Purpose of consultancy:

UNFPA proposes to recruit an International Technical Expert for the development of a multisectoral integrated data platform/portal in Comoros. Under the overall guidance of the UNFPA Head of Office, the international consultant is responsible for: - Support the establishment and operationalization of a comprehensive, dedicated and flexible single platform to collect, track, record and share data on the required thematic areas, networking with all existing sectoral and decentralized databases. - Establish a comprehensive integrated data hub and portal on different thematic areas, and also promote a culture of open data, with the development of a user-friendly web-based database accessible to users, including decision makers at all levels - Support national capacity building for the production of sectoral data for monitoring the achievement of the SDGs and the implementation of the 2020-2030 Plan Emergence Comoros.

Background Information:

A joint UN programme is in place to support the Government of Comoros in fully harnessing the power of data revolution to efficiently monitor key indicators of development and enable informed and timely decision-making to reduce the country’s vulnerabilities, accelerate the achievement of the SDGs aligned with the Comoros Emerging Plan by 2030, and support a more sustainable, equitable, and prosperous country. The expected results of the joint programme are threefold: (i) an updated and improved institutional framework and operational capacity of the national statistical system to allow the capture of up to 70% of key SDGs targets prioritized at the national level; (ii) improved regular and reliable production and accessibility of a set of relevant multi-sectoral indicators and functionalities in a digital repository with an open data portal for monitoring the Comoros Emerging Plan and the SDGs by 2023; (iii) use of quality, disaggregated and up-to-date statistical and geospatial data for informed decision making by all actors (Public, Private, CIvil Society and Citizens) in Comoros.

The long-term expected result of the proposed Joint Programme is to contribute to developing a “culture of data” among key decision-makers and actors in the Comoros. The high-performance, digitized and accessible national statistical system will capitalize on available and improved data from all stakeholders. The data will be organized around key national multi-sectoral indicators. This integrated vision will contribute to the acceleration of the SDGs, and the mobilization of resources around these priorities at all levels (public, private, civil society). The joint programme will move the national statistical system along a maturity path, from its current nascent stage where there is lack of capacity and systematic processes for data management and use to an optimized performance where the government and stakeholders will routinely review data from the system and modify them to adapt to changing information needs.

The proposed programme will bridge data and information gaps in priority areas identified by the country. It will build the human and institutional capabilities to mainstream SDG data across the national statistical system. It will support the creation of an open national SDG data platform based on modern digital technologies and interoperability standards, providing users from different stakeholder groups with access to authoritative, geospatial and statistical data, metadata, as well as visualization and analysis tools to support policy and decision making for sustainable development. In addition, it will strengthen the coordination role of the General Planning Commission on the achievement of the SDGs, and support the coordination and leadership role of the National Institute of Statistics and Economic and Demographic Studies (INSEED) on the statistical work on indicators for global, regional and national monitoring. This will be done through the establishment and coordination of data sharing agreements with key partners and improved SDG data flows among members of the National Statistical and information System. 

The programme will deliver enhanced country capacity to produce and disseminate accurate and up-to-date geospatial data and information about the SDGs and their indicators, which will enable decision makers to integrate the SDG indicators into policies, projects, and programs, which will accelerate the country’s progress towards achieving the sustainable development goals while pursuing national development objectives. The programme will facilitate the development of data sharing and validation agreements between different data producers, and the development of a clear user engagement strategy. In addition to this transformative shift making governance more aligned to the SDGs, private stakeholders in Comoros will benefit from the new system by using the data to enhance their ownership of the 2030 Agenda, increasing public-private partnerships for mobilizing private capital to fill the investment gap in key SDG sectors.

Within the framework of this joint programme, the international consultant will have the following mission

Domain analysis

• Conduct a baseline assessment of the maturity status/level of the current data ecosystem
• Identify across all business areas, the data requirements, structure and sources.
• Identify any relevant existing platforms, web portals and systems, as well as their development platform and hosting environment.
• Identify the detailed requirements for the implementation of the platform and portal, (identification of inputs and nomenclatures needed to develop a conceptual data model)

Development of the system

• Administrative section: For the administrative management of the portal (configuration of users and management of their privileges, management of indicators/fields, questions, metadata, thematic space, catalogue, etc.)
• Data dashboard section: a page containing the collection, listing and sources of all data on various thematic areas for privileged and public users.
• Form Builder: a section for preparing a questionnaire or data collection form by sector and theme.
• Data Collection and Tracking Section: a section where users can list one or more agencies from which they can obtain data and track the progress of the data collected.
• Data Sharing Section: where users can list one or more agencies with whom they wish to share data, or make data public, or indicate the level of data to be shared.
• Monitoring section: section for monitoring access rate, frequency, system load, etc.
• Security section: section for information system security

Training

• Identify urgent needs for refresher trainings at INSEED and sectors related to feeding, updating and using the data platform
• Develop a training plan for trainers,
• Conduct training of trainers in data processing, data bases and data warehousing techniques –
• Support training in information systems security

Required Expertise and Qualifications:

Education:

• A completed Master’s degree in computer engineering, ICT, or other related discipline is required.

Knowledge and Experience:

• At least 5 years of experience in web development and API management.
• Strong experience in documentation, including manuals, of online products, UX/UI design of web applications, and system support
• Strong knowledge of advanced web technologies, version control.
• Experience in designing interactive data portals, local governance
• Strong experience in HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Responsive design.
• Experience in designing and collecting data forms
• Experience in designing and supporting mapping-based web systems
• Experience in assessing data systems interoperability maturity level/status is an asset.
• Strong attention to detail.
• Ability to think critically and logically.
• Ability to multi-task, prioritize and work under pressure.
• Strong writing and communication skills.

Languages:

• Fluency in French; at least intermediate proficiency in English.

Source: https://www.unfpa.org/jobs/international-technical-expert-development-multi-sectoral-integrated-data-platformportal