Fears about failing IT project kept under the radar, sidelined staff

Independent consultants raised the alarm about a failing technology project more than two years before it was axed.

Immigration managers were told the project would not achieve its 'go live' date and "we have doubts as to whether the project will in fact deliver at all, and we question its continuation".

The 2023 decision to continue with the programme after receiving that quality assurance (IQA) report - detailing the "poor delivery history, inability to meet agreed milestones" - contrasted with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE)'s description of its progress to minister Erica Stanford six months later: "The latest IQA confirmed the project approach was sound and robust, the build is achievable, and the risk management practice is effective."

MBIE's later apologised - for not being "fully open and transparent" with the minister and the mismatch between what they knew was occurring against what she was being told. The ministry admitted it was "incorrect and misleading", but maintained there was no intention to mislead.

The Review of the Biometric Projects report, written after the programme was stopped last November and released this week, put that into doubt.

Staff sidelined if they had concerns

An independent investigator appointed by the Public Service Commission will next look at who was responsible for the creation and expensive failure of the Biometric Capability Update (BCU) - who knew what and when - and what they did about it.

Stanford said one of her biggest concerns was discovering staff had been moved from the project if they questioned its progress.

"Feedback indicated that some staff were replaced due to skill gaps or because they raised concerns about the project's viability," said report author Greg James.

MBIE yesterday refused to say how many people that may have affected, adding it would be part of the commission's investigation.

Other questions linger about if there was an original approval for the project, how procurement was handled and whether ministers were sent copies of the many independent quality assurance reports that catalogued how "troubled" the project had become.

BCU, Migration 5 and lack of briefings

A written briefing given to Stanford as the incoming immigration minister in late 2023 - when the decision was being made about the future of BCU - contained no mention of it. The briefing for Michael Wood, who was immigration minister in 2022 and 2023, also did not mention the biometric update, despite there being a section called "technology enhancements".

The importance of BCU to identity checking and fighting fraud is highlighted in another briefing. The project is "crucial to risk mitigation and meeting INZ's future business needs" and deals with "very large volumes of biometric and biographical data". The system was also needed to service the agreements officials had signed with Migration 5 countries (the US, UK, Canada and Australia) to share migrants' personal details.

Several scope changes and additional costs were evident four years after the BCU initiative began in 2019.

By 2024, MBIE's then chief executive was having weekly meetings with the main provider's (NEC) managing director "to provide a channel for any additional management support".

The biometric system it was overhauling cost $53 million when it was introduced in 2016, but already needed updating because it lacked capacity, and could not be easily adapted to other initiatives.

The Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche said the investigation would include integrity of advice and financial management raised by Wednesday's report. It would also check that the advice Stanford had received about an even bigger IT project - Our Future Services - was "accurate and can be relied on".

Our Future Services (OFS) is a $336m, eight-year visa processing system, aiming to deliver annual savings of $80m when completed. It began last year and among its goals are bringing all paper-based applications online.

The $56.6m Microsoft-built Adept system on which OFS builds has suffered several setbacks since it was introduced after the borders re-opened post-Covid, including more than 550 production defects or bugs in the first four months and missed visa applications, while outages have affected the ability of hundreds of travellers to apply for visas.