Digital Assessment Implementer at Eurasia Foundation (EF)

Job Description

DIGITAL ASSESSMENT IMPLEMENTER

Details

Location: Ukraine and Zambia

Job Type : Consultancy

Application Deadline: March 06, 2024

Summary

Eurasia Foundation’s Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services (TAPAS) Activity requests proposals from a qualified firm to conduct a “Diia in Zambia” digital assessment as the country considers adapting solutions from the Diia ecosystem. TAPAS is co-funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and UK Aid and is implemented by Eurasia Foundation.

Background

Diia: The Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Service (TAPAS) Activity is an eight-year, $53 million anti-corruption activity in Ukraine. Funded by USAID and UK Aid, TAPAS unites the government and people of Ukraine to develop e-governance tools that improve government transparency, accountability, and public service delivery. Through this program, USAID has supported the development of Diia, a smartphone app and web portal that provides customized and secure government service delivery to citizens, residents, and businesses.

Diia has been a critical resource for the Government of Ukraine (GoU) to continue to provide essential services during the war, including digital ID and financial payments. Diia has been downloaded and actively used by more than 20 million users since its launch in February 2020.

Many of the software elements developed under Diia, including the app, are being made open source, allowing other governments and entities to leverage these investments for their own digital government needs. Diia relies on a robust set of interoperable registries, a rapid application framework, and an interoperability layer, which are core underlying components of digital government systems . These types of software tools are commonly referred to as Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).

The Ministry of Digital Transformation (MDT) of Ukraine leads the development and expansion of the Diia ecosystem. Through Diia, the MDT aims to establish a new level of interaction between the state and citizens, one that is convenient, humane and eliminates opportunities for corruption. In addition to the Diia app and portal, the Diia ecosystem includes the Diia.Digital Education Platform , Diia.Engine, Diia.Business , Diia.Open Data , and Diia.City .

The success of Diia in Ukraine has prompted international interest and attention, including from other governments seeking to transform how they deliver public services to residents and businesses. With support from the TAPAS Activity, the MDT is eager to share solutions and best practices from the Diia ecosystem and foster sustainable technology transfer.

New Initiative: In January 2023, USAID Administrator Samantha Power announced that USAID and the Government of Ukraine are partnering to model Ukraine’s digital government approach, particularly the Diia app.

Through the EDGE Fund , USAID has allocated $650,000 to the TAPAS Activity to explore whether partner countries can leverage the experience of Ukraine to help build sustainable digital government systems. In addition to USAID support, the Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV) has also committed up to $100,000 in consulting services to examine interoperability and data harmonization issues.

Zambia’s Digital Government Ecosystem

The Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) is looking to serve as a regional and global leader on digital issues as described in the five pillars of the Government’s ICT Policy: (i) digital government, (ii) digital inclusion, (iii) digital literacy and skills, (iv) innovation and entrepreneurship, and (v) infrastructure.

The recently released National Electronic Government Plan (2023-2026) empowers the Digital Government Services Division ( Smart Zambia Institute ) to lead the creation, implementation, and adoption of digital government services. Smart Zambia Institute is a division under the office of the President and sets standards for all digital government services, including information security, interoperability, and ICT equipment. Smart Zambia also supports ministry partners to develop their digital strategies in alignment with national architectural and operational standards.

The ZamPortal website – a “one-stop shop for public services in Zambia” – offers citizens/residents, businesses, and civil society ways to engage with the government online. ZamPortal currently hosts over 280 governmental services, representing services across different government ministries.

ZamPortal uses the Government Service Bus (GSB) as its main data management system, with a centralized user authentication tool called ZamPass . ZamPortal also offers a central payment platform, called ZamPay , allowing users to pay fees online using a credit card, bank account, or mobile money. The GSB and ZamPortal are administratively located in the Office of the Accountant General at the Ministry of Finance and National Planning.

Recently, there have been several assessments and other documents developed to assess the current state of Zambia’s digital government ecosystem. Links to these assessments and other background documents can be found below.

In addition to the GRZ, the MDT is a key beneficiary of this project as the MDT continues to build its capacity to share Diia ecosystem solutions with partner governments. Sharing these solutions is expected to increase Ukraine’s visibility among the international GovTech community and strengthen the MDT’s role as an international leader and partner in innovative GovTech.

USAID Zambia Digital Transformation Agenda

USAID Zambia is considering ways to strengthen e-government activities to improve GRZ government service delivery, development outcomes, respect for human rights, and private sector competitiveness. To accomplish this, USAID Zambia is developing a Digital Implementation Plan that outlines existing and proposed activities. USAID Zambia anticipates the Diia in Zambia digital assessment will offer additional insights on the ‘as is’ state of GRZ e-government and recommendations for designing and deploying public services online.

Assessment Objective

ZamPortal has the potential to be a one-stop shop for all digital government services, similar to the Diia application in Ukraine.

To determine if and how USAID can support investments to deliver streamlined online services, USAID Zambia needs to better understand the current state of digital government. Therefore, an assessment of digital government legislation,1 systems and institutional capacities, particularly around ZamPortal, will help identify priorities for investment. It will also inform Mission engagements on the best ways to leverage the expertise from the Governments of Ukraine, Estonia, and other partners.

Activities

The Digital Assessment Implementer will conduct an assessment of the digital government efforts of the GRZ, with a specific focus on the ZamPortal and related digital services as the GRZ flagship digital government initiative. This assessment will include desk reviews of government policy and existing analysis, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions with stakeholders to respond to the following questions/issues.

Description of GRZ Digital Government at Present

With the goal of eventually implementing a service delivery tool like Diia, the Digital Assessment Implementer should analyze the current state of digital government in Zambia and consider the following questions to improve USAID’s and project team’s understanding of GRZ digital government activity:

What is the technical design of GRZ digital government, including information flows in the digital government stack and developments completed with foreign funding?

How does ZamPortal, ZamPass, ZamPay, and the GSB fit into the GRZ’s digital government strategy?

What services are available on ZamPortal, ZamPass, and ZamPay, and are they functional?

Who manages ZamPortal, ZamPass, ZamPay, the GSB, and the different ministry services listed on the platform?

What are the major challenges in the adoption of available services?

What are the major gaps /challenges facing GRZ to be able to deliver a Diia-like application?

Recommendations

Based on the above, which steps should the GRZ take to be able to deploy mobile services through a platform like Diia? Specific research questions include the following:

What are concrete technical recommendations and estimated budget for future services and portal development to support a Diia-type intervention (i.e., a DPI platform using Ukraine’s Diia learnings and insights)?

What are some lessons from Ukraine on how to increase adoption of eGov services (i.e., ZamPortal, ZamPass, and ZamPay) by government and citizens?

What are some resource mobilization opportunities (i.e., key private sector partners) for implementation of these steps?

Data Harmonization and Interoperability (Data Exchanges)

ESTDEV, in cooperation with EF, will provide capacity-strengthening support to Smart Zambia and its ministry counterparts. The digital assessment implementer is expected to coordinate with ESTDEV while implementing the activities outlined in these terms of reference (ToR).

ESTDEV will introduce international best practices of data governance and proven solutions for data exchange to the key stakeholders in Zambia along with concrete recommendations on how to enhance data exchange and improve data governance in Zambia. Key deliverables include:

Brief assessment of the current situation of data governance and interoperability issues in the Government of Zambia along with recommendations for improvement.
Practical capacity building seminars/webinars for key Zambian stakeholders, based on concrete use-case examples where possible.

Deliverables and Time Estimates

Inception report: Proposed methodology and analytical approach, planned research sources, draft table of contents, and workplan. This report should include topics and a timeline.
Description of GRZ Digital Government at Present: A technical analysis of GRZ digital government architecture that answers the questions listed above with a particular focus on how the GRZ can offer services in the style of Diia. It is presumed that this analysis will include:

Organizational chart of digital government actors updated from the USAID Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment Zambia
Current digital and data governance structures
Operational assessment of the ZamPortal services (such as a SWOT analysis)
Opportunities or barriers to delivery of sustainable and safe digital services
Summary of relevant existing resources/activities currently supporting digital government goals (e.g., donor, private sector, on budget)
Feedback on the current Smart Zambia/Tony Blair Institute (TBI) architectural recommendations and plans

Recommendations: Recommendations on the priority steps needed for the GRZ to reach a future state of Diia-like experiences for its citizens, including:

Recommended design approach
Priority areas of focus
Estimated costed roadmap
Resource mobilization options

The desired date for the inception report to be completed is by March 31, 2024. The desired dates for the Diia in Zambia digital assessment report are the draft to be completed by May 15, 2024, and the final version of the report to be completed by June 15, 2024. Bidders may offer an alternative delivery schedule based on the technical approach in their proposal.

An internal and external version of the technical analysis and recommendations is required.

Please note that direct government-to-government technical assistance and capacity building will be provided by Estonian and Ukrainian government staff in conjunction with the Diia in Zambia digital assessment.

Selection Criteria

The service provider will be chosen through a competitive selection process. The decision on the winning bid will be determined by a tender committee comprised of specialists from EF TAPAS and the MDT, based on an assessment of the proposal in comparison to other submissions and following the “price-quality” principle.

Please note that only legal entities are eligible to submit a proposal. Bidders must furnish a team of experts dedicated to this project and offer a resume for each team member as part of the proposal.

The tender committee will use the following criteria to select the winning bid:

Experience in producing digital government transformation assessments and roadmaps
Technology requirements analysis skills
Experience in data governance, harmonization, and interoperability
Experience with Diia and MDT architectural approaches
Experience with costing and pricing for digital government transformation activities
Experience working in Zambia (ideal) or Southern Africa (required) digital transformation activities. If the primary consultant does not have this experience, supplemental consulting services with experience in Southern Africa will be required.
Development and delivery of technical assistance and capacity building of local partners
Strong writing / editing / presentation skills

Background Documents

For additional background on e-government in Zambia, interested bidders should review the following documents:

Apply

Interested bidders should submit the following:

Written proposal describing their technical approach and relevant past performance
Resume for each team member
Cost proposal

Any questions regarding this opportunity or the bidding process should be directed to Olesya Danylenko, TAPAS Senior eServices Program Officer ( [email protected] ).

All parts of the application must be assembled in a single document and are due no later than March 06, 2024.