Background

The Academy of Civil Service under the President of Turkmenistan (hereinafter referred to as the Academy or ACS) was established in September 2008. The strategic goal of the Academy is to create an educational, research, organizational, and methodological base that provides training and capacity building activities for management personnel of state authorities and local governments.

The Academy provides a two-year retraining course for civil servants, as well as short-term advanced training courses based on applications from ministries, state departments, and local governments.

According to the State Programme of the development of digital economy for 2021-2025 the development of digitalization and the ongoing institutional transformations in this area require a consistent build-up of the practical skills of civil servants.

To organize the educational process, the Academy, in addition to the main teaching staff, attracts highly qualified specialists and experts from the ministries and departments of the country, as well as representatives of partner higher educational institutions, specialized academies, research institutes and analytical centers, including from other countries. The training course programs provide for holding of practical classes and industrial practice for the students of the Academy from the Mejlis (Parliament), ministries and sectoral departments, as well as local self-government bodies.

UNDP and the Academy of Civil Service under the President of Turkmenistan have initiated the joint Project - Capacity Building of the Academy of Civil Service under the President of Turkmenistan.

The goal of this project is to strengthen the potential of the Academy of Civil Service under the President of Turkmenistan to improve the professional qualifications and retraining of civil servants in accordance with principles that take into account merit and performance, as well as to promote young specialists (including women) in leadership positions.

The project includes the following components: development and implementation of certification programs for professional development of civil servants in line with the primary objectives of development of digital economy and strengthening ICT infrastructure of education system of the Academy in accordance with objectives of civil service during the transition to digital economy.

The project is designed to support the Academy and develop, in close cooperation with it, modern training programs, as well as improve the methodology and material and technical base for further improving the training of civil service personnel.

The long-term goal of the assignment is to improve the efficiency of the public service in Turkmenistan in line with global trends and innovations.

The assignment corresponds to the priority areas of the National Programme of Socio-Economic Development of Turkmenistan for 2022-2052, the Presidential Program of Socio-Economic Development of Turkmenistan for 2022-2028, the Concept for the Development of the Digital Economy in Turkmenistan for 2019-2025, the State Programme of the Development of Digital Economy for 2021-2025, the Concept for the Development of the Digital Education System in Turkmenistan.

Duties and Responsibilities

Together with UNDP, the Academy is going to implement a new mechanism or civil servants’ competence and establish a new Digital Economy Certification Center. The competence-oriented approach in developing human capital in the state civil service system is one of the current national priorities. The main tasks of the Center will be:

• information and technical, methodological support for the process of testing the competence of state civil servants on Digital economy;
• conducting the process of testing to recruit competent civil servants;
• ensuring transparency of the testing process;
• improvement of procedures and tools of the testing process;

At present, one of the main priorities of the public policy of Turkmenistan is the development of a digital economy. Currently the Academy trains competent personnel for effective digital transformation, starting with civil servants’ competence. The Academy plans to launch an educational course on digital economy management in the frame of the Concept for the Development of the Digital Economy in Turkmenistan for 2019-2025 and the Concept for the Development of the Digital Education System in Turkmenistan.

With the purpose of the capacity building of public sector civil servants in digital transformation and improving the efficiency of public administration through the implementation of digital technologies and platforms, UNDP is going to support the establishment of Digital Economy Certification Center for the Academy of Civil Service under the President of Turkmenistan to increase civil servants’ theoretical knowledge and practical skills in the field of computer literacy, digital economy and management.

In this regard UNDP is seeking an international expert to support in developing regulatory set of documents for Digital Economy Certification Center for civil servants based on best international practices. 

The Certification Center will expand the opportunities for improving competencies needed for middle level management to act as a future digital transformation leaders and product managers for development of various digital products and services being developed for public sector. The certification testing should be recommended to specialists in digital management of national economy.

As a result of establishment of the Certification Center, civil servants will be able to get acquainted with the legal framework for the introduction of digital technologies and services, the principles and methods of digital management in the context of digital transformation.

By means of electronic courses, the civil servants will learn how to implement digital management in the context of transformation, analyze, reasonably select and use digital tools, information systems, web technologies in accordance with the priority tasks of the country, and network with other organizations to achieve the best results.

In accordance with the above-mentioned objective of the assignment and under the supervision of the UNDP team and the Academy staff, the International Consultant will carry out the following concrete tasks:

1. To overview of the best practices in establishment of such entities and assess the national regulation to adapt best practices;
2. To develop: Provision on Digital Economy Certification Center, Regulation on Certification Testing, Other documents corresponding to the task;

All documents will be provided in Russian language.The international expert will work with UNDP and State Academy project team daily. He/she will report directly to UNDP Project Manager.

Deliverables and Timeframe:

1. Deliverable 1: Report of the best practices in establishment of such entities and assess the national regulation to adapt best practices. Location: home-based. Number of days: 5 days (November).
2. Deliverable 2: Set of Regulatory Documents for Certification Center developed. Location: home-based. Number of days: 5 days (November).

Terms of payment:

This is an instalment-based contract that should cover the costs of consultancy required to produce the above deliverables. The final schedule of payments will be agreed upon in the beginning of consultancy. Payment will be released in 2 (two) instalments upon timely submission of respective deliverable and related report upon the acceptance by UNDP Turkmenistan:

• 1st instalment: 30% (for deliverable 1);
• 2nd instalment: 70% (for deliverable 2);

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Functional Competencies:

• Knowledge and extensive experience working with innovative educational instruments and mechanisms;
• Excellent training, facilitation and communication skills;
• Strong analytical skills, IT skills, ability to work with an audience;
• Ability to receive/integrate feedback;
• Good understanding of Digital Economy,
• Results driven, ability to work under pressure and to meet required deadlines.
• Knowledge of and ability to transfer expertise in the area of Information Technologies in Education

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master's degree in Economics, Jurisprudence, Management, Business Administration, and other relevant fields corresponding to this task;

Experience:

• At least 5 years of experience in the field of high education, digital economics and management, business administration;
• Knowledge and experience in capacity and institution building in the area of digital transformation process;
• Knowledge and experience in lawmaking activities;
• Knowledge and experience of work in educational system is an advantage;
• Knowledge of information systems development in a role as product manager is an advantage;
• Availability of publications on related topics (please attach the list of publications to CV);

Language:

• Excellent knowledge of Russian and English, including written and oral skills.

Submission of Documents:

Interested candidates shall provide the below-listed documents (information) to show their qualification:

All experts applying for this position are required to provide:

• Brief (1-2 pages) description of the methodology for the assignment. However, the specific methods for the assignment will be determined with consultations among UNDP Project team and the national partner about what is appropriate and feasible to meet the goals of the assignment;
• Financial Proposal with the references to (1) the daily rate for the assignment and within the timing scale indicated in the present TOR, and (2) any other expenses. Template of the form can be found  at: https://www.undp.org/turkmenistan/procurement. THE CANDIDATES WHO WILL NOT PROVIDE THE FINANCIAL PROPOSAL WOULD BE DISQUALIFIED. The UNDP will enter into an Individual Contract based on a lump sum amount. The financial proposal shall represent a detailed, justified and “all inclusive” amount.  In order to assist UNDP in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount, including: a daily fee for the tasks and an estimated duration as specified in this announcement;
• Cover letter explaining why they are the most suitable candidate for the assignment;
• Resume /CV;

Evaluation of Proposals:

Individual Consultants will be evaluated based on the combined scoring methodology. When using this method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant and
• Having received the highest score – out of 100

Out of the maximum score, the score for technical criteria equals 70% - maximum 100 points, and for financial criteria 30%.

a) Technical part of the proposal -70% of total evaluation:

• Education - 20 points;
• Methodology - 20 points;
• Professional experience (this will include the number of methodologic materials and similar works) - 25 points;
• Experience in educational field – 15 points;
• Language skills – 10 points;
• Interview - 10;

b) Financial part of the proposal - 30% of total evaluation.

Additional Requirements for the Recommended Candidate:

The recommended contractors at the age of 65 years old and elder and in case if a working trip is required shall undergo a full medical examination including X-ray and obtain the medical authorization from the UN approved doctor prior to accept his assignment. The medical examination shall be approved by the UN doctor and cost covered by the Consultant.