Ministry of Finance



Terms of ReferenceDevelopment of an e-Government Strategy and Implementation Roadmap for the Federal Republic of Somalia (FGS)BACKGROUNDThe Ministry of Post, Telecommunications and Technology (MoPTT) is the lead Federal Government body mandated to formulate national policies, laws and regulations related to Post, Telecommunications, and Information and Communications Technologies (ICT). Its mandate also includes:Overseeing sector standards;Promoting the development and growth of telecommunication infrastructure and ICT;Protecting the interests of consumers;Fostering a knowledge-based economy and information society in Somalia;In performing its duties, the MoPTT is guided by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Somalia (FGS) and other relevant laws. The MoPTT championed and supported the adoption of a foundational National Communications Law in 2017, which lays the basis for a competitive and enabling regulatory environment for ICT services that recognizes the need for ensuring widespread access. The Communication Law also enabled the establishment the National Communications Authority (NCA), as the industry regulator, in 2018, which is envisioned to play a key role in supporting universal access to ICT. In 2019, the MoPTT spearheaded the development of Somalia’s first National ICT Policy and Strategy for the period 2019- 2023, which aims to address existing ICT infrastructure and ecosystem gaps. The policy inter alia focuses on accelerating development in the following key areas: Policy, legal, and regulatory frameworks; Universal access strategy promoting the use of ICT by women, youth, the disabled, marginalized groups, and underserved areas; Consumer protection, privacy, and child protection; Digital services and content; E-commerce, e-health, e-education, and e-governance.The MoPTT is charged with overseeing the implementation of the Policy, as well as convenes and chairs a National Coordination Committee (NCC) intended to facilitate this. The NCC also consists of representatives from the Ministries of Planning; Finance; Interior and Federal Affairs; Information; Central Bank; NCA; and the Office of Prime Minister. It was established to assist in the successful implementation of the Policy, advancing the use of technology for social and economic development. The MoPTT is currently a key beneficiary of a World Bank-financed program, the Somalia Capacity Advancement, Livelihoods and Entrepreneurship through Digital Uplift Project (SCALED-UP). The program seeks to strengthen policy development as well as effective regulation of the ICT sector, leveraging digital technology to accelerate social and economic development in Somalia, including through access to public e-services and great adoption of digital technology by government. As part of this support, the MoPTT is looking to hire an individual consultant to assist the Ministry in developing an e-Government Strategy and Implementation Roadmap, which builds on the 2019 National ICT Policy and Strategy.CURRENT CONTEXTThe FGS is keen to expand its digital capabilities but is starting from a very low base. Somalia currently ranks at the bottom of global e-government rankings. Meanwhile, the on-going COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the need to urgently extend FGS digital capabilities, in order to support business continuity, remote working and expansions of government’s e-services offering.Internet uptake in Somalia is relatively low – at just 12.7% in 2020, based on unique mobile internet subscriptions – and is largely concentrated in urban areas. Nevertheless, ICT, and mobile in particular, is one of the fastest growing sectors in Somalia: Past World Bank (WB) research points to impressive uptake of mobile communication services in Somalia, as well as mobile money services. FGS is thus looking to explore how this can be leveraged to increase access to public services digitally, recognizing that digital tools and solutions can also strengthen governance and institutional effectiveness, thereby contributing to building state legitimacy and improving citizens’ trust in FGS institutions.Strategic, Institutional and Legal Framework for E-governmentHowever, FGS lacks an overarching vision for e-government, including an effective strategic and institutional set-up for spearheading a whole-of-government approach to related initiatives. There is no FGS enterprise architecture or interoperability framework. Moreover, the legal basis for safely expanding the collection and use of data, as well as digital transactions is currently also missing, including provisions for data protection, privacy, cybersecurity, e-transaction etc. - an issue which the FGS is actively looking to address. Existing E-Systems A handful of back-end and management information systems have been or are being introduced to support core public functions, notably public financial and HR management through the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and Human Resources Management System (HRMIS) – initiatives led by the Ministry of Finance. An Aid Information Management System (AIMS) has also been introduced at the Ministry of Planning, and an Education Information Management Systems is being administered by the Ministry of Education. The Central Bank of Somalia (CBS) has introduced a core banking system and is rolling out a Somalia Transaction Automation and Reporting System (STARS) as well as a national payments switch. The Ministry of Health, Immigration, Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), and Attorney General are also in the process of introducing various digital solutions, and a digital social registry is due to be hosted by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. The office the Accountant General is implementing electronic documents management system to facilitate full migration to paperless office and strengthen documents management controls. However, integration between systems is a lingering issue, leading to fragmentation of digital government initiatives - e.g. integration of IFMIS with the banking systems, enabling gradual scale-up of government digital payments such as mobile government-to-person (G2P) payments already piloted for civil servants and emergency payments. Shared services and infrastructureFGS currently lacks critical enables needed to maximize the impact of systems introduce and support further expansion, including shared digital services and infrastructure. For example, FGS lacks shared and secure data hosting and management solutions, including related guidelines. Different institutions are saving government data on individual servers, and sensitive personal and government data is not being shared and stored securely, illustrating that there is still large gaps to fill on the back-end of e-government and in terms of government adoption of technology. A 48km Government backbone network now serves 25 ministries and the CBS, however, supply of connectivity to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) still outstrips demand and many institutions still lack the IT equipment, hardware and software that they need. Meanwhile, IT resources and technical capacity for the implementation of e-government projects remains weak.FGS also lacks many of the foundational platforms and service needed to support gradual movement towards increased front-facing secure transactional service delivery. FGS offers no trust services such as Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to enable encryption and electronic certificates. No foundational digitally enabled identification system is yet in place, providing citizens with a unique and verifiable form of identification, enabling secure access to e-service online. Somalia has, however, taken initial steps to support the introduction of a foundational digital ID system, through the adoption of a National ID policy in 2019. E-service deliveryThe FGS has some online presence, including a handful of informational websites. However, overall, the FGS still offers only a handful of channels that support online engagement with citizen, which could help boost trust and accountability. Meanwhile, expanded service delivery is a viewed as a key priority that could enhance state legitimacy and stability, as noted above. In this context, the FGS e-Government Strategy should be designed with a key focus on establishing the facilitation of effective delivery of government services to the people of Somalia. In addition, the e-Government strategy will be central in fostering accountability and transparency in user fees as well as support Government device alternative service delivery channels in the wake of COVID-19 disruptions. SCOPE OF WORK The MoPTT recognizes the need to provide strategic direction for FGS’s e-Government (e-Gov) efforts, as the technical line ministry mandated to support the digital government agenda. Against this backdrop, the MoPTT thus requires an individual consultant to support the Ministry in developing a national e-Government strategy, cost estimates and implementation roadmap, anchored in the local context. Any strategy developed will need to be sensitive to local realities, in terms of current ICT access and adoption, institutional capacity and resources, balancing a forward-looking and ambitious strategy with a pragmatic and phased approach.Undertaking an E-government inventory and gaps analysisThe consultant is thus expected to begin by taking stock of the current e-government context – undertaking a mapping exercise to, for example, detail what infrastructure, IT resources, capacity, legal framework, platforms/channels, e-Gov services that are currently available and inventory mapping of potential Government services that can be potentially modernized and delivered through e-Government platforms. The consultant is expected to identify and categorize key e-Government enablers, challenges and constraints to e-Government, back-end and front-end systems, as well as Government-to-Government (G2G), Government-to-Business (G2B), Government to Government (G2G) as well as Government-to-Citizen (G2C) services available or in progress. The consultant is expected to provide a gaps analysis, which also references models used by other countries. (Deliverable ii: E-government inventory and gaps analysis). Developing a Strategy DocumentBased on this analysis, the consultant will help the FGS to articulate a high-level e-Government vision and strategy document, contextualized to the challenges facing Somalia. The 5-year strategy developed is expected to reflect best practice, in relation to its approach and principles, favoring integration, transparency, resources efficiency, security and heavy end-user focus. The strategy should support the FGS in improving the performance of key government functions. It should also support greater interoperability of government systems as well as movement towards a whole-of-government approach, where data can be easily and securely shared and access to e-services is offered under a single umbrella framework. It should priorities the use of shared systems and services, and re-usable public goods. The strategy should also support the gradual expansion of e-services over the coming five-year period, supporting movement from one-way informational e-services to more sophisticated transactional e-services. The strategy should ideally be grounded in the management of life-cycle events. (Deliverable iii: E-government Strategy).Developing an Implementation RoadmapThe Consultant will be expected to support the Ministry in developing a phased implementation roadmap of the strategy that identifies key building blocks that are priorities in terms of financing, but also identifies quick wins (e.g. sectors to prioritize, given costs and capacity constraints), in order to facilitate operationalization. The roadmap should articulate how the strategy will enable specific services through appropriate channels. It should recommend how to best support effective governance of e-Government: how the FGS can create an enabling governance environment and begin to enforce shared services and technical standards that promote efficiency, interoperability and security. The roadmap is also expected to include key milestones, roles and responsibilities, key problem definition statements, proposed mitigation measures or action, desired outcomes as well as metrics for measuring success, which supports the operationalization of the strategy. Objectives should be specific, measurable, attributable, relevant, and time oriented. (Deliverable iv: Implementation Roadmap)Stakeholder consultation and validationThe successful implementation of the strategy will depend on building consensus among concerned stakeholders, around an agreed platform of realistic priorities. To this end, key stakeholders are to be identified and included in the analysis, strategy formulation as well as implementation planning process to promote local ownership at every stage. The consultant is expected to support the MoPTT by facilitating a series of consultations with stakeholders. Separate to this, the Consultant is expected to support the MoPTT in holding interim and final validation workshops with key Ministry officials and the NCC for the National ICT Policy and Strategy to both receive feedback and socialize the strategy and implementation plan of adoption. DELIVERY MODALITY & SUPPORTWhile much of the work proposed can be delivered remotely, some in-field presence is expected in order to support data collection, stakeholder consultation and validation, travel restrictions permitting. While recognizing that in-person consultations may be challenging during Covid-19, precautions, provision and contingency planning should be made to facilitate this in a safe environment, which is in line with public health recommendations. The Consultant will be working closely with the MoPTT, who will support the delivery of the assignment and facilitate data requests as needed. However, the Consultant is expected to clearly articulate what will be required in terms of inputs from the MoPTT to ensure timely delivery, in light of current context. The Consultant will therefore be expected to propose an approach and workplan with projected timing for key tasks (consultations etc.) and deliverables (Deliverable i: Inception report and work plan). TIMEFRAME & EXPECT DELIVERABLESThe Consultant is expected to conclude the proposed assignment within 3 months. Expected deliverables and an indicative timeline for delivery is included below: Inception report and work plan (1 weeks after contract signature)E-government inventory and gap analysis (1 months after contract signature)Draft e-government strategy (2 months after contract signature)Draft phased implementation roadmap (2.5 months after contract signature)Validation workshop on the e-government strategy (2.5 months after contract signature)Final versions of all deliverables, incorporating feedback and recommendations (3 months after contract signature), including short read-out of consultations with relevant stakeholders and how they have been reflected. REQUIRED EXPERIENCE & SKILLS The Ministry is seeking an experienced e-government expert, with substantial experience of supporting national e-government strategy development and implementation. The selected consultant is thus expected to demonstrate: Master's degree in telecommunications, engineering, computer science, law, economics,public policy or related field with a minimum of 10 years of experience in the ICT sector, working on government policy, regulation and project implementation, or equivalent combination of education and experience. Experience of supporting eGov strategy development, planning and implementation at a national level, including a track-record of successfully carrying-out at least one similar assignment in the last 5 years; Experience from both developed and developing context is considered a distinct advantage, including supporting governments that are starting to build out their eGov capabilities from a low base; Experience of advising governments on best practices in relation to e-government programs.Strong understanding of program management relating to digital government, shared platforms and integrated digital solutions and digital service delivery, including technical knowledge of related institutional, policy/regulatory, infrastructure and technical frameworks.Experience of facilitating inclusive policy dialogue and stakeholder engagement on issue relating to government digitalization. A highly collaborative and strong client focus, responding effectively to Client needs and supporting knowledge transfer in low capacity environments. Excellent conceptual and analytical skills, including ability to think strategically and innovatively.Strong interpersonal skills and proven ability to respectfully and effectively liaise with diverse stakeholders. Strong communication skills (both orally and in writing), including ability to draft strategic documents and clearly present complex technical topics to diverse audiences. A strong capacity to deliver the present assignment, including a willingness and ability to travel to Somalia (if feasible).Sensitivity to local context, including political economy and business environment.Proficiency in English is essential.EVALUATION CRITERIAExperience of the Consultant specifically related to the assignment. (weight 80 points)Adequacy of approach proposed (weight 20 points)SUBMISSIONThe Consultant should submit a CV and cover letter describing how their work experience meets the requirements detailed in this document, as well as a short proposal for how the assignment would be carried out. ................
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