Tender Notice

Invitation to Tender: Revamp of the APAO Congress Scientific Program Management System

Reference Number: TENDER-2026-APAOSP-001

Date of Issuance: Jul 19, 2026

Subject: Invitation to Tender for the Design, Development, Implementation, Support, Maintenance, and Continuous Improvement of a New Scientific Program Management System for the APAO Congresses.

  1. Introduction

The Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO) invites qualified and experienced IT firms to submit tenders for a comprehensive revamp of its congress management system.

The APAO Congress is the premier professional and scientific event for ophthalmology in the region, held annually in a different city within the Asia-Pacific. This major international event consistently attracts between 6,000 and 10,000 delegates, including ophthalmologists, visual scientists, and other ophthalmic professionals from over 100 countries and territories. The congress is a critical platform for sharing innovations and best practices in eye care.

The scientific program is extensive and dynamic. A typical congress features over 120 invited sessions presented by more than 1,000 distinguished clinicians and scientists from around the world. The submitted program is equally robust, with the system needing to handle approximately 6,000 abstract submissions. These submission results include about 1,700 free papers presented across 108 sessions, 30 instruction courses, 1,500 posters, 800 e-posters, and 300 videos.

Given the scale and complexity of the APAO Congress, we are seeking to upgrade our current systems with a modern, secure, and integrated platform. This new system is envisioned as a long-term strategic asset—a highly flexible, modular platform that will streamline all aspects of congress management, from registration and abstracts to the final scientific program.

The new Congress Scientific Program Management System (CSPMS) must provide a future-proof foundation for growth. The key mandates derived from the internal review are as follows:

  • Unified System & Scientific Program Flexibility: The system must be highly flexible, allowing the secretariat to independently configure complex settings without technical intervention. It must support modern conference formats, including mixed-format sessions and a flexible, two-level specialty tagging system to enhance searchability.
  • Persistent User Identity: To solve chronic issues with duplicate accounts and fragmented user histories, the new system will be built around a unique, persistent user ID. This ID will consolidate all associated email addresses and activities for a single individual, ensuring a continuous record of engagement and achievement points. The registration process must include a robust screening mechanism to help users find and merge their previous accounts.
  • Robust Reporting & System Performance: The new CSPMS must feature a flexible, user-driven reporting engine that allows administrators to select data fields and create custom, savable report templates. It must also include built-in data visualization tools. The underlying architecture must be highly performant, capable of handling large data exports and high concurrent user loads without system-wide freezes.
  • Comprehensive Modules & Role-Based Access: The platform must include a suite of integrated modules beyond the core program, including a reliable email system with delivery tracking, automated reminders, and dedicated workflows for ancillary programs (e.g., Travel Grants, Awards, Fellowships). Access will be governed by a multi-level administrative system, with granular permissions and full audit trails for all changes.
  • Seamless Integration: The system must be designed to integrate seamlessly as an embedded component within the existing APAO WordPress website. It must ensure that content updates are reflected in real-time for the end-user once released by an administrator.
  1. Scope of Work

The successful bidder will be responsible for the end-to-end delivery of a new Integrated Congress Scientific Program Management System (CSPMS). The scope encompasses the entire project lifecycle, including project management, system design, software development, data migration from legacy systems, full implementation, comprehensive training for staff and volunteers, and ongoing technical support.

The CSPMS must be a robust, scalable, and secure web-based platform designed to handle the complexities of a large-scale international medical congress. It must provide a seamless experience for organizers, speakers, reviewers, and delegates. The system shall be composed of the following core, fully integrated modules:

A. Abstract Management Module

A comprehensive solution to manage the submission, review, and selection process for approximately 7,000+ abstracts.

    • Submission: An intuitive online portal for authors to submit abstracts, supporting various formats (e.g., text, images, tables). The form must be configurable for different submission categories, topics, and presentation preferences (e.g., instruction course, free paper, poster, e-poster, video).
    • Editing & Administration: A backend interface for administrators to manage submissions and a portal for authors to view and edit their submissions before the deadline.
    • Review & Scoring: A secure, double-blind online portal for a large pool of international reviewers to access and score assigned abstracts based on customizable criteria. The system must manage reviewer assignments and prevent conflicts of interest.
    • Proofreading Module: Provide a proofreading module for editors, with AI embeddable within the module.

B. Scientific Program & Session Building Module

Tools for the Scientific Program Committee to construct the entire congress schedule from invited speaker sessions and accepted abstracts.

    • Program Construction: A dynamic interface (e.g., drag-and-drop) to schedule thousands of presentations into a master timetable, assigning them to specific sessions, rooms, and times.
    • Session Management: Flexible functionality to create and manage various session types, including invited symposia, free paper sessions, instruction courses, and award sessions.
    • Speaker Management: A centralized system to manage all invited speaker data, including invitations, confirmations, travel/accommodation details, biographies, and photos. The system must automatically detect scheduling conflicts.

C. Presentation Management & On-site Operations

A suite of tools to ensure the smooth execution of the scientific program during the congress. Onsite execution should automatically and directly draw data from the system and allow any updates within the system to be synchronized with onsite operations.

    • Speaker Ready Room (SRR) Management: A networked system for the SRR where speakers can check in, review, and upload their final presentations in standard formats like PPTX and Keynote. The system must automatically distribute the correct presentation files to the corresponding session rooms ahead of schedule.
    • Session Room Management: Digital displays outside each room showing real-time session information. An in-room interface for moderators to manage speaker timings, facilitate Q&A, and control the session flow.
    • Poster, e-Poster & Video Management: A module to manage the allocation of physical poster panel numbers. A robust platform for displaying and navigating hundreds of e-posters and videos on-site via interactive kiosks or screens.

D. Delegate & Speaker Information Portals

Secure, personalized portals to enhance communication and engagement.

    • Public Program on APAO Website: A user-friendly, searchable, and public-facing online program embedded within the main APAO Congress website, that reflects any data updates in the system in real time. It must provide full access to session schedules, presentation details, speaker profiles, and abstracts.
    • Personalized Portals: Secure login areas for speakers and delegates to manage their personal schedules, access restricted documents, update their profiles, and handle congress-related tasks.
    • Communication Tools: Integrated communication engine to send targeted bulk emails and push notifications to different user groups (e.g., all delegates, speakers in a specific session, abstract authors).

E. Congress Mobile App

A dedicated, fully native mobile application for iOS and Android that is seamlessly integrated with the core CSPMS.

    • Core Features: Must include the full searchable program, personal schedule builder, speaker profiles, and abstracts.
    • Engagement: Features for live polling, audience Q&A, session evaluation, and delegate-to-delegate messaging.
    • Information & Navigation: Push notifications for important announcements, interactive venue and exhibition maps, and exhibitor information.

F. Outputs, Reporting & Evaluation

Automated generation of essential congress materials and data analytics.

    • Publications: Automated production of key documents, including the final Program Book, the Exhibition Directory and Abstract Book, in print-ready PDF and digital formats in accordance with the AMA Manual of Style (https://academic.oup.com/amamanualofstyle/book/27941).
    • Certificates: Automated generation and distribution of personalized certificates for attendance (CME/CPD), presentation, and session chairing.
    • Evaluation & Reports: A flexible module to create and distribute evaluation forms for individual sessions and the overall congress. A powerful, customizable reporting dashboard provides real-time analytics and overviews of submissions, registration, attendance, and session or speaker management. This tool is optimized for both central administration and onsite logistics.
    • Reminders: Reminders can be sent for pending items, including, but not limited to, reminding authors to complete the abstract, prompting completion of the review, and sending reminders for pending invitations.

G. Ancillary Program Management

    • Side Programs: Modules to manage the application and selection process for specialized educational programs and awards.
    • Social & Logistics: Functionality to manage social program registration and hotel booking is also desired.

H. System Integration and Maintenance

    • System Integration: A critical requirement for seamless, real-time, two-way API integration with existing and future third-party systems, including the Congress Registration System, the faculty RSVP system, and archival/database systems.
    • System Maintenance: The proposal must include a comprehensive plan for system maintenance, security updates, and dedicated technical support (pre-congress, on-site, and post-congress).
  1. Technical Requirements

To achieve the functionalities outlined in the Scope of Work, the proposed Integrated Congress Scientific Program Management System (CSPMS) must be built upon a modern, secure, and highly available technical foundation. Bidders must detail how their proposed solution will meet or exceed the following specifications:

A. System Architecture

    • Hosting Environment: The solution must be a cloud-native platform, hosted on a major, enterprise-grade cloud provider (e.g., Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP)), with due consideration for users based in mainland China (including reliable accessibility, stable performance, and compliance with local regulations). Bidders must specify their chosen provider and rationale.
    • Architectural Approach: A service-oriented or microservices architecture is strongly preferred to ensure modularity, scalability, and independent deployment of system components (e.g., Abstract module, Program module).
    • API-First Design: The system must be built with an API-first philosophy. A comprehensive, secure, and well-documented RESTful (or GraphQL) API is required to serve as the backbone for all front-end interfaces (website, mobile app, on-site displays) and third-party integrations.

B. Performance and Scalability

    • High Concurrency: The system must be architected to handle high-traffic peaks with no degradation in performance. This includes the abstract submission deadline and simultaneous usage by 6,000-10,000 delegates during the congress.
    • Low Latency: Critical user interactions, such as program searches, personal schedule updates, and AI assistant queries, must have a server response time of less than 2000 milliseconds under load.
    • Auto-Scaling: The infrastructure must utilize auto-scaling capabilities to automatically adjust computing resources based on real-time demand, ensuring performance while optimizing costs.
    • Content Delivery Network (CDN): A CDN must be used to cache and deliver static assets (images, documents, videos, CSS/JS files) globally, ensuring fast load times for all international users.

C. Security and Compliance

    • Data Encryption: All data must be encrypted both at rest (e.g., AES-256) and in transit (e.g., TLS 1.3).
    • Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): The system must feature a granular RBAC model to ensure users can only access data and functionalities appropriate for their role (e.g., System Admin, Reviewer, Speaker, Delegate, Staff).
    • Segregated Two-Tier Environment: The solution must be deployed across at least two logically separate servers
      • Web Server: A dedicated server for the web application, web server software (e.g., Nginx, Apache), and any public-facing components.
      • Database Server: A dedicated server exclusively for the database management system (e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL, MS SQL). It must be completely inaccessible from the public internet.
    • Web Application Firewall (WAF): The WAF must be configured at a minimum to protect against the OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities, including but not limited to:
      • SQL Injection (SQLi)
      • Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
      • Broken Access Control

The WAF must provide protection against volumetric attacks, such as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS). The vendor will be responsible for the initial configuration, tuning (to minimize false positives), and ongoing management of the WAF ruleset.

    • Authentication: Secure authentication mechanisms are required, including support for Single Sign-On (SSO) and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for all administrative accounts.
    • System Security Scanning: The program must include, at a minimum, quarterly authenticated system scans of both the web and database servers to identify OS and service-level weaknesses, as well as an annual manual penetration test of the web application conducted by a qualified third party. The vendor is responsible for providing detailed reports from all security assessments and for the timely remediation of all identified critical and high-severity vulnerabilities within 30 days of discovery.
    • Data Privacy: The platform must be compliant with international data protection regulations, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union and the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance of Hong Kong. Features must include clear user consent for data processing and the ability for users to manage their data.
    • Auditing and Logging: Comprehensive audit trails and logs for all significant actions within the system must be maintained for security and accountability. Regular vulnerability scanning and penetration testing (pre- and post-deployment) are required.

D. Integration Capabilities

    • Real-Time, Two-Way API: The system’s API must support seamless, real-time, two-way data synchronization with third-party systems, particularly the Congress Registration System, to ensure data consistency across platforms.
    • Webhooks: The system should support webhooks to push real-time updates to other integrated systems when key events occur (e.g., a new speaker is confirmed, a session time changes).

E. User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX)

    • Responsive Design: All web-based interfaces must be fully responsive, providing an optimal viewing and interaction experience across desktops, tablets, and mobile devices.
    • Accessibility: All public-facing and delegate-facing components must comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA standard.
    • Mobile App: The congress app must be a native application for both iOS and Android to ensure optimal performance, reliability, and access to device features like push notifications. It must have offline capabilities, allowing users to access their personal schedule and downloaded content without an active internet connection.

F. On-site Infrastructure

    • Network Resilience: The on-site components, especially the Speaker Ready Room (SRR) and session room presentation management system, must be designed for high availability and be capable of operating on a dedicated local network, resilient to intermittent internet outages.
    • File Synchronization: A robust and automated file synchronization mechanism is required to push presentation files from the SRR to the correct session room laptops with 100% reliability. The system must include verification and logging of all file transfers.
    • Hardware Specifications: The bidder must provide a detailed list of minimum hardware specifications required for on-site servers, SRR workstations, and in-room presentation laptops.

G. Data Management and Reporting

    • Database: The system must use a modern, scalable database technology (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL, or a managed equivalent).
    • Data Migration: The bidder must provide a detailed data migration plan, including tools and processes for extracting, transforming, cleansing, and loading data from existing systems with minimal downtime.
    • Reporting Engine: The system must include a powerful and flexible reporting engine that allows administrators to generate custom reports and data visualizations without requiring developer intervention.
  1. Vendor Qualifications

Bidders must meet the following minimum qualifications to be considered:

  • At least ten years of experience in developing and implementing large-scale IT systems for the congress industry, with a strong preference for experience in medical congresses.
  • Demonstrated experience with projects of a similar scope and complexity.
  • A team of qualified professionals with expertise in project management, software development, cybersecurity, and data migration.
  • The bidder must not be involved in any litigation that could compromise the delivery of services required under this contract.
  • Proof of financial stability and the capacity to undertake a project of this magnitude.
  1. Proposal Submission Guidelines

Bidders shall adhere to all the requirements of this Request for Tender (RFT), including any amendments made in writing by APAO.

Bidders are required to submit their proposals in two separate parts: a Technical Proposal and a Financial Proposal.

  • Technical Proposal: This should detail the bidder’s understanding of the project, the proposed solution, methodology, project plan, team structure, and how they meet the vendor qualifications.
  • Financial Proposal: This should provide a detailed cost breakdown for all aspects of the project, including licensing, development, implementation, training, and ongoing support. Prices must be quoted in HKD and be inclusive of all taxes.

Any bid submitted will be regarded as an offer by the bidder and does not constitute or imply the acceptance of the bid by APAO. APAO is under no obligation to award a contract to any bidder as a result of this RFT.

APAO reserves the right to cancel the procurement process at any stage without any liability of any kind, upon notice to the bidders or the publication of a cancellation notice on the APAO website.

Deadline for the Submission of Quotation September 30, 2026 18:00 GMT+8

 

If any doubt exists as to the time zone in which the quotation should be submitted, refer to http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/.
Method of Submission Quotations must be submitted as follows:

– Email Address: cynthiawong@apaophth.org

or

– Courier / Hand delivery at APAO
c/o Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 4/F, Hong Kong Eye Hospital
147K Argyle Street, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Subject Line: Request for Tender: Revamp of the APAO Congress Scientific Program Management System (TENDER-2026-APAOSP-001)

It is recommended that the entire quotation be consolidated into as few attachments as possible.

 

The bidder shall receive an email acknowledging the receipt of the quotation.
Preparation Costs APAO shall not be responsible for any costs associated with a bidder’s preparation for and submission of a quotation, regardless of the outcome or the manner of conducting the selection process.
Currency Quotations shall be made in Hong Kong dollars.
Only One Bid Each Bidder shall submit only one bid. Bids submitted by two (2) or more bidders shall all be rejected if they are found to have any of the following:

a) they have at least one controlling partner, director or shareholder in common; or

b) any one of them receives or has received any direct or indirect subsidy from the other/s; or

c) they have the same legal representative for purposes of this RFQ; or

d) they have a relationship with each other, directly or through common third parties, that puts them in a position to have access to information about, or influence on the bid of, another bidder regarding this bidding process; or

e) they are subcontractors to each other’s bid, or a subcontractor to one bidder also submits another bid under its name as lead bidder; or

f) some key personnel proposed to be in the team of one bidder participate in more than one bid received for this bidding process. This condition relating to the personnel does not apply to subcontractors being included in more than one bid.
Language All quotation documents, including catalogues, instructions and operating manuals, shall be submitted in English.
Documents Required Bidders shall include the following documents in their tender:

 

Annex 1: Technical Proposal

Annex 2: Financial Proposal

Annex 3: Bidder’s Declaration

Together with

Document 1: Company Profile

Document 2: Job Reference in the Past 5 years
Validity

Period

 Quotations shall remain valid for 90 days from the deadline for submission.
Price Variation No price variation due to escalation, inflation, fluctuation in exchange rates, or any other market factors shall be accepted at any time during the validity period of the quotation after the quotation has been received.
Partial Quotes Not permitted.

 
Alternative Quotes Not permitted.

 
Enquiries Any enquiries about this RFT should be directed to  cynthiawong@apaophth.org.

 

Any delay in APAO’s response shall not be used as a reason for extending the deadline for submission, unless APAO determines that such an extension is necessary and communicates a new deadline to the proposers.
Clarifications Requests for clarification from bidders will not be accepted any later than 1 day before the submission deadline. Responses to requests for clarification will be communicated via email by cynthiawong@apaophth.org.
  1. Evaluation Criteria

The Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO) is committed to a transparent and fair evaluation process to select the most suitable partner for this project. The contract will be awarded to the bidder who demonstrates the best overall value, balancing technical capabilities, corporate experience, project methodology, and cost.

All submitted tenders will first be assessed for compliance with mandatory administrative and legal requirements. Bidders must meet all of the following criteria to proceed to the detailed evaluation stage. A tender will be disqualified if it fails to meet any of these requirements:

  • Submission of the tender before the specified deadline.
  • Acknowledgment and acceptance of all terms and conditions outlined in this tender document.
  • Demonstrable financial stability and a minimum of five (5) years of operation as a registered business entity.
  • Provision of at least three (3) client references for projects of similar scale and complexity completed within the last five years.

Tenders that pass the requirements as above will undergo a detailed evaluation based on a weighted scoring system. The evaluation committee will score each proposal against the criteria listed below.

  1. Technical Evaluation (75%):
    • Proposed solution and methodology (40%)
    • Vendor experience and past performance (20%)
    • Project plan and timeline (8%)
    • Qualifications of the proposed team (7%)
  2. Financial Evaluation (25%):
    • The financial proposal will be opened only for bidders who meet the minimum technical score. The lowest-priced bid will receive the maximum financial score.

The contract will be awarded to the bidder whose proposal is determined to be the most advantageous to the APAO, based on the total weighted score. The APAO reserves the right to negotiate with one or more bidders before making a final award. The APAO is not bound to accept the lowest-priced tender or any tender submitted.

  1. Tender Timetable
  • Tender Issuance: July 23, 2026
  • Deadline for Clarification Questions: September 15, 2026
  • Proposal Submission Deadline: September 30, 2026
  • Anticipated Contract Award: October 30, 2026
  1. Contact Information

All communications and inquiries regarding this tender must be directed in writing to:

Ms. Cynthia Wong

Congress Director

Email: cynthiawong@apaophth.org

Potential bidders are responsible for regularly checking the APAO website for any updated information related to this tender.