In a letter to the House of Representatives dated 17 September, the minister of justice and security Ferd Grapperhaus said that the results of a number of integration tests were inadequate, significantly reducing the probability of being able to deliver the system on time. He added that the only way the original schedule could be maintained was by removing a number of crucial steps in the process, including a pilot migration project and the implementation of user acceptance tests. This was discussed with representatives of the Netherlands’ emergency services, who have advised that sufficient time had to be taken to perfect and test the new network.
Grapperhaus has endorsed these recommendations and has noted that given the findings of a review and architecture inspection, there he has sufficient confidence in the supplier’s ability to be able to deliver a technically operating product of good quality.
He wrote that the delay will lead to higher maintenance costs from the longer use of the current system and means that the savings that will be realised from the new system will take occur later than previously expected. It will also have a knock-on effect on a control room merger programme. Grapperhaus added that the migration of C2000’s pager network took place on schedule in June 2018.
