UNDP Jobs - 67417- Multilingual Analyst

Multilingual Analyst - (3 posts)

Location :

Kampala, UGANDA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Sep-2016

Application Deadline :

29-Jul-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

12 Months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

12 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

Global Pulse (http://www.unglobalpulse.org/about-new) is an innovation initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Big Data. Its vision is a future in which big data is harnessed safely and responsibly as a public good. Its mission is to accelerate discovery, development and scaled adoption of big data innovation for sustainable development and humanitarian action. Global Pulse is building a catalytic network of in-country innovation centers, which will test new tools, data and analysis, share what lessons with the global community, mainstream successful approaches for real-time impact monitoring into policymaking. The first Lab has been established in New York (Pulse Lab New York) followed by Jakarta, Indonesia and Kampala, Uganda.

Pulse Lab Kampala (http://www.unglobalpulse.org/kampala) is an inter-agency initiative of the United Nations under the Office of the Resident Coordinator in Uganda. The first of its kind in Africa, it brings together researchers from Government, the UN, non-governmental organizations and private sector to explore the utility of new sources of digital “Big Data” (such as social media, mobile data, online information) and real-time analysis techniques for social development monitoring and program planning.

A data revolution is underway in Uganda and in Africa. There is more data now than ever. New technologies are leading to an exponential increase in the volume and types of data available, creating unprecedented possibilities for informing and transforming society and protecting the environment. There is more data produced in the last 2 years than in all of human history. There is a tremendous potential in new technology; indeed, this is the forefront of the data revolution already well underway in in the private sector. The new SDGs agenda will have increased demands – and opportunities- for the use of data. Pulse Lab Kampala supports the UN Country team to tap into the revolution obtaining more and better data to support development work and humanitarian action supporting:

Enhance Early Warning: Detection of anomalous trends and patterns of events enables early warning of emerging crises and earlier responses to prevent long-term harm;
Real-Time Awareness: An up-to-date picture of trends, hotspots and dynamic changes in population behaviour enhances programme planning and monitoring of implementation and
Rapid Impact Monitoring and Evaluation: Timely feedback on the impact of programmes and policies allows for adaptive course correction and accelerated achievement of results.

Under the guidance of the Manager at Pulse Lab Kampala and the Chief Data Scientist at UN Global Pulse, the consultant will support Pulse Lab Kampala to implement groundbreaking data innovation initiatives. The consultant will utilize the latest techniques in artificial intelligence, machine learning (including e.g. deep learning and probabilistic inference), computer vision and natural language processing to develop projects harnessing Big Data in various forms (for example, telecoms data, satellite imagery and social media data) to support the monitoring and achievement of the Global Goals.

Home based with ability to travel to Kampala to work in person with the team are required.

Duties and Responsibilities

Activity 1: Refinement of filter specifications:

Filters for each development/humanitarian topic are defined by sets of keywords to match. An iterative process of refining the set of keywords and evaluating the filter matches is required in order to have the system most effectively identify the discussions of interest. Initial versions of each filter will be provided, and the role of the multilingual analyst is to propose additions and modifications of the keywords

Activity 2: Analysis of filter results:

After filters are applied to radio, it is necessary to provide an English translation of any material which is both relevant and interesting for the purposes of the study. Relevance is specific to each topic, and the definition in each case will be described to the analyst.

Interestingness is defined as follows:

High interest:

Phone-ins;
Live community discussions e.g. bimeeza;
Personal experiences, reports and opinions;
Presenter reporting other views from listeners, e.g. reading text messages, Facebook posts.

Medium interest: studio/guest discussion - especially if personal experience being reported.

Low interest: in general, anything that we might be able to know from another source:

News: can be included if there is a field recording of interest, or if the report is from a small community radio station that might have specific news items that are not nationally reported. Otherwise exclude;
- Maybe for later: check if news story is reported in major sources (online), and include if the report cannot be found anywhere else;
Statements from officials.

For each segment matched by one of the filters, the multilingual analyst is required to listen to the segment and make structured notes.

If a segment does not meet the inclusion criteria, add a note at the beginning from one of the following:

Not speech;
Not relevant;
Not interesting.

Otherwise, for each interesting and relevant segment, add a note:

English translation of what’s been said;
As far as possible: place, time, gender;
Codes for type of event.

Competencies

Plans and produces quality results to meet established goals;
Generates innovative, practical solutions to challenging situations;
Demonstrates substantive and technical knowledge to meet responsibilities and post requirements with excellence;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
Responds positively to critical feedback and differing points of view;
Excellent communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

BSc in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems or related field. A combination of a first degree and relevant experience may be accepted.

Experience:

Fiver Years experience of web application development, preferably having worked on examples of interactive data visualization;
Experience of coordinating student activities.

Language Requirements:

Excellent command of English. High literacy in Luganda, Acholi, Ngakaramojong, Runyakitara Lukonjo and Lugbara.

Methodology:

The expert is expected to work in close consultation with the Data Scientist Officer;
Copyright and ownership - all materials produced and other intellectual property will be solely owned by Pulse Lab Kampala. Any material provided to the expert will remain the property of Pulse Lab Kampala.

Working arrangements:

Institutional Arrangement:

The consultant will report to the Data Science Officer at Pulse Lab Kampala on a regular basis on progress;
The consultant will liaise, interact, collaborate/meet staff at Pulse Lab Kampala and partners;
UNDP (Pulse Lab Kampala) will support the consultant in the following:
- Access to all reports and data relevant to the assignment. These will include donor reports, project documents and donor reports;
- Support and assistance to gain access to relevant stakeholders for consultations to the extent possible.

Evaluation method and criteria

Individual Consultants will be evaluated based on the Cumulative Analysis methodology. The ranking of the consultant shall be made based on proposals that are;

Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
Having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria and financial criteria as per below weightages (technical-financial): 70%-30%.

Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.
Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 70 points):

Applications will be evaluated on the following criteria:

Relevant education and training in BSc in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems or related field - Maximum Points 15;
Relevant work experience in web application development, preferably having worked on examples of interactive data visualization; - Maximum Points: 10;
Experience of coordinating student activities - Maximum Points: 5;
Methodology and understanding of assignment – Maximum Points: 10.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation (30%).

Payment:

Consultant will be paid according to deliverables, for every batch of recordings provided to the consultants on completion of the translation to English.

Application Procedure:

The candidate is required to submit an electronic application directly uploaded on the UNDP jobs website with all the requirements as listed here below. Annexes and further information may be downloaded on http://procurement-notices.undp.org/. (Reference #31252).

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document to this website - http://jobs.undp.org (Ref no.67417).