UNDP Jobs - 58525- Consultant - Inventory and Mapping of Electronic/M

Consultant - Inventory and Mapping of Electronic/Mobile (E/M) Government Services and Applications

Location :

Mbabane, SWAZILAND

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

10-Aug-2015

Application Deadline :

31-Jul-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

25 working days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

25 workign days

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Public Service delivery through Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been identified as a priority for the Government of Swaziland. The provision of efficient and effective public service delivery is essential for the country development, it spurs economic and social development and improves lives of communities and marginalised groups of society especially the poor. An e-Government programme has been established to enhance efficiencies in public service delivery and also transform the country into an information society and knowledge economy. An e-/m-Government Strategy was developed and adopted in 2013 and an Operational Framework to materialize the e/m Government Strategy and enhance coordination of the different interventions was also developed in 2014 which identified key priority actions that have to be instituted to implement the programme. The e-Government strategy acknowledges that (ICT) is now globally viewed as a vehicle to promote competitiveness, sustainable development goals, poverty reduction and good governance.

The roll out of the e-Government programme calls for the development of programmes, policies and legislation aimed at creating an enabling environment for the use of ICT and improving service delivery. To ensure maximum adoption of the programmes, transforming the traditional, and customary ways of doing business, public sector and citizens need to be informed and educated on the implications of e-Government.

A scoping review and a technology audit study was undertaken in 2011 and 2012 respectively to ascertain the e-readiness of the country to implement e-Government. The findings indicated that the Government has some basic hardware, software and network infrastructure capacity to start implementing some of the recommended activities articulated in the e-Government strategy. Some of the Ministries have introduced some ICT related solutions to enhance service delivery, this is still at infancy stage of implementation and lot of technical support is required to build confidence of staff and citizens on usage of the ICT platforms. To gain a more holistic view of the current ICT related programmes one of the prerequisite is to undertake an inventory and mapping exercise of all ICT related tools used in the different government ministries and departments. The outcome of this exercise will facilitate and guide the review of the ICT procurement guidelines and further inform the development of standard operating procedures for the different ministries on e-governance. Additionally the process should provide a baseline of all ICT related products, software’s and solutions currently in-use by the different Ministries.

Regional consultants are therefore invited to undertake the inventory and mapping of electronic/mobile (e/m) government services and applications including existing IT systems and hardware. There is also a need to map out the relationship between IT systems and applications and the services delivered electronically. This would inform the Business Process reengineering exercise in terms of the existing level of automation and further requirements.

Objective

The objective of the assignment is to carry out an inventory of the existing systems and applications and how they operate to determine the scale in terms of quality and quantity of hardware and software required for the implementation of the e-Government strategy and operational framework. Secondly, to create an inventory of services and establish priority services that will have an impact in the implementation of the e-Government programme.

Duties and Responsibilities

Carry out an inventory and mapping of the existing IT systems and applications Ministry by Ministry, Agency by Agency with a view to determine their ability to be desirable of being ported/ extended to a Web/Mobile based environment;
The inventory and mapping review should include all of the network and connectivity hardware, software version used and the connectivity services in place, including minimum bandwidth required by the application and suppliers of such systems;
Undertake an inventory of all IT Outsourcing and standing Agreements for supporting the ICT systems in each Ministry, Department and Agency;
Determine the hardware, software, networking equipment, service and requirements to fully implement the e-Government strategy.
Undertake an inventory and mapping of all existing public services on a Ministry by Ministry basis especially those public services that are delivered using digital channels;
Define, detail and document Ministry by Ministry IT requirements in terms of quality and quantity proposals for each of the e-government services as well as IT assets required for implementation, especially the technical requirements on a Ministry, Department and Agency basis;
Define the requirements for the establishment of an e-SWAZeNET (Government network) in terms of capacity, telecommunications support infrastructure, last mile connectivity etc.;
Bandwidth availability by Ministry, Department and Agency, in terms of how many Mbps are available vs how much would be required under the proposed architecture;
Determine the Cost of connection on a Ministry, Department and Agency basis;
Use costings from SPTC, MTN and any other available service provider;
Check existing manual inventory management system maintained by the Computer Services Department within the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology and by Ministry, Department or Agency;
Introduce an electronic inventory management system and develop a database for the information and data collected;
Explore and recommend full network backup and restore systems e.g. Cloud computing and related technologies including costing of the recommended solution.

Expected Results:

The Technical Expert is expected to submit an inventory and mapping report, with recommendations for adoption and implementation by the Government of Swaziland;
The final report and framework for the data management system should also be developed for implementation;
Inventory Management Database for the collected data and future updating preferably developed on Micro Soft based platform;
Proposed upgrade / replacement plan of existing infrastructure/hardware/software/systems for the rollout of e-government strategy;
A clearly defined implementation plan with a disaster recovery fail proof Plan/Document detailing duties and responsibilities to implement the disaster recovery plan should the need arise.

Competencies

Proven analytical and organizational development skills;
Excellent writing and analytical skills;
Sound knowledge of UNDP's work on Democratic Governance and e-governance;
Excellent interpersonal skills and an ability to collaborate with subject experts;
Ability to work collaboratively in a team structure in a multicultural environment;
Proven track record on meeting deadlines;
Ability to work on a multi-cultural environment and developing countries;
Excellent oral and effective presentation and report-writing skills;
Express clearly and concisely ideas and concepts in writing and orally;
Excellent social and communication skills;
Strong analytical skills and must have worked on similar initiatives.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

A minimum of Master’s Degree in Information Technology and IT Architecture, PhD Preferable;
Vast knowledge on IT systems, programming of web based applications including mobile applications, network engineering and e/m frameworks.

Experience:

A minimum of 10 years of experience working in the e- governance sector and public sector e- governance programmes;
Must have at least five year experience in designing e/m programmes to enhance public service delivery including conducting inventory and mapping of public services expertise;
Sound knowledge of e/m governance issues in developing countries;
Excellent knowledge on mobile technologies and ICT innovations knowledge of UN policies and principles.

Language:

Fluent in English.