuring in all ways the long-term sustainability of the CIC.
A lead partner must be identified in the EOI and may be required to become legally registered in a CARICOM country within two week after signing the contract, if not already registered there. Respondents are encouraged to consider partnerships/joint ventures with other organizations, inside and outside the Caribbean, in order to provide the best range of capabilities necessary to establish and operate the CIC.
For further information, visit the link.
