UNDP Jobs - 71804- Individual Consultant for Development of a Digital

Individual Consultant for Development of a Digital Cadastral Database (Land Transaction System and a Digital Cadastral Index Map)

Location :

Harare, ZIMBABWE

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Jun-2017

Application Deadline :

27-Apr-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

50 working days over a period of 5 months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

50 working days over a period of 5 months

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

The Ministry of Land and Rural Resettlement (MLRR) has developed project: Support to the Ministry of Lands and Rural Resettlement 2014 to 2016 Action Plan. The main objective of the project is to assist the MLRR accelerate the rehabilitation of the land sector as a prerequisite for recovery and development of agriculture and other land based economic sectors. The project is supported with resources from the UNDP and European Union from 2014 to 2016. The UNDP and EU are fully committed to support the critical elements of this project. The main objective of the project is to capacitate the MLRR accelerate the rehabilitation of the land sector as a prerequisite for recovery and development of agriculture and other land based economic sectors. The project will also support the establishment of the Zimbabwe Land Commission (ZLC), which is pivotal on the land in the country. The project will bring together partners to support the MLRR which includes the DSG to deliver on their mandates with regards the land reform. This will be catalytic in addressing the critical areas that will work towards the finalization of the outstanding issues on valuation, compensation, conflict resolution, base mapping and surveying of the resettled areas. The proposed interventions will ensure that MLRR has the capacity to monitor and track the production and productivity on agricultural land anchored on the Zimbabwe Agenda for Socio-Economic Transformation (ZIM-ASSET), the MDG commitments and other national performance indicators. Project Outputs as follows:

Output 1: Updated database on inventories of acquired farms;
Output 2: Consensus based compensation mechanism in place;
Output 3: Adequate survey control network established;
Output 4: Surveyed A2 farm units and updated land information database;
Output 5: Land Information System within the Ministry strengthened, effectively managed and coordinated;
Output 6: Dispute Resolution Framework Developed;
Output 7: Land Tenure Policy Is Reviewed and Implemented;
Output 8: Zimbabwe Land Commission is capacitated and functional;
Output 9: Project management.

Context of the Assignment:

Output 4 of the project requires that a digital land database is developed. This component of the project will be driven by the Department of the Surveyor General (DSG).

The Department of the Surveyor General (DSG) is mandated to oversee the survey of all state land and examine and approve all cadastral surveys and provide custodianship of all the records pertaining to such surveys in terms of the Land Survey Act[Chapter 20:12]. It is therefore prudent for the department to develop applications that manage all land transactions. In Zimbabwe, numerous parcels are being surveyed at a rapid rate, owing to the Land Reform and National Housing Delivery Programs, and the existing cadastral information system, which is largely manual, is failing to cope with the corresponding influx of surveys. This resultant failure to cope negatively impacts on the DSG’s land information delivery capabilities. Further the land surveyor sector is also modernising its operations with the use of digital technologies.

The Land Transaction System (LTS) an attribute database run on Microsoft Access 97 and the Watermark system, which was used for capturing the graphics/spatial and established to compliment the LTS were commissioned in 1998. The development of the two systems marked the beginning of the automation of all land transactions and digital storage of available cadastral data. No upgrades were performed over the years and both systems collapsed in 2007. The failure of both systems meant that the movement of survey records cannot be easily tracked, making it difficult for the DSG office and its clients to access information on surveyed properties as well as performing searches prior to carrying out a survey.

The Cadastral Index Mapping Project which aimed to convert all the 1:2 500 cadastral compilations from their current analogue format to digital format was also suspended years ago because of resource constraints.

In the last few years, demand for cadastral data in digital format has risen dramatically. The DSG is failing to meet this demand. This has resulted in many private surveyors developing their own data sets to unknown standards and selling this to desperate clients who need this data for their GIS applications.

The development of an automated and up-to-date cadastral database is thus long overdue. There is need to develop a robust cadastral information database which feeds into a national multi-purpose cadastre upon which all property transactions, planning and decision making are based. The development of an electronic cadastre (e-cadastre) will also assist the Government of Zimbabwe to provide on-line services to its citizens, business and public sector administrations within the e-Government framework.

It is in this context that the UNDP wishes to engage a consultant(s) on behalf of the MLRR to develop a digital land database. In undertaking the assignment the consultant will conduct extensive consultations with the DSG, the land survey sector (public and private) other relevant government ministries/departments.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of work

The project will entail the automation of descriptive data and the LTS on one hand and the automation of spatial data on the other. The automation of spatial data will involve converting all Cadastral Index Maps (compilation sheets) to digital format. This component of automation of Cadastral Index Maps will complement a new LTS and brought together the two will form a robust and easy-to-maintain system that is also capable of accommodating the lodgement of cadastral records in digital format (digital lodgement). The new system to be developed should also be able to accommodate transactions related to title registration activities (i.e. deductions). In addition, it is desirous to develop a system that can be integrated or linked to other databases, not only within the DSG and MLRR such as the geodetic and topographic databases but to other external land administration/GIS databases (e.g. in the Deeds Registry and Municipalities).

Specific Activities:

The following are the key activities that the consultant is expected to undertake:

Review of the current system cadastre database/system at the DSG;
Assess the user needs of a digital cadastre database;
Undertake systems re-designing and re-engineering as appropriate;
Development of a prototype and evaluation;
System testing and implementation;
Training of users (both internal and external);
Development of a support system.

Expected outputs/deliverables:

All deliverables such as reports, plans and other artefacts should be delivered to UNDP for onward transmission to the MLRR for acceptance and/or approval in order to reach the planned milestones and proceed to the next stages. The consultant(s) will therefore be expected to deliver the following:

Inception Report: Within one week of signing the contract the consultant(s) shall present an Inception Report detailing the Assignment Work Plan. The work plan shall indicate in clear terms the detailed approach and methodology, the list of identified key stakeholders to be consulted, the timelines. The report will also indicate the envisaged structure of the final report.

An Interim Report: The Interim Report shall be in the following parts:

Comprising the documents reviewed, stakeholders views, identification of issues, concerns regarding the current cadastre database at the DSG;
Analysis of the user needs for digital cadastre database;
The draft on the analysis the current cadastre database and the recommended systems re-engineering and redesign;
The analysis of the development of prototype cadastre database and its initial evaluation;
The systems testing and implementation.

Final draft report: The final draft report that incorporates all comments and evaluation of the digital cadastre database form the MLRR, the UNDP and other stakeholders.

Timeframe of Assignment:

The duration of the assignment is 50 working days commencing June 2017 over a period of five months.

Competencies

Core competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Advocates and promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional competencies:

Excellent reporting and communication skills;
Strong writing skills;
Strong interpersonal and networking skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

At least a B. Sc. Honours Degree in Geoinformatics/Geographic Information Systems (GIS);
A Masters degree in the related field will be a distinct advantage.

Experience:

At least five years proven experience in the development of Information Systems and Spatial Databases;
Technical expertise regarding data models, database design development, data mining and segmentation techniques;
Ability to write appropriate interfaces (e.g. Microsoft Excel) for data entry and ensure data quality and security;
Previous experience in developing data management;
Excellent verbal and written communication in English.

Language:

Fluent in written and spoken English.

Application procedure:

Applicants are requested to upload a copy of their latest updated P11 Form which can be downloaded from this website - http://www.sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc.;
Incomplete applications will not be given consideration;
Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document;
Please note that only applicants who are short-listed will be contacted.

Evaluation criteria
The Consultant will be evaluated based on qualifications and the years of experience, as outlined in the qualifications/requirements section of the ToR. In addition, the Consultant will also be evaluated on the following methodology:

Technical Criteria weight: 70%;
Financial Criteria weight: 30%.

The award of the contract shall be made to the Consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the Terms of Reference.