Nice work, if you can get it
ICL/Fujitsu screw up again.
The UK courts project is floundering. A few years ago ICL won the contract to modernise the UK Courts technology systems, by writing an entire new system for document sharing etc. This was heralded as a great move for the entire country, as many cases are delayed because of paperwork errors, leading to an increase in the numbers of prisoners having to be held on remand, and increasing the risk of criminals re-offending before cases are heard.
As the only company in the running, ICL signed an £183m contract. 2 years later they decided that it would take 12 years, instead of 8, and should actually cost £319m. They also cunningly wrote the contract so that somewhere in the region of half of this be triggerable for setting up the infrastructure for this (installing Microsoft Office on some new PCs).
But, in a recent memo, the Lord Chancellor's Department has said, "Despite the best efforts of all those involved we have been unable to reach an agreement with Fujitsu on a proposition for Libra which represents value for money and which we can afford."
If this does all collapse, then UK taxpayers will have paid ICL/Fujitsu
over one hundred million pounds to set up some computers and install Microsoft Office on them - in many cases meaning that courts workers have to have two computers on their desk - one to access the court records on the old system, and one to do their email and word processing etc!
Time to write to my MP, methinks.
6:49:02 PM 
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