1.1.1            Background

The Pakistan Regional Economic Integration Activity (PREIA) works to increase Pakistan’s access to regional and international markets and is a key economic growth project that stands to benefit numerous Pakistani businesses. This project has two components: Component 1 aims to improve Pakistan’s business enabling environment so that policies, laws, and regulations are adaptable and more reflective of on-the-ground needs; and Component 2 is geared towards improving Pakistan’s capacity to access regional markets by identifying bottlenecks and practical solutions for increasing export efficiency and lowering trade costs.

Additionally, PREIA’s Activity Fund helps local organizations build capacities to support trade reform and modernization and, subsequently, to utilize these capacities in support of local stakeholders. The Activity is a key component of USAID Pakistan’s overall economic development program and supports achievement of Development Objective #3 from USAID/Pakistan’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy: “Increased Private Sector-Led Inclusive Economic Growth.”

To help Pakistan achieve improved capacity to access regional markets, Component 2 addresses constraints at Pakistan’s borders that adversely affect trade and transit traffic with neighboring countries. PREIA’s technical assistance under this component is two-pronged: 1) improving customs facilitation; and 2) promoting regional integration. Towards that end, PREIA engages with key Government of Pakistan stakeholders, such as the Ministry of Commerce, the Federal Board of Revenue, and the Pakistan Single Window Company (PSWC).

Transitioning above and beyond the traditional capacity building; institutional and organizational development; and strategic, research-oriented support that PREIA provides to the Government of Pakistan, it has expanded its technical assistance initiatives into high technology areas, such as trade tech, big data, business intelligence, and analytics. Under this high technology umbrella, PREIA plans to assist PSWC in developing a strategic implementation roadmap for creating an enterprise data strategy and architecture to provide it with big data analytics and machine learning capabilities.

THE PAKISTAN SINGLE WINDOW COMPANY

The Pakistan Single Window initiative led by Pakistan Customs aims at reducing the time and cost of doing business by digitalizing Pakistan’s cross border trade and eliminating paper based manual processes. The PSWC, a public sector company incorporated under Section 42 of the companies Act, 2017 by Pakistan Customs has been notified as the ‘Operating Entity’ of the PSW system by the Federal Government under the provisions of the PSW Act, 2021. PSW aims to provide an integrated electronic platform that allows parties involved in international trade and transport to lodge standardized information and documents with a single-entry point to fulfill all import, export, and transit regulatory requirements that are administered by various government departments and regulators involved in international trade.

The establishment of PSWC arises from Pakistan’s commitments under the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement, which contains provisions for addressing border inefficiencies, complex customs rules, and other trade barriers by removing red tape, increasing transparency and access to information, enhancing predictability in trade operations and processes, and taking advantage of new technologies and automation.

Conceptually speaking, a national single window such as PSW, is primarily aimed at integrating and strengthening trade related government to government (G2G) and business to government (B2G) interactions, and data integration. It also incorporates certain B2B transactions in particular those related to port operations, trucking, and warehousing. This program is a collaborative effort led by Pakistan Customs but involves multiple public and private sector stakeholders including regulatory authorities, traders, freight forwarders, banks, terminal operators, and transporters etc.

As the PSW evolves to integrate multiple actors involved in the international trade chain, the organization is acquiring and developing stores of valuable data. Cognizant of the value of data and its optimal usage in evidence-based decision making, PSW is positioning itself as an early adopter of innovative data governance, data management and data analytics practices to better serve the objectives of trade facilitation through informed, data driven policy making. As the PSW system evolves, there will be massive flow of information through the system and its allied components as well as from the external databases integrated with PSW system. This information needs to be collated, analyzed, and presented to the PSW users and stakeholders both in the public and private sector to help them have a better view of the ecosystem, produce reliable and actionable reports, make informed decisions, and in general align their activities towards achievement of their respective objectives in an optimal manner.

ENTERPRISE DATA STRATEGY AND ARCHITECTURE FOR PSWC

It is within the foregoing context that PREIA aims to assist the PSWC in developing a strategic implementation roadmap for creating an enterprise data strategy and architecture for the organization. This activity dovetails with PREIA Component 2 objectives and directly addresses ease of doing business, customs facilitation at the borders, digitalization, and automation of Customs’ business processes for increased efficiency and transparency.

Public sector organizations, especially those that are client or citizen-facing are increasingly becoming aware that data is a driver of organizational and competitive advantage that translates into enhanced service delivery, better citizen satisfaction, and improved transparency and efficiency. However, data alone is not the answer. Organizations must be capable of extracting meaningful intelligence from available raw data that enables value creation. With the volume, velocity, and variety of data being captured by software systems and processes across the enterprise, extracting such insights is not a slight task - such capabilities require the development and deployment of an enterprise-wide, holistic data strategy and analytics architecture that can not only harness the data, ensure its integrity, and guarantee its protection and privacy under the appropriate governance controls, but foster a data-driven culture by providing the necessary framework in terms of aligning people, processes, policies, and tools to accomplish that.

A report by the firm MicroStrategy, ‘2020 Global State of Enterprise Analytics. Minding the Data-driven Gap’ (a survey of 500 business intelligence and analytics professionals across Brazil, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States) indicates that 94% of respondents believe that data and analytics is important to business growth strategy and digital transformation efforts. The survey also reveals that while executive and management teams have increasing access to insights, most front-line employees in an organization remain ‘data-deprived and insights-starved’. As reported in the survey, the benefits of embedding a data-driven culture throughout the organization include: improved efficiency and productivity; faster, more effective decision making; better financial performance; identification and creation of new product and service revenue; improved customer experiences; and competitive advantage. The top three challenges identified in the report standing in the way of such effective analytics use are: data and privacy concerns, limited access to analytics, and lack of talent and training.

PSWC recognizing this fact, has requested assistance in the development of an enterprise data strategy and architecture implementation roadmap. The roadmap will clearly articulate a development and implementation strategy that can leverage vital and strategic PSW and ancillary, third-party/other government agency data sources to provide the organization with critical information, business intelligence, and analytics capable of revealing insights into its customers, products, and services. Such capabilities can enable PSW to innovate, for instance, through identifying new areas of revenue generating applications and services that leverage trade, logistics, and financial data. Other potential use cases include deploying predictive modelling to forecast revenue, trade volumes, port traffic, and so on. Artificial intelligence/machine learning driven algorithms can be used to identify suspect transactions in real-time, improving risk management across the trade chain. Moreover, the ability to harness and analyze data can enable PSW to inform businesses and policy decisions that are aligned with strategic goals and objectives.

1.1.2           Objectives and Scope

Given the context above, the objective of this consultancy is to seek the services of a qualified team of professionals who will be responsible for developing a strategic implementation roadmap for creating an enterprise data strategy and architecture. This will involve setting up a robust data management and governance framework, through assessing the current data governance and management strategies, operational practices, available resources and technology tools; identifying design or implementation gaps; and developing a Strategy Document and Implementation Roadmap incorporating best practices, policies, and approach to develop, manage, and scale critical capacities in data governance, data architecture, data quality, data security, big data analytics, and business intelligence. The ultimate aim is to foster a data-driven culture by providing the necessary enabling framework in terms of aligning people, processes, policies, and tools.

The broad objectives and scope of the activity encompass the following:

• Conducting a thorough situational analysis (as-is state) of PSW’s current data maturity level and gap analysis by developing a to-be state.
• Articulation of information needs of the enterprise, including customers, employees, stakeholders, and business partners. This will require extensive consultation with PSWC to develop use cases, business goals, and strategic objectives that such an architecture can directly address.
• Develop an operational road map and technical recommendations for development and / or deployment of big data analytics/business intelligence/data mining solution architecture – for structured, textual, IoT (Internet of Things) / streaming, and unstructured data. The operational roadmap and technical recommendations will be based on technical, security, and cost comparative analysis of potentially feasible data architecture solutions.
• This entails developing the required training plan and resource augmentation plan.

1.1.3           Tasks (Performance Requirements)

The consultant(s)’ responsibilities and task include but are not limited to the following:

1. Conduct a situational analysis of PSWC’s current data maturity levels using the appropriate data maturity models, analysing the organization across at least five key dimensions: organization, analytics, data management, infrastructure, and governance.
1. Through consultation with the PSWC, develop a vision of the to-be state, highlighting gaps and requirements.
2. Develop clear and precise definitions of the meaning of various data management terms with PSW, which are unambiguous, shared, and agreed upon.
3. The analysis will cover all PSWC data sources as well as third-party data from other stakeholders that are integrated with the PSW ecosystem, for instance WeBOC[1], commercial banks, other government agencies, etc. That is, develop comprehensive inventories via data discovery.
4. Consult with PSWC to develop and document strategic objectives, use cases, and business goals that such an architecture can directly address.
5. Articulate recommendations on the governance and management framework for the program and its funding to ensure sustainability
2. Develop an Operational Roadmap based on Technical Recommendations for a robust, cost-effective, and scalable data strategy and architecture for PSW.  The latter will build upon a technical and cost comparative analysis of the architectural solutions available how best PSW can develop and deploy a big data analytics/business intelligence/data mining solution architecture – for structured, textual, IoT (Internet of Things) / streaming, and unstructured data.
1. Analyze and compare different architecture design options, such as SaaS/IaaS/PaaS/XaaS, on-premise, open source, proprietary, etc.
2. The proposed solution architecture should enable preparation, ingestion, analysis, and correlation of transactional/streaming data from multiple sources for real-time analytics, while ensuring a single source of truth across the enterprise.
3. Provide detailed cost estimates of each option, broken down by hardware costs, software licensing costs (if any), upfront costs, recurring costs, etc.
4. Provide detailed staffing and HR requirements for maintaining the infrastructure.
3. Develop recommendations on the best API development and monetization model to implement, enabling creation of an ecosystem where PSWC and/or third-party developers can leverage the data assets of the organization to create value-added applications in the trade tech area, capable of generating revenue streams.

1.1.4           Required Deliverables

The consultant(s) will perform the given tasks in the following manner:

1. Inception Report

i.         Submit an initial Inception Report which should include the following:

1. Background, case studies, and literature review.
2. List of tasks to be performed.
3. Detailed proposed methodology.
4. A work implementation plan identifying project milestones and deliverables.
5. A quality assurance plan.
6. Tentative list of stakeholders for holding consultations/feedback sessions.

2. PSWC Data Maturity Assessment

ii.       Submit the first draft of the report as per objectives, scope, and performance requirements above (in MS Word format).

iii.      This report will include, but not be limited to the assessment of PSWC’s current data maturity levels, gap analysis, and a vision of the to-be state.

iv.      Validate the report and its findings/recommendations through consultations and feedback sessions with the necessary stakeholders.

v.       After conducting the validation exercise and feedback collection, revise the report and review with USAID PREIA to address any questions or concerns.

vi.      Revise, finalize and submit the final version of the report.

vii.    Submit a MS PowerPoint presentation on the final report, presenting its findings, recommendations, etc. for future stakeholder workshops.

3. PSWC Big Data/Mining Solution Architecture Comparative Analysis Report

viii.     Submit the first draft of the report as per objectives, scope, and performance requirements above (in MS Word format).

ix.         Validate the report and its findings/recommendations through consultations and feedback sessions with the necessary stakeholders.

x.          After conducting the validation exercise and feedback collection, revise the report and review with USAID PREIA to address any questions or concerns.

xi.      Revise, finalize and submit the final version of the report.

xii.       Submit a MS PowerPoint presentation on the final report, presenting its findings, recommendations, etc. for future stakeholder workshops.

4. PSWC API Development & Monetization Model Report

xiii.        Submit the first draft of the report as per objectives, scope, and performance requirements above (in MS Word format).

xiv.        Validate the report and its findings/recommendations through consultations and feedback sessions with the necessary stakeholders.

xv.          After conducting the validation exercise and feedback collection, revise the report and review with USAID PREIA to address any questions or concerns.

xvi.           Revise, finalize and submit the final version of the report.

xvii.          Submit a MS PowerPoint presentation on the final report, presenting its findings, recommendations, etc. for future stakeholder workshops.

5. Consolidation – PSW Data Strategy & Architecture Implementation Roadmap

xviii.     Consolidate all prior deliverables into one cohesive narrative and submit the first draft of the report as per objectives, scope, and performance requirements above (in MS Word format).

xix.        Validate the report and its findings/recommendations through consultations and feedback sessions with the necessary stakeholders.

xx.          After conducting the validation exercise and feedback collection, revise the report and review with USAID PREIA to address any questions or concerns.

xxi.        Revise, finalize and submit the final version of the report.

xxii.       Submit a MS PowerPoint presentation on the final report, presenting its findings, recommendations, etc. for future stakeholder workshops.

1.1.5           Qualification and Experience

Eligible firms and consultants should have the following qualifications and experience:

1. A firm with demonstrable relevant experience and a history of successfully delivered projects in data strategy and architecture consulting/ big data analytics/ data engineering and ETL/ artificial intelligence and machine learning.
2. Consultants and team leaders with relevant and commensurate educational and work experience in quantitative methods, business analytics, economics, data science, big data, computer science, or related field with excellent academic performance.
3. Memberships of or certifications from recognized professional data management associations, such as the EDM Council or DAMA International preferred. Relevant certifications from and/or partnerships with top tier data cloud services and solutions providers, such as Google, Amazon Web Services, Cloudera, etc. also preferred.
4. Demonstrable excellent written, quantitative, and verbal communication skills. Strong analytical skills.
5. A strong and demonstrable commitment to quality.
6. Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work with a team to meet deadlines and desired quality.

1.1.6           Base of Operations: 

Islamabad, Pakistan (flexible). USAID PREIA will cover all travel related expenses.

1.1.7           Reporting:

Component 2 Lead of USAID PREIA.

1.1.8           Estimated Completion Time: 

The assignment is expected to be completed over a period of 4 months to the satisfaction of the Peer Review Team of USAID PREIA.

The terms and conditions of the contract shall apply for the duration of the contract, beginning on the date of this assignment, or the actual date of commencement of the work whichever is earlier.