For every child, the right to education
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is fundamentally transforming all sectors of society, with education being at the forefront of this change. To prepare children and youth for a technology-driven world, education systems must evolve in tandem with technological advancements. Modern information and communication technologies (ICT) offer significant opportunities for educational reform, enabling personalized learning through multimedia content, educational games, and simulations that make complex concepts accessible and engaging. Integrating ICT into schools also enhances pedagogical interaction while streamlining administrative management.
Bosnia and Herzegovina actively participates in Giga, a global initiative launched by UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) aiming to connect every school to the internet. This initiative serves as a cornerstone for the country’s digital transformation in education, ensuring that students and teachers have equitable access to information, digital resources, and 21st-century skill development.
To guide these investments, the document “Basic Technical Standards for ICT Tools in Education Systems in Bosnia and Herzegovina” was adopted in October 2021. This document established minimum acceptable baseline thresholds for ICT infrastructure across administrative units. However, the 2021 framework relies heavily on rigid, component-based hardware specifications, such as fixed processor speeds in GHz, specific gigabytes of RAM, and rigid device dimensions. It also treats online safety through an isolated, device-centric lens restricted to localized parameters such as standalone antivirus software, basic firewalls, and endpoint content filtering.
Given the rapid pace of technological obsolescence, these static hardware specifications create bottlenecks in public procurement, limit technological neutrality, and fail to reflect modern cloud-based and performance-driven computing realities, centralized security architectures, and robust data privacy needs.
Therefore, a comprehensive update is required for the upcoming three-year cycle 2027–2029. The process will engage multi-sectoral experts to shift the paradigm from rigid hardware criteria toward functional and performance-based specifications, ensuring that the education system remains agile, resilient, and future-proof.
How can you make a difference?
The purpose of this consultancy is to provide advanced technical expertise to the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina to revise, update, and draft the new Basic Technical Standards for ICT Tools in Education 2027–2029.
The consultant will ensure that the updated standards transition into a performance-based and functional framework rather than a rigid hardware list. The resulting document must be practical, technologically neutral, socio-economically viable, and inclusive of emerging educational domains such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and environmental sustainability. The standards must also upgrade the 2021 security baselines, which focused on local firewalls, antivirus software, automatic updates, and basic content filtering, into modern functional requirements. Driven by the transition to universal, high-speed school connectivity, the revised framework should shift from individual device protection to centralized security management, whether cloud-based, hybrid, or regionalized, robust student data privacy, and network-level threat mitigation.
Scope of Work
1. Technical Gap Analysis of the 2021 Standards
2. Technology Trend Assessment and Horizon Scanning
3. Comparative Analysis of International Best Practices
4. Drafting the Preliminary Functional Standards 2027–2029
5. Stakeholder Consultations and Feedback Integration
6. Finalization of the Standards Document
Work Assignment Overview | Deliverables/ Outputs (SMART)*
Inception Report and Gaps/Trend Analysis | A detailed report mapping the deficiencies of the 2021 standards document, international best practices, and technical recommendations for current technology trends and innovations relevant to improving educational systems. The deliverable will be deemed completed only upon formal review and written approval by the contract manager.
First Draft of the Updated Functional ICT Standards 2027–2029 | A comprehensive, performance-based draft document ready to be shared for institutional and public consultation. The deliverable will be deemed completed only upon formal review and written approval by the contract manager.
Final Technical Standards Document and Consultation Report | The final, approved version of the standards incorporating stakeholder feedback, accompanied by a report on how inputs were addressed through activities to gather feedback on the first draft and communicate with representatives of educational institutions, academic institutions, and civil society organizations. The deliverable will be deemed completed only upon formal review and written approval by the contract manager.
Minimum requirements
- Deep understanding of functional and performance-based specification methodologies versus legacy hardware component listing.
- Solid knowledge of contemporary technology trends, including cloud computing, cybersecurity, Learning Management Systems, Artificial Intelligence safety and applications, and e-waste/environmental sustainability standards for hardware.
- Ability to adapt international and regional best practices to the socio-economic, infrastructural, and administrative context of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- Strong analytical, drafting, consultation, and stakeholder engagement skills.
Desirables
- Specific experience within the educational technology or EdTech sector is highly advantageous. Prior experience working with public education institutions, ministries of education, international organizations, or development partners in Bosnia and Herzegovina or the wider region would be an asset.
For every Child, you demonstrate...
The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…
(1) Builds and maintains partnerships
(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
(3) Drive to achieve results for impact
(4) Innovates and embraces change
(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity
(6) Thinks and acts strategically
(7) Works collaboratively with others
UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.
Remarks
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.
The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.