AI Consultant

Result of Service The objective of the consultancy is to demonstrate the feasibility of using AI-techniques to derive more meaning and value to the knowledge that UN-REDD and wider REDD+ community generates, with the aim to inform further debates, policy and programming on REDD+. For example, harvesting the learnings from the monitoring reports can enrich the preparation of new initiatives by avoiding the past mistakes. Systematically capturing and categorizing knowledge from publications, dialogues and events can allow stakeholders to explore of useful connections between different themes and topics. Predictive analysis on REDD+ can identify and bridge evidence gaps and help inform future programmatic interventions.

Work Location Homebased

Expected duration 5 months

Duties and Responsibilities The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. The United Nations Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, or UN-REDD Programme, is an interagency UN flagship partnership that supports nationally led REDD+ processes and promotes the informed and meaningful involvement of all stakeholders, including indigenous peoples and other forest-dependent communities, in national and international REDD+ implementation.

Emerging technologies offer an opportunity for UNEP/UN-REDD to improve its evidence-based decision making and to better design technical interventions and products that could effectively contribute to the conservation, protection and restoration of forests. This is aligned with the UN Roadmap for Digital Cooperation which notes that “recent advances in technology offer ground-breaking opportunities to monitor and protect the environment as well as overall planetary health. By harnessing them appropriately, the digital revolution can be steered to combat climate change and advance global sustainability, environmental stewardship and human well-being”. It also balances this optimism by highlighting that “advancing technology has always been coupled with significant impacts on the environment” which must be managed.

In addition, based on the 2020 UNEP-wide survey on the potential for harnessing digital technologies for the environment, about 60% of staff responded that it is in “using environmental data to drive policy-making, markets and consumers” where UNEP can have the most impact. To seize this opportunity, UNEP, supported by UN-REDD will develop a proof-of-concept for using artificial intelligence to enhance the organization’s ability to design technical assistance and improve its knowledge on strategic areas. To do so, UN-REDD will explore recent advances in Machine Learning including Machine Classifiers, Natural Language Processing techniques and Deep Learning with the following objectives: A) accelerate knowledge on strategic REDD+ topics: by systematically mining, extracting, and labeling data from reports, publications, datasets, etc. related to a selected REDD+ topic to produce further insights that can facilitate evidence-based decision-making and design of technical assistance and other knowledge products; B) support evidence-based REDD+ intervention/ design by setting up a system for predictive analysis based on successful programme features which could predict which interventions are likely to fail or become successful.

UN-REDD is thus looking to engage a consultant who will develop a proof-of-concept that explores the feasibility of this AI-assisted tool from a technology standpoint. The proof-of-concept will also highlight the technical and business requirements, internal processes and corresponding budget and resources. This position is home-based, under the overall guidance of the UN-REDD KM/Communications Specialist for Asia Pacific .

Specifically the consultant will perform the following tasks:

1. Draft a 10-15 page proof-of-concept describing the key elements and processes for developing an AI-assisted tool for accelerating knowledge on REDD+ topic and support evidence-based technical assistance/intervention. The proof of concept should include a) success criteria; b) scope and duration; c) methodology and technical requirements; d) other processes and resources. The proof of concept will serve as a basis for programming and testing the AI-assisted tool (By January 2023)

2. Develop and test a small-scale version of the AI-assisted tool that harvests, classifies and visualizes a small set of data within UN-REDD on a specified topic, for example, looking for trends on UN-REDD’s work on finance in end of project reports, annual reports, technical publications, etc. (By April 2023).

Qualifications/special skills Academic: A university degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Data Science, Data Analytics, Machine Learning, or any related field is required.

Experience: A minimum of three years working as a computer programmer or software engineer is required.

Skills: The ideal candidate should demonstrate solid experience in the area of IT, computer engineering or data science, as well as proven expertise in programming algorithms for data mining and predictive analysis.

Languages Fluency in spoken and written English is required. Knowledge of any other official UN languages is desirable.

No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.