Consultancy to draft national Blockchain policy in Jordan

Result of Service - The report prepared should be in Arabic in electronic format. - Minimum report submitted should not be less than 30 pages minimum. - The report must be supported by reliable figures and numbers. - A 2 to 4 pages executive summary of the report. - A recommendation section.

The completed parts should be edited and saved in MS-Word (*.docx file) or an alternate compatible format. PDF format will not be accepted. It should include a table of contents to be automatically updated followed by a list of all tables and figures. The various parts should be submitted in electronic form and sent to the email address of the designated focal point.

Attention is kindly drawn to the need to ensure that the final draft of the outputs be thoroughly reviewed prior to submission and to indicate the sources of tables and diagrams. References to reports and other substantive material should be clearly indicated within the text and noted at the end. It is also essential to send, with the completed output, photocopies or scans of at least the first page of books, reports and bulletins, used as reference material as well as copies of the pages quoted. The content of the generated document shall be the sole property of ESCWA. The content cannot and must not be presented, discussed or published by the consultant without the express authorization of ESCWA and MoDEE.

The consultant shall keep in mind that UN-ESCWA routinely checks all deliverables for plagiarism, using readily available electronic tools. All previously published content, even if written by the selected consultant, must be clearly referenced where required within the text and end-noted at the end of the study. The report submitted by the consultant must not contain quoted and/or previously published text equalling more than 20 per cent of the total number of pages.

The consultant shall not publish or announce or reveal the content of the report, partly or entirely, on social media or any other public channel, without ESCWA and MoDEE permission.

Work Location Jordan - Remotely

Expected duration 4 months

Duties and Responsibilities The deployment of blockchain technology on national level will introduce some legal and technical challenges, depending on the current laws and regulations. For example, rules and laws insist on the absolute protection of such information, such as the EU’s right-to-be-forgotten principle in GDPR law, which need to be addressed to be compatible with this technology.

To fully benefit from the vast opportunities made available by this technology, Arab countries need to develop their national policies to meet the requirements that were brought forth by the digital age.

Most recently, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship (MoDEE) in Jordan requested UN-ESCWA’s assistance to develop the national policy for blockchain. The provision of this advisory service is the subject of these terms of reference.

The consultant shall propose to the designated ESCWA focal point a detailed version of the report outline. The proposed report should include the following sections:

(1) Reviewing best regional and international practices on Blockchain policies, strategies and frameworks (at least 4 international and 4 regional practices);

(2) Analysing the different existing policies and frameworks related to digital technologies in Jordan;

(3) Holding interviews with the various stakeholders and summarize their remarks and observations;

(4) Suggestion of the needed national policy in Jordan based on the gap analysis and national needs.

ESCWA promotes gender equality and integration of youth through its publications and therefore the consultant should pay attention, with the help of ESCWA staff, to gender considerations and youth dimension throughout the research work and thereby ensure that the narrative language should be gender sensitive.

Qualifications/special skills An advanced university degree in technology or related area is required. PhD is desired.

All candidates must submit a copy of the required educational degree. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. At least 5 years of experience in research in digital technologies is required. A concrete knowledge in the domain of blockchain regulation is desirable.

Languages Languages English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat; and Arabic is a working language of ESCWA.

For this position, fluency in Arabic and English is required.

Note: “Fluency” equals a rating of ‘fluent’ in all four areas (speak, read, write, and understand) and “Knowledge of” equals a rating of ‘confident’ in two of the four areas.

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.