Job Opportunity: Open Land Data Management Consultant for Liberia | Land Portal
Language of the news reported: 
English

The Land Portal exists to nurture a vibrant online platform to inform and engage with partners, promoting open data and the sharing of best practices and stimulating debate and collaboration both on and offline. We provide a vital bridge for those grappling with complex land governance issues – from researchers and NGOs through to governments and grassroots communities – connecting people, facilitating dialogue and joining the dots between fragmented information.

The Land Portal was established in 2009 to create, curate and disseminate land governance information, helping to foster a more inclusive and accessible data landscape. Over the subsequent ten years, the Land Portal has grown to become an information gateway and resource base, a vibrant online community of users from around the world, and a trusted voice within the land governance sector globally.

We believe data and information are powerful tools for achieving our vision of a land governance system that benefits those with the most insecure land rights and the greatest vulnerability to landlessness. However, information sources remain highly fragmented, unstructured, poorly curated, represent a narrow range of perspectives, and continue to be published in ways that do not facilitate maximum discovery, engagement and reuse. Until policy and decision-makers, intermediaries and grassroots groups have access to the data and information they need to make sound decisions, their initiatives (programs, policies, campaigns) will fail to achieve maximum impact.

Raising awareness of “open data” – and the critical role it plays in realising tenure security for individuals and communities around the world – continues to be our greatest challenge. To this end, we make use of every possible conference, meeting and speaking engagement to promote the concept of “going open”, while recognising that, given the highly sensitive nature of land data (particularly for vulnerable communities), not everything can or should be made entirely open.

In 2019 the Land Portal developed the methodology for uncovering the State of Land Information (SOLI) on a country level. The SOLI seeks to provide an overview of publicly available data and information on key land issues from government and other stakeholders in targeted countries. The aim is to uncover land data and information at the country level and help to identify data and information gaps, with a view to establishing a baseline for targeted ‘information-based’ interventions for improving land governance. In 2021 the Land Portal together with the Open Data Charter developed and launched the Open Up Guide on Land Governance. It is a practical resource to be used by governments from developing countries to publish land-related data to improve data quality, availability, accessibility and use for improved citizen engagement, decision making and innovation. 

In the period 2021 – 2024 the Land Portal Foundation and the Open Data Charter intend to implement the Open Up Guide for Land Governance and develop SOLI reports for 10-12 in Africa and Latin America. 

 

Job Description

This description focuses on the Open Land Data Management Consultant for Liberia.

The Consultant will have the primary responsibility for specific tasks but will be expected to work together with and support a Technical Data Analyst. She/He will report directly to the Land Information Management and Advocacy Consultant.

 

Principal Tasks & Responsibilities: 

Specific responsibilities and outputs relating to open land data management:

  • Undertake thorough desk research in relation to the respective country in order to map and assess the state of land data and information as well as stakeholders.
  • Conduct national/local prioritisation workshops in consultation with local stakeholders to identify local data priorities. The workshop shall be based on the methodology on open data principles and harmonization with national/local legal frameworks.
  • Organize a data expedition to engage with the local community and promote the use of the published data. This will help identify land use and anti-corruption cases, improvements needed to the available data and create a sense of ownership among key stakeholders;
  • Develop a short and mid-term data action plan for technical capacities and resources needed for publishing data based on the priorities identified in the prioritisation workshop with support from the Technical Data Analyst.
  • Draft a final report containing all country implementations describing lessons learned, identified use cases and promising actions that can be shared with other governments;
  • Improve the Open Up Guide based on learnings and findings from the implementation to ensure the tool is informed by practical advice and fits to diverse contexts.
  • Provide support to the Technical Data Analyst
    • Support the development of a land data inventory analysing the state of the art in availability and accessibility of land related data.
    • Support establishment of a virtual technical help desk to develop capacity and support the process of sharing and publishing data based on the action plan;
  • Participate in the bi-weekly exchange calls organized by the Land Information Management and Advocacy Consultant to share updates and experiences and discuss progress.

Specific deliverables and outputs relating to open data land management:

  • Report on the state of land information in the respective country and incorporate any changes and suggestions made by reviewers.
  • Conduct national/local prioritisation workshop.
  • Report on short and mid-term data action plan.
  • Final report containing all country implementations describing lessons learned, identified use cases and promising actions that can be shared with other governments.
  • Schedule of deliverables will be agreed upon with the Land Information Management and Advocacy Consultant 

Reporting

The Open Land Data Management Consultant will report to the Land Information Management and Advocacy Consultant. For some of the communications & engagement related tasks s/he might be asked to coordinate with the Communications Specialist.

Timeframe

This consultancy is expected to start as soon as possible and be completed over a period of nine months, or as agreed between the Consultant and the Land Portal Foundation. The Consultant will be working from home. 

Application

Please submit your resume detailing your experience specific to the required tasks and responsibilities. Also outline the relevant country experience in relation to Liberia.

Please submit by 22 August 2021 your resume and cover letter detailing your experience specific to the required tasks and responsibilities by emailing jobs@landportal.info. Include Open Land Data Management Consultant Liberia  in the subject line.

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