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, workshops, 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

With the purpose of the capacity building of public sector staff for the digital transformation and improving the efficiency of public administration and the providing of public services through the implementation of digital technologies and platform solutions and also to support the Academy in modern training programs, UNDP will invite an international consultant to conduct a 5-day workshop on Global trends in Digital economy. A workshop shall be about technological trends, vectors for the development of the digital economy, changes in labor markets, as well as the competencies necessary for the successful implementation of digital transformation.

From the workshop the participants will learn:

• about the main areas, technologies and competencies necessary for the implementation of projects in the digital economy, about ways to search for and develop talents;
• about management methods in digital projects;
• about the basics of working with data bases;
• about digital hygiene - guidelines and best practices.

The workshop will target selected staff of different ministries and institutions who are engaged in digital transformation. It is expected that the number of the workshop participants will be 20 people. The training workshop should be practical, interactive, and based on case studies and practical exercises.

In accordance with the above-mentioned objective of the assignment and under the supervision of the Project Manager and Programme Analyst, the International Consultant (IC) will carry out the following concrete tasks:

1. Develop the workshop agenda on Global trends in Digital economy including presentations, handout materials and discuss with UNDP Project Manager and the Academy of Civil Service representatives. The workshop agenda will cover the following topics:

Digital transformation and digital economy:

• Teamwork to implement the transition to a digital economy;
• Digital economy, digital transformation, and digital development;
• The impact of digital trends on our lives;

Digital technologies and trends:

• Modern technological trends and background for the formation ;

Digital platforms:

• Digital transformation based on platforms;
• State as a platform;
• Initiatives to provide citizens with a better service;

Working with data:

• The evolution of public administration through data;
• Examples of data-driven digital projects;
• Types and sources of data, data search tools;

Competencies in the epoch of digital transformation:

• The impact of modern technological trends on the labor market;
• Competencies required to implement change;
• Typical structure of digital transformation teams: CDTO, CDO, CTO;
• Digital hygiene;

Regulation in the digital economy:

• Legal regulation of the digital environment: flexibility and stability;

2. Conduct a 5-day workshop on Global trends in Digital economy to improve knowledge and skills of civil servants for digital transformation.

3. Prepare a brief Report about conducted workshop and further recommendations on capacity building activities for civil servants in digitalization.

As a result of this tasks the civil servants shall be able to become familiar with:

• innovative digital approaches and trends;
• principles and methods of management in the digital environment;
• the potential of new technologies to develop the versatile abilities of civil servants and the formation of skills of the modern century;

Russian language is a requirement.

The international expert will work with UNDP and State Academy project team daily. He/she will report directly to UNDP Project Manager.

The international expert will work with UNDP on a daily basis.

Deliverable 1:

• A 5-day workshop programme and materials developed;

Location: Home based. Number of days: 3 days.

Deliverable 2:

• Workshop on new methods of management in the digital world, global development trends conducted;

Location: home-based using online platforms (Zoom, Microsoft teams and etc.). Number of days: 5 days.

Deliverable 3:

• Final Brief Report on conducted training workshop developed;
• Recommendations on capacity building activities for civil servants;

Number of days:  2 days. Total number of days: 10 days. 

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 one instalment 100% (for deliverable 1, 2, 3) – upon timely submission of respective deliverables and their acceptance by UNDP Turkmenistan.

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 concept,
• 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, Digital Management, Business Administration, and other relevant fields corresponding to this task;

Experience:

• At least 5 years of experience in the field of digitalization, digital economics and management, business administration;
• Knowledge and experience in capacity and institution building in the area of digital management;
• Knowledge and teaching experience in educational system is an advantage;
• Knowledge of information systems development is an advantag;
• Availability of publications on related topics (please attach the list of publications to CV);

Language:

• Excellent knowledge of Russian, 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 the daily rate for the assignment and within the timing scale indicated in the present TOR, 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%.

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

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

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.

Appendices:

General Conditions of the Contract for provision of services by individual contractors may be found in a reference https://www.undp.org/turkmenistan/procurement