Two firms shortlisted for the Home Office's £5.4bn ID
card project have dropped out of the bidding to run theNational Identity Scheme (NIS) framework procurement
programme.
Systems integration firms
Accenture
and BAE Systems pulled out,
leaving Computer Sciences Corporation, EDS, Fujitsu, IBM, Steria,
and Thales in the running for contracts under the framework
programme. The first two parcels of work are expected to be the
biometric database and application and enrolment operation.
BAE Systems said in a statement it had withdrawn because its bid
would not contain every element necessary to deliver to the
customer's requirement. "We continue to monitor the programme with
interest."
An Accenture spokesman said the firm had decided not to bid for
the framework business. "However, we remain committed to our work
in UK government. We are working in six major government
departments delivering a number of successful and key programmes,"
she said.
This includes the Department of Work & Pensions' CIS, a key
building block for NIS, as well as NHS PACS and the e-Borders
programme where Accenture is responsible for training end users of
the system and helping to measure the overall business benefits of
the e-Borders programme.
Some reports suggested that the two drop-outs might have been
unhappy with the initial volumes planned for the roll-out as well
as signs in leaked documents that the main roll-out would start in
2012, two years later than first indicated.
The government's initial plan to issue electronic ID cards to
British subjects would have coincided with the April 2010 deadline
set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to
issue only machine readable travel documents that contain digitised
fingerprints and facial images.
If the UK ID card meets ICAO standards, the cardholder could use
it as a travel document throughout Europe without needing a
separate passport, the Home Office has confirmed.
The UK ID card would carry the same personal information on its
face as the information on the personal details page of the present
passport, such as name, date and place of birth, gender, and
photograph of the holder. In future, both card and passport would
also carry the same digitised facial image and fingerprints of the
owner.
A spokesman said 80% of Britons have a passport, but relatively
few travel outside Europe. The Home Office intends to offer the
e-ID card when citizens apply for or renew their passports. The UK
introduced passports that contain biometric details in 2006, and
the Home Office issues six million a year.
The Home Office spokesman said the ID card will also have a
"chip and PIN" application that could let the cardholder
authenticate electronic transactions.