Result of Service• The report prepared should be in Arabic and in electronic format. • Minimum report submitted should not be less than 30 pages minimum. • A 2 to 4 pages executive summary of the report. The completed parts should be edited and saved in MS-Word (*.docx file) or an alternate compatible format. PDF format will not be accepted. It should include a table of contents to be automatically updated followed by a list of all tables and figures. The various parts should be submitted in electronic form and sent to the email address of the designated focal point. Attention is kindly drawn to the need to ensure that the final draft of the outputs be thoroughly reviewed prior to submission and to indicate the sources of tables and diagrams. References to reports and other substantive material should be clearly indicated within the text and noted at the end. It is also essential to send, with the completed output, photocopies or scans of at least the first page of books, reports and bulletins, used as reference material as well as copies of the pages quoted. The content of the generated document shall be the sole property of ESCWA. The content cannot and must not be presented, discussed or published by the consultant without the express authorization of ESCWA. The consultant shall keep in mind that UN-ESCWA routinely checks all deliverables for plagiarism, using readily available electronic tools. All previously published content, even if written by the selected consultant, must be clearly referenced where required within the text and end-noted at the end of the study. The report submitted by the consultant must not contain quoted and/or previously published text equalling more than 20 per cent of the total number of pages. The consultant shall not publish or announce or reveal the content of the report, partly or entirely, on social media or any other public channel, without ESCWA and MTNMA permission. Work LocationRemote Expected duration1.5 months Duties and ResponsibilitiesBackground: The adoption of digital and emerging technologies and their continued proliferation into different types of institutions have necessitated the development and implementation of appropriate regulations and legal frameworks. To fully benefit from the vast opportunities made available by these emerging technologies, Arab countries need to update their regulatory and legislative frameworks to meet the requirements that were brought forth by those technologies. The United Nations is involved in enhancing the use of emerging technologies for sustainable development. In September 2024 during the Summit of the Future, world leaders adopted the Pact for the Future and its annexes: the Global Digital Compact (GDC) and Declaration on Future Generations. The GDC mandates UN Regional Commissions to provide support to Member States to advance digital transformation. UN-ESCWA became involved in cyber legislations since several years. In 2007, it launched a study entitled “Models for Cyber Legislation in UN-ESCWA Member Countries” .. The study reviewed the status of regional and international cyber laws and was complemented with a template that acts like a tool for the evaluation and development of national cyber legislations. Countries of the region continue to express interest in receiving UN-ESCWA’s advisory services on cyber legislation. Most recently, the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Modernization of Administration (MTNMA) in Mauritania requested UN-ESCWA’s assistance to develop the regulatory framework of Internet of Things (IoT). The provision of this advisory service is the subject of these terms of reference. Duties and Responsibilities: The consultant shall propose to the designated ESCWA focal point a detailed version of the report outline. The proposed report should include the following sections: (1) Review best regional and international practices of legal and regulatory frameworks of IoT (at least 2 from the Arab region and 2 from the world); (2) Analyse the different existing legal frameworks related to digital technologies in Mauritania, including GDPR and Mauritanian Personal Data Protection Authority (APD) documents; (3) Conduct interviews with the main stakeholders and realising a summary of their remarks and observations; (4) Suggestion of the draft regulatory framework of IoT based on the gap analysis (SWOT), national needs, best practices and ESCWA related publications. ESCWA promotes gender equality and integration of youth through its publications and therefore the consultant should pay attention, with the help of ESCWA staff, to gender considerations and youth dimension throughout the research work and thereby ensure that the narrative language should be gender sensitive. Qualifications/special skillsA master's degree in law, technology, economy or a related field is required; a Ph.D. is desirable. All candidates must submit a copy of the required educational degree. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. At least 5 years of experience and research in legal and regulatory aspects of cyber legislation is required. A concrete knowledge in the domain of IoT legal framework is desirable. LanguagesEnglish and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat; and Arabic is a working language of ESCWA. For this position, fluency in Arabic is required. Knowledge of French is desirable. Note: “Fluency” equals a rating of ‘fluent’ in all four areas (speak, read, write, and understand) and “Knowledge of” equals a rating of ‘confident’ in two of the four areas. Additional InformationNot available. No FeeTHE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.