Background

Project Title

Pintig Lab for COVID19

Strengthening PHL Covid19 Response

Background and Description

The coronavirus disease (COVID19) was officially declared as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020 as it affected more than 110 countries and territories. Its rapid spread is causing negative impacts on health systems and economies around the world. As of 17 August 2020, there have been 164,474[1] confirmed cases of COVID19 positive individuals in the Philippines nationwide.

In the Philippines, the entire island of Luzon was placed under ‘enhanced community quarantine’ from 16 March 2020 to curb its spread. The pandemic was considered as a “new” problem that not everyone was able to prepare for. Government agencies as well as private sector actors have encountered challenges in developing programs and initiatives that will be able to cater to the needs of the people. Meanwhile, the COVID19 has already shown its socio-economic impacts as the weeks under ECQ progressed, with the lockdown restricting movement, productivity, and trade. The vulnerable and marginalized sectors have suffered the most, as without a daily income for subsistence, must now rely on the social amelioration package prepared by government.

While the government has taken a hard-lined stance to instill law and order, its policy decisions and response strategies will need to be supported with evidence, if they are to be accurate and effective. There is already a need to prepare for the recovery phase, which must balance the need to restart economic activity with the need to contain the rate of infection. The issue, however, is the fact that critical sources of data are still fragmented across technical solutions, databases, public and private organizations. There is no central platform that is able to capture the critical sources of data to give a holistic picture of the situation - taking into account not just health but also socioeconomic considerations - for the IATF and local governments.

With this, the UNDP Philippines aims to establish the COVID-19 Pintig Lab similar to the Pulse Lab in Jakarta, which will provide real-time data-driven policy recommendations to national and local governments. Specifically, the Pulse Lab will provide a data warehouse that will combine data sources from multiple systems, process available data, and conduct advanced qualitative and quantitative analysis to provide real-time information and a comprehensive set of policy recommendations to decision-makers.

The Pintig Lab Lab requires the services of a Consultant who shall provide technical inputs and expertise in the development and implementation of a Command Centre platform for the COVID19 response and recovery.

[1] Based on DOH COVID-19 Case Bulletin #156, dated 17 August 2020

Governance and Accountability

• Overall direction and guidance shall be provided by the UNDP Senior Policy Advisor, Impact and Advisory Team.
• Though the Consultant’s outputs and deliverables shall be reviewed, quality-assured, and accepted in consultation with the consortium or its key members, this contract is executed and managed under the operations policies and procedures of UNDP. The ALab PH Head of Experimentation or Senior Policy Advisor shall formally accept outputs and cause the processing of payments.

Expected Duration of the Contract

The consultant will be hired for an estimated 55 person-days over 6 months. The target start of the work date is 28 August 2020 and the maximum end date is 19 March 2021.

Duty Station

1. The Consultant shall be home-based and deliver his/her outputs remotely. He/she is expected to have his/her own workspace, computers/laptops, software, and other facilities and equipment.
2. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and declaration of State of Public Health Emergency in the Philippines, all work of the individual consultant shall be done within the guidelines and protocols set by the local and national government. During the quarantine period, the IC shall NOT engage in any meetings or activities OUTSIDE THEIR HOMES. Similarly, the Consultant is also expected to adhere to the quarantine guidelines and restrictions of the country which they reside.
3. Coordination/meetings shall be done through phone or online communication until such time that the quarantine is lifted, during which this will be STRICTLY a HOME-BASED assignment; NO TRAVEL IS REQUIRED for the IC to complete their abovementioned tasks.
4. UNDP and the Consultant shall assess, once the Enhanced Community Quarantine is lifted, if it is safe and necessary to have in-person meetings and collaborations.

Competencies and Professional Qualifications of the Successful Consultant

The Consultant shall have the following minimum qualifications:

1. Ideally with an advanced degree in data science or closely related fields such as analytics, information technology, innovation. At least a university degree in the said fields as well as in economics, statistics, political science, development studies, social sciences, public administration, business management, or other relevant fields. Specialized training is advantageous;
2. At least seven (7) years of professional experience in development programming, including providing of technical advise and guidance on key decisions at strategic moments in the project implementation. Previous working experience in similar position in UN agencies or International organizations would be advantage.
3. At least five (5) years of work experience on technology and innovation related project implementation.
4. Demonstrable professional knowledge and/or experience in the following areas is preferred:
   1. Development, use, and deployment of disruptive technologies, including data science and machine learning, artificial intelligence, internet of things, deep learning, complex systems, among others. Deployment of such technologies in the development space is advantageous;
   2. Use of social innovation and entrepreneurship approaches such as design thinking, behavioral insights, user research, experiment design, foresight, systems thinking and research, anticipatory governance, regulatory sandboxes, human-centered design, among others;
   3. Design, financing, management, and/or monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects for international organizations, government agencies, and/or non-government organizations, with preference to those with resource mobilization experience.  

1. Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payment

• The Contractor should send the financial proposal based on a lump-sum amount for the delivery of the outputs identified in Section D. The total amount quoted shall include all costs components required to deliver the services identified above, including professional fees and any other applicable costs (i.e. health insurance, communications, etc. to be incurred by the Consultant in completing the assignment.
• Medical/health insurance must be purchased by the individual at his/her own expense, and upon award of contract, the contractor must be ready to submit proof of insurance valid during contract duration.
• The contract price will be fixed output-based price. Any deviations from the output and timelines will be agreed upon between the Contractor and UNDP.
• Payments will be done upon satisfactory completion of the deliverables by target due dates. Outputs will be reviewed and certified by the Outcome Lead, I&P Team, UNDP prior to release of payments as follows:

Duties and Responsibilities

The Consultant shall perform the following:

           1.     Facilitation of government, private sector, and CSO data-partnerships for the Pintig Lab.

a.            Review global and national strategies and program interventions related to data-driven COVID19 response and recovery;

b.            Outreach meetings with potential and existing partners, facilitating agreements in regards to data-sharing or joint research activities.

c.            Contribute to preparation of Terms of Reference and design for such events as training (curricula, courses, schedules), study tours, conferences and workshops, and to advise UNDP on the joint approval and sign-off of these documents; and

d.            Contribute to preparation of Terms of Reference for recruitment of international and national consultants and experts, and advise the UNDP on joint identification, selection, and approval of such advisors and consultants.

             2.   Technical support and supervision of the data research and analytical processes Pintig Lab

a.            Lead the data research and policy development process with a team of UNDP staff and/or private data science firms, which include: finalising the research agenda; establishing the methodology and setting the workplan, data prototyping, and analysis;

b.            Provide technical support in the debriefing of the analysis to partners;

c.            Contribute to formulation/improvement of an effective monitoring and evaluation system of the Pintig Lab and report on progress; and

d.            Contribute to drafting of the development strategy of sustaining the Lab in a longer term.

Timetable of Deliverables

The Consultant shall implement the following activities and/or deliver on the following outputs:

The estimated levels of effort identified above are indicative and may be adjusted based on the situation and needs, but with the prior decision by UNDP.

Competencies

Corporate competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN's values and ethical standards;
• 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 and technical competencies

• Ability to work in a diverse and multi-cultural environment;
• Self-motivated and ability to work under pressure and to meet strict and competing deadlines;
• Displays analytical judgment and demonstrated ability to handle confidential and politically sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;

Required Skills and Experience

Candidates will be evaluated based on the Combined Rating methodology:

• Technical qualifications = 70%
• Financial Proposal =    30%

For the evaluation of the Technical Proposal, the selection of the successful consultant must be based on the following qualifications (with the appropriate obtainable points):

Applicants who will only receive 70 points from the assessment of the CV will be qualified for the assessment of the Financial Proposal. 

Recommended Presentation of Offer

Interested applicants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document. 

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
2. Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references; 
3. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided.  If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP. 

Interested applicants to note that personal Medical/health insurance (to be purchased by the individual at his/her own expense) is mandatory for the issuance of contracts. Upon award of the contract, the consultant must be ready to submit proof of insurance valid during the contract duration.

The following templates / Annexes and IC General Terms & Conditions can be downloaded from http://gofile.me/6xdJm/bE9TCw8fU:

• General Terms and Conditions for Individual Contract
• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability
• P-11 form

For any clarification, please write to procurement.ph@undp.org 

In view of the volume of applications, UNDP receives, only shortlisted offerors will be notified.