Development of E-government Strategy National Consultant

The Constitution of Timor-Leste envisages that the State will be territorially organized in a decentralized manner and the local units will have a status of corporate bodies vested with representative organs and their organization, competence, functioning, and composition of the organs will be defined by law. In this line, since the independence of the country, administrative decentralization has been considered a useful tool to promote national identity, territorial cohesion, and socio-economic development. 

UNDP has been closely involved in the decentralization process of Timor-Leste since the very beginning in 2005. Currently, UNDP has been implementing Strengthening Integral Local Development Project with the overall objective of contributing to Timor-Leste’s sustainable development. The project is co-funded by the European Union and UNDP and the partners of the Project include the National Parliament, the Ministry of State Administration, and municipal authorities and administrations.

The Strategic Development Plan (SDP) of Timor-Leste (2010-30) envisages to develop e-government, where citizens can interact directly with the government and get better services using information technology. It recognizes that the current information technology systems and internet access available to the civil service is inadequate for effective management and quality service provision which greatly impedes whole of government links, coordination, and information flow. Over the years, the country has advanced a lot in the development of ICT infrastructure and its usage both in the public and private sectors. Recently, some of the municipalities have prepared their strategic development plans for their overall development; however, they have not been able to fully integrate the e-government in the plans. There is no specific organizational structure for the information and communication technology (ICT) unit at the Municipality level. The ICT support fully relies on the Central Government entities. A significant amount of investment has been done in the ICT sector in the municipalities without any strategic vision. In this background, the Project plans to develop an e-government strategy for the municipalities to support the e-government development at the local level.

This term of reference (TOR) defines the scope of work, expected outputs/deliverables, key qualifications, etc. of a national consultant to support the Project and the MSA in the development of e-government strategy for municipalities as a part of activity 3.5 of the Project:  Support the e-government development at the local level in Timor-Leste.

The objective of the assignment is to develop an e-government strategy of the municipalities for e-government development at the local level.

Scope of the work

• Review the documents related to the e-government, ICT, and local governance, including the SDP, and municipal strategic plans.
• Consult with government, municipalities, TIC-Timor, and UNDP to seek guidance, information, and feedback.
• Visit the municipalities, and concerned government offices to collect information.
• Assess the state of e-government in the municipalities, including opportunities and challenges.
• Draft and finalize the e-government strategy of the municipalities based on the feedbacks.
• Make a presentation to UNDP and the government.

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards.
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP.
• Maturity combined with tact and diplomacy.
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, and age sensitivity and adaptability.
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Knowledge and skills requirement:

• Shows ability to communicate and to exercise advocacy skills in front of a diverse set audience.
• Focuses on impact and results for the client and responds positively to feedback.
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.
• Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues in a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic environment.
• Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors.
• Ability to work independently with a strong sense of initiative, discipline, and self-motivation.
• Knowledge of UNDP and its mandate in the area of democratic governance and programme development.
• Excellent analytical/conceptual thinking
• Excellent interpersonal/communication skills.

• Must have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, but preferably a master’s degree in IT, Computer Science, Public Policy/Administration, or related areas.
• Complementary training in a related area.
• At least five years of working experience in data governance, ICT management, etc.
• Previous working experience with local governance/decentralization will be an added advantage.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in Tetum and English Language is a must.
• Working knowledge of Portuguese is an advantage.

Interested applicants are mandatory to apply online through https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?job_id=101455. Supporting documents/filled templates to be submitted along with the applications are following, and those templates can be download from https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=82318. 

• UN P11 Form
• Individual Contract Offerors Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability
• Individual Contract Reference Check (at least from two referees)
• CV

Any request for clarification must be sent in writing to [email protected]