National ICT Consultant (A2J Project).
Vacancy Number: Pr20/01993
Background
The UNDP project “Strengthening Efficiency and Access to Justice in Moldova” (A2J) is a multi-year institutional development project designed to contribute to an increased efficiency of justice services and to improved access to justice of men and women in Moldova, in particular from vulnerable and marginalized groups, through enhanced capacities of forensic institutions to provide qualitative justice services, strengthened capacities of the justice sector actors in the selected pilot areas to provide coordinated response to men’s and women’s justice needs and strengthened civil society able to claim the respect of rights and engage in a constructive dialogue with the justice chain actors. Project interventions will offer and encourage equal opportunity for the participation of men and women.
Although important efforts have been deployed at national level during the last years to advance the efficiency, transparency, fairness and accessibility of the justice sector, improvement is further required to ensure coherent coordination among law enforcement, security and justice institutions for effective administration of justice, so that men and women, particularly from marginalized or minority groups, are able to claim their rights and access justice effectively.
The national forensic institutions are an integral part of the justice system, as the expert opinions provided by these institutions are critical for the objective and evidence-based delivery of justice. The quality and accuracy of forensic investigations and examinations have an extensive impact on the quality of justice and affect the overall perception of users about the justice system. Despite their importance for the administration of justice, forensic institutions benefited from limited assistance and support in their modernization endeavours as compared to other justice chain actors.
In line with the findings of the Assessment of the existing technical and infrastructural capacities of the three national forensic institutions performed by UNDP in 2017, the existing operational procedures at the forensic institutions are predominantly paper-based and thus their expertise reports are vulnerable in terms of the safety and integrity. The internal workflows, as well as the documents flow with other justice system actors (prosecution, courts, etc.) take longer than they could. There is a lack of uniformity across the forensic institutions in the processes of judicial expertise and forensic investigations, as each institution has its own system of records.
A number of justice sector institutions, such as judiciary, prosecution service and the legal aid system, have already introduced e-systems in their operations, some with the support of UNDP. The elaboration of the Forensic Case Management System (FCMS) for the three forensic institutions will bridge a critical gap and will allow to integrate isolated and not coordinated forensic investigations into a consistent and coordinated process.
In this context, the A2J Project is seeking to hire a national ICT consultant to provide the A2J Project team and beneficiary institutions with specialised technical support and advice throughout the process of elaboration and operationalisation of an e-system for forensic institutions, which would allow automation of processes and sharing the forensic reports with other relevant justice sector actors electronically and will ensure interoperability with other e-systems.
Scope of work
The expected outcome of the assignment is to provide expert support to the A2J Project team and delegated representatives of the national forensic institutions, in the context of identifying the most feasible platform and organisational arrangements for the Forensic Case Management System (FCMS), as well as develop the technical specifications for the software.
In order to achieve the stated objective, the consultant will have the following responsibilities:
- Prepare a detailed work plan to be applied for the respective assignment;
- Carry out a desk review of the national legislation related to ITC solutions, data exchange and interoperability, current internal regulations, concepts and guidelines related to the ITC component within the national forensic institutions, previously developed assessments of the existing technical and infrastructural capacities of the three national forensic institutions. The consultant shall also analyse the best practices in FCMS implementation in the EU Members States national institutions, as well as study the internationally acknowledged best practices in terms of FCMS, in order to ensure transposition of available knowledge and experience in the process of implementation of a similar e-system in the Republic of Moldova;
- Develop Workflows’ Analysis Report, based on the inventory of workflows, roles, functions and accountabilities within the national forensic institutions, in the context of implementation of an FCMS. The analysis is expected to provide recommendations on the existing workflows to be digitalised, as well as advise on new workflows, to be built within the national forensic intuitions’ business processes, or in connection to other stakeholders as to ensure interinstitutional data exchange and interoperability;
- Develop Report on the existing ICT architecture within the national forensic institutions, providing a comprehensive understanding of the environment for setting up the FCMS, which would ensure data exchange and interoperability between the national forensic institutions and other actors in the justice system;
- Develop Vision Document on the future FCMS, describing the system scope and objectives, system components and approach in ensuring interoperability with e-systems already installed in other justice system actors. The Vision Document will be closely coordinated with the beneficiary intuitions, E-Governance Agency and other relevant state institutions;
- Draft the technical specifications and tendering documentation for acquisition of the FCMS in line with the scope depicted in the approved Vision Document;
- Participate as a member of the Evaluation Committee in evaluation of technical offers for procurement of the FCMS;
- Provide strategic advice and technical support to A2J Project and beneficiary institutions for the implementation of the FCMS information system. Contribute to the coordination, in close cooperation with the UNDP’s A2J Project, of the work of the stakeholders in the context of the development, piloting, testing, production and validation of the FCMS information system:
- Provide timely advise to UNDP’s A2J Project on substantive and technical matters related to the implementation of the FCMS;
- Provide oversight of the company implementing the FCMS software solution as to ensure that the service provider delivers as per the Technical Specifications, within the agreed timeline and expected quality;
- Contribute to the compliance analysis of the documentation produced by the FCMS solution provider with the Technical Specifications of the system used for acquiring the product;
- Contribute to the monitoring of the time frame, tasks and deliverables related to the development and set into production of the FCMS system;
- Support the A2J Project team with ensuring that project specific plans and work products are based on approved and agreed-upon requirements and methods;
- Analyse requests for changes to the FCMS Technical Specifications by the company and/or project beneficiary. These requests will be analysed, proposed for implementation or rejected;
- Flag issues as these arise to UNDP’s A2J Project in the implementation of the FCMS system and proactively suggest remedial actions;
- Maintain an open issue lists, actions and risk log(s) and provide recommendations and support to resolve them;
- Notify the UNDP/A2J on unsolved issues and make recommendations for resolution;
- Coordinate internal resources and third parties/vendors for the flawless execution of the FCMS system:
- Monitor the implementation of the FCMS System;
- Provide technical oversight during the implementation of the system and coordinate with the various internal and external stakeholders on system related activities.
- Provide assistance to A2J Project and beneficiary institutions in identifying the hardware and software resources necessary for the deployment of the pilot, production and validation phases of the FCMS project.
For detailed information, please refer to Annex 1 – Terms of Reference.
Requirements for experience
The contractor’s performance will be evaluated against the following criteria: timeliness, professionality, proactiveness, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered. Any person applying for this Bid shall have a certain profile in terms of qualifications, skills and special professional experience required to carry out the assignment. The candidates shall have the following relevant skills, qualifications and experience:
Academic Qualifications:
- Master’s Degree (or 5 years university degree) in IT management, Computer Sciences, computer engineering or other relevant discipline;
Work experience:
- At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in planning, design, development, implementation and maintenance of information systems;
- At least 3 years of experience in Project Management in public or private sectors;
- Excellent understanding of the IT project’s management tools and methods proven by international certification (PMP, PRINCE2, AGILE, etc.);
- Excellent understanding of internationally recognized standards and best practices (e.g. OWASP, ITIL, ISO/IEC 270002, etc.) is desirable;
- Excellent understanding and experience in Microsoft technologies (.NET, SQL Server, SharePoint) will be an asset;
- Working experience with national forensic institutions and/or government institutions is a strong advantage.
Competencies:
- Proven ability to manage ICT projects and programs and deliver within the prescribed time and available resources.
- Knowledge of ICT policies and regulatory framework of the Republic of Moldova will be an advantage;
- Fluency in Romanian and English. Knowledge of Russian will be an asset.
- Proven commitment to the core values of the United Nations, in particular, respecting differences of culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, language, age, HIV status, disability, and sexual orientation, or other status.
UNDP Moldova is committed to workforce diversity. Women, persons with disabilities, Roma and other ethnic or religious minorities, persons living with HIV, as well as refugees and other non-citizens legally entitled to work in the Republic of Moldova, are particularly encouraged to apply.
Documents to be included
Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:
- A Letter of Intent, comprising mandatorily the following data:
Explanations of the motivation to apply for the respective position;
Detailed information on criteria that allow the Applicant to considered him/herself the best for performing the assignment;
- Methodology for carrying out the assignment and structure of deliverables, that should contain:
A brief methodology of the applicant vision on carrying out the assignment and structure of deliverables;
Explain why they are the most suitable for the work including experience in similar assignments and the relation to the above-required qualifications.
- Financial proposal (in USD), specifying a fee per day and total requested amount including all related costs, e.g. fees, per diems, travel costs (if inquired), phone calls etc.
Duly filled in and signed Personal History Form (P11), and at least 2 letters of reference from previous beneficiaries confirming successful completion of services which he/she was contracted.
Financial proposal
Contracts based on daily fee.
The financial proposal will specify the daily fee, travel expenses and per diems quoted in separate line items, and payments are made to the Individual Consultant based on the number of days worked.
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