BACKGROUND
Digital Frontiers is a $90 million buy-in mechanism available to USAID Bureaus and Missions from 2017-2024. DAI implements the Digital Frontiers project, which works closely with USAID Missions, the private sector, and international and local development organizations to identify successful and sustainable digital development approaches and scale their impact globally. In April 2020, USAID released its first-ever Digital Strategy. The Strategy charts an Agency-wide vision for development and humanitarian assistance in the world’s rapidly evolving digital landscape. The Strategy’s goal is to achieve and sustain open, secure, and inclusive digital ecosystems that contribute to broad-based, measurable development, and humanitarian assistance outcomes and increase self-reliance in emerging market countries. USAID’s Digital Strategy has two core, mutually-reinforcing objectives: 1) improve measurable development and humanitarian assistance outcomes through the responsible use of digital technology in USAID’s programming and 2) strengthen the openness, inclusiveness, and security of country-level digital ecosystems.
Digital Frontiers played a key role in supporting the development and launch of the Digital Strategy and continues to play an integral role in its implementation. With ITR/T leading the process, Digital Frontiers works closely with the ITR/T team to ensure a thorough, thoughtful, and consensus‐led process for the implementation of the various Digital Strategy initiatives. One of the Digital Strategy initiatives is Data Governance.
The OECD defines Data Governance (DG) as principles, policies, standards, laws, regulations, and agreements designed to control, manage, share, protect, and extract value from various data types. Data governance is often misunderstood as a firm-level concern, and it is often under-prioritized in digital transformation efforts in low-and-middle-income countries. Many USAID partner countries have implemented data protection and privacy policies, in most cases inspired by the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Whereas data protection and privacy policy efforts tend to be aimed at risk mitigation, data governance further includes the entire data lifecycle and potential improvements in data production, sharing, and use. Few countries have implemented comprehensive data governance policies. By implementing comprehensive data governance policies, partner countries can improve their data ecosystems, leading to virtuous cycles of data production, using more data-literate citizens, and enabling environments that increase local competition in the global digital economy.
OBJECTIVE
Digital Frontiers seeks to hire a whiteboard animator to develop 2-3 minute video to support the roll-out of a diagnostic tool to assess data governance capabilities. The whiteboard animation will include an overview of the tool and a hypothetical example to illustrate the practical application of the tool. The tool and hypothetical example will be provided by the client. The objective of the whiteboard animation is to provide a visually compelling and educational video to support the roll-out of a technical diagnostic framework. The whiteboard animation will be used across USAID, within Missions, and by implementing partners, along with the diagnostic tool, to inform the design and implementation of development programs and policies. Though the whiteboard animation is intended primarily for USAID/Missions/Washington OUs/Implementing Partners, it should also be suitable for public distribution. The consultant will keep in mind the importance of packaging technical material so that diverse audiences can understand the tool. USAID and Digital Frontiers will work closely with the identified consultant to provide technical feedback, editing, clearance facilitation, and graphic design.
TASKS
- Script development
- Develop a clear script that outlines the key elements of the Data Governance Diagnostic tool, including a step-by-step process of assessing the data governance capabilities of the hypothetical example.
- Incorporate 2 rounds of feedback from: (1) The Digital Strategy team, (2) USAID.
Deliverables: Script outlining narration
- Storyboard development
- Develop a visual storyboard that details the scenes and concepts to be illustrated in the whiteboard animation.
- Incorporate 2 rounds of feedback from: (1) The Digital Strategy team, (2) USAID.
- Present final script and storyboard to USAID.
Deliverables: Visual storyboard outlining scenes and concepts
- Animation Creation
- Develop an animatic, showing at a basic level what the animation will look like.
- Incorporate 1 round of feedback from the Digital Strategy team.
- Produce a high-quality animation that communicates the key elements of the Data Governance Diagnostic tool, including a step-by-step process of assessing the data governance capabilities of the hypothetical example.
- Present high-quality animation video to USAID.
- Incorporate 1 round of feedback from USAID.
- Produce a final high-quality animation with voiceover and music.
Deliverables: High-quality animation with voiceover
Additional requirements
- The final product will be a short, broadcast-quality (1920×1080) video delivered in both uncompressed and compressed formats.
- The video must follow USAID branding and marking requirements including the use of
USAID colors and fonts and USAID bumpers at the beginning and end of the video.
- The final product must adhere to Government 508 compliance standards for the disabled and be accompanied by a full transcript.
- The offeror is responsible for video editing, audio mixing, animation, voice over, theme music, titles, mastering, and final delivery in formats appropriate for online and offline viewing.
TIMEFRAME AND LOE
The estimated timeframe is from February 20th, 2024 – June 30, 2024. The estimated level of effort is 35 days.
Location: May be based anywhere but must be available to overlap with EST time zone for weekly meetings.
DELIVERABLES
The deliverables for this consultancy are outlined below.
MAJOR DELIVERABLES DUE DATES
Script April 9th, 2024
Visual storyboard April 9th, 2024
Animatic April 15th, 2024
Final animation with voiceover April 23rd, 2024
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
The consultant will report to the Digital Strategy Senior Program Manager, Deepika Ramachandran and Program Manager, Emily Joyce. The firm will need to collaborate with USAID personnel throughout the project, with support and direction from Digital Frontiers.
RELEVANT QUALIFICATIONS
- At least 6 years of experience developing scripts and animated videos, with a strong portfolio of work showcasing whiteboard animations
- Ability to translate complex concepts into visually engaging and accessible content
- Experience working under tight timeframes and successfully meeting deadlines
- Experience working in international development, with USAID, or familiarity with their programs and policies
- Experience working in digital development is preferred
How to apply
Interested and qualified candidates should click on the link to apply.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.