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About Giga:
UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) launched Giga in 2019, an initiative to connect every school to the internet. Giga is anchored in the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation’s finding 1A which states that by “2030 every adult should have affordable access to digital networks”. According to the ITU, nearly 3.6 billion people worldwide remain unconnected from the internet, and by extension, unconnected to digital products and services that could dramatically improve their lives. Approximately 29% of 18–24-year-olds globally, do not have digital access (~360m people) and thereby lack access to the same information, opportunity, and choice as their more-connected peers. Unless things change, a big part of this rapidly growing group of young people is in danger of being left behind, excluded from the modern digital world.
Giga enables universal school connectivity and provides support in three broad areas: (1) High level engagement and governance around school connectivity; (2) Technical assistance to map schools’ location and connectivity status, as well as open-source technology tools in support of connectivity; and connectivity infrastructure; (3) Procurement and market access interventions.
Giga has been engaged in discussions with the Malawi Government on universal school connectivity since 2020. The Ministry of Education has signed the letter of interest and expressed its willingness to move forward with implementation. Giga has completed school location mapping and is helping the government gather school connectivity information. Further, Giga recently completed a market assessment study that focuses on the market structure, market actors, market dynamics and conditions, as well as understanding of all the available technologies and connectivity solutions for schools in Malawi.
For more information about Giga, please visit the website: https://giga.global/
How can you make a difference?
Objectives
- Stakeholder engagement and coordination to facilitate school connectivity assessment and to prepare for scaling up school connectivity nationwide through the organization of meetings, consultations, and workshops.
- Development and implementation of a school connectivity assessment strategy including school connectivity data collection, analysis, visualization and creating the mechanisms to enable real-time connectivity mapping sustainably, using Giga real-time monitoring application.
- Creation of Malawi school connectivity landscape analysis and presentation of key findings to the key stakeholders, including the Ministry of Education, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), UNICEF staff, and other relevant stakeholders.
Scope of Work
- Stakeholder Coordination.
- Survey Development.
- Finalize data collection strategy.
- Data Collection.
- Data Review and Cleaning.
- Giga Real-Time Monitoring app deployment.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Academic qualification:
- An advanced University degree in a relevant field such as Information Technology, Geographical Information Systems, data science, technology for development, economics, statistics, Computer Science and Management Information Systems.
Work experience:
- Ten years of progressively responsible professional work experience in information communication technology (ICT) industry, Telecommunications industry, tech startups, business, management consulting or a relevant field, some of which should be in an international setting.
- Experience in working with both quantitative and qualitative data, as well as geospatial data, and familiarity with government data sources (e.g., censuses, EMIS) is required.
- Familiarity with education sector and connectivity infrastructure preferred.
Technical skills and knowledge:
- Knowledge and experience in survey design, data collection, and analysis using statistical software (e.g., SPSS, STATA, R, GIS, ArcGIS, QGIS) and data collection platforms (e.g., InForm, KoboToolbox, ODK) is desired.
- Excellent interpersonal skills; culturally and socially sensitive; ability to work inclusively and collaboratively with a range of partners.
- Ability to work and adapt professionally and effectively in a challenging environment; ability to work effectively in a multicultural team of international and national personnel.
- Self-motivated, ability to work with minimum supervision; ability to work with tight deadlines.
- Affinity with or interest in internet connectivity, technology for development, and the UN System preferred.
Languages:
- Fluency in spoken and written English is required, understanding of Chichewa desired.
Please refer to the attached full Terms of Reference 
Terms of Reference_GIGA Consultant.pdf for more details on the consultancy and requirements.
HOW TO APPLY…
Interested Individual Consultant should provide the following:
- Curriculum Vitae
- Academic certificates
- Brief technical proposal (no longer than five pages) demonstrating the Individual Consultant’s understanding of the assignment and approach/methodology to the assignment
- Financial proposal including a breakdown of their all-inclusive fees (including professional fees, stationery, communication, and other miscellaneous costs).
Financial Proposal for Consultancy.xlsx Complete the attached form. - References details from three most recent supervisors.
Remarks:
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
Advertised: South Africa Standard Time
Deadline: South Africa Standard Time
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