Independent Advisory Services on Overall Software Architecture and Framework, Technical Supervision, Research on Appropriate AI/ML Model and Quality Assurance for the Enhancement and Modernization of the AI-Enabled Customs Bond Management System (CBMS) [Package No. CS2]

Published by Ministry of Finance, National Board of Revenue. Procuring Entity: Member (Customs: Export, Bond & IT), National Board of Revenue. The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh has allocated public funds, and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) intends to apply a portion of these funds towards the cost of independent technical advisory, AI/ML model design and data engineering, and quality assurance services for the Software Development and Upgradation of the Customs Bond Management System (CBMS) by Enhancement of Existing Modules, Incorporation of New Modules, Geographical Expansion, and Operation and Maintenance of the CBMS. CBMS is the digital platform of record for end-to-end management of bonded warehouse operations across Bangladesh, covering Bond License administration, e-Bond Register maintenance, HS Code and Co-efficient (DEDO) management, Utilization Permission (UP) and Utilization Declaration (UD) processing, lien bank coordination, audit management, Diplomatic Warehouse Management, Faceless Audit, AI/ML-based Risk Management and related regulatory workflows under the Customs Act, 2023 and applicable Statutory Regulatory Orders (SROs). NBR is engaging a software firm (the "Software Vendor") through a separate procurement to re-architect CBMS to a microservices-based platform, enhance existing modules, develop new modules, integrate CBMS with external systems (ASYCUDA World, Bangladesh Bank, BIDA, BEPZA, BSW, e-VAT, e-TIN and lien banks), expand it to all designated field offices, and operate and maintain it under a Service Level Agreement (SLA). NBR intends to engage a qualified independent institution (a university, a Government/autonomous research or technical institute, or a research firm) as Technical Advisor, designer of AI/ML models and data engineering, and Quality Assurance (QA) Service Provider to act on behalf of NBR throughout the contract life of the Software Vendor: to review and advise on requirements, architecture and design; to devise the AI/ML models and the data engineering framework for the Risk Management and other AI/ML-based components and to validate their implementation; to independently verify and validate the software deliverables, including code quality, functional, performance and security testing; to verify integration, data migration and geographical roll-out; to advise NBR on acceptance of deliverables and milestone payments; and to monitor SLA compliance during operation and maintenance. Procurement Method: Quality and Cost Based Selection(QCBS). Budget and Source of Funds: Non_Development GOB. Experience and Resources Required: The applicant institution must meet all of the following minimum eligibility criteria: 1) Must be a legally established and recognized institution in Bangladesh, namely (a) a public or private university, through its Computer Science/Software Engineering/ICT-related department, institute or research and consultancy center; or (b) a Government or autonomous research or technical institute; or (c) a legally registered research firm/organization; or (d) an ICT firm. Documentary evidence of legal status (Act/Charter/Statute, UGC approval, or certificate of incorporation/registration, as applicable) must be submitted. 2) Must have demonstrated capability in (i) Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology or related fields, including AI modelling, machine learning and data engineering; (ii) Customs or Regulatory or Financial Domain; and (iii) Accounting or Taxation or Domestic and International Business or related fields. 3) Minimum 8 (eight) years of experience in providing ICT consultancy, technical advisory, software quality assurance/testing or independent verification and validation (IV&V) services to Government, semi- Government or autonomous organizations. 4) Valid e-TIN and VAT Registration (BIN) of the institution. 5) Successful completion of at least 1 (one) assignment as technical advisory/consultancy firm or as quality assurance service provider for a software development or e-governance project of any Government, semi- Government or autonomous organization or Government-owned company, with a single contract value of at least Tk. 2.00 (two) crore. Work Order/Contract Agreement and Completion Certificate must be submitted as documentary evidence. 6) Experience in software testing and quality assurance (functional, integration, regression and performance/load testing, code review and test automation) of enterprise software system(s). Work Order/Contract Agreement/Completion Certificate must be submitted as documentary evidence. 7) Experience in cyber security assessment, i.e. vulnerability assessment and penetration testing (VAPT), secure code review or ICT security audit, of at least 1 (one) Government or financial sector system. Documentary evidence must be submitted. 8) Experience in review of solution architecture and system design of large-scale enterprise systems. E