Vacancy: Local Strategic Advisor on national IT systems, UNDP Moldova

Local Strategic Advisor on national IT systems

Vacancy Number: Pr17/01602

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	28 Aug 2017, 10:00 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	07 Sep 2017, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	07 Sep 2017, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	04 Sep 2017
Reference to the project:	Enhancing Democracy in Moldova through Inclusive and Transparent Elections Strengthening capacities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Moldova
Expected Duration of Assignment:	210 working days
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Online" button, no later than 28 August 2017 Please submit a signed Offeror's letter confirming Interest and Availability Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: Diana Zaharia <diana.zaharia@undp.org>. UNDP will respond by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.
Supporting Documents: Terms of Reference Individual Consultant Procurement Notice Offeror's Letter confirming Interest and Availability Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Contacts:

Ms. Diana Zaharia.

Background

“Enhancing democracy in Moldova through inclusive and transparent elections” (EDMITE Project) is a newly approved project that sets the overall goal to achieve an enhanced transparency and inclusiveness of the electoral process in Moldova through a modernized IT system, improved legislation and intensified public participation, addressing the root causes of the current challenges hampering the further development of the democracy and the advancement of the electoral process in the Republic of Moldova.

The Project aims to contribute to: (1) achieving a more accurate State Register of Voters (SRV), improving the quality and accessibility data by re-engineering the Civil Status Service (CSS) systems, fully developing the State Address Register and facilitating data exchange and interoperability between different central public institutions via governmental platform for data exchange MConnect; (2) enhancing the inclusiveness of the electoral process through developing a remote voting tool and adjusting the State Automated Information System “Elections” (SAISE) to keep up with the technical and political developments; (3) legal reform in the area of elections to erase ambiguities and respond to the technical developments; and (4) enhancing political participation of citizens by setting up and implementing the voter information and civic education programmes.

The State Automated Information System “Elections”, approved by the Parliament in May 2008 under the Law No. 101,[1] is a comprehensive election management IT system which integrates key IT tools and functions, needed by an Election Management Body to conduct elections. SAISE enables the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) to administer several tasks of the electoral process electronically and to ensure an inclusive State Register of Voters (SRV). An accurate and comprehensive SRV is a high safeguard against fraud and, in turn, elections related violence.

The current version of SAISE contains around 8 inter-related IT applications/ modules meant to ensure transparency, accuracy and trust in the electoral process. Most of the SAISE modules (e.g. Electoral Candidates Module, Preliminary Registration Module, Signatory Lists Module, etc.) have been designed and developed in-house, under the leadership of the CEC Department of IT and Management of Voters’ Lists and with the previous support of UNDP, in the period 2014 – 2017. Complex SAISE Modules, such as State Register of Voters Module, Voters’ Turnout Module, have been developed with the support of specialized IT Companies.

[1] Law 101, On the Concept of the State Automated Information System Elections, 15.05.2008, Chisinau

[2] http://www.parliament.md/ProcesulLegislativ/Proiectedeactelegislative/tabid/61/LegislativId/3855/language/en-US/Default.aspx

Due to the successful implementation of SAISE throughout General Local Elections 2015 and Presidential Elections 2016, the CEC was able to provide real time electronic data on voter turnout and to present the preliminary results in less than 3 hours after the close of the polling stations.

On July 20, 2017 the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova adopted the new law on the change of the electoral system[2]. The new mixed electoral system will be applied already in the 2018 Parliamentary Elections. Taking into account the new legal and regulatory provisions, SAISE and its modules will have to be re-designed and adjusted following a pre-established Implementation Roadmap. New applications, such as Political Party Finance, or potentially, the Reporting Module and /or Remote Voting Module are planned to be developed and integrated later on into SAISE, too.

In parallel with the activities dedicated to the CEC, the collaboration of the Project with other central public administrations will also continue. The immediate project support is foreseen for the Agency for Public Services (specifically for the Civil Status Service) in the development of the Register of the Civil Status Acts.

“Strengthening capacities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and its internal subdivisions for the effective implementation of the sector reform agenda” (MIA Project) contributes to the enhancement of the operational and functional framework of the Minister of Internal Affairs (MIA) for the efficient, transparent and inclusive implementation of the sector reform agenda in the areas of public order, civil protection, border security, migration and asylum in compliance with the national priorities and international commitments improving the effectiveness in designing and implementation of sectoral policies and services addressing the needs of men and women in Moldova.

In 2014-2015 an internal audit on the situation of ICT and architecture definition in MIA central apparatus and in all subordinated subdivisions (Information Technologies Service, General Police Inspectorate, Department Border Police, Civil Protection and Emergency Situations Department, Bureau of Migration and Asylum, etc.) has been carried out, following the MIA Development Strategy of Information Technology and Communications (ICT) for 2013-2015 and the Action Plan. The audit assessment revealed that the ICT infrastructure at MIA is unevenly developed, while significant deficiencies were detected in several MIA subdivisions, especially in the segment of end users and the corporate network. Based on internal audit conclusions and deficiencies identified, the ICT at MIA has requested a dipper and more detailed assessment of the situation which is expected to provide concrete recommendations regarding the further strategical actions necessary to be undertaken in order to achieve a coherent, systemic and sustainable development.

Scope of work

EDMITE Project

Strategic technical advice for the adjustment of SAISE and other modules in accordance with the provisions of the new legal and regulatory framework for the mixed electoral system;
Strategic technical advice for the development of the Political Party Finance Module;
Strategic technical advice for the IT Systems managed by the Agency for Public Services (specifically in the area of EDMITE assistance);
Strategic technical advice for the development of the IT System for Civil Status Acts;
Technical advice for the software project management of the IT System for Civil Status Acts;
Technical advice in the development and analysis of various IT-related tender documentation;
Technical advice for the new software adaptability and accessibility for the needs of the persons with different types of disabilities, linguistic minorities (where relevant), other targeted and vulnerable groups, availability of sustainable automatic disaggregated data collection.

MIA Project

Strategic technical advice for the Business Analysis on the existent IT Systems administered by the MIA Information Technologies Service.

The consultant will have the following responsibilities:

EDMITE Project

Advise on the SAISE Roadmap for the period August 2017 – December 2019, taking into account the new changes in the electoral system;
Support the CEC IT team in developing the Technical Specifications for the adjustment of SAISE and its relevant modules to meet the legal requirements for the mixed electoral system;
Support the CEC IT team, Finance Department and the CCET in the adjustment of the Technical Specifications for the Political Party Finance Module;
Support the CEC IT team in developing the Technical Specifications for i-Voting/ Remote Voting Module and potentially Reporting Module;
Support the Agency for Public Services in the revision of the current Technical Specifications or the development of the new ones related to the current or new IT Systems managed by the Agency (specifically in the area of EDMITE assistance);
Contribute to the development of the Technical Specifications for the IT System of the Civil Status Acts;
Contribute to the implementation of the software project management of the IT System for Civil Status Acts;
Contribute to the elaboration of tender documents for the selection of IT company(ies) to perform project related complex tasks and participation in the procurement evaluation processes;
Assist the CEC and the UNDP Project to ensure that the newly adjusted SAISE, its modules and other IT Systems developed within the framework of the Project, are adaptable to the use of the persons with different types of disabilities, targeted and vulnerable groups of people, in accordance with the current existent regulations, and where possible, respond to the WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) recommendations (http://www.w3c.org/WAI);
Assist the CEC, the involved central public institutions and the UNDP Project in envisaging the sustainable automatic collection of disaggregated data from the new IT Systems that will be developed, including on vulnerability grounds (e.g., age, sex, language, region of voting) and making these data open to public, in line with the legal provisions on personal data protection and depending on the availability of this data in the CEC and the partnering institutions.

MIA Project

Support to the MIA Information Technologies Service in developing the Technical Specifications for the Business Analysis on the existent IT Systems. The document will comprise the following minimum components: a) general background; b) specific context and justifications of the proposed expertise; c) general and specific objectives of the proposed expertise; d) key activities to be undertaken in accordance with established objectives; e) expected results and deliverables; f) recommended number of working days per each deliverable and the estimated timeline; g) organizational settings including recommendations regarding the most efficient implementation approach (company or team of experts based) in accordance with the complexity of proposed tasks and the existent potential of

For detailed information, please refer to – Terms of Reference.

Requirements for experience

Qualifications and Skills required

Academic Qualifications:

University degree with 5 years of continued studies (Master’s Degree) in ICT, system analysis or related field.

Experience:

At least seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience in analysis, planning, design, development, implementation and maintenance of information systems or related area;
Specific experience in building ICT infrastructure, proven through the design of at least 5 information systems (the information systems in the designing of which the applicant was involved should be detailed explicitly in his/her CV);
At least 5 Technical Specifications developed for state owned ICT-based systems, particularly with DSS, ESB (the Technical Specifications developed by the applicant should be detailed explicitly in his/her CV);
At least 5 Business Analysis developed for the state owned ICT-based systems, specifically for MIA, CEC, Cadastre institutions, Civil Status Service and other central government authorities.

Competencies:

Familiarity with the national context (legal and policy framework) related to the Electoral System in the Republic of Moldova;
Knowledge of national context (legal and policy framework) related to the IT Systems administered by MIA;
Experience in IT Systems administered by the Agency for Public Services;
Understanding of the web/ software accessibility issues and ways to insure web/ software accessibility for persons with different type of disabilities, linguistic minorities, vulnerable and targeted groups;
Basic Knowledge of English, fluent in Romanian and Russian languages for the purposes of the assignment;
Knowledge of one or more additional languages relevant for Moldova, including Bulgarian, Gagauzian, Romani, Ukrainian or sign language is an asset.

Documents to be included

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

Proposal: explaining why they are the most suitable for the work including previous experience in similar Projects (please provide brief information on each of the above qualifications, item by item);
Financial proposal (in USD, specifying a total requested amount per working day, including all related costs, e.g. fees, phone calls etc.);
Duly completed and signed Personal History Form (P11), personal CV and at least 3 references.

Financial proposal

Contracts based on daily fee

The financial proposal will specify the daily fee, travel expenses and per diems quoted in separate line items, and payments are made to the Individual Consultant based on the number of days worked.

Disclaimer

In case of discrepancies between the text published on the website and the contents of the supporting documents, the provisions, instructions and conditions included in the supporting documents (published as Adobe Portable Document Format files) shall prevail. In case of discrepancies between the English version and the Romanian and/or Russian versions of text, documents or other content published on this webpage, the English version shall prevail.

Notice

UNDP, as a matter of practice, does not charge any application, processing or training fee at any stage of the recruitment process. If you have any questions as to vacancy announcements you may have received, please refer to this website.

UNDP is currently aware of fictitious vacancy announcements that are being circulated through the internet, the purpose of which is to get people to register for a training and send in a fee. If you believe that you have received such a notice, please forward it, and any other related information you have received, to scamalert@undp.org. Since logos, emblems, names and addresses can be easily copied or reproduced, you are advised to take particular care in applying for vacancies, including undertaking all appropriate measures to protect against the unauthorised use of any personal information you may have provided as a result of the scam.