Information Analyst: Early Warning, Alert and Response in Emergencies

Duration

1 February to 31 December 2018 (11 months).

Location

Work from home (except for below indicated travel), preferably in European location due to time zone and proximity (No DSA).

Travel: Mission travel to up to 3 emergency operations for approximately x2 weeks each (to

be identified)

Background

Humanitarian emergencies often involve the displacement of large numbers of people. Those affected are frequently settled in temporary locations with high population densities, inadequate food and shelter, unsafe water, poor sanitation and lack of infrastructure. These circumstances can increase the risk of transmission of communicable diseases and other conditions, and can thus lead to increased mortality. In particular, epidemic-prone diseases can be a major cause of morbidity and mortality during emergencies.

Rapid detection and prompt response to epidemics among the affected population is a key priority during humanitarian crises. During humanitarian emergencies, existing national public health surveillance systems may be underperforming, disrupted or non-existent; they may quickly become overwhelmed to adequately meet surveillance information needs of a humanitarian emergency.

One of the most immediate responses to an emergency is, therefore, to establish an early warning system to detect and react rapidly to suspected disease outbreaks. Collection of essential, minimal data on selected diseases and the timely, rapid analysis of trends is key to this activity.

Purpose of the assignment

WHO is seeking an experienced programmer for web, systems, mobile and desktop development with experience in networking, statistical analysis, systems architecture design, infrastructure management and frontline support including on-site training in a health/disease surveillance context.

In collaboration with WHO HQ, Regional Office and Country Offices the consultant will be involved supporting the further development and implementation of the Early Warning, Alert and Response System (EWARS in a box), in order to detect, confirm and respond to outbreaks of epidemic prone-diseases.

Expected key deliverables 1. Technical support:

· Complete field work in 3 emergency operations, for approximately 2 weeks each, to support training and scale up of information systems to support early warning, alert and response;

· Provide regular, ongoing remote technical support to countries using EWARS. 2. Development:

· Complete development of the desktop version of EWARS, including GSM modem integration;

· Design and implement iOS version of the EWARS mobile app;

· Develop a remote instance installer and guidance;

· Add external push/pull API to support interoperability with other information systems, for example national laboratory-based surveillance network and the national Health Management Information System (HMIS);

· Develop standalone installer for member states who wish to install the system on their own servers at country level;

· Provide ongoing bug-fixes and performance enhancements.3. Documentation:

· Complete written documentation of system design and architecture;

· Support updating of user guidance for mobile, desktop applications and remote instance installer.

Duration

The consultancy contract will last for 11 months, from 1 February to 31 December 2018.

It will be mostly home based, with mission travel to up to 3 emergency operations expected to take place in mid-late 2018.

Qualifications and Experience

Essential

At least 5 years experience in information management, graphic design, web and/or software development.

Candidates should have an understanding of how to perform statistical analysis in a variety of languages as well as have an advanced knowledge of translating statistical output requirements to a variety of database languages and distributed computing platforms.

Candidates should have strong UI/UX sensibilities and should be able to design, develop, package and deploy complex application interfaces that support intermediate to advanced users.

Candidate must be willing to travel to remote locations and will be expected to have up-to-date/ valid travel documentation, immunisations and annual medical examinations.

Candidate will be expected to propose, design and implement new features which enhance and increase the productivity and ease of use for end-users as well as effectively manage own time.

Candidate should have experience in the following primary topics:

• Good Verbal and Written communication skills
• Ability to convey complex topics to non-technical personnel
• Python 3.6+
• C++11/C
• Swift/Objective-C
• Node.js
• PostgresSQL9.3+
• PostGIS
• SQLite3
• Java (Android SDK)
• Rust
• Golang
• HTML5/JavaScript (ES6 + Babel)
• JSON/YAML
• Debian-based Linux and Amazons AWS services (EC2, ELB, RDS, S3, SES) - Systemd
• HAProxy Load Balancing and Configuration
• git (gitlab, github)
• SSH/SFTP and rsync
• Remote server management

Candidates should be familiar with the following libraries:

• Tornado (Python)
• Boto3 (Python)
• react, react-native, webpack
• kami (Golang)
• Electron (JavaScript)
• D3js (JavaScript)
• Psycopg2/libpsql (Python/C/C++)
• rust-postgres (rust)
• pgx (Golang)
• ZeroMQ (as well as Pyre and Zyre subsets)

Candidate will be expected to provide/understand the following:

• Active and timely development of the “platform” on a weekly release schedule
• Frontline support for a variety of technical level users across the globe
• Support for resolving issues with remotely deployed devices and systems
• Rapid on boarding of new accounts and development of tools to ease ETL of historic client data
• Configuration, setup and management of account settings, data and content for each client
• Timely support for infrastructure issues
• On-Site training and on-boarding
• Requirements and Technical documentation development - European data retention and storage requirements Desirable

Degree in computer science, graphic design or other related field.

Prior experience working with UN and field-based information projects is highly desirable.

Ability to work independently.

Ideally, good knowledge of WHO processes and the international emergency preparedness and response system.

Language

Excellent language skills in English

Applications should be submitted to alexandref@who.int before close of business on: 9 January 2018.

Qualified candidates are requested to submit:

1. Cover letter/application.

2. Financial quote at a daily rate in US Dollars, excluding all taxes.

3. Curriculum Vitae

4. At least 2 References

5. P11 form

Please indicate your availability and monthly rate to undertake the terms of reference above.

Applications submitted without a monthly rate will not be considered.