Government IT fiascos in spotlight with parliamentary inquiry

MPs have agreed to set up a special committee to investigate numerous failings in government information technology projects which have led to billions of euros being wasted, the Volkskrant reports on Monday.


The decision follows a report in the paper’s weekend addition about the failure of a project to unify the country’s water board payment systems. The project, awarded to Logica, has so far cost €25m but does not work, the paper said.
Other projects in trouble include the development of a nationwide warning system to deal with major disasters and a central administration system for the UWV unemployment offices. The UWV project, lead by Capgemini, was started in 2004 at a projected cost of €40m. The cost has since risen to €350m.
The investigation will begin in May. ‘It is a massive project but that does not matter,’ MP Ger Koopmans told the paper. ‘The automation of government has cost billions and yet again it appears systems are not working. It is high time we got to the bottom of why this happened and how it can be solved.’
In 2007, the national audit office said the goverment is wasting up to €5bn a year on IT projects which have either failed altogether or have only been partly successful.

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