Consultancy: Digital strategy and digital transformation road map At International Labour Organization

Contract’s duration: 20 October to 20 December

Total Working Days: 45 Days

Background

The success of policies aimed at Universal Social Protection depends critically on the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and data, and their effective governance and management. According to the International Social Security Association (ISSA)’s ICT guidelines, modern management of social security organizations harnesses digital technologies to provide personalized services and processing precisely and securely, mass operations.

Digital technologies now power multi-channel communication services with affiliates to social security. These are web-based portals, mobile Apps, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) and related e-services for onboarding/ registration, collections, compliance and maintaining relationships with members, adapted to individual members. The e-services are supported by robust multi-factor authentication and external verification of identification credentials to avoid duplicate entries. Contribution collection processes interact with other institutional processes such as employers and external entities, notably external partners involved in collecting payments (e.g., banks and telecommunication companies for mobile payments and digital wallets). Scalable and functional approaches to benefit management are common place including standardized submission of applications using biometrics/ digital signatures as needed and e-services to monitor application processes. The control and adjudication of benefits require performing rigorous eligibility controls, accurately computing benefits’ amounts, and efficiently generating payment orders. The payment processes may also interact with external entities, such as traceability systems, banks, shops, and public services. Appeals and complaints management is adapted to the digital economy through voice and text chat bots and e-services.

Kenya´s National Social Security Fund has laid out in its Corporate Strategic Plan 2023-2027 the vision to better serve its current members and to extend social protection coverage, by emphasizing user-centricity and innovation embracing advanced digital technologies. For that, the Fund intends to upgrade its legacy software and hardware. The International Labor Office has supported NSSF in extending social protection to new categories of workers and considering the implementation of new benefit schemes through the projects “Extending Social Protection Coverage to Workers in the Informal Economy in Lao PDR and Kenya and Leveraging Digital Transformation: through South-South Cooperation,” funded by the Government of China and PROSPECTS funded by the Netherlands. These terms of reference refer to the work of a consultant, funded by the two projects, to diagnose the current digital technology architecture of NSSF and to make recommendations for its Digital Strategy. The document will define the organization’s priority initiatives for future investment in digital technology, to make it more innovative and user-centric.

Deliverables

Output 1: Technical note: vision, building blocks, principles, and approach for social security services delivery and administration supported by digital technology.

Activities

This first section of the overall report is a technical note of approximately 5 pages, Arial 12, lines 1.5. The consultant will engage the staff of the Fund to determine the rationale for investment in digital technologies – i.e., how digital technology can improve the Fund’s performance and capacity to attain core strategic and operational objectives. In consultation with the Fund, he or she will propose the overall vision for future services and administration with digital technology, the pillars of the digital strategy, the digital architecture and technology development and implementation principles, overall digital technology approach and inputs.

Specifically, this technical note describes at a high level, the digital architecture (channels/front services, core services, support services, digital products, security, and compliance processes) and opportunities and ways to streamline these through digitalization, compared to the current state of the Fund’s digital architecture. It will discuss and define principles for software solutions development, and infrastructure architecture (such as user centricity with ´ask once´ policies, development of microservices/component-based/modular solutions, open data/access and API policies, and cloud or premise-based hosting). The section will show how the digital technologies architecture supports and is aligned with corporate strategy.

Particular attention will be given to the contribution of a digital data driven organization to improving the accuracy, security, timeliness, and openness of access to data at all levels of the organization, building on unique sources of data truth, and on the impact of these changes on increasing the capacity of the Fund governing structures and members to receive up to date information reinforcing the quality of decision making, the transparency and trust in the institution.

Output 2: Technical note: Information system review and recommendations

Activities

The consultant will produce a second technical note (approximately 15 pages, Arial 12, lines 1.5) describing current IT information systems (master data and transactional processes), the operational processes supported, the actors/stakeholders involved, and the underlying information flows. Then, the note depicts future desirable states to streamline information flow processes. The consultant will recommend a future state of information systems that integrates data and information flows and prevent system fragmentation and siloes. He or she will propose architecture components (for example MIS system) integrating the information flows. In line with ISSA guidelines, the front-end should be implemented as e-services (e.g. my-social security) with robust security measures for authentication and access control; including security controls and preventive measures to minimize error, evasion, and fraud, notably using institutional data, pre-filling of declarations and performing early validations. Where legislation allows, the system tentatively assists in implementing an “ask-once” policy for interacting with members by using data in the Fund’s information systems and already providing documentation and evidence.

Output 3: Technical note: digital architecture review and recommendations

Activities

This section consists of a technical note (approximately 15 pages, Arial 12, lines 1.5) mapping software applications, apps, mobile platforms, micro-services, and support applications (identification systems, document management systems, beneficiary management systems etc..). It dwells on the connectivity and communication systems including existing and desirable links to external electronic systems, notably those mandated by law (government). The section will propose flexible and evolutive software solutions based on Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) to support the integrations and improvements in information flows described in output 2. The report will weigh the opportunities and costs of building versus buying proprietary systems. Due consideration will also be given to using open-source solutions and proprietary technologies or a combination. Finally, the section will describe minimum investments and improvements on infrastructure technology to support the desired software and secure operations including solutions for the storage of a database engine, backup and recovery systems, with consideration for data center solutions versus cloud-based solutions and related data protection, cybersecurity, and disaster recovery.

Output 4: Technical note: IT governance and operational readiness

Activities

This technical note is approximately 10 pages, Arial 12, lines 1.5. It assesses and makes recommendations on IT Governance (structures, units, teams, roles, from board to C suite, senior executives and management, and operational staff and their support processes). IT skills and competencies are briefly assessed and compared to expected future roles. This section also dwells on data governance and management (to be further developed in separate TORs), and control of data protection regulations. Finally, the note reviews critical aspects of IT and MIS maintenance/service management considering the choices made for open-source and/or proprietary software solutions.

Output 5: Digital strategy and Digital transformation road map

The final report is a 60-page document (Arial 12, lines 1.5), excluding annexes. It provides a consolidated Digital strategy and Digital transformation roadmap. This output collates all the previous sections in one unique document, with an executive summary, table of contents, introduction, and conclusion. It adds a road map/master plan for the deployment of the digital strategy with a timeframe, resources (major building blocks of external sourcing and procurement activities), and tentative costing. It will distinguish the need for project management (business process review, MIS design and development, agile project management, user testing, and quality assurance) and program management that encompasses holistic processes and structures supporting digital transformation (including operational readiness, change management, with review of corporate organigram, definition of new roles, staff hiring, training and coaching into new roles, IT hardware procurement and overall monitoring of progress). The consultant will evaluate and propose appropriate industry standard trainings/capacity building that would help the Fund implement the digital transformation strategy both in the short and long term.

Contract duration

The duration of the assignment of this contract is 45 days

Requirements

The consultant should have the following qualifications and experience:

1. Professional with at least 10 years of experience in conducting diagnostics of information systems and digital transformation strategy development in large organizations of which significant experience in social security

2. Excellent understanding of information systems architecture, business process analysis/ re-engineering, digital products development, and software development processes notably in the social security

3. Excellent communication and command in written English