The contract calls for the swift creation and implementation of a disaster-recovery plan, and “regular software updates security patches” throughout the lifespan of the deal.Ĭontractors provided by the tech company will also participate in drills – led by government’s emergency-coordination COBR unit – to practice how to respond if a “rogue message… is sent accidentally or maliciously”. Any parts of the service currently run from the soon-to-be-decommissioned GOV.UK Platform as a Service hosting environment will also need to be moved elsewhere. The commercial agreement includes a further requirement to replace GOV.UK Notify – the GDS-developed messaging platform used to support the development and public testing the alerts system – with another tool. Likely additional functionality elements include: “improving alerting and monitoring on the system adding the ability to retract a previously published alert… adding banner publishing to gov.uk/alerts ability to edit live and template messages at approval stage the ability to select all major cities at the municipal level the ability to apply time limits the ability to draw a circle or shape from a point”. The supplier will also take on responsibility for supporting the “designing, testing and implementing ongoing improvements to the technical infrastructure and user interface to continue to meet user needs” Support will be required around the clock, and users – including public bodies and mobile operators – must be able to raise issues at any time, the contract said.įujitsu will be expected to monitor and maintain service-performance and security levels, as well as ensuing compliance with data-protection law. This team will be responsible for managing the infrastructure that underpins the system, as well as the online GOV.UK pages providing the public with updates on live alerts and information on the overall operation of the service. Met Office seeks chief information security officer.Work begins on online platform for government’s ‘Civilian Reserve’ to support future crisis response.Met Office and Microsoft’s £1bn machine to be ‘world’s most powerful weather computer’.The deal will worth at least £1m to the tech firm and, if it runs to its full three-year term, a total of £5m may ultimately be spent.įujitsu previously fulfilled a one-year £665,000 contract covering project-management and support services during the development of the alerts service, which has been in the works since 2018 and was tested in several parts of England last year before its imminent nationwide launch was announced in August – in a week where significant portions of the country had been issued with official warnings about first extreme hear, and then storms and flooding.Īccording to the text of the newly awarded deal, the IT company will provide GDS with the bulk of a “blended, agile multidisciplinary team”, who will be joined and led by “two permanent civil servants who will provide the strategic direction and will be responsible for the prioritisation decisions for the service”. The service is supported by the UK’s four mobile-network operators – O2, Vodafone, EE, and Three – and will use local mobile phone masts to send messages to everyone in range at the time the alert is issued.Īt the start of this week, the Government Digital Service entered into an initial one-year contract with Fujitsu, which “will be responsible for all the technical delivery, design iterations and 24/7 operational support” of the alerts system. Public bodies involved in emergency response will be able to send alerts, including government departments, the emergency services, and the Met Office. Slated to launch this month, the system is intended to alert the public to extreme weather – including storms, floods, or severe heat – and public-health emergencies affecting their area. A multimillion deal has been signed with a technology supplier to support the soon-to-launch government service to send SMS text alerts warning citizens of imminent emergencies that may endanger their safety.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |