Background

Purpose

To support the Office for IT and e-Government in the electronic payments upgrade and improvement.

Objective

To support development of the common government ICT infrastructures and platforms, necessary for rapid provision of cost-effective, secure and citizen-focused e-services.

Background Information

Digital transformation of the national economy and public administration are among the key priorities of Serbian Government. In addition to providing high-level political support and institutional sponsorship, the government introduced a new institutional framework to manage this process and initiate internal changes. In 2017, the Office for IT and e Government (ITE) was created to consolidate government's ICT resources, develop shared infrastructures and support the transition from an institution-centric to a citizen-centric model of designing and providing e services. ITE was initially formed as a cabinet-level body, and in 2022 with the creation of the new Government, its status changed into a special organization. ITE also performs the tasks of coordinating the support to the international cooperation on the global market for digital, innovative and creative industries, as well as monitoring and promoting the connection of the public and private sectors in the areas of the digital innovative creative economy, aiming at sustainable and integrated economic growth of the Republic of Serbia.

UNDP provided support to this broad digitalization agenda of the Serbian Government since its inception, through "Serbia at your Fingertips – Digital Transformation for Development" project. This project comprises five segments. The first three relate to development of the e-government system, the fourth includes support for implementation of activities from the ministerial councils' agendas, while the fifth includes support for implementation of big infrastructural projects in e-Government. The new sixth component is related to the establishment of the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Serbia, as well as the development of 4IR technology governance frameworks.

One of the key project outcomes is to improve design, accessibility and functionality of the electronic services, including the possibility to pay. All users of the eGovernment Portal are enabled to pay administrative fees electronically, for all services available on the Portal. Payment by national payment card - DinaCard, MasterCard, Maestro or Visa payment cards of all the banks operating on the Serbian market, as well as electronic money, is available. Citizens can pay for the services on the eGovernment Portal via integrated electronic banking. Still, the system needs to be further improved and the number of banks integrated with the module “ePlacanje +” on the eGovernment Portal shall increase. Moreover, POS (point of sale) and soft POS utilisation shall be further encouraged as an important part of the Government initiative to promote cashless payments.

UNDP is looking for the consultant to provide support to Office for IT and e-Government (ITE) in the electronic payments upgrade and improvement.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

Within this assignment, the Consultant will, under overall guidance of the UNDP Project Manager and in consultation with the ITE staff provide support in:

• Providing technical guidance and support to the interested banks to integrate with the module “ePlacanje +” on the eGovernment Portal through single PI platform;
• Providing technical guidance and support to the interested banks to use POS services (including softPOS);
• Onboarding new banks as payment providers/participants;
• Preparing the plan for the rollout of Android POS (including IPS payments).

ITE will provide the Consultant with the existing data, information and documentation related to the aspects listed above.

Deliverables and Timelines

The Consultants will be responsible for the following deliverables:

All deliverables will be quality reviewed and approved by UNDP Project Manager – Digital Innovations, in consultation with the national partner. All deliverables must be provided in Serbian language.

Competencies

• Consistently ensures timeliness and quality of project work;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Evidence of ability to express ideas clearly, to work independently and in teams;
• Ability to summarize and systematize complex information and identify priorities for follow up activities;
• Shares knowledge and experience;
• Focuses on results and responds positively to feedback;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Demonstrates integrity by modelling ethical standards.
• Full computer literacy;
• Excellent communication skills

Required Skills and Experience

The Consultant selected to undertake the assignment must fulfil the following minimal requirements:

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in IT, economics, management or similar field;

Work experience:

• 10 years of experience in the banking sector;
• 5 years of experience in digitalization projects;
• Experience working with government infrastructure for electronic payments will be considered as an asset.

Language:

• Excellent speaking and writing skills in Serbian;
• Excellent speaking and writing skills in English;

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS.

Application Procedure:

Qualified and interested candidates are asked to submit their applications via UNDP Web site: UNDP in Serbia under section “Jobs” no later than 21 June 2023.

Application should include: 

• CV in English language containing date of birth, contact information (home address, phone number, e-mail) and timeline of work experience (including description of duties).  
• Offeror’s Letter (only PDF format will be accepted) confirming Interest and availability for the Individual Contractor (IC) Assignment. Can be downloaded from the following link: https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2022-07/confirmation.docx The Offeror’s Letter shall include financial proposal specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this announcement with a breakdown of costs (Offeror’s Letter, including Annex 2, Table A: Breakdown of costs & Table B) Breakdown of costs by deliverables).
• Cover Letter – explaining why you are the most suitable for the work should be included in the CV.

In order to apply please merge above listed documents into a single PDF file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded.

The shortlisted candidates may be asked to provide copies of diplomas and any other certificates providing evidence of their education and experience in relevant fields.

Any request for clarification must be sent by standard electronic communication to the e-mail vacancy.rs@undp.org. The procuring UNDP entity will respond by standard electronic mail and will send response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all consultants.

Financial Proposal:

• Lump sum contracts

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount (USD), and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.  In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days).

Travel

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel.  In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

Evaluation

1. Cumulative analysis

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and                                                                                                                                                           

b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

* Technical Criteria weight; 70%

* Financial Criteria weight; 30%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

Additional Information:

• Individual Contract (IC) will be applicable for individual consultants applying in their own capacity.  If the applicant is employed by any legal entity, IC would be issued upon submission of Consent letter from the employer acknowledging the engagement with UNDP. Template of General Conditions on IC could be found on: Template of General Conditions on IC could be found on: https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2022-07/General_Conditions_for_Individual_Contracts.pdf 
• Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA) will be applicable for applicants employed by any legal entity. Template of RLA with General Terms and Conditions could be found on: https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2022-07/PSU_Individual%20Contract_Model%20Reimbursable%20Loan%20Agreement.docx

In the case of engagement of Civil servants under IC contract modality a no-objection letter should be provided by the Government entity. The ‘no-objection’ letter must also state that the employer formally certifies that their employees are allowed to receive short-term consultancy assignment from another entity without being on “leave-without-pay” status (if applicable), and include any conditions and restrictions on granting such permission, if any. If the previous is not applicable ‘leave-without-pay’ confirmation should be submitted.

Engagement of Government Officials and Employees

• Government Officials or Employees are civil servants of UN Member States.  As such, if they will be engaged by UNDP under an IC which they will be signing in their individual capacity (i.e., engagement is not done through RLA signed by their government employer), the following conditions must be met prior to the award of contract:

          (i)       A “No-objection” letter in respect of the individual is received from the Government employing him/her, and;

          (ii)     The individual must provide an official documentation from his/her employer formally certifying his or her status as being on “official leave without pay” for the duration of the IC.

• The above requirements are also applicable to Government-owned and controlled enterprises and well as other semi/partially or fully owned Government entities, whether or not the Government ownership is of majority or minority status.   
• UNDP recognizes the possibility that there are situations when the Government entity employing the individual that UNDP wishes to engage is one that allows its employees to receive external short-term consultancy assignments (including but not limited to research institutions, state-owned colleges/universities, etc.), whereby a status of “on-leave-without-pay” is not required.  Under such circumstance, the individual entering into an IC with UNDP must still provide a “No-objection” letter from the Government employing him/her.  The “no objection” letter required under (i) above must also state that the employer formally certifies that their employees are allowed to receive short-term consultancy assignment from another entity without being on “leave-without-pay” status and include any conditions and restrictions on granting such permission, if any.  The said document may be obtained by, and put on record of, UNDP, in lieu of the document (ii) listed above.