The Government has selected BearingPoint to build a core computer system to provide a range of services to the public over the internet and telephone.
The first phase of the contract could be worth up to €15 million for BearingPoint, which also holds a contract to build a system to help people apply for passports on the internet.
The proposed public services broker is the key piece of technical infrastructure that will radically change the way public services are delivered in Ireland. It will cover all public services and also act as a central data vault for customer information for future identification purposes. The system is based on using people's personal public services numbers as unique identifiers for conducting all business with the Government. The first public services likely to go online later this year are social welfare, child benefit and children's allowance.
The broker will eventually store citizens' credit card details so payments for services can be made online, according to Reach, the Government agency deploying the computer system.
The award of the contract was delayed due to a review of the project to assess whether it offered value for money. The review group, which included secretary generals from several Government Departments, found it should go ahead following a streamlining of decision-making at the Reach agency.
BearingPoint beat off competition from rivals HP Services Consulting & Integration; Siemens Business Services; and Accenture. In a potentially significant technological development for the Government, the broker will be built using open technology standards rather than using any proprietary software.
It is believed a rival bidder proposed using exclusively Microsoft software but the evaluation team rejected this. Instead, BearingPoint has proposed using open software standards and will not rely on a single technology.
The company will build the system using BEA Systems weblogic software platform. Esat BT will provide network infrastructure for the computer system.
The deployment of the broker could prove controversial among civil service unions as it is likely to have long-term implications for work practices. Citizens will be able to use the internet, telephone or walk-in centres to conduct Government business. This is likely to involve the setting up of centralised call centres to conduct public business.
A Reach agency spokesman confirmed yesterday that BearingPoint had been awarded preferred bidder status and a final contract should be concluded by the end of January. He said the initial release of broker services was now scheduled for June.
