ToR - BUSINESS ANALYST FOR THE R&A MIS
BACKGROUND
The Rights & Access (R&A) is a government programme established in 1994 by the Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSA). R&A serves Lebanese citizens with disabilities with the entitlements and services granted them by the Law 220/2000 on the Rights of People with Disabilities. R&A’s services include disability assessment and the provision of Personal Disability Cards (PDC), provision of assistive devices, access to specialized care, multiple tax exemption attestations, access to parking cards, and learning difficulties assessments.
Since 2023, MOSA has implemented the National Disability Allowance (NDA) with EU funding and support from UNICEF and the ILO. Particularly, development partners provided operational support with R&A through the PDC database and the centres on updating and validating data of PWDs, and identifying beneficiaries. To date, and based on the joint design, a comprehensive cash transfer delivery chain is in operation, which includes registration, payment, grievances management, communication, linkages and referrals, and monitoring system. This approach helped embed the programme from its early phases in the national system and avoid any duplications and inconsistencies that would result from the use of other or new platforms and databases.
To perform its operations R&A relies on a Management Information System (MIS) that faces several critical challenges, limiting its effectiveness and efficiency. Built on outdated Oracle 8i technology and Oracle Forms, the system is obsolete, unsupported, and vulnerable to security breaches, while also lacking modern web functionality and integration capabilities. Inefficient, paper-based workflows lead to delays, human errors, and increased resource demands, while fragmented data storage across centers increases security risks and complicates synchronization. Additionally, limited interoperability prevents the system from integrating with external platforms, hindering data sharing and a unified understanding of PWD needs, thereby constraining the development of a coordinated referral services system.
The ILO has previously supported an assessment of the R&A as well as its MIS (RAIS), and the preparation of programmatic considerations and measures to accompany the upgrade of the RAIS. In addition to operational and technical support delivered to R&A, these studies resulted in a clear identification of the RAIS gaps, as well as the conception of a high-level upgrade solution.
In 2022, the EU, and at the request of MOSA, has put together a technical assistance package to establish a Unified Registry for the Social Protection system (URSP) that aims at strengthening the ICT infrastructure of social protection programmes at MOSA. As of November 2024, Intertech approaches URSP design phase finalization, and expects the development phase to subsequently start in early December.
In implementation of the GoL vision set in the National Social Protection Strategy, each of the existing or aspired social protection program databases, including RAIS, can eventually be integrated. This harmonization will support coordination and linkages between programs (i.e., referrals, identification, etc.) and further enhance governance and integration.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this consultancy is to provide necessary technical assistance to implement a new RAIS, under the framework of the ongoing work on URSP. The mission is divided in 3 phases:
- Business Analysis and re-engineering of the existing R&A processes to generate a design of the new RAIS
- Analysis of historical data and archives of RAIS
- Coordination with URSP technical team for the migration of RAIS historical data into the central URSP database, to be accessible by the new RAIS modules.
The work will contribute to the modernization of the R&A processes and operations, and to the institutionalization of the NDA. With this support, social protection for PWDs will become more sustainable and scalable, and the national social protection system capacity in providing income support and services to PWDs will be strengthened.
TASKS AND METHODOLOGY
The external collaborator will adopt a systematic approach comprising the following steps:
- Documents’ and RAIS System Review
Collect and analyse relevant documents, including the assessment of the R&A MIS (RAIS) where current processes have been extensively mapped out in addition to programmatic considerations. Additionally, accessing the existing RAIS system to assess features, screens, functionalities, etc. Identify gaps and priorities to inform the analysis.
- Process Mapping and Analysis and Re-engineered Business Processes
Propose re-engineered processes to optimize workflows efficiency, to meet RAIS user needs and to be compatible with the overall URSP data logic.
- Stakeholder Engagement
To the needed extent, conduct interviews with key stakeholders, including R&A programme staff, MOSA leadership and IT teams, development partners (ILO, UNICEF, etc.). Based on initial proposal, gather insights on feasibility and current challenges, user needs, and expectations for the upgraded system.
- UI Design and Prototyping
Design user-friendly and accessible interfaces for the upgraded RAIS, including Citizen Online Portal, service provider portal and accessibility features.
- Design Validation
Validate findings, workflows, and requirements with stakeholders through presentations and feedback sessions. Prepare a comprehensive final document.
- RAIS Historical Data
Analyse structure, quality and consistency of existing historical RAIS data, and draft a Data Migration Plan to be implemented by URSP technical team.
- RAIS Testing Report
Further to the migration, carry out deep functional testing on RAIS module of URSP, issue comments to URSP technical team, and iterate testing till satisfactory result. Draft final testing report.
EXPECTED DELIVERABLES
- Deliverable of the Phase 1: Functional Specifications Document of the RAIS module
- Key findings from the business analysis and process mapping, including recommendations for workflow improvements and new optimized workflows
- Re-engineered Business Processes for the citizen online portal, as well as for the core URSP Information Management Portal. These would include user groups, user personas, end-to-end user journeys, process flows, user stories, wireframes and data requirements (incl. data capture and retention strategy, and document management requirements).
- Detailed UI designs and prototypes (wireframes) in English and in Arabic for the RAIS module of the citizen online portal, as well as for the core URSP Information Management Portal.
- Deliverable of the Phase 2: RAIS Historical Data Migration Plan, including data quality assessment and dry run environments settings requirements
- Deliverable of the Phase 3: New RAIS testing Report
TIMELINE
The consultancy is expected to start in January 2025 and be completed by September 2025 for a total of 50 working days. The External Collaborator can propose an alternative timeline to be evaluated. Please refer to the attached ToR to review the deiverables, deadlines and payments.
REQUIRED PROFILE
The applicants will be evaluated against following qualifications:
Qualifications:
- Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science.
- Proven experience as a Senior Social Protection Software Designer.
- Expertise in information systems and software development.
- Proficiency with prototyping tools.
- Strong analytical skills and attention to detail.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Excellent knowledge of English and Arabic.
- French Knowledge is an asset.
- Familiarity with project management principles.
- Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
- Knowledge of industry regulations and compliance requirements.
- Experience in Agile Project Management methodology.
General professional experience:
- A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in technology development.
- Experience with working on international projects, especially within the public sector.
Specific professional experience:
- Proven experience as a Senior Social Protection Software designer
- Expert in large-scale Automation projects with the Lebanese government.
CONTRACT SUPERVISION
The ILO Social Protection Technical Officer, with oversight from the ILO Programme Manager and Social Protection Specialist will supervise the contract. The ILO Social Protection Technical Officer, ILO Social Protection Officer, and the ILO MIS and Quality Assurance Expert will provide support to the Business Analyst and coordination with stakeholders.
How to apply
Individual consultants are invited to share the following documents by 2nd of January 2025 with the ILO Regional Social Protection team at: serhan@ilo.org and fawaz@ilo.org
Email subject heading should mention “BUSINESS ANALYST FOR THE R&A MIS”.
- A cover letter outlining fit for the assignment.
- CV
- An example of previous work on a similar assignment.
- Financial proposal (Daily Rate)