Research and Administrative Assistant

Result of Service The IC will be responsible to provide the following:

• Enriched Arab open innovative government portal for the Arab region;
• Relevant references and case studies from developed countries on the use of emerging technologies in public sector;

• Summary literature review on innovation models for public sector in developed countries.

  Work Location UN-House ESCWA

  Expected duration 6 Months

  Duties and Responsibilities Digital government transformation and innovation in the public sector are very important aspects for enhancing the internal operations of Arab public institutions and improving the delivery of digital government services. In this regard, the Innovation section at ESCWA launched a project on “Expediting the use of technology and innovation for Enhanced Operations in Arab Public Institutions (ENACT project)” in 2023.

The services of an individual contractor (IC) are needed to carry out research and administrative tasks of the below identified activities for the preparation of reports and publishing case studies on the Arab Open Innovative Government Portal in the framework of the Project on “Expediting the use of technology and innovation for enhanced operations in Arab Public Institutions”.

Activities: 1. Technical paper on “An Innovation Model to enhance the operations and services of Arab public Institutions” 2. Technical Paper on "Policies and best practices to harness the use of technology and innovation for building better Arab Public Institutions" 3. Collection and analysis of good practices on the use of innovation and technology in public institutions

The IC will work under the supervision of the chief of the Innovation Section in cluster 4, and will be requested to do the following:

• Conduct research and collect case studies on the use of emerging technology and innovation in public sector in selected developed countries;
• Undertake research on best models for innovation in public sector from international communities and developed countries;
• Look at the collected best practices from the Arab countries and examine their relevance for the above-mentioned reports and to the Arab Open Innovative Government Portal;
• Summarize the collected best practices from the Arab countries according to themes and topics, and provide support for publishing them on the portal in both Arabic and English;

• Prepare talking points and presentations for meetings and conferences upon request.

  Qualifications/special skills A Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Technology, Public Administration, Governance, or a related field is required. A Master degree is desirable. A minimum of 3 years experience in research in development domain is required. Knowledge and research in technology for development, computer science or computer engineering is required. Previous experience in working with international organizations is desirable.

  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 English and Arabic is required. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is an advantage.

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.