Result of Service

The incumbent will be responsible for the following:

• The report prepared should be in Arabic and in electronic format.
• The report submitted should not be less than 30 pages.
• A 2 to 4 pages executive summary of the report.

The completed parts should be edited and saved in MS-Word (*.docx file) or an alternate compatible format. PDF format will not be accepted. It should include a table of contents to be automatically updated followed by a list of all tables and figures. The various parts should be submitted in electronic form and sent to the email address of the designated focal point.
Attention is kindly drawn to the need to ensure that the final draft of the outputs be thoroughly reviewed prior to submission and to indicate the sources of tables and diagrams. References to reports and other substantive material should be clearly indicated within the text and noted at the end. It is also essential to send, with the completed output, photocopies, or scans of at least the first page of books, reports and bulletins, used as reference material as well as copies of the pages quoted. The content of the generated document shall be the sole property of ESCWA.
The consultant shall keep in mind that UN-ESCWA routinely checks all deliverables for plagiarism, using readily available electronic tools. All previously published content, even if written by the selected consultant, must be clearly referenced where required within the text and end-noted at the end of the study. The report submitted by the consultant must not contain quoted and/or previously published text equalling more than 20 per cent of the total number of pages.
The consultant shall not publish or announce or reveal the content of the report, partly or entirely, on social media or any other public channel, without ESCWA permission.
The content cannot and must not be presented, discussed, or published by the consultant without ESCWA authorization.

Work Location

Lebanon – Remotely

Expected duration

4 months

Duties and Responsibilities

From an automated government through e-Government to a smart and open government, technology and innovation have become vital tools for managing and conducting government business, serving its citizens, and achieving its development targets.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development [1] states that good governance at all levels as well as transparent, effective and accountable institutions are necessary to build peaceful societies and achieve sustainable development. In this Agenda, specific measures are given to achieve such societies especially in Goal 16 “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”. Under Goal 16 the development of effective, accountable and transparent institutions (16.6), responsive, inclusive participatory and representative decision-making (16.7) and public access to information (16.10) [2] are promoted. To implement these targets a partnership, between the Government (national and local), the private sector, civil society, other stakeholders (such as the public, and regional, sub-regional and international institutions) and citizens, is envisioned. Better governance and better public institutions are essential elements in achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Technologies and Innovation provide governments with options to achieve the individual targets set out in Goal 16. Innovation in the public sector provides new processes, products and services that can either be new technologies or be supported by technologies that promotes access to information, inclusiveness, citizen participation, accountability, transparency and responsiveness. When the government adopts news technologies and openness as part of its paradigm, the possibility of collaboration, shared responsibility and co-decision-making, strengthens the government and empowers its citizens.

[1] United Nations (2015). Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (A/RES/70/1). Available: http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E
[2] United Nations (2015), pp. 25-26.

The consultant shall propose to the designated ESCWA focal point a detailed version of the report outline. To produce the draft strategy, the consultant is requested to conduct, among others, the main following tasks:

(1) Review best regional and international practices of digital government transformation strategies and policies.
(2) Hold interviews with the various stakeholders and make a summary of their remarks and observations.
(3) Suggest the needed digital government transformation strategies based on best practices, gap analysis and national needs.
(4) Present the draft report in a national workshop or meeting (physically or remotely) and capture the main comments and findings of the discussions.
(5) Update the draft proposal according to all received feedback and comments during the reviewing process by ESCWA and MoCT.
ESCWA promotes gender equality and integration of youth through its publications and therefore the consultant should pay attention, with the help of ESCWA staff, to gender considerations and youth dimension throughout the research work and thereby ensure that the narrative language should be gender sensitive.

Qualifications/special skills

A Master’s degree in ICT or related area is required. A Ph.D. is desirable.

All candidates must submit a copy of the required educational degree. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.
At least four years of experience and research in technology related issues is required.
Concrete knowledge in the domain of planning and strategies 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 is required; fluency in Arabic is desirable.

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.