TERMS OF REFERENCE

Data Manager

Humanitarian Data Exchange, Data Lab

POSITION TITLE: Consultant

DURATION: 3-6 months

LOCATION: Nairobi, Kenya

DATE: as soon as possible

Background

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has created a new humanitarian data platform – the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX). The goal of HDX is to make humanitarian data easy to find and use for analysis.

The platform will include three technical components: a dataset repository for sharing data from across the community; data visualization and analysis functionality to compare indicators across countries and crises; and standards for the exchange of humanitarian operational data (the Humanitarian Exchange Language or HXL). HDX is being piloted in Colombia and Kenya in 2014.

As part of its roll out in Kenya, the HDX team will be establishing a Data Lab in Nairobi. The Data Lab will serve as a front line, in-person service to the HDX platform and create a neutral, physical space for humanitarian partners, government officials, technologists, universities, and international stakeholders to collaborate on all things data. Data services will include data extraction, cleaning, storage, analysis and visualization. The Lab will also provide the opportunity to find new ways of working together on humanitarian data.

Nairobi was chosen as the initial location for the Data Lab because it is a regional setting that is often dealing with multiple emergencies. We also wanted to explore the relationship between data and resilience in a region that has persistent drought and food insecurity. As we get established, we hope to benefit from the experience of local innovators involved in the local tech scene.

The HDX Data Lab requires an experienced Data Manager to collaborate with data partners. The consultant will be part of the HDX Data Lab team which will include a Lab Manager and a Data Analyst. The Data Lab team will be expected to work closely with staff from the OCHA regional office, based in Nairobi, and with the global HDX team.

Reporting Relationships

The consultant will report to the Lab Manager with oversight from the Statistician and Analytical Lead of the Humanitarian Data Exchange project who is based in New York.

Accountabilities

Within the limits of delegated authority, the consultant will be responsible for the following:

? Work with partner organizations to support their data management processes.

? Advise partners on the use of data extraction processes for their data systems; develop scripts and APIs for data transferring when appropriate.

? Monitor the use of HDX by partners in the region and undertake outreach to bring new organizations into the HDX community.

? Ensure data freshness of region-specific data in HDX

? Promote the use of shared data and interoperability standards within partner spreadsheets and systems using the Humanitarian Exchange Language (HXL).

? Manage and distribute standard reference data, including taxonomies, code lists, and geodata.

? Clean the common operational datasets for countries in the Eastern Africa region and move the cleaned files into the HDX platform.

? Work with non-traditional data sources (telcos, social media) to see what data can be used to inform humanitarian decision making.

? Take part in HDX project team meetings as required.

Deliverables

-Cleaned partner data and logical processes for sharing data with HDX.

-Agreements with data providers for sharing data with the HDX platform.

-Ongoing curation of data into the HDX analytical database.

-Cleaned common operational datasets for countries in the region.

-The use of HXL in partner spreadsheets or systems.

Qualifications

Education: First level university degree in computer science, information management, information technology, or related field.

Experience: At least five years of professional work experience with managing data systems. Proven experience in database programming. Demonstrated experience in technical communication. Experience with the following a plus: the Java and Python programming languages, relational databases, the CKAN open-data portal.

Language: Fluency in English is required (both oral and written). Knowledge of another UN official language is an advantage.

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Key responsibilities will be designing & negotiating the appropriate IT & Comms architecture for the two locations and dealing with suppliers in getting the systems delivered and maintained.

Skills in order of priority:
- 5-10 years experience in:
- VOIP, SIP, ISDN, Cisco Routers, PABX, PSTN and telephony setup and maintenance.
- Firewalls, Switches, Routers setup and maintenance
- Windows Server management, Active Directory setup, DHCP, DNS, file and disk storage management.
- Desktop support for Windows 7/Vista/XP, Office 2003/2007/2010
- Mac support and networking, interoperability with Windows networks
- Applicant needs to be able to set up a professional 50+ user network with Windows domains, Active Directory, user accounts, profiles and login scripts.
- Applicant must be able to work with users to structure and manage many terabytes of data in logical folder structures and ensure backups, fault tolerance and high availability
- Applicant must have experience with networking Mac's and integrating them in a Windows network
- Applicant must be able to setup and manage a Voip phone system and ISDN connectivity.

View the original article here

Call for Papers

Are you interested in politics affecting African countries?
Are you a student between 21 – 28 years?
Send your motivation letter + cv + essay to: goafrica@bpb.de
Closing date for applications: March 15, 2011

The Federal Agency for Civic Education (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung/bpb) is granting fellowships to students and young graduates, enabling them to take part in a five-week seminar to be held from 14th to 29th August 2011 in Germany and in March 2012 in Kenya.

By organising a five-week exchange programme – which is implemented for the fifth time on the initiative of the former Federal President – the Federal Agency for Civic Education is aiming to help overcome the lack of knowledge that exists between African reality and German perception and, vice versa, between German reality and African perception. The personal, intercultural encounter between young and upcoming academics and the interdisciplinary exchange are aimed at promoting advanced professional training and at acquiring multipliers for a German-African future that is based on the spiritof partnership.

The fellowship holders are invited to take part in an education programme that will both encompass talks with political decision-makers, personalities from civil society and industry, academics and journalists from both countries and also give participants the opportunity to take part in political and cultural events and excursions. The participants are to contribute towards implementing the programme by assisting in organising lectures and facilitating group discussions. They will also draw up an interdisciplinary strategy paper on an academic subject that will be prepared in Germany and will be written between September 2011 and April 2012.

The event is directed at students and young graduates from Germany and East Africa. Applicants should be between 21 and 28 years old and be studying or have a degree in political science, modern history, international relations, economics, business administration, African studies, cultural studies, media and communication studies or law.

The seminar will be delivered in English; the number of participants is limited to 24, twelve from East African countries and twelve from Germany. The Federal Agency for Civic Education will cover the costs. Furthermore, there will be an obligatory preparatory seminar for the German participants from 24th to 25th June 2011. For more detailed information about the Federal Agency for Civic Education, please visit the website: http://www.bpb.de/.

Students and graduates who are interested can apply to the Federal Agency for Civic Education by submitting an essay comprising a maximum of three A4 pages (approx. 6,000 characters) written in English. The essay must be accompanied by a curriculum vitae in tabular form, a letter of motivation comprising no more than one A4 page and a photograph (the following information must be provided:

Surname, first name, gender, date of birth, profession, job/field of study, place of study, place of work and place of residence). Applicants must also issue a declaration stating that they wrote the essay without any help from third parties. Please note that the Federal Agency for Civic Education is not able to cover costs for obtaining visas of the German participants or for vaccinations. The acceptance of African participants to the programme only becomes final when the German Embassy in the participant’s home country has issued the relevant visa. It is not possible to legally claim participation in the programme.

A further condition for receiving a grant is that applicants must be able to participate for the entire period. Full applications must be emailed to the Federal Agency for Civic Education at goafrica@bpb.de by 15 March 2011.

You may choose any one of the following topics for your essay. All three questions must be answered in each case.

1. The constitution in Kenya and Germany

The Kenyans voted with an overwhelming majority on 4th August 2010 to pass a new constitution that was brought into force on 27th August 2010 by Kenya’s president Mwai Kibaki. Politicians, media and the Kenyan population celebrated the commencement of the new constitution as a symbol of a “national rebirth”. The constitution is the result of a long reform process, preceded by a failed constitution referendum in 2005 and the serious unrest following the controversial election result in December 2007. At the same time, it represents the emancipation from the “Lancaster” constitution that came into force in 1963 and was drawn up with the participation of the former colonial power Great Britain.

This also manifests itself in the Preamble at the beginning of the new constitution text: “We, thepeople of Kenya (…) give this Constitution to ourselves and to our future generations.”

In Germany there was no new constitution after reunification as the new federal states joined the territory of the German constitution that was passed in 1949. This was preceded in particular among the East German citizens’ movement by a debate on a provisional confederation, although it never really gained political significance. The question as to the necessary of a plebiscitary constitution for reunited Germany, however, has been the subject of repeated discussion over the past years.

1.1 The new Kenyan constitution includes the decentralisation of power. What effect will this have on the form of the political system in Kenya? Describe the changes in detail and present a comparison with the political system in Germany.

1.2. The German constitution has undergone multiple changes during its more than 60 years of history in order to adapt to new developments in political reality. Which difficulties do you anticipate in the implementation of the Kenyan constitution? Do you expect a similar ongoing development process in Kenya? And in your opinion, where will be the key areas of change over the next few years?

1.3 Should Germany follow in Kenya’s footsteps 20 years after reunification and introduce a new constitution that is directly legitimated by the people? Give reasons for your views.

2. Transnational river basins: the Nile – potential for conflict or cooperation?

With a length of almost 6,700 km, the Nile is the world’s longest river and has outstanding socio-economic and strategic significance for the ten countries bordering the river. In order to achieve cooperative negotiation of the different usage interests by the countries, in 1999 the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) was founded. This has brought about new regulation of the distribution shares that was initially signed in May 2010 in Entebbe by four of these countries (Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania). Egypt, currently the main user of the Nile’s waters, is blocking the new regulation and instead is citing its “historical rights” that were set down in contracts from 1929 and 1959.

1.1 Distribution rights not only hold potential for conflict, they also provide the necessity for cooperation. In this context, how should the Nile Basin Initiative be evaluated?

1.2 “Why go to war over water? For the price of a week’s fighting, you could build desalination plants. No loss of life, no internal pressure, and a reliable supply you don’t have to defend in hostile territory,” wrote Avraham Tamir back in 1988. In what way can modern technologies be used as a solution to the Nile distribution conflict?

1.3 Which contribution is made by the German EZ in the region’s water sector?

3. Jointly coordinated security policy of the AU and EU

In a globalised world, the challenges facing the areas of peace and security can no longer be dealt with on a national level, but require multinational cooperation. This also finds expression in the principles of the newly founded African Union from 2002, in which the new African Peace And Security Architecture, APSA represents a key element. However, it is taking longer than planned to set up this collective security system, primarily owing to a lack of financial resources. And the AU troops are also faced with major challenges in the actual implementation, in military operations. The complex conflict situations within the current crisis regions reveal the limitations of the AU involvement in security policy. The African Peace And Security Architecture is still dependent on international support.

In the EU as well, the Treaty of Lisbon takes into account the strengthening of transnational foreign affairs and security policy and achieved an institutional basis with the establishment of the Office of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The EU aims to position itself as a strategic partner in global security and peace issues and both effectively and sustainably avoid future external threats to European security through joint crisis and conflict management.

1.1 New institutions do not necessarily achieve operational politics. Which conceptional and structural difficulties result from the implementation of the APSA? Illustrate the problems using the involvement of the AU in Sudan as an example.

1.2 The APSA is planning the establishment of an African Standby Force (ASF) that will consist of regional brigades. Which challenges can be expected here? Outline and evaluate the regional orientation with regard to the deployment of African soldiers in the Congo and Somalia.

1.3 The EU is endeavouring to strengthen its foreign policy profile. To what extent can greater involvement in the resolution of African conflicts contribute towards this? Outline the potential and problems using the civilian-military EU operation in Somalia as an example.

Courtesy: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung/bpb

To Receive daily jobs In Kenya in your inbox,please subscribe here below. This entry was posted on Friday, January 21st, 2011 at 8:30 AM and is filed under SCHOLARSHIPS KENYA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

The Nairobi Stock Exchange is seeking to recruit an exceptional professional to fill the position of Network Administrator.

Roles and Responsibilities

Reporting to the Manager, Information Technology, the successful candidate will be responsible for:
* Monitoring, diagnosing and troubleshooting the computer network backbone.
* Analysing user requirements, procedures and problems in order to prepare effective network management plans.
* Strictly enforcing the implementation of anti-virus and file backup procedures to protect against loss of valuable data and information caused by hardware problems, virus attacks or destruction of computer files.
* Identifying existing and emerging technologies and evaluating its utilisation and applicability.

Qualifications and skills
* A Bachelor’s degree with a professional qualification in MCSE or CCNA.
* Minimum four (4) years experience working with integrated software programmes, Solaris Systems Administration and Oracle Database Administration.
* Be of high integrity with ability to maintain confidentiality of privileged information and to ensure absolute discretion and sensitivity to confidential matters.
* Effective communication and interpersonal skills.
* Considerable experience with setting up information systems and networked applications and office automation systems.
* Demonstrated ability to keep abreast of ICT developments through continuous professional development.

This is a very challenging role that provides an opportunity for professional growth in a highly dynamic work environment.

If you are up to the challenge and can clearly demonstrate your ability to meet the criteria given above, please submit your application with a detailed CV stating your current position, remuneration, qualifications, experience, names & addresses of three referees and email & telephone contacts together with copies of your academic and professional certificates and testimonials by Friday 19th November 2010 to:

The Chief Executive
Nairobi Stock Exchange
Nation Centre, 1st Floor
P.O. Box 43633-00100
Nairobi

Email: recruitment@nse.co.ke

Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.

To Receive daily jobs In Kenya in your inbox,please subscribe here below. This entry was posted on Friday, November 5th, 2010 at 11:42 AM and is filed under IT JOBS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.