ICT Specialist

Project Background:

The Palestinian Liberation Organization has received a grant from the International Development Association (IDA) in the amount of USD 20 million for the benefit of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to finance the Digital West Bank & Gaza Project (the Project). The Project will seek to produce concrete and tangible results for the Palestinians through increased access to high-speed broadband services and increased access to selected e-services to citizens and businesses. The project will focus on key points to unleash digital transformation in WB&G addressing some of the bilateral challenges allowing digital transformation to achieve its full potential. It will strengthen the digital resilience of WB&G and the ability of the PA to respond to shocks, such as COVID-19.

The project takes a multi-disciplinary approach to support the digital transformation, Covid recovery and resilience of West Bank and Gaza. The project will be implemented and overseen by the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology (MTIT). Individual activities are to be implemented by MTIT and the High Council on Public Procurement Policies (HCPPP), over a 5-year period.

The Project has the following four components:

1. Enabling legal and regulatory environment for Digital Economy; mainly institutional development including the development of a Palestinian Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and root Certificate Authority; legal and regulatory framework; and capacity building.
2. Implementing Digital Infrastructure Solutions for Emergency Response, Recovery and Resilience which includes development of an emergency response center and expanding internet connectivity. 
3. Fostering User Centered E-Service Delivery; which includes the establishment of a whole of government digital transformation strategy, support for a digital public platform and prioritization, simplification and digitization of services, launch of pilot e-services, and implementation of a first phase of an e-Government Procurement (e-GP) System; and
4. Project Management which will support the establishment of a project management unit in MTIT

e-Government Procurement System:

Building on the progress towards establishing a modern public procurement system by the Palestinian Authority, sub-component 3.3 of the Project will support the development of a first phase of an e-GP System by supporting the development of priority functionalities and their implementation in selected high spending agencies. The project will finance (i) software development; (ii) upgrading of existing software; (iii) hiring of technical experts to support HCPPP in developing software reference architecture, business process engineering and in managing e-GP development and implementation; (iv) capacity development and training of target agencies and the private sector entities; (v) e-GP communication and awareness campaign; (vi) help desk service; (vii) development of e-GP business model; and (viii) development of sustainable procurement policy. 

Priority functionalities will include: (i) Digitization of National Standard Bidding Documents (SBDs) for various types of procurement (works, goods, consultants' services, non-consulting services and SBDs for Framework Agreements of Common-Use Goods) recently approved by the Cabinet; (ii) Payment for Documents, Registration or Other Services; (iii) Tender Preparation; (iv) Tender Submission; (v) Receipt of Tenders; (vi) Tender Opening; (vii) Tender Evaluation Workflow; (viii) Notice of Awards; (ix) Acceptance and Signing of Contract; and (x) Contract Tracking. In addition, an e-Catalogue module which provides information on commonly procured goods and services and facilitates on-line ordering from selected suppliers, will be developed and shall be built on one of the common international classification codes (e.g. United Nations Standard Products and Services Code -UNSPCS). 

This sub-component will be implemented by the HCPPP, through a dedicated Project Implementation Team (PIT) to be established under the Project. The PIT will be housed in HCPPP and it will responsible for the day-to-day implementation of the e-GP sub-component in coordination with HCPPP staff and other relevant stakeholders. It will prepare and submit periodic progress and financial reports to the PMU in MTIT, which would then consolidate and submit to the Bank. The PIT will comprise an e-GP Project Manager, a Procurement Specialist, an ICT Specialist, and an Administrative Officer. Other technical experts in procurement, business process re-engineering (BPR), change management, communications, etc. will be hired throughout implementation. 

In addition to the PIT, a multi-agency advisory technical team chaired by HCPPP and comprised of procurement and ICT officials (Champions) from key government agencies will be to advise on planning, development and implementation of e-GP system.

Assignment Objective:

HCPPP is considering the appointment of Information Communication Technology (ICT) Specialist as part of Project Implementation Team (PIT). 

The Information Communication Technology (ICT) Specialist will support the day-to-day implementation of the e-GP system. The ICT Specialist will report to the e-GP Project Manager.

Responsibilities of the ICT Specialist

The ICT Specialist will use the available resources to him/her to ensure at the technical level, the planning, review/monitoring, implementation and acceptance of the E-GP system in line with agreed quality criteria and relevant technical standards, to meet its business and technical and operational requirements.

Specifically, the ICT Specialist will have the following scope of work: 

• Overall responsibility for the delivery of e-GP system as a technology solution within its target operational and across a number of large programs and agile teams.

• Participate in developing and reviewing the project’s implementation plan with project implementation team and the implementation company to ensure all technical aspects are addressed in the staged and incremental delivery of e-GP components, at hardware, systems and software levels.
• Provide technical leadership and expert technical support for the implementation team.
• Liaise and coordinate with technical staff of pilot government entities and partner stakeholders to ensure timely and satisfactory agreement and implementation of e-GP technical activities. 
• Participate in the digitization of administrative services including the administrative inventory, prioritization exercise, simplification, improving the online customer experience, and promoting digital service delivery. 
• Develop and update on-going plans and profiles for the timely allocation and/or training of technical resources to ensure the implementation team delivers planned activities/tasks according to the requirements of each stage/phase of the project.
• Provide timely technical leadership in the development, review and acceptance of concept documents, technical requirements, terms of reference, bidding documents for the procurement of consulting firms/individual consultants to implement the e-GP system. 
• Participate in the selection process of consulting firms/individual consultants for the delivery of the e-GP system and related services, including, evaluation of technical proposals, assisting the project implementation team in compiling the evaluation report, and taking part in contract negotiations. 
• Oversee the implementation of business process re-engineering (BPR) and the digitization of selected re-engineered services/processes according to agreed timeframes, quality criteria. 
• Review and evaluate all deliverables submitted by consulting firms/individual consultants and ensure consistency with signed contracts and acceptance quality criteria. 
• Review and provide feedback on existing results framework to validate the availability of baseline data and collection methods/tools for project KPIs, to ensure the impact of e-GP can be properly monitored and measured. 
• Perform day-to-day project activities, including, but not limited to: 
• Developing, organizing and keeping and version-controlling project technical documents; 
• Estimating and profiling the technical resources needed to achieve project goals; 
• Maintaining overall control of the technical scope, tasks and deliverables; 
• Maintaining effective communication of technical requirements, standard and quality assurance criteria with technical and non-technical staff in the implementation team and from project stakeholders; 
• Review and oversee user interface design and user-experience models;
• Review and assist in the preparation of testing plans, test cases and test data for the quality assurance of delivered system components; 
• Review and assist in the preparation of user training plans, user manuals, training materials and methods and monitor/measure training reports to ensure quality delivery; 
• Identifying, registering and monitoring project technical risks and dependencies and assist the Project Manager in their mitigation strategies; 
• Providing estimates of technical impact of changes to project scope, identifying potential risks, and updating plans for resources and infrastructure/systems etc.; 
• Developing, delivering, and presenting periodic presentations of technical designs, architectures, and progress in implementing key technical milestones in the project; and 
• Assisting the Project Manager and beneficiary institution with validation and sign-off of project deliverables. 
• Participating in system launch, preparation of hosting environment and monitoring post launch system activities to guarantee system stability and best performance.
• Perform other duties in support of Project preparation and implementation as required by the Project Manager.