International Consultant to conduct a workshop on key areas of digitalization of a public sector

The Academy of Civil Service under the President of Turkmenistan (hereinafter referred to as the Academy or ACS) was established in September 2008. The strategic goal of the Academy is to create an educational, research, organizational, and methodological base that provides training and capacity building activities for management personnel of state authorities and local governments.

The Academy provides a two-year retraining course for civil servants, as well as short-term advanced training courses based on applications from ministries, state departments, and local governments.

According to the State Programme of the development of digital economy for 2021-2025 the development of digitalization and the ongoing institutional transformations in this area require a consistent build-up of the practical skills of civil servants.

To organize the educational process, the Academy, in addition to the main teaching staff, attracts highly qualified specialists and experts from the ministries and departments of the country, as well as representatives of partner higher educational institutions, specialized academies, research institutes and analytical centers, including from other countries. The training course programs provide for holding of practical classes and industrial practice for the students of the Academy from the Mejlis (Parliament), ministries and sectoral departments, as well as local self-government bodies.

UNDP and the Academy of Civil Service under the President of Turkmenistan have initiated the joint Project – Capacity Building of the Academy of Civil Service under the President of Turkmenistan.

The goal of this project is to strengthen the potential of the Academy of Civil Service under the President of Turkmenistan to improve the professional qualifications and retraining of civil servants in accordance with principles that take into account merit and performance, as well as to promote young specialists (including women) in leadership positions.

The project will include the following components:

1. Development and implementation of certification programs for professional development of civil servants in line with the primary objectives of development of digital economy;
2. Establishment of targeted international cooperation in line with priority areas of development of public administration (civil service) and local self-regulation entities in the context of digital transformation;
3. Strengthening ICT infrastructure of education system of the Academy in accordance with objectives of civil service during the transition to digital economy;

The long-term goal of the assignment is to improve the efficiency of the public service in Turkmenistan in line with global trends and innovations.

The assignment corresponds to the priority areas of the Presidential Program of Socio-Economic Development of Turkmenistan for 2019-2025, the Concept for the Development of the Digital Economy in Turkmenistan for 2019-2025, the Concept for the Development of the Digital Education System in Turkmenistan.

With the purpose of the capacity building of public sector staff for the digital transformation and improving the efficiency of public administration and the providing of public services through the implementation of digital technologies and platform solutions and also to support the Academy in modern training programs, UNDP will invite an international consultant to conduct a workshop. The 5-day workshop will be on digitalization of public sector,  such as (a) conducting analysis of business processes with an emphasis on the provision of electronic government services; (b) introduction of innovative methods of personnel management using electronic technologies; (c) conducting analysis using digital platforms to develop national programmes and plans; (d) enhancement of a decision making processes using digital analysis; (e) using research methods and tools in the design and management of information systems.

The workshop will target selected staff of different ministries and institutions who are engaged in digitalization of public services. It is expected that the number of the workshop participants will be 20-25 people. The training workshop should be practical, interactive, and based on case studies and practical exercises.

In accordance with the above-mentioned objective of the assignment and under the supervision of the Project Manager and Programme Analyst, the International Consultant (IC) will carry out the following concrete tasks:

1. Develop the workshop agenda on public sector digitalization (public services, approaches, practices, forecasts, international practices, single window platforms, security provisions), including presentations, handout materials and discuss with UNDP Project Manager and the Academy of Civil Service representatives. The workshop agenda will cover the following topics:

• Implementation of the digitalization process of modern society, common features, and differences due to the specifics of the sectors of economy;
• Development of digital literacy and the competence;
• Identifying the main goals of the public sector digitalization taking into account state priorities: internal digitalization of state institutions, interaction among state institutions, interaction with the population and business;
• Development of digital profile systems and registers of information about citizens, legal entities, entrepreneurs;
• Establishing and managing databases, and opportunities and challenges for integration of various databases (government and commercial);
• The role and responsibility of a state as a public services provider;
• E-Tax system development;
• Providing e-public services, principles, and approaches;
• Priority areas of digital development, including special solutions related to global pandemic situation;
• Digitalization of the public sector and necessity of new regulations, including legislation on personal data protection.

2. Conduct a 5-day workshop on public sector digitalization to improve knowledge and skills of the public sector staff for digital transformation.

3. Prepare a brief Report about conducted workshop and further recommendations on capacity building activities for public services digitalization.

The international expert will work with UNDP on a daily basis.

• Deliverable 1: A 5-day workshop programme and materials developed. Location: Home based. Number of days: 3 days.
• Deliverable 2: Workshop on Public Sector Digitalization conducted. Location: home-based using online platforms (Zoom, Microsoft teams and etc.). Number of days: 5 days.
• Deliverable 3: Final Brief Report on conducted training workshop developed. Recommendations on capacity building activities for public services digitalization. Number of days:  2 days.

Total number of days: 10 days. 

This is an instalment-based contract that should cover the costs of consultancy required to produce the above deliverables. The final schedule of payments will be agreed upon in the beginning of consultancy.

Payment will be released in two instalments:

• 1st instalment: 30% (for deliverable 1);
• 2nd instalment: 70% (for deliverable 2 and 3) – upon timely submission of respective deliverables and their acceptance by UNDP Turkmenistan;

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Functional Competencies:

• Knowledge and extensive experience working with digitalization developments mechanisms;
• Excellent training, facilitation and communication skills;
• Strong analytical skills, IT skills, ability to work with an audience;
• Ability to receive/integrate feedback;
• Good understanding of Digital Economy,
• Results driven, ability to work under pressure and to meet required deadlines.
• Knowledge of and ability to transfer expertise in the area of Digitalization.

Education:

• Master’s degree in Economics, Technologies, Management, Business Administration, and other relevant fields corresponding to this task.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of experience in the field of high technologies, economics, management, marketing, business administration and education fields;
• Knowledge and experience in capacity and institution building in the area of digital transformation process;
• Knowledge and experience of work in the CIS or Central Asia is an advantage;
• Availability of publications on Digital Developments (please attach the list of publications to CV);

Language:

• Excellent knowledge of English or Russian, including written and oral skills.

Submission of Documents:

Interested candidates shall provide the below-listed documents (information) to show their qualification:

All experts applying for this position are required to provide:

• Brief (1-2 pages) description of the methodology for the assignment. However, the specific design and methods for the workshop will be determined with consultations among UNDP Project team, international expert, and the national partner about what is appropriate and feasible to meet the goals of the workshop;
• Financial Proposal with the references to (1) the daily rate for the assignment and within the timing scale indicated in the present TOR, and (2) any other expenses (including transportation costs, accommodation costs, the possibility of vaccination and etc.). Template of the form can be found at: http://www.tm.undp.org/content/turkmenistan/en/home/procurement.html. THE CANDIDATES WHO WILL NOT PROVIDE THE FINANCIAL PROPOSAL WOULD BE DISQUALIFIED. The UNDP will enter into an Individual Contract based on a lump sum amount. The financial proposal shall represent a detailed, justified and “all inclusive” amount.  In order to assist UNDP in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount, including: a daily fee for the tasks and an estimated duration as specified in this announcement, travel (to and from the missions), per diems, any other possible costs (including vaccinations, dwelling, communication etc.).
• Cover letter explaining why they are the most suitable candidate for the assignment.
• Resume /CV.

Evaluation of Proposals:

Individual Consultants will be evaluated based on the combined scoring methodology. When using this method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant and
• Having received the highest score – out of 100

Out of the maximum score, the score for technical criteria equals 70% – maximum 100 points, and for financial criteria 30%.

1) Technical part of the proposal -70% of total evaluation:

• Education – 20 points;
• Methodology – 15 points;
• Professional experience in respective field (this will include the practical experience, international experience, and availability of publications) – 40 points;
• Knowledge and experience of work in the CIS or Central Asia – 15 points;
• Language skills – 10 points;

2) Financial part of the proposal – 30% of total evaluation.

Additional Requirements for the Recommended Candidate:

The recommended contractors at the age of 65 years old and elder and in case if a working trip is required shall undergo a full medical examination including X-ray and obtain the medical authorization from the UN approved doctor prior to accept his assignment. The medical examination shall be approved by the UN doctor and cost covered by the Consultant.

Appendices: General Conditions of the Contract for provision of services by individual contractors may be found in a reference http://www.tm.undp.org/content/turkmenistan/en/home/operations/procurement/