National Service provider for the UniPods AI for Public Good Challenge- SA

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The service provider will serve as the primary delivery organisation for the AI for Public Good Challenge in South Africa. All work is delivered in close coordination with the University of Johannesburg, which provides the UniPod venue, GPU compute infrastructure, and faculty mentors. The service provider is responsible for programme management, government coordination, participant recruitment, training coordination, event delivery, and reporting. The service provider shall complete all programme setup activities during Month 1 (the inception period), prior to the commencement of government focal point coordination in Month 2. UNDP approval of all Task 1 deliverables is a condition precedent to the initiation of Task 2.

Task 1: Programme Setup and Partnership Activation

Establish the operational and governance foundations for the programme during the one-month inception period.

• Develop a detailed implementation plan, activity schedule, and coordination framework with UJ.
• Convene the ten-member multi-stakeholder panel, recruiting members across five constituencies: university (in coordination with UJ), government, UNDP, private sector, and ecosystem organisations.
• Contract the programme trainer — an applied AI or data science practitioner who will deliver structured technical support to all student teams throughout the delivery phase.
• Identify and engage the use case mapping facilitator — a specialist in AI use case scoping and decomposition who will lead the Phase 2 workshop. Where possible, the facilitator and trainer should be the same person.
• Develop programme communications materials including the government focal point engagement pack, team recruitment announcement, and programme branding assets.
• Coordinate with UJ to confirm compute access protocols, facility arrangements, and faculty mentor identification.

Deliverables

• Inception report including detailed implementation plan, multi-stakeholder panel composition list, and confirmed trainer and facilitator.
• Programme communications pack.

Task 2: Use Case Confirmation and Challenge Brief Development

The use cases for the programme have been pre-selected by the UniPod technical review panel prior to contract award. The service providers role in this phase is to confirm government readiness and convert confirmed use cases into student-workable Challenge Briefs.

• Each Challenge Brief shall clearly define the problem statement, scope and exclusions, available data and applicable access constraints, expected solution output, technical feasibility, success criteria, responsible AI considerations, and the roles and responsibilities of the participating government department, student team and programme support structure.
• This phase commences in Month 2, following UNDP approval of the inception report and programme communications pack.
• Confirm active participation and data-sharing commitment from the designated focal point of each pre-selected government use case.
• Present confirmed use cases to the multi-stakeholder panel for formal sign-off.
• Facilitate a one-day Use Case Mapping Workshop, working with the use case mapping facilitator and confirmed government focal points to decompose each use case into a bounded, student-workable Challenge Brief.
• Produce and distribute final Challenge Briefs, approved by government focal points and UNDP, to support the team recruitment process.

Deliverables

• Focal point confirmation records for each participating government department.
• Panel sign-off record for confirmed use cases.
• Use Case Mapping Workshop report.
• Four to five Challenge Briefs, approved by government focal points and UNDP. Data readiness and responsible AI assessment for each confirmed use case, identifying data availability and access requirements, privacy or confidentiality considerations, potential AI risks, and any controls required before development commences.

Task 3: Student Team Recruitment, Selection, and Onboarding

Recruit and onboard four to five multidisciplinary student teams from the University of Johannesburg.

• Launch the programme recruitment campaign across UJ using official university channels, faculty networks, student innovation societies, and targeted outreach to underrepresented disciplines including social science, public administration, economics, design, and health.
• Receive and review team applications against eligibility requirements: team size of 3 to 5, minimum two disciplines represented, at least one technical member, and nominated team lead.
• Coordinate panel review and selection of four to five teams.
• Notify applicants, manage team-challenge assignment, and — where applicable — offer strong non-selected teams an alternative Challenge Brief.
• Coordinate faculty mentor assignment with UJ, matching each selected team to a dedicated UJ faculty mentor
• Deliver a structured induction week covering: programme structure and expectations; compute infrastructure orientation; an opening working session with the programme trainer; introduction to faculty mentors; and signing of participation agreements covering conduct, IP arrangements, data governance obligations, and stipend conditions.
• Manage and process the first stipend disbursement directly to eligible team members from programme funds included in the service provider’s financial proposal, following completion of induction and signature of the participation agreements.

Deliverables

• Recruitment announcement and outreach log.
• Team application summary and panel selection record.
• Induction programme agenda and signed attendance records.
• Signed participation agreements for all team members.
• Disbursement 1 confirmation record.

Task 4: Programme Delivery

Manage the five-month delivery phase (Months 3 to 7) during which student teams work on their assigned government use cases, supported by the programme trainer, faculty mentors, and GPU compute infrastructure.

• Coordinate the programme trainer to deliver a minimum of two structured group sessions per week across all teams, covering AI development fundamentals, methodological approaches, and problem-specific technical content.
• Coordinate with UJ to ensure all teams have consistent and uninterrupted access to the GPU compute infrastructure throughout the delivery phase.
• Facilitate at least monthly coordination between the programme trainer and UJ faculty mentors.
• Monitor team progress continuously and flag risks, delivery concerns, or welfare issues to UNDP.
• Organise and manage the mid-point review at the end of Month 5, at which each team presents a brief progress update to the panel. Each team receives approximately twenty minutes covering progress, blockers, and support needs.
• Coordinate panel feedback and ensure teams and the trainer receive and act on mid-point guidance within two weeks of the review.
• Manage the second stipend disbursement to teams that have met the mid-point conditions.
• Support teams during the final sprint phase (Month 7), including facilitation of additional trainer sessions to refine solutions ahead of the Country Showcase.

Deliverables

• Monthly trainer session logs and team attendance records.
• Mid-point progress report per team, submitted to UNDP.
• Panel mid-point review summary and written feedback records.
• Disbursement 2 confirmation record.

Task 5: Country Showcase

Plan and deliver the Country Showcase — the programmes culminating public event — at the end of Month 7.

• Plan and deliver a half-day Country Showcase event, inviting government departments, UJ leadership, private sector partners, ecosystem organisations, media, and the broader innovation community.
• Prepare all participating teams for the Showcase, including communication of presentation format, evaluation rubric, logistical details, and expectations.
• Manage each teams fifteen-minute presentation slot, comprising a solution presentation and live demonstration followed by panel Q&A.