Individual national consultancy for technical and IT systems assessment of child- and youth-centred data interoperability

The consultancy supports the assessment and definition of legal, institutional, technical, and procedural conditions required to establish secure, rights-based, and sustainable interoperability among key administrative data systems in Montenegro. The role focuses on technical feasibility, system mapping, data flows, and information security to improve child- and youth-centred data interoperability across sectors such as education, employment, social welfare, child protection, and health.

Responsibilities

• Map relevant administrative information systems, registries, databases and existing data exchange mechanisms across institutions involved in the selected priority use cases.
• Identify source systems, receiving systems, system owners, technical administrators, data stewards, available data fields, unique identifiers, codebooks/classifications, metadata, update frequency and data quality constraints relevant to each selected use case.
• Analyse existing and potential data flows between education, employment, social welfare, child protection, health and other relevant systems, including the technical process by which each data item is generated, stored, validated, exchanged, received, updated and corrected.
• Assess the technical feasibility of using existing interoperability infrastructure, including JSERP, APIs, web services or other lawful exchange mechanisms for each selected use case.
• Assess system readiness for secure data exchange, including authentication, authorisation, role-based access, logging, audit trails, encryption, data retention/deletion mechanisms, backup, availability, interoperability standards and information security controls.
• Assess data quality issues that may affect interoperability, including completeness, timeliness, consistency, duplication, data-field definitions, coding practices, institutional ownership and availability of child- and youth-relevant identifiers.
• Develop technical inputs for business-process descriptions and data-flow maps for each use case, including the triggering event, source system, receiving system, technical channel or mechanism for exchange, frequency, validation steps, error handling and feedback loops.
• Contribute to the sector-by-sector Data Exchange Matrix, in close coordination with the Legal Consultant, ensuring that technical data-field mapping is clearly linked to the legal basis and minimum data necessary for the stated purpose.
• Identify technical barriers, risks, dependencies and prerequisites for implementation, including system upgrades, integration requirements, interoperability standards, data migration or harmonisation needs, capacity gaps and coordination requirements between institutional IT teams.
• Develop recommendations for technical and organisational safeguards for secure, auditable and accountable data exchange.
• Provide technical inputs to draft SOPs, operational manuals, data-sharing protocols, governance arrangements and the phased implementation roadmap.
• Support consultations with IT departments and technical focal points of relevant institutions, including MoESI, Ministry of Public Administration, Ministry of Interior, Employment Agency, social welfare, health and other relevant systems.
• Ensure all technical findings and recommendations are feasible, actionable and aligned with Montenegro’s digital government infrastructure, national interoperability arrangements and information security requirements.

Requirements

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software Engineering, Data Management, Cybersecurity, Digital Governance, Electrical/ICT Engineering, or other relevant fields; a PhD degree is considered an asset.
• At least five years of professional experience in information systems, digital government, administrative data systems, data governance, interoperability or secure data exchange.
• Proven experience in mapping information systems, registries, databases, data flows and technical integration requirements.
• Experience with interoperability platforms, APIs/web services, system integration, data standards, metadata, unique identifiers and information security controls.
• Experience assessing authentication, authorisation, role-based access, logging, audit trails, encryption, backup, availability and other technical safeguards.
• Experience working with public institutions and/or digital government systems.
• Experience with education, social protection, employment, health, child protection or other administrative data systems is an asset.
• Experience in multi-sectoral coordination and stakeholder engagement.
• Advanced knowledge of English.
• Fluency in Montenegrin/Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian.
• Strong understanding of Montenegro’s digital government and public administration context.
• Familiarity with the National Interoperability Framework, EU Interoperability Framework, Interoperable Europe Act, GDPR principles and information security requirements.
• Excellent analytical, communication, facilitation and technical documentation skills.
• Previous experience of collaboration with the UN/UNICEF is an asset.
• Experience with JSERP or similar government data exchange platforms is a strong asset.
• Ability to translate technical findings into practical recommendations for non-technical decision-makers.
• Demonstrates tact and a high sense of responsibility and discretion.
• Demonstrates integrity and high ethical standards.
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Skills

• Information Systems Evaluation
• Data Interoperability
• System Mapping
• Data Flow Analysis
• Technical Integration
• Interoperability Platforms
• APIs Web Services
• System Integration
• Data Standards
• Metadata Management
• Unique Identifiers
• Information Security Controls
• Authentication Assessment
• Authorization Management
• Role-Based Access Control
• Logging and Audit Trails
• Encryption Technologies
• Data Backup and Availability
• Digital Government
• Inter-sectoral Coordination
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Technical Documentation Production
• National Interoperability Framework
• EU Interoperability Framework
• GDPR Compliance
• JSERP Platform

Languages

English, Montenegrin