Historique

Human Development in Moldova:

According to 2014 GHDR, Moldova’s HDI value for 2013 was 0.663, positioning the country in the medium human development category at 114 out of 187 countries and territories. (Website: http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/MDA).   Between 1990 and 2013, Moldova’s HDI value increased from 0.645 to 0.663, an increase of 2.8 percent or an average annual increase of about 0.12 percent. The country may have achieved higher HDI, but mainly due to the income component of the HDI, the progress made is insufficient, particularly compared to other CIS countries. When discounting Moldova HDI for inequality, the HDI falls to 0.582, a loss of 12.2 percent due to inequality in the distribution of the dimension indices. Poverty, decent jobs, rural vs. urban divide in terms of development, uneven access to some social services, social exclusion of certain groups of population and their structural vulnerability, all negatively affect some positive MDG-related achievements. Although poverty decreased steadily in the recent years, around 84% of all poor reside in rural areas and the situation has in fact been worsening. Rural households are still much dependent on remittances and incomes from traditional agriculture, thus extremely vulnerable to external factors and climate shocks. The recent economic growth was largely jobless, as shown by the rather stagnating number of new jobs available on the local labour market in Chisinau and almost inexistent new jobs in the regions. The development of the labour market is to a large extent slow, vast majority of available jobs being concentrated in Chisinau, while the offer in the regions is poor or inexistent.

The project Innovation among business start- up and SMEs in post- incubation phase is aligned to the current strategic outlook of/for UNDP at global and national level. It will consistently contribute, through the promotion of innovations and focus on sustainable impacts, towards the achievement of the Outcome (a) Growth and development are inclusive and sustainable, incorporating productive capacities that create employment and livelihoods for the poor and excluded, through adherence to the main principles of national ownership and capacity building, sustainable human development, gender equality, participation and voice, among others.

Project partners identified a series of specific constraints to more entrepreneurial activity in the regions, including lack of local consultative support for promotion of innovations in start-ups and business development in post-incubation phase;  lack of financial instruments to match-up existing local resources in private sector for development of innovative businesses, including those graduating existing business incubators; lack of local partnerships between private and public sectors to promote investment in small and mid-sized innovative social projects, as extensions to existing innovative businesses and  weak capacities of LPAs to promote innovations for business. Particularly as it regards the regions of Moldova, innovative entrepreneurship and business development is a feasible solution to address the above outlined reasons and perceived constraints so that to enhance competitiveness and increase corporate profits that can be further re-invested, create new and more sustainable jobs at community level, increase capacity of households to cope with increasing food prices through increased incomes, and minimize emigration and brain drain. Several economic sectors have untapped potential where new interventions may bring about positive results and more resilient local communities and people, in particular, HVA  and green agriculture, waste management and renewable energy, IT and tourism business.

Innovations State in Moldova:

SMEs in Moldova have rather limited access to innovations, including finance to innovate, knowledge-sharing networks, among others. This stems from underdeveloped legislative framework, inefficient usage of available resources, lack of coordination among various actors, wide spread of responsibilities between different entities, lack of comprehensive M&E framework to monitor and evaluate progress in promotion of innovations. Above all, the concept of “innovations” is yet not fully understood and interpreted in a very narrow sense, merely only in terms of patented technological improvements or scientific discoveries. The new Strategy on innovations, elaborated by the Government and supported by UNDP, brings important changes to the current set-up and the proposed policy measures are fully aligned and will support the implementation of the Moldova 2020 Strategy. Given the above, as well as a clear lack of statistical evidence on promotion of innovations up until now, it is very difficult to set specific baselines. The Strategy contains a summary of the perceived needs and identified problems, which is the main source for the baselines set in the Project’s RRF.  (As understood in the National Strategy on Innovations 2013-2020.)

Devoirs et responsabilités

The main objective of the assignment is to implement the first training program for innovative SMEs on ways to promote innovations in OECD terms in SMEs by bringing-in advanced international and regional expertise. This first training for SMEs shall establish a knowledge platform for small and medium enterprises to acquire knowledge on innovation-related fields and techniques, share best-practices, engage in an open discussion on ways to spur innovations in SMEs and learn about the opportunities to be offered by the Project in co-financing innovative projects led by private sector, in line with the provisions of the Innovation Strategy.

The first training programme shall be structured and include the following compartments, hereafter LOT(s), and specific topics to be tackled:

LOT 1 -  Insights into the innovation process and innovation promotion in SMEs

• Specific topics: (a) What is scope for innovation opportunity (new product, service, business model)? (b) What are the conditions that SME’s need if they are to be innovative? (c) How to use self-assessment to improve innovation management in SME. (d) Usual ways how small and medium companies come up to innovative ideas and how they commercialize them and (e) National innovations system in Moldova and existing infrastructure

LOT 2 - From idea and prototype to market

• Specific topics: (a) How to effectively asses customer needs and come to innovative solution of the problems? (b) How successful develop the concept or prototype (product, technology, design or method)? (c) How to validate and showcase innovation through piloting and prototyping? (d) How to get the prototype to the market and to overcome obstacles to get to the market?

LOT 3 – Parallel interactive workshop on Business strategies for innovations

• Specific topics: (a) Supporting Innovation in the business strategy: innovation strategy and planning for new technologies/products /methods; (b) How to innovate through new marketing approaches? (c) How to innovate through applying modern ICT?

LOT 4 – Parallel interactive workshop on Managing technological challenges

• Specific topics: (a) How to understand technological challenges, or forecast technological change and anticipate changing customer needs? (b) How to evaluate new technologies and link technology decisions with business strategy?

LOT 5 - Parallel interactive workshop on Management Issues

• Specific topics: (a) Human Resources for innovation – how to enhance creativity within the company and to boost new ideas? (b) Advanced project and financial management and business development – essentials for innovators.

LOT 6 - Intellectual property rights management

• Specific topics: (a) What is the role of IPR in innovation process and how to manage it? (b) In what circumstances is it important to go for patent, and what are the other ways of protecting IP?

LOT 7 - Funding for promoting innovations in SMEs

• Specific topics: (a) What are the current funding opportunities for promoting innovations in SMEs? (b) How to apply to the UNDP Innovations Fund/Matching grants scheme? (c) How to draft a project proposal for the UNDP Innovations Fund?

LOT 8 - Internationalization strategies

• Specific topics: (a) What are possible paths for successfully getting on international markets with innovative product? (b) How to identify and evaluate the opportunities for financing from VC, or any other sources for your SME? (c) How to utilise networks, alliances and partnerships in today’s global market?

LOT 9 – Parallel interactive workshop on Good Practices: Entrepreneur’s View

• Specific topic: (a) How to get investment – approaching, presenting and negotiating with investors;

LOT 10 - Parallel interactive workshop on Good Practices: Investor’s View

• Specific topic: (a) Critical criteria how the investing decisions are made, reasons why investing in innovative companies; under what circumstances an innovative company is eligible for financing

LOT 11 - Parallel interactive workshop on Good Practices: Government’s View

• Specific topics: (a) Which are policy measures envisaged in National Innovation Strategy? (b) What are the roles of donor organizations in developing national innovation system? (c) Universities and their role in technological development and education for innovation?

Important note: International consultants shall clearly indicate the LOT(s) and specific topics they are applying for and would cover during the training. Potential candidates can consider applying to several LOTs, except for those that suggest the organization of parallel workshops!

For detailed information, please refer to Annex 1 – Terms of Reference.

Compétences

Corporate Competencies

•  Demonstrates integrity by modelling the organization's values and ethical standards.
•  Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of the organization.
•  Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability

Functional Competencies:

• Strong analytical, drafting and training skills;
• Ability to analyse, plan, communicate effectively with stakeholders and present ideas clearly and effectively;
• Excellent communication and teamwork skills;
• Demonstrated interpersonal and diplomatic skills;
• Ability to enter new environments, adapt quickly and produce immediate results;
• Computer literacy - competent user of the main Microsoft Office programs.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education:

• University degree in Economics, Social Science or other relevant fields.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of proven experience in delivering trainings and organizing/leading workshops on broad aspects of innovation for SMEs development;
• At least 3 years of proven experience in training SMEs on the specific topic of interest, as per the provided list;
• Familiarity with the situation in the national innovations systems in the CEE region and Moldova is a strong asset;
• Knowledge of the EU regulations, including institutional, legal and policy frameworks, in the area of innovation and technological transfer is a strong advantage.

Language requirements

• Fluency in written and spoken English. Knowledge of Romanian or Russian would be an asset.

Application Procedure:

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

• Proposal: explaining why they are the most suitable for this position;
• Financial proposal: in (USD, specifying a total lump sum amount and the number of anticipated working days);
• Personal CV including past experience in similar projects.
• Contact details of at least three professional references.

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 shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including fee, taxes, travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days).

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.

Recommended Structure of the Financial Offer:

• Consultancy fee for the development, delivery and revision of the training;
• Consultancy fee for the participation at 2 days event;
• Travel costs: roundtrip to Chisinau (economy class);
• Lodging expenses;       
• Visa costs (if required);
• Other (please specify if relevant).

For complete information about this vacancy, including detailed tasks and responsibilities, full and detailed description of the evaluation procedure which will be applied, as well as the UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract, please refer to the Terms of Reference and the Individual Consultant Procurement Notice published at the UNDP Moldova website, Jobs Section: http://www.undp.md/jobs/current_jobs