IT Company or Team of Consultant(s) to Design Market Resource Guide

 

WORK SCOPE AND KEY DELIVERABLE

The ARC programme implemented by Concern Worldwide in Akkar and T-5 as part of Alliance 2015 consortium of 4 NGOs in Lebanon needs to design market resource guide based on the data collected from 61 municipalities under the catchment of 5 Social Development Centres (SDCs); Bebnine, Meshmesh, Bakhoun, Meryata and Qalamoun. Under the project Concern along with other partners has committed to Job placement, skill matching, apprenticeship and connecting beneficiary with correct employer as one of the major outcome among the others. Concern with the help of surveyors collected following data;

1-            Coordinates of markets in each of 61 municipalities

2-            Consumer Survey

3-            MSME survey

Hence Concern intends to recruit a MIS Freelancer consultant with software architect background, ability to think creatively and out of box, previous experience with designing interactive user-friendly interface to interact with data, designing real maps, date projection and excellent English and Arabic writing abilities to deliver

-              Market maps of each municipality with all the coordinates collected by the surveyors. Maps should have single-out and consolidated interphase to zoom in and out of each municipality up to the governorate level.

-              Statistical data analysis projection for each municipality or cluster of municipalities based on the data collected.

-              Printed MRG in an agreed upon template holding names and addresses of key business, product, skills and services gaps in the catchment of each SDC, most popular and least popular businesses

 

Problem Analysis: The MRG is to assist users like SDC directors, National Employment Centres, job seeker and anticipating entrepreneur to look up potential employers, skills most in demand in specific market, product gaps and available services. The key challenge of the MRG is to become a user-friendly system that can be used by Concern (open access) and important stakeholders (restricted access to easily obtain needed information.

 

Objective(s)

Web-based MRG:

-              To develop an online platform with offline data entry access where Concern can feed in and update relevant market data data to ensure harmonized and up-to-date information on markets.

-              Concern should be able to download pre-set excel sheets for offline data entry which can be uploaded with automatic data extraction facility.

-              External stakeholders should be able to zoom in and out of the maps, view graphs and charts for different catchments areas respective of sectors i.e. product gaps for dairy, skill gaps in construction, quality gap for fresh products etc.

Paper-based MRG for printing:

-              Printed Market Resource Guide in agreed upon template (maximum 35 pages long both side).

-              Graphic designing and data analysis for the presentation

-              Desk research for missing information to pull information from other resources

Identification of Data Gaps:

-              Consultant will identify the data gaps and will coordinate with marketing officer to help her collect missing data.

-              S/he will design standard template and structure for data cleaning, review, update and consolidation.

1.            Specific Tasks and Responsibilities:

The specific responsibilities of MIS freelancer/consultant (s) are given below:

 

 

1.            The application is developed in following:

             Database                                             SQL Server 2012

             Programming Language                 C#, JavaScript

             Web Framework                               ASP.Net 4.0

2.            Debugging of MIS functioning to ensure its efficient operations;

3.            Support in MIS hosting on unique internal IT systems of Concern

4.            Technical capacity building of select Concern staff and stakeholders on MIS upgradation (C#,

             databases, ASP.net etc.

5.            Support in software testing, debugging, data editing/cleaning as per requirements;

6.            Any other tasks may ask by Concern regarding MIS features, designs and outputs till full satisfaction of the required deliverable.

The main tasks related to maintaining MIS application are:

•             Comprehensively understand MRG to develop logical flow, database structure, administration module and other essential elements in the web-based application;

•             Modify and edit application from time to time as requested by Concern based on experiential learning after lunch of application.

•             Identify flow blockades, user interface issues, networking problem and security concerns. Resolve and rectify these identified items over time;

•             Provide server support smooth running of application.

•             Provide support in online hosting, access and user interface of external stakeholders.

2.            General tasks and responsibilities:

1.            Maintain regular communication with Marketing Officer and MEAL Team Leader  and key stakeholders where necessary  via direct meeting, telephonic and email for tasks covered in scope.

2.            Any revision required in the TOR is subject to approval of Concern.

3.            Any change in software specification in one component or in complete application required making it

            more robust and user effective is subject to approval of Concern and identified stakeholders.

4.            To the extent possible, seek guidance form MEAL team leader before troubleshooting any sensitive complex problems that arise during process.

 

3.              Outputs

The main outputs related to maintain MIS application are:

-              Upgraded DIP and Market Team according to Program team needs

-              Software debugging/ error removal and technical assistance

-              Improved reporting patterns such as dynamic to static and vice versa

-              Item wise indicator tracking and addition

-              Lay out view of the system

-              Increased security of the system from unauthorized access

-              Timely responding to queries and updated software with respect to emerging needs.

 

4.            Deliverables:

 

A.            Web-based MRG:

Deliverable One: Market maps of each municipality with all the coordinates collected by the surveyors. Maps should have single-out and consolidated interphase to zoom in and out of each municipality up to the governorate level. Statistical data analysis and projection of market data for each municipality or cluster of municipalities based on the data already collected by Concern.

Activity 1: Planning meeting, KII with identified stakeholders, Work plan, standardization of various outputs after taking data from Concern

Activity 2: First prototype of software with demo data, Presentation and dry- testing

Activity 3: Second version refined based on feedback of dry test, roll out to all consortium partners, user follow-up, server support and delivery of MIS with code/passwords to ARC consortium.

Activity 4: Consultant should provide complete source code of the software including all the admin passwords, and the usage manual at the end of the project

Activity 5: Follow-up for 6 months to adjust design, logical flow, outputs

 

B.            Printed MRG:

Deliverable Two: Market maps of each municipality with all the coordinates collected by the surveyors. Maps should have single-out and consolidated interphase to zoom in and out of each municipality up to the governorate level. Statistical data analysis and projection of market data for each municipality or cluster of municipalities based on the data already collected by Concern.

Activity 1: Planning meeting, KII with identified stakeholders, Work plan, agreement on the standard template after taking data from Concern

Activity 2: Identification of any data gaps, work plan for data collection (all field cost and resources will be responsibility of Concern), desk research, identification of additional resources.

Activity 3: Write up and presentation of first completed section for the review and approval of Concern.

Activity 4: Submission of First Draft for the approval of Concern

Activity 5: Integration of feedback, review, graphic designing, formatting for final printing. (Printing is not a responsibility of Concern.

5.            Timeframe

The consultant(s) will be hired for 3 months initially. Payment will be bound to the delivery of each deliverable after written approvals.

 

6.            Minimum Experience Required;

The consultant or team of consultant should be familiar with:

Project management;

Analysis and design;

Development and programming;

Testing and deployment of the web-based internet application;

Development and consulting on the applications’ presentation layout;

Consulting on the application’s information architecture;

User interface definition and development;

Feasibility studies and technical, usability and accessibility assessments;

Technical documentation, training of users and user’s manuals.

 

Key experience and characteristics of the consultant(s):

Experienced in the domain of web-development

Showing willingness to provide support and maintenance after the system is implemented

Willingness to perform analysis, design, development , hosting and testing of the system

Experienced in database design and development of web-based system

Experienced in designing and establishing a web-based system for NGOs or UN Agencies.

Experienced in designing a user friendly interphase

 

Required Qualifications and experience(s):

BA, BSc on Computer Science, Information Management Systems (IMS) or relevant, MA, MSc preferred

Proficient knowledge of Microsoft office, MS SQL Server, web development (HTML5, CSS , PHP, JAVSCRIPT, JQUERY AND BOOTSTRAP)

Experience working in International NGOs and/or UN in similar position