| Description |
WATERWIKI CONTENT CREATION - SHORT-TERM CONSULTANCY | | Location : | Bratislava, SLOVAK REPUBLIC | | Application Deadline : | 04-Jan-09 | | Type of Contract : | SSA | Languages Required :
| English | | Duration of Initial Contract : | approx. 40 days (with a possibility of extension) | | | Background | WaterWiki is one of the most innovative responses to the emerging challenges of effective and efficient knowledge management and collaboration within the UN.
The WaterWiki 2.0 Project
WaterWiki strives to be a “knowledge hub” or “one-stop shop” for experts and practitioners working on water- and development-related issues. It serves as platform for knowledge codification and dissemination, as “sign-post” to existing information and relevant web resources, and as tool for on-line collaboration with a special emphasis towards joint development of knowledge products (in the form of articles, reports, toolkits, FAQ’s or other “consolidated or meta-knowledge products”).
The underlying objective of WaterWiki is to not only provide an up-to-date web-based and interactive tool for better knowledge creations, codification, hosting or dissemination, but through that to stimulate pro-active networking among its users and thus promote an active on-line “community of practitioners” to increase exchange of knowledge and experience amongst water professionals across geographical or institutional boundaries.
Based on the positive experience over the first 3 years of existence, and with an aim to scale-up and expand its use, functionality and benefit for targeted users, WaterWiki has been presented to UN-Water at it’s meeting in Stockholm, 16/17 August 2008. UNDP, the initiator and main driving force behind WaterWiki to date, invited all UN-Water members to use WaterWiki as a platform for own knowledge creation, codification, development and dissemination. Besides the decision to further explore opportunities for a general adoption of WaterWiki as a UN-Water wide platform, a number of UN-Water members have stepped forward and expressed their will to start immediately with selected inter-agency projects.
For this planned WaterWiki 2.0 Upscaling Project, and especially the link-up with other UN-agency’s web-tools, platforms or databases, UNDP is therefore seeking a technical coordinator (IT/web 2.0) to support the Water Governance Advisor and all other involved members of this joint exercise in all technical aspects. His/her responsibility will encompass conceptual and advisory tasks, as well as all aspects of implementation and technical realization.
Expected Outcomes of the WaterWiki 2.0 Project:
Together with the Water Governance Advisor and other (UNDP and external) project partners, the consultant will contribute to the following project outcomes:
- WaterWiki is scaled up to global level and continuously growing as global platform for knowledge codification and exchange, as well as on-line collaboration amongst, members of the global “UN Water Community or Practice”[1]
- WaterWiki functionalities are expanded and enhanced[2], taking into account user-demands, and including effective incentives that promote efficient use and pro-active contributions by all users
- As the “No. 1 knowledge portal on water”, WaterWiki is covering a significant part of UN-relevant online resources, knowledge products or tools (including data on experts and practitioners, projects, organizations or other types of materials) for easy access and use
- Web-based inter-agency knowledge exchange projects are gradually being established with selected UN-Water partners, including static and dynamic content linking, or other forms of exchange of data between the sites.
[1] UN(DP) staff and affiliated experts, practitioners or partners, engaged in water/sanitation or related fields of activity, projects, or initiatives. The „UN Water-CoP“ is expected to gradually include a growing number of practitioners and experts from all types of UN-Water agencies and partner organizations.
[2] building on MediaWiki on one hand, and other cutting-edge web 2.0 approaches, tools, applications or open-source/mesh-up solutions, as adequate, feasible and user-frienldy (incl. “look & feel”)
| Duties and Responsibilities | Under the supervision of, and working closely with the BRC Water Governance Advisor, as well as in cooperation with the WaterWiki Technical Coordinator and other involved colleagues, users and volunteers, the Consultant will be tasked with the creation of content, templates, pages types, interactive maps, and other user-oriented elements on WaterWiki. His/her tasks will also include targeted research on MediaWiki-extensions or other IT-applications.
Specifically, the consultant’s task will include:
1. Content creation for WaterWiki upgrade and global scale-up
- Create and populate country-, water basin-, region-, project-, publication-, UN-agency-, or other types of pages
- Develop and consistently implement a suitable system for taxonomy/tagging (incl. tag cloud and other advanced visual features)
- Transform various info into on-line content, such as
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- the “Common Framework for Addressing Water Issus in Central Asia”
- documents, tools and products from UNDP and close partners incl. Water Governance Facility, Cap-Net, IW:LEARN, UN-Water Programmes, and other selected UN-agencies
- Un-Water Task Force info, materials and products
- Other content such as reports, newsletters, results from on-line discussions or e-mails, as advised by the Water Governance Advisor
- Review, update and enlarge the help-sections, including a “tutorial” or “getting started” section for WaterWiki newcomers
- Creation of content from project databases and other systematic data sources, such as from UNDP’s project database, the WHO Lexicon, UNESCO encyclopedias, etc.
- Pro-actively develop ideas and suggestions to improve WaterWiki content and structure
- Other tasks as emerging and advised by the Water Governance Advisor
2. Research and development of MediaWiki- and IT-solutions
Taking a user-perspective and with a view on promoting user-(inter-)activity, identify needs and develop ideas to improve user-friendliness, functionality, attractiveness of WaterWiki as platform/tool, including graphic design and “look & feel”
- In close cooperation with the WaterWiki TC (and team in general):
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- research for suitable MediaWiki extensions, plug-ins or platform developments (incl. source-code modifications as feasible), to be implemented on WaterWiki
- develop and implement UI templates, wizards or walkthroughs[1], toolkits, cross-linking elements, or other user-guiding and supporting solutions (based on DynamicPageList or other MediaWiki extensions)
- develop and implement categorizing, navigation, search and other structural elements that support users to find and contribute knowledge
- research options for generating interactive maps (integrated with Google Map or other applications), and develop / populate such for different data or pages
- support the TC in implementing RSS-feeds for news, community or other types of “portal-functions”, feeding on WaterWiki and selected external sources (e.g. UN-agency databases, Wikipedia, news-portals, Delicious, etc.)
- Participate, or take the lead, in discussions with UN(DP) IT departments, WaterWiki users, inter-agency project partners or third parties, as tasked by the Water Governance Advisor
- As adequate and required, go or accompany the WaterWiki team on missions to meetings or potential partners (may Support the WaterWiki team in identifying needs and formulating concrete follow-up development plans and activities, as Other tasks as emerging or requested by the Water Governance Advisor
[1] e.g. for file-upload, creation of new articles, automatic tagging, creation of tables, etc. | Competencies | Working Arrangements and remuneration
Methodological Approach
- The consultant will work on a self-managing basis towards fulfilling of his/her tasks within the foreseen timeframe and based on agreement with, or advice by the Water Governance Advisor; s/he will regularly report on progress and any obstacles encountered, and in the latter case suggest solutions.
- The consultant is expected to pro-actively and frequently consult with the project manager and other relevant WaterWiki team members, and to participate in relevant discussions, meetings and tele-conferences as requested by the Water Governance Advisor
- The consultant will pro-actively communicate with external colleagues and project partners in the framework of his/her tasks, as advised by the Water Governance Advisor and based on prior endorsement for all new contacts
- The consultant is encouraged to provide input and ideas to other WaterWiki team members and processes regarding upscaling and expansion of the platform
Estimated time effort and remuneration
The expected time-input for above tasks is estimated at approx. 40 working days. The services are expected to be delivered with the window of maximum 3 months after signature of the contract.
The consultant will be remunerated for services rendered based on a lump-sum payment in installments, conditional to quality, timely delivery, and acceptance of agreed upon deliverables based on above tasks, and upon submission of short work reports and requests for payment as specified in the contract.
Travel costs, if applicable and upon prior approval by the Water Governance Advisor, will be reimbursed in addition to the remuneration for services, and according to UNDP standard rules and procedures. | Required Skills and Experience | Expected qualifications
- Higher education in environmental sciences, natural resource management, international development, or other relevant field;
- Excellent skills with adequate and relevant work experience on web-tools, databases and to-date web 2.0 applications, preferably including MediaWiki-based platforms
- Proven capacity to conceptualize and develop slim solutions in the cross-field of knowledge management and IT-applications
- Basic understanding of water and development related issues in the context of international cooperation and the UN
- Well-organized working style with proven efficiency and competency in self-managing complex task-lists under time pressure and in collaboration or coordination with a team of various backgrounds
- Excellent English, communication and drafting skills
Willingness and competency to work in a multi-cultural environment and adhering to UN values
Application procedure
Qualified and interested candidates are requested to preferably apply on-line at http://europeandcis.undp.org/home/jobs/ or to send the application to hru.sk@undp.org no later than Sunday 04 January 2009.
The application should contain:
- filled P11 form (the form can be downloaded from http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_SC_SSA.doc);
- price quotation indicating the lump sum for the work envisaged in the job description
- short letter of interest
Qualified women and members of social minorities are particularly encouraged to apply.
Due to the large number of applicants for UNDP positions, UNDP regrets that it is unable to inform unsuccessful candidates abut the outcome or status of the recruitment process. |
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