ID card supplier shortlist announced

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The shortlist of suppliers for the identity card scheme has been announced.

The prequalification stage of the massive £5 billion project has finished, and from eleven initial bidders, the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) has selected Accenture, BAE Systems, CSC, EDS, Fujitsu, IBM, Steria and Thales to compete for five final framework spots.

Bill Crothers, IPS commercial director, said in a statement: "The announcement today of the shortlist of eight bidders represents another important milestone towards delivering the National Identity Scheme."

He added: "We have been pleased with the level of interest shown in the National Identity Scheme by the industry and now have a solid core of eight 'prime' bidders' who will go forward to the next stage of the procurement process. Of course involvement in the procurement process is not restricted to just the eight companies we have announced today. Each prime bidder has their own network of sub-contractors representing a wide range of industry talent.

Crothers told IT PRO that while the suppliers were judged against detailed, specific criteria, the IPS was essentially looking for evidence of capability, capacity and financial strength. "This are significant long-term contracts," he noted.

From 29 November, the IPS will start weeks of meetings with the selected bidders before deciding which five will ultimately be selected by next May to make up the bidding framework for the heavily debated project.

"This is an important milestone as procurement has largely been at arms length so far," Crothers said. "Once you get down to a concentrated group, you can start meeting and having a two-way engagement and discussion."

The five successful suppliers will then have to bid on specific contracts, which could be worth as much as £600 million each. Setting up such a framework will help the project move more quickly, Crothers added.

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