Republic of Moldova

National consultant to make adjustments in the software, databases and registers for the transition of national statistics to EU statistical classifications

Vacancy Number: Pr13/00431

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	13 Jan 2014, 12:00 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	17 Jan 2014, 09:00 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	20 Jan 2014
Reference to the project:	Strengthening the National Statistical System
Expected Duration of Assignment:	up to 25 working days
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted online only, by following the “Apply online” link, no later than 13 January 2014. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: aurelia.spataru@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 Annex 1 to Terms of Reference Individual Consultant Procurement Notice Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Background

Joint UN Project on Strengthening the National Statistical System of RM (Statistics Project) is currently implemented by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in partnership with the UNDP, UN Women, UNICEF, UNFPA, ILO and the Government of Romania, and aims at improving data production, dissemination and use of statistical information with particular attention to national needs and overall conformity of official statistics with international standards.

One of the Statistics Project’s intended results is the improved capacity of the National Bureau of Statistics and other line ministries to produce (through the administrative reporting system, surveys and censuses) in a timely manner, data of appropriate quality being multi-dimensionally disaggregated and aligned with the EU/international requirements and regulations.

The actual Strategic Development Program of NBS[1] has been conceived to focus on harmonization of the national statistics with the EU and/or an international standards, which constitutes an important integral part of the state efforts and actions forward its accession to the European Union. Respectively, the adjustment of the statistical processes to the actual national context and in conformity with the European requirements envisages the application of adequate statistical tools and methodologies aimed to ensure reliable, relevant and timely statistics.

The Project is to respond to the urgent need of NBS to harmonize (a) the Classification of Economic Activities in Moldova (CAEM) with the Statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community[2] (NACE, revision 2), and (b) the Nomenclature of industrial products PRODMOLD[3] with the European classification of goods used for statistics on industrial production PRODCOM 2010.

The alignment of the national classifications with the latest versions of the mentioned EU classifications includes a transition period during which certain adjustments are applied to the used questionnaires, calculation methodologies, data correlations, data collection, processing and dissemination, including all the tools and software applications which accompany these processes.

Scope of work

The purpose of the assignment is:

(1)     To adjust the available software applications (three) used to produce industry statistics through re-coding of industry related statistical respondents and outputs reported by them applying the new versions of CAEM and PRODMOLD classifications compliant with EU requirements;

(2)     To compile the databases with industry statistical data (including retrospective for the prior periods) using the new CAEM classification of activities (adjusted to NACE rev. 2) and PRODMOLD 2013 (elaborated according to PRODCOM List 2013 used in EU countries).

The specific objective of the assignment is to provide the National Bureau of Statistics with the professionally designed software modules that will allow generation of industry statistical data according to the new classifications, but also preserving the older/previous ones. The applications will be applied by the statisticians and economists of the NBS for the industry statistical data processing and generation of output tables, as well as re-coding and adjustment of databases and enterprises’ registers for all the surveys carried out by the Industry Statistics Division.

The expected software modules (three) will be designed on the basis of the available/operational applications meeting the respective technical requirements (see Annex 1 to Terms of Rerefence). The available databases for previous years (2011-2013) will be re-coded according to the PRODMOLD 2013 Nomenclature, and the list of respondent enterprises will be codified according to CAEM Rev.2 Classifier.

The successful accomplishment of the assignment’s targets should contribute to:

1)       Alignment with international standards by production of industry statistical indicators compliant with the PRODMOLD 2013 classification;

2)       Provision of reliable, relevant and comparable statistical data (including retrospective time-series) for both internal users and international organizations.

For the main tasks and activities to be performed see the Terms of Reference.

Requirements for experience

The following qualification criteria are applied during the selection of the consultant:

Academic Qualifications:

• University degree in computer science, statistics and/or other areas relevant for the assignment;

Years of experience:

• Minimum of 3 years of proven experience in designing and maintaining of software applications, including those based on contemporary web technologies, or other relevant professional experience;
• Relevant experience of work related to collection and/or production/processing of statistical data;
• Collaboration with Government in area/s relevant for the present assignment;
• Experience in working with international organizations and UN agencies in particular would be an asset;

Competencies:

• Knowledge of the peculiarities of statistical sector (e.g. data collection process, imputation, processing and dissemination, etc.) and ability to work with big datasets would be an asset;
• Good communication and writing skills;
• Good knowledge of Romanian, knowledge of English will be an additional asset;
• Good interpersonal skills, solid judgment/decision making, initiative and creativity;
• Availability to work with UNDP and Project’s national stakeholder during the indicated/approved period;
• Cultural and gender sensitivity.

Documents to be included

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

1.       Technical Proposal:

• explaining how applicant responds to the qualification requirements and why he/she is the most suitable for the work;
• describing a short vision on achievement of tasks.

2.       Personal information (as a detailed CV or as a Personal History Form /P11) including records on past experience in similar projects/assignments and concrete outputs obtained;

3.       Financial proposal (in USD, specifying a total lump sum amount and the number of anticipated working days).

Financial proposal

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.

In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including all related costs e.g. travel, per diems, fees, taxes, phone calls etc.) and the number of anticipated working days.  The consultant shall bare costs for all supplies needed for data collection and data processing including possession of his own personal computer.

Travel

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

 

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