Proposed Terms of Reference – Ocean observing valuation best practices (GOOS-OECD joint project)
Start of Contract: 1 July 2021
End of Contract: 31 December 2021
(6 months)
| Vacancy Notice: Ocean observing valuation best practices (GOOS-OECD joint project) Deadline: 16 June 2021 Proposed Terms of Reference – Ocean observing valuation best practices (GOOS-OECD joint project) Start of Contract: 1 July 2021 End of Contract: 31 December 2021 (6 months) Background, purpose, duties and tasks Under the supervision of Emma Heslop (Programme Specialist, OOS/IOC) and in close cooperation with the STI Ocean Economy Group in the OECD Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Directorate, the contractor shall contribute substance for the future development of best practices in economic and societal benefit valuation of ocean observation systems. The objective is to explore the methodologies that may be used to value monetarily the information flowing from ocean observations data:i. The consultant will produce an extensive report on the economic valuation of ocean observing and forecasting systems. The key findings will be published as a paper, for example in Frontiers in Marine Science (Best Practices Research Topic) or a relevant economics journal.The report should include the following elements: PART 1. An extensive literature review: Carry out a comparative analysis and aggregation of studies on economic valuation of ocean observing and forecasting systems, building on existing relevant literature (e.g., OECD, NOAA, WMO, VALUABLES, Blue Planet) and including recent studies carried out in Africa, Asia and Latin America, as well as any other appropriate studies or literature for inclusion. PART 2. Proposed best practices in valuation: Explore the most appropriate methods available to researchers for quantifying and valuing monetarily the benefits – derived from new knowledge and reduced uncertainty in decision making – of investment in ocean observing systems. Carry out the analysis based on the literature, examining in particular relevant value of information techniques. Taking into account that any valuation study is context-specific and benefit transfers between case studies may not be possible, propose selected best practices according to the types of studies (e.g. project-based, infrastructure-based, sector-specific, data-oriented etc). ii. The consultant will provide in addition a compendium of data: Based on the extensive literature review, the consultant will build a detailed Excel table providing qualitative and quantitative data on all the different studies reviewed. Tabular fields will include at minimumreferences (i.e. author, title, journal/report, date, DOI),rationale for the paper/study: academic paper/ commissioned paper/ etc,detailed abstract,sectors / domains being analysed (e.g. valuation of an observing system, valuation of marine data uses in sectors X, Y),methodologies used for valuation (several methods can be used in a single paper, details will be required when this is the case),and key findings from the studies (qualitative, quantitative).When relevant, studies of particular importance for valuation will be highlighted (e.g. highly quoted papers). This analytical work will constitute background information for a future OECD/GOOS publication on valuation. Timetable and Deliverables Description DeliverableDeadlineWork plan1 week from start date Part 1 of the paper – Literature review And Compendium of Literature Review (Excel) 15 July 2021Part 2 of the paper – Proposed best practices in valuation 30 September 2021Final report (based on comments from GOOS/OECD) and updated Compendium of Literature Review 15 November 2021Submission of article summarising the key findings from the reportBy 31 December 2021 QualificationsA Master’s or equivalent in economicsRecord of peer-reviewed publicationsInterest or experience in the economics of marine science, blue economy, ocean observing DesirableAbility to work at UNESCO HQ in Paris a plus, but not a requirementSee application details on the job listing at the IOC UNESCO website. Proposals can be mailed to e.heslop@unesco.org with a cc to f.collins@unesco.org. |