Background

• The UNDP Pacific Office in the course of its operations, over time, has generated and accumulated large amounts of data. Examples of this data would include climate, energy, economic development and environmental data. Not to mention health, human rights, geoscience, gender and youth data. For many years, this data was simply seen as a byproduct of the main event - project delivery. However, now that automated processing of data is widespread and relatively cheap, there is a need to fully understand how to apply leverage and maximize the value of these hidden assets. Not counting closed projects, UNDP Pacific Office now manages over 120 individual projects. All of them generating and accumulating data (structured and unstructured) as part of their program management and delivery. Much of that data is processed and stored at project level, in individual databases or Excel tables, and in various forms such as Excel, Word, PDF, and others. This repository to date remains untapped. Various development organizations have shown how proprietary project data, when unlocked and combined with other available sources of information, can uncover hidden signals and trends, generate actionable intelligence, inform project and portfolio design and support third-party research. Examples include the A2i Lab in Bangladesh, the UN-led Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, or UNDP STREAM Analytics.

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• Identifying data assets is a necessary first step in creating additional value for stakeholders and beneficiaries beyond the original project outputs and should be looked at as a means to leverage donor investments. In addition, data from closed projects is at risk of being lost once funding ceases and project managers move on. This represents an unacceptable permanent loss of potential insights and intelligence. Consequently, Pacific Data Hub (PDH), in partnership with Accelerator Lab will explore UNDP Pacific Office’s structured and searchable catalogue of datasets, documents (metadata) and other knowledge products. One of the main issues addressed by the PDH is curation, storage and availability of the outputs of projects completed by development agencies. The outputs include artefacts like datasets, reports, interview notes and transcripts, audio and video files. It is quite common that when a project has been completed and the funding is no longer available, the artefacts are lost. PDH ensures that these artefacts are available even after the duration of the projects and that they are accessible (to either licensed users or general public) for a long time after the end of the projects. This initiative therefore aims to unlock our full data potential through a stocktaking exercise to identify what available datasets exist in UNDP’s projects, from what sources and in which formats, and make recommendations to leverage them for better quality development work.

   

Stakeholders: UNDP Pacific Office Executive office, UNDP Accelerator Lab (AccLab) in the Pacific Office, Program managers, Project Managers (pipeline, on-going and closed projects), SPC’s Pacific Data hub (PDH).

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

• The consultant will work with stakeholders to identify data assets in order to conduct a meaningful inventory of UNDP Pacific Office’s intrinsic data. Under overall guidance of Head of the Accelerator Lab, the Consultant will work on specified and emergent data sources. Key functions will include:

• Research potential data sources; study project and other documents created as a byproduct of UNDP’s work.

• Locate, identify, and describe UNDP Pacific Office’s data holdings.

• Create inventory of data assets using standardized schema. Maintain a detailed record of data types, field types, field characteristics, with notes on use/ownership rights.

• Document process and key learnings.

• Regularly report on project progress.

• Transfer information from paper to computer systems.

• Any other task assigned by the Supervisor

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  Expected Outputs and Deliverables

• Collate list of target projects/data sources; list sources in order of preference; work with project stakeholders to finalize a stocktake plan. Communicate purpose of the inventory to individual data custodians and provide answers to their questions. Expected completion period is within 2 weeks of contract signing, with submission of ordered list of sources, potential sources and detailed stocktake plan to SPC Program Manager & Head of Exploration.

• Commence Stocktake of existing material working closely with SPC Program Manager & Head of Exploration; reconcile data to ensure accuracy, relevance and correct entry. This requires a high level of attention to detail in order to check data sets and spot errors. Extract metadata from various sources, document relevant data sources and related data artefacts using standardized schema. Target due date is within 4 weeks from contract signing; Head of Exploration will review/certify completion of this deliverable.

• Conduct mid-action review with PDH and AccLab, with the goal of redefining outcomes. Consultant will share detailed stocktake process, and key findings including problematic patterns in target data sets beforehand. A subsequent refined stocktake plan, lessons learnt and additional sources list is expected after 6 weeks of contract signing.

• Final report with detailed data inventory, key learnings and recommendations, is expected to be certified by SPC Program Manager & Head of Exploration and submitted to Head of Accelerator Lab at 2 months from contract signing.

Institutional Arrangement

• The consultant will work closely with the SPC Program Manager, UNDP IT team, and UNDP project managers in Fiji and other UNDP Pacific presence offices; and report directly to the Head of Exploration.

   

Duration of the Work

• Expected duration of work is 8 weeks, target date for the start of work is October 11th 2020.

Competencies

• Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities skills;

• Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;

• Ability to plan, organize, implement and report on work;

• Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines;

• Comprehensive knowledge of data privacy, data protection, data ethics and data security

• Proficiency in the use of office IT applications and internet in conducting research;

• Outstanding communication, project management and organizational skills;

• Excellent presentation and facilitation skills.

• Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;

• Positive, constructive attitude to work;

Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Required Skills and Experience

Educational Qualifications:

• Minimum degree preferably in a discipline with strong research component. Degree in following are acceptable - business administration, engineering, social sciences, development studies, software development, information technology. Significant (7 years +) data mining experience in lieu of first degree will be considered.

Experience

• Minimum of 5 years proven experience in preprocessing data, preparing data for analysis and/or data exploration, including familiarity with existing software. Proficiency in monitoring and evaluation of development programs is a definite plus.

Language requirements

• Fluency of English language is required

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below percentages:

• Deliverable 1 - Detailed stocktake plan with list of sources, and potential sources, data ecosystem map: 25% of total contract amount

• Deliverable 2 - Comprehensive Data asset map detailing data artefacts, their locations and their characteristics submitted: 25% of total contract amount

• Deliverable 3 - Mid-action review report submitted: 25% of total contract amount

• Deliverable 4 - Final report with detailed data inventory, key learnings and recommendations: 25% of total contract amount

In general, UNDP shall 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

In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Evaluation Method and Criteria

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as both: a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and b) offering the lowest price/cost. [

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 70 points)

• Criteria 1: Relevance of Education as per qualification requirements – Max 10 points

• Criteria 2: Experience in monitoring and evaluation of development programs – Max 20 points

• Criteria 3: Minimum 5 years’ Experience in preprocessing data, preparing data for analysis and/or data exploration – Max 40 points

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

Documentation required

Interested individual consultants 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:

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided in Annex II.

• Personal CV, 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.

• Technical proposal, including a) a brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment.

• Financial proposal, as per template provided in Annex II.

Note: Successful individual will be required to provide proof of medical insurance coverage before commencement of contract for the duration of the assignment.

Incomplete and joint proposals may not be considered. Consultants with whom there is further interest will be contacted. The successful consultant shall opt to sign an Individual Contract or a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA) through its company/employer with UNDP.

Annexes

• Annex I - Individual IC General Terms and Conditions

• Annex II – Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual IC, including Financial Proposal Template

For any clarification regarding this assignment please write to victor.ladele@undp.org Innovation Specialist – Head of Exploration) copying procurement.fj@undp.org. Complete proposals shall be made via email to  etenderbox.pacific@undp.org or online on UN Jobs website by/before the due date.