National ICT Consultant

Contract

This is a National Consultant contract. More about National Consultant contracts.

Background

The “****Modern Parliament for a Modern Armenia” (MAP) Project is designed to strengthen the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia (NA) in its new and fundamentally enhanced role within the governance system in carrying out its key functions - legislation, oversight, and representation. With a long-term goal of enhancing the overall effectiveness of the NA as a policy-making institution, the Project is designed to support the NA in taking advantage of modern governance tools and mechanisms with a focus on improved operational quality, transparency, and inclusiveness of parliament and enhanced parliamentary capacity for gender-responsive policymaking.

The Project has a three-stage approach in addressing the enhancement of capacity, transparency, and responsiveness:

1. a catalytic stage of a needs assessment, strategic agenda-setting, and piloting of designed approaches
2. full-fledged implementation of the strategic agenda, tested approaches, and activities
3. evaluation of the implementation, policy recommendations, and project closure.

UNDP MAP Project is supporting the NA to enhance its role and functions in law-making, policymaking, and oversight, in particular:

• Enhancing capacity in law-making, policymaking, and oversight,
• Increasing the transparency and inclusiveness of the legislature
• Responding to the needs of constituents and strengthening interaction with them.

To ensure the effective implementation of the project interventions supporting the digitalization of the NA, the project mobilizes consultancy by seeking services of an ICT National Consultant (hereinafter referred to as consultant).

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the UNDP, the Consultant will provide guidance to the MAP Project team and national counterparts regarding the implementation of IT/digitalization activities of the project.

The Consultant will perform the following tasks:

a) Support the project in finalizing the NA web-portal, closely working with the vendor/company and the NA Secretariat to make the website operational both for front- and back-ends:

• Implement fully-fledged testing of all components and functions of the web portal, identify the actual gaps and potential risks, provide recommendations to the company/vendor to address the identified gaps and risks, and finalize the web portal to be approved by UNDP.
• Support the Project team in organizing the official launch of the web-portal in Q3-Q4 2022.
• Support the NA to effectively utilize the training to be delivered by the vendor to the relevant staff of the NA on the operation of the new web portal.
• Review all the developed documents and papers within the project implementation for the period of 2019-2022, related to digitalization efforts.
• Develop and agree with key stakeholders the timeline for the tasks to be accomplished the web-portal activities with vendor.
• Collaborate closely with the Working Group assigned by the NA for the operation of the web-portal.

b) Support in replenishment of the current e-Parliament TOR:

• Review the recently announce e-Parliament TOR, identify feasibility and/or quality gaps and provide recommendations for the improvement of the TOR that will ensure the commitment of the NA to the relevant framework, products and services proposed in the TOR vis-à-vis the high-quality technical solutions, best practices in this field and resource constraints (including financials constraints and time).
• Design and agree the revised draft TOR for the e-Parliament.
• Facilitate the technical assessment of hardware and software components of the NA – as a part of the preparatory assessment for the e-Parliament implementation and in close consultation with other external experts.
• Identify and facilitate potential public-private partnerships for the digitalization process to the extent possible.
• Support the evaluation panel of relevant procurement vis-à-vis the agreed and approved TOR.
• Monitor the procurement (contract implementation, delivery of products and services upon selection of the vendor and awarding a contract).

c) Provide advice in assessing information technology requirements with reference to digital tools for the Training and Research Center at National Assembly, to train the R&TC staff for the update of the https://elearning.parliament.am/ e-Learning platform.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

Deliverables/Outputs

Target Due Date

1) Report on the testing of the NA Web-portal and improvement steps is provided

30 Sept 2022

2) TOR of the e-Parliament is revised and approved by the RA NA

15 Aug 2022

3) Training plan for eLearning Platform is developed

15 Aug 2022

4) Professional support is provided in bid evaluation of the e-Parliament

30 Sep 2022

5) Monitoring reports on the operation of the e-Parliament (3 monitoring reports: preparatory, processed, and final stages)

10 Dec 2022

All deliverables will be prepared in Armenian and English languages.

S****cope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

The payment will be made upon successful completion of each task, submission and duly acceptance of the deliverables by the designated person, and final approval by the UNDP.

Payment will be made in lump sum based on submitted and approved deliverables by the UNDP as follows:

• Deliverable 1 – 30%
• Deliverables 2&3 – 20%
• Deliverable 4 – 20%
• Deliverable 5 – 30%

Competencies

• Excellent skills in the use of computers and office software packages, good knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems.
• Knowledge and expertise in information technology, implementation, and support.
• Solid knowledge of various database software technology, networking, and networking security, and different hardware technologies with a specific focus on servers and networking appliances.
• Proven ability to work under time pressure and handle multiple activities and tasks concurrently.
• Experience in providing practical advice to policymakers; knowledge of how to contribute to building national capacities.
• Strong interpersonal skills, ability to establish and maintain effective work relationships with people of different social and cultural backgrounds.
• Strong analytical judgment and a demonstrated ability to handle confidential and sensitive issues responsibly and maturely.
• Demonstrates strong intellectual and operational capacity in providing advisory services to stakeholders in IT-related filed.
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.
• Excellent team working skills; aptitude in consulting and involving others, as well as building trust, among others.
• Demonstrated ability to multitask under pressure and to meet strict deadlines often under challenging conditions.
• Ability to deliver and reach the planned targets without undermining proper operational processes.
• Creativity, flexibility, and an innovative approach to problem-solving.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) preferably in Computer or Information Systems, Database management information systems or other related field or a combination of professional training and certification and experience in relevant areas. A first-level university degree, in conjunction with qualifying experience, is accepted in place of an advanced University Degree.

Experience:

• At least seven years of progressively responsible professional experience in systems analysis and development of IT systems.
• Solid knowledge of IT technologies and systems applied in Armenia.
• Experience in providing IT technical advice at the senior level.
• Previous experience with UN Agencies /UNDP or another provider of electoral assistance is an advantage.
• Experience in working in a fast-paced office environment, including working, and negotiating with government authorities and international organizations.
• Experience in the development of analytical documents, briefs, and policy recommendations/papers.

Languages:

• Written and oral fluency in English and Armenian.

CANDIDATES WILL BE EVALUATED BASED ON THE FOLLOWING METHODOLOGY:

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants' technical qualifications, experience and financial proposal.The contract will be awarded to the candidate whose offer has been evaluated and determined as technically responsive/compliant/acceptable to the requirements of the ToR and received the highest cumulative (technical and financial) score out of below defined technical and financial criteria.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation - max. 70 points

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation - max. 30 points.

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE APPLICATION.

• Financial Proposal and Availability form: OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP (A total lump sum option is applicable for this assignment)
• CV shall include Education/Qualification, Processional Certification, Employment Records /Experience

General Conditions of Contract is available here: GENERAL CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT

Note: Please note you can upload only one document to this application (scan all documents that should be included in the application in one single PDF file and upload it).