DevInfo Open Source Community Consultant(UN Children's Fund)-career opportunity in USA

Job title: DevInfo Open Source Community Consultant
Organization: UN Children's Fund
Country: United States of America
Deadline: 04 Dec 2013
Terms of Reference
DevInfo Open Source Community Consultant (UNICEF)

Background to the Assignment:
UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, is the key UN agency responsible for advocating for the protection of child rights around the globe. UNICEF works with governments, civil society and other organizations to advance children’s rights to survival, protection, health, development and participation and is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child. A key part of this work is support for monitoring the situation of children and their families and tracking progress towards achievement of international goals through data collection, analysis and dissemination. Specialized units in these areas in UNICEF Headquarters (New York) contribute regularly to the work of inter-agency groups at the global level and provide support to national governments through UN teams at country level. In data collection, UNICEF supports countries in implementing the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) that have been carried out in over 100 countries and cover a broad range of socio-economic indicators at household level. UNICEF also maintains and updates global databases on key indicators, develops new methodologies for tracking estimates, conducts extensive data analysis work, and plays a lead and active role in inter-agency monitoring groups to develop indicators and monitoring tools on a range of topics. UNICEF work in the area of data dissemination includes promoting the use of data for evidence-based planning and advocacy; maintaining, updating, and expanding UNICEF’s data website (http://www.childinfo.org); and applying innovative technologies to promote access to and visualization of data through a variety of means including DevInfo (http://www.devinfo.org).

As part of its work in supporting monitoring of the situation of children and women, UNICEF is currently procuring services (under a Long-Term Arrangement or LTA) with multiple institutions. These LTAs are for software development and support (using .NET, PHP and iOS technology) as well as training and services related to these tools and their use, for work under the DevInfo initiative.

The legacy of the software tools used in this initiative is a Windows-based desktop product and a .NET ASP platform. A service-oriented architecture is currently being introduced. Successful institutions will have experience with these technologies, specifically to help maintain, support and innovate around this web-based database platform (DevInfo), which includes functionality on data search and visualization, RESTful and SOAP APIs for data access using the SDMX standard, and related functionality.

Training and technical services for DevInfo include remote and on-site work conducted in countries around the globe that have UNICEF programmes of cooperation. This takes the form of group workshops, one-on-one settings, professional meetings, technical assistance missions and other interactions with staff members from UNICEF, government counterpart institutions, other UN agencies and development partners engaged in UNICEF’s work to promote the use of national statistics for national planning and policy dialogue.

DevInfo in UN programming
DevInfo has been developed since the early 1990s when UNICEF offices in South Asia collaborated around a tool that could facilitate monitoring, display and dissemination of data on the goals of the 1990 World Summit for Children. The tool, initially a Windows desktop software package, became known as “ChildInfo” and was rapidly adopted in several countries elsewhere in Asia and Africa. By 2004, some 40 countries had adopted ChildInfo, with many of them expanding its use to cover the indicators of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). At this time, the UN was looking for a user-friendly tool that could be promoted globally to assist member states in the monitoring of the MDGs. After a review of available options, ChildInfo was endorsed by the UN Development Group (UNDG) for this purpose and then became known as “DevInfo”. UN programming around DevInfo is termed the “DevInfo initiative”. Although multiple UN agencies are now involved, the DevInfo name, brand and software products remain the intellectual property of UNICEF.

Following UNDG endorsement in 2004, DevInfo continued to expand and by 2008 over 100 countries had adapted DevInfo for their use. Contracting for the lead DevInfo development and service provider became centralized through UNICEF Headquarters on behalf of field offices at country and regional levels. To date (2013) over 120 countries now have DevInfo adaptations, albeit at varying degrees of update and quality. Together, these datasets represent one of the world’s largest repositories of sub-national data available in a common format.

The LTA with the past DevInfo service provider expired in June 2013, and therefore UNICEF is currently procuring institutions to have LTAs to cover the two-year period through 2015. The consultant will work with software developers who are awarded LTAs under the new procurement process, in addition to other interested parties, to build a DevInfo community based on open source software principles and technologies.

Further background on DevInfo, including the context surrounding this assignment, is available in documentation related to the recent Request for Proposals for Services (RFPS), on https://www.ungm.org/Notices/Item.aspx?Id=25024.

    Purpose of the Consultancy:
The purpose of this assignment is to assess the current situation of DevInfo software products and build an open source community of developers around it. Travel may be required to various locations around the globe as part of the assessment, as well as to work closely with DevInfo software developers and/or other contributors to the open source community.

Specifically, this consultant will work on the following tasks, as part of a small team in the Data and Analytics Section, Division of Policy and Strategy, UNICEF:
Situation Analysis
- Take stock of the current situation with DevInfo software products, and identify the needs of various stakeholders (UNICEF HQ and field offices, government counterparts, other UN agencies) with regard to data dissemination and visualization tools.
- Provide recommendations in the form of a written analytical report that outlines a roadmap for how the DevInfo code base should be managed. This should explore various options for open-sourcing the code and analyse which groups of developers could be targeted.
Community Building
- Subject to results of the analysis above, build and maintain a new online portal for management of an open source community of contributors to DevInfo source code.
- Proactively seek contributions to DevInfo source code from alternative networks that may not have had any prior engagement with UNICEF (including use of code jams or hackathons, as appropriate).
- Work with contracted software developers to ensure that the latest source code and appropriate technical documentation for DevInfo applications is always in the possession of UNICEF and the open source community.
- Build and maintain an integrated online blog that describes in real-time the results of the situation analysis, establishment and management of the portal, the roadmap moving forward, and other community-building activities.
Code Review
- Contribute through UNICEF management in the specification of user, functional and system requirements when preparing software development contracts with selected vendors.
- Coordinate the review of software deliverables received from contracted service providers, to ensure that functional specifications have been met, and that the software adheres to quality standards required by the organization.
- Coordinate the process of review of code contributions and together with UNICEF management and contracted service providers determine if such code should be integrated into the core DevInfo software tools.
- Maintain list of issues, bugs and suggestions for potential integration into core DevInfo software products.
- Advise UNICEF management on future direction for DevInfo source code evolution, as necessary.

Specific tasks noted above may vary depending on the evolving needs of UNICEF. Thus, this TOR and expected results and deliverables noted below are subject to amendment.

    Expected results:

By the end of the assignment, the following systems will be in place as a result of significant contributions from the consultant:
- DevInfo open source software portal created and used by a community of contributors
- Community blog updated on a regular basis
- Process established and implemented to maintain latest source code at UNICEF
- Software products received from vendors are of high quality and match functional and system requirements of UNICEF
- Technical documentation for DevInfo source code written and available to the community
- Clear roadmap for future evolution and management of DevInfo source code developed and implemented.

    Start date: 01 Jan 2014 End date: 30 Nov 2014

    Timeframe: 11 months (based in New York)

Deliverables (subject to amendment and may be completed in parallel) Duration
(Estimated # of days) Deadline
Initial situation analysis of DevInfo source code and community needs is completed 40 28 Feb 2014
Open source software portal and community blog created 20 31 Mar 2014
Systems established to maintain latest DevInfo source code at UNICEF 10 15 Apr 2014
Functional and system requirements for next generation software tools identified 20 15 May 2014
Contributions received and integrated/rejected from open source community 110 31 Oct 2014
Roadmap for future evolution and management of DevInfo source code completed as part of final report 20 30 Nov 2014
TOTAL 220
(approx. 20 work days per month)

    Key competencies, technical background, and experience required:
    a) Bachelor’s degree or higher in computer science, information systems, or a related field.
    b) Specialized expertise in .NET technologies, service-oriented architectures, database management with Sql Server/MySql; Additional experience in open source technologies such as Python or Ruby is desired.
    c) Demonstrated experience in development and management of open source software communities and integrated blogs (e.g. through GitHub or similar platform).
    d) Minimum of five years’ work experience in the above fields.
    e) Fluency in English is required. Working knowledge of other UN languages would be an advantage (especially Spanish and French).
    f) Ability to work independently with minimal supervision and to take the initiative to move tasks forward on a daily basis.

General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants / Individual Contractors

    Legal Status
The individual engaged by UNICEF under this contract as a consultant or individual contractors (the “Contractor”) is engaged in a personal capacity and not as representatives of a Government or of any other entity external to the United Nations. The Contractor is neither a “staff member” under the Staff Regulations of the United Nations and UNICEF policies and procedures nor an “official” for the purpose of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, 1946. The Contractor may, however, be afforded the status of “Experts on Mission” in the sense of Section 22 of Article VI of the Convention and the Contractor is required by UNICEF to travel in order to fulfill the requirements of this contract , the Contractor may be issued a United Nations Certificate in accordance with Section 26 of Article VII of the Convention.

    Obligations
The Contractor shall complete the assignment set out in the Terms of Reference for this contract with due diligence, efficiency and economy, in accordance with generally accepted professional techniques and practices.

The Contractor must respect the impartiality and independence of UNICEF and the United Nations and in connection with this contract must neither seek nor accept instructions from anyone other than UNICEF. During the term of this contract the Contractor must refrain from any conduct that would adversely reflect on UNICEF or the United Nations and must not engage in any activity that is incompatible with the administrative instructions and policies and procedures of UNICEF. The Contractor must exercise the utmost discretion in all matters relating to this contract.

In particular, but without limiting the foregoing, the Contractor (a) will conduct him- or herself in a manner consistent with the Standards of Conduct in the International Civil Service; and (b) will comply with the administrative instructions and policies and procedures of UNICE relating to fraud and corruption; information disclosure; use of electronic communication assets; harassment, sexual harassment and abuse of authority; and the requirements set forth in the Secretary General’s Bulletin on Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse.

Unless otherwise authorized by the appropriate official in the office concerned, the Contractor must not communicate at any time to the media or to any institution, person, Government or other entity external to UNICEF any information that has not been made public and which has become known to the Contractor by reason of his or her association with UNICEF or the United Nations. The Contractor may not use such information without the written authorization of UNICEF, and shall under no circumstances use such information for his or her private advantage or that of others. These obligations do not lapse upon termination of this contact.

    Title rights
UNICEF shall be entitled to all property rights, including but not limited to patents, copyrights and trademarks, with regard to material created by the Contractor which bears a direct relation to, or is made in order to perform, this contract. At the request of UNICEF, the Contractor shall assist in securing such property rights and transferring them to UNICEF in compliance with the requirements of the law governing such rights.

    Travel
If UNICEF determines that the Contractor needs to travel in order to perform this contract, that travel shall be specified in the contract and the Contractor’s travel costs shall be set out in the contract, on the following basis:

(a) UNICEF will pay for travel in economy class via the most direct and economical route; provided however that in exceptional circumstances, such as for medical reasons, travel in business class may be approved by UNICEF on a case-by-case basis.

(b) UNICEF will reimburse the Contractor for out-of-pocket expenses associated with such travel by paying an amount equivalent to the daily subsistence allowance that would be paid to staff members undertaking similar travel for official purposes.

    Statement of good health
Before commencing work, the Contractor must deliver to UNICEF a certified self-statement of good health and to take full responsibility for the accuracy of that statement. In addition, the Contractor must include in this statement of good health (a) confirmation that he or she has been informed regarding inoculations required for him or her to receive, at his or her own cost and from his or her own medical practitioner or other party, for travel to the country or countries to which travel is authorized; and (b) a statement he or she is covered by medical/health insurance and that, if required to travel beyond commuting distance from his or her usual place or residence to UNICEF (other than to duty station(s) with hardship ratings “H” and “A”, a list of which has been provided to the Contractor) the Contractor’s medical/health insurance covers medical evacuations. The Contractor will be responsible for assuming all costs that may be occurred in relation to the statement of good health.

    Insurance
The Contractor is fully responsible for arranging, at his or her own expense, such life, health and other forms of insurance covering the term of this contract as he or she considers appropriate taking into account, among other things, the requirements of paragraph 5 above. The Contractor is not eligible to participate in the life or health insurance schemes available to UNICEF and United Nations staff members. The responsibility of UNICEF and the United Nations is limited solely to the payment of compensation under the conditions described in paragraph 7 below.

    Service incurred death, injury or illness
If the Contractor is travelling with UNICEF’s prior approval and at UNICEF’s expense in order to perform his or her obligations under this contract, or is performing his or her obligations under this contract in a UNICEF or United Nations office with UNICEF’s approval, the Contractor (or his or her dependents as appropriate), shall be entitled to compensation from UNICEF in the event of death, injury or illness attributable to the fact that the Contractor was travelling with UNICEF’s prior approval and at UNICEF’s expense in order to perform his or her obligations under this contractor, or was performing his or her obligations under this contract in a UNICEF or United Nations office with UNICEF’s approval. Such compensation will be paid through a third party insurance provider retained by UNICEF and shall be capped at the amounts set out in the Administrative Instruction on Individual Consultants and Contractors. Under no circumstances will UNICEF be liable for any other or greater payments to the Contractor (or his or her dependents as appropriate).

    Arbitration
(a) Any dispute arising out of or, in connection with, this contract shall be resolved through amicable negotiation between the parties.

(b) If the parties are not able to reach agreement after attempting amicable negotiation for a period of thirty (30) days after one party has notified the other of such a dispute, either party may submit the matter to arbitration in accordance with the UNCITRAL procedures within fifteen (15) days thereafter. If neither party submits the matter for arbitration within the specified time the dispute will be deemed resolved to the full satisfaction of both parties. Such arbitration shall take place in New York before a single arbitrator agreed to by both parties; provided however that should the parties be unable to agree on a single arbitrator within thirty days of the request for arbitration, the arbitrator shall be designated by the United Nations Legal Counsel. The decision rendered in the arbitration shall constitute final adjudication of the dispute.

    Penalties for Under performance
Payment of fees to the Contractor under this contractor, including each installment or periodic payment (if any), is subject to the Contractor’s full and complete performance of his or her obligations under this contract with regard to such payment to UNICEF’s satisfaction, and UNICEF’s certification to that effect.

    Termination of Contract
This contract may be terminated by either party before its specified termination date by giving notice in writing to the other party. The period of notice shall be five (5) business days (in the UNICEF office engaging the Contractor) in the case of contracts for a total period of less than two (2) months and ten (10) business days (in the UNICEF office engaging the Contractor) in the case of contracts for a longer period; provided however that in the event of termination on the grounds of impropriety or other misconduct by the Contractor (including but not limited to breach by the Contractor of relevant UNICEF policies, procedures, and administrative instructions), UNICEF shall be entitled to terminate the contract without notice. If this contract is terminated in accordance with this paragraph 10, the Contractor shall be paid on a pro rata basis determined by UNICEF for the actual amount of work performed to UNICEF’s satisfaction at the time of termination. UNICEF will also pay any outstanding reimbursement claims related to travel by the Contractor. Any additional costs incurred by UNICEF resulting from the termination of the contract by either party may be withheld from any amount otherwise due to the Contractor under this paragraph 10.

  Taxation
UNICEF and the United Nations accept no liability for any taxes, duty or other contribution payable by the consultant and individual contractor on payments made under this contract. Neither UNICEF nor the United Nations will issue a statement of earnings to the consultant and individual contractor.

How to apply:
Qualified candidates are requested to submit a cover letter detailing how they meet the key competencies, technical background and experience required, as described above.
This letter should be sent together with a CV and P11 form (which can be downloaded from our website at http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_53129.html) to pdconsultants@unicef.org with subject line “DEVINFO OPEN SOURCE COMMUNITY CONSULTANT” by 04 December 2013, 5:00pm EST (New York time). Candidates are also encouraged to submit any other documentation or references that specifically demonstrate their experience in managing open source software communities.

In your application, please also indicate your ability, availability and monthly fee to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a monthly fee will not be considered.

Joint Applications of two or more individuals is not accepted.