ADB
Intern – Knowledge Management Study to Support the Modernization of ADB’s Consultant Management System Individual consultant
Reference: 230437
Beneficiary countries: Philippines
Published on: 17-Jul-2023
Deadline on: 15-Sep-2023 23:00 (GMT 8.00) Beijing, Perth, Singapore, Hong Kong
Description
Intern (PPFD/PFP2)- Procurement Division 2
1. Internship Topic:
Knowledge Management Study to Support the Modernization of ADB’s Consultant Management System
2. Summary of Job Description
Objective and Purpose of the Assignment
The Consulting Services Unit (CSU) of ADB’s Procurement Division 2 oversees and administers the Bank’s consultancy operations. ADB and its clients rely heavily on consultants to design, implement, and evaluate their various projects and operational tasks. In 2021, ADB signed over 2,700 consultancy contracts with individuals and over 250 contracts with consulting firms, at combined value of over $200 million, while its clients signed over 700 contracts with individuals and over 350 with firms, at combined value of over $490 million. CSU sets policy and business process on how the Bank and its clients should plan, procure, and manage contracts with consultants. CSU also owns the Bank’s electronic procurement system where it advertises and procures most of its consultants: the Consultant Management System (CMS).
CMS was built within the Oracle platform in the mid-2000s and is increasingly unable to meet the Bank’s needs, owing to inflexibility and outdated architecture. Over the next couple of years, CSU will be leading an ambitious project to replace CMS with a new, modern system. The act of doing this enables CSU to consider dramatic changes to its policies and business processes on how the Bank should engage consultants, since many of these were “built in” to CMS and not easily changeable. This project to replace CMS and to transform Bank policy and business process on consultancy is being termed the “CMS Modernization Initiative” or “CMS2” for short.
CSU needs additional support to help it deliver this ambitious CMS2 project successfully. The project will involve dozens of different work packages to design and deliver new ideas for Bank policy and business process within a new system.
Scope of Work
The successful intern will join the CMS2 team in CSU and make an important contribution to one or more of the CMS2 work packages. The intern will be supervised by the Deputy Unit Head of CSU and will receive guidance from the Knowledge Advisory Services Center of the Bank’s Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department (SDCC-KC).
There are a few of these work packages where research and the short-term intellectual inputs of a top-tier student will be valuable. The primary one and focus of this internship relates to knowledge management. With good performance and an appropriate skillset, the intern may also be able to take on a secondary assignment, which would be discussed with the CSU supervisor and with any possible extension approved by ADB’s HR department.
The primary scope of the work will require the intern to prepare a practical report with recommendations on how CMS2 can be designed to maximize its potential for good knowledge management, in line with ADB’s knowledge management systems to curate, capture, store, disseminate, transfer, and apply relevant knowledge in its operations.
CSU estimates that this assignment should be able to be completed effectively within the 11 weeks accorded for ADB internships.
Successfully undertaking this exercise will involve various tasks, consulting regularly with the CSU supervisor on progress, including but not limited to: -Engage frequently with staff in CSU to understand ADB’s Procurement Policy and subsidiary staff instructions for how it engages consultants, including the various rules and procedures in place around their procurement and contract management. Consider and analyze how this regulatory framework has influenced the development of CMS1. Learn from CSU on the various changes it plans to make to this framework for CMS2 and consider and analyze how these proposed changes in a new system may create opportunities for better knowledge management.
-Analyze how the current CMS handles the various documents, selection data, and deliverables/reports related to and generated by consultants, from a technical perspective (e.g., how and where in the system the data are inputted or stored, how the system interfaces any of these data with other ADB systems, data security / user access measures, etc.). This will primarily involve the intern requesting interviews and hands-on demonstrations from staff and contractors in ADB’s Information Technology Department (ITD).
-Analyze how ADB staff and consultants interact with the current CMS to use the knowledge it holds, the challenges they face to accessing this knowledge, and their needs and desires for knowledge in a new system, from a human-centered design perspective (e.g., consider current technical or behavioral barriers to use, incentives, typical communication channels among ADB staff and between staff and consultants, other systems or platforms in use that may enable easier sharing of this knowledge currently than does CMS, etc.). This may involve the intern requesting interviews with different users of CMS around ADB, including project officers and project analysts both in ADB’s Headquarters and from a sample of its Resident Missions / Field Offices, support staff in ADB’s knowledge and research departments, as well as a sample of active ADB consultants, both individuals and representatives of consulting firms. The intern should develop a user journey for various ADB business processes that require interaction with CMS and that could require interaction with the future CMS2.
-Engage with staff in SDCC-KC responsible for Bank-wide knowledge management and ADB’s Knowledge Management Action Plan, including its future plans and iterations. Through these discussions and the intern’s own reading, gain an understanding of this Plan and its various objectives and activities across ADB, including the various other systems in place around ADB for different types of knowledge and improvements being made to them. Consider and analyze potential synergies with the knowledge types and user types involved in CMS/CMS2.
-Engage with staff in the Information Resources and Services Unit of ADB’s Corporate Services Department (CSIS-IR), who manage the ADB Library and Records and Archives services. Through these discussions and the intern’s own reading, gain an understanding of ADB’s corporate policies on information classification, information management, and personal data privacy. Consider and analyze potential synergies with the knowledge types and user types involved in CMS/CMS2.
-Engage with staff in the ADB Department of Communications (DOC), who manage ADB’s website and internal/external communication activities, and with staff in the Information Access Unit of the Office of the Secretary (SEC-IAU), who manage ADB’s public disclosure procedures and Access to Information Policy. Through these discussions and the intern’s own reading, gain an understanding of ADB’s internal and external communication channels and how staff and the general public tend to access data and reports from ADB. Consider and analyze potential synergies with the knowledge types and user types involved in CMS/CMS2.
-Engage with staff from CSU and ITD to learn about the platform and system architecture being proposed for CMS2 and related, ongoing IT system reform initiatives including the Sovereign Operations (SovOps) program. If possible, CSU will help arrange a hands-on demonstration from the proposed IT system provider for the intern to experience the new system and its capabilities. Consider and analyze these in line with current CMS design, the ADB knowledge management framework, and the expressed needs and desires of users for a new system.
-Synthesize these results into a relatively short, practical report and presentation and prepare practical design recommendations in consultation with CSU, ITD, and SDCC-KC for knowledge management in CMS2. The report should include the user journey mentioned earlier as well as a ‘map’ of data, information, and knowledge that should be stored, retrieved, and discoverable in CMS2. Recommendations should include both
o human-centered design considerations for CSU and ITD to consider, in terms of CMS2 structure and screen features/labels/graphics/tooltips/layout, etc. that would better enable users to understand and make effective use of the data and analytical features of CMS2, both for their own consultants and across other Bank selections and contracts (restricting for confidentiality where necessary); and
o technical considerations for ITD and the IT service provider of CMS2 to consider, in terms of data location and structure, search functionality, metadata needs, user access rights and restrictions, public disclosure, and system interfacing / integration considerations or ideas for other key knowledge management systems.
Recommendations should be compliant with ADB’s procurement framework, access to information framework, and Knowledge Management Action Plan, and integrate ADB’s current practices on information classification, information management, and personal data privacy, among others.
3. Period of Assignment
Duration: 11 weeks
Timing: January 2024
4. Location
To be based at HQ in Manila
5. Expected Outcomes
– Weekly progress updates to the CSU supervisor, summarizing activity undertaken and consultations held
– Practical report with recommendations on how CMS2 can be designed to maximize its potential for good knowledge management
o Outline / annotated table of contents due by the end of the first month
o First full draft due by the end of the second month
o Final version incorporating ADB comments due by the end of the assignment period
– Presentation of the work in an ADB-wide forum during the third month, incorporating comments received into the final practical report
Qualifications
6. Education Requirements
The intern should have as a minimum a bachelor’s degree and be enrolled in an academic master’s program and/or PhD program relevant to the assignment. English proficiency both oral and writing is must.
7. Relevant Experience
-The candidate should have good analytical skills in carrying out research, identifying and viewing and analyzing information sources, good oral and written communication. Experience studying and working in international context will be an advantage.
-A good understanding of knowledge management and its interfaces with human psychology, group dynamics, behavioral economics, and organizational IT systems.
– Knowledge of the basics of public procurement and contract management, particularly with respect to why public sector organizations generally require a transactional procurement model of open competition, rather than the model of relational contracting typically carried out by the private sector, and how this model affects the nature of knowledge generated by public sector contracts and used by public sector staff.
-Knowledge or experience of corporate knowledge management IT platforms will be beneficial, as will any experience in the IT sector more broadly, to enable the intern to provide more practical recommendations based on the technical reality of CMS2 architecture and its ability to integrate with other ADB IT systems.
-Knowledge or experience in the discipline of knowledge management itself, for example, through studies in library or archival sciences or work with related research, scientific, or publishing organizations, will be beneficial.
-Candidates with a background or experience in IT systems architecture, contract law, or development economics may have more scope to take on an additional, secondary assignment, though this is not required for the primary assignment on knowledge management.
-ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS: o Upload the following documents in the “Attachments” section of your application: § Curriculum vitae (CV)
§ Proof of enrollment to a Masters or PhD program. Inclusive dates should confirm that you will be enrolled during the intended period of assignment.
§ Essay in MS WORD or PDF document, maximum of 1500 words per question. (Please see essay questions below)
§ ESSAY QUESTIONS: 1. Describe one example of your experience that demonstrated your interest in working in ADB.
2. Highlight your qualifications that will help accomplish this internship assignment (e.g., coursework, research, work experience, etc.).
Primary Location
: Asian Development Bank Headquarters-Philippines-ManilaDepartment: Procurement, Portfolio and Financial Management Department
Division: Procurement Division 2
Staff Category: Internship
Position Level: N/A
Job Posting
: 15-Jul-2023, 12:00:00 AMClosing Date (Period for Applying) – External : 15-Sep-2023, 11:59:00 PM
ADB Internship Program – adbintern@adb.org
Email: adbintern@adb.org
First name: ADB
Surname: Internship Program
Link Descriptionhttps://adb.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl?job=230437
Please apply through this link only
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43000000 – Information Technology Broadcasting and Telecommunications
43200000 – Components for information technology or broadcasting or telecommunications
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UNSPSC
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