The development of a new, crucial information system at Defense has reached a dead end. The “weapon of the future” is in danger of becoming a fiasco – also for taxpayers. Technology company IBM has threatened to recover hundreds of millions of euros in costs incurred from the ministry.
In this way, the Defense organization is threatening to enter the ship for a huge sum of money with the “Prometheus” project, according to internal documentation in the hands of the Investico Investigative Journalism Platform, which collaborated with Trouw, De Groene Amsterdammer and EenVandaag.
The possible claim is related to the problems and delays in tendering. It has become a tug of war between the Ministry of Defense and the only remaining participant in the race for the contract: a consortium led by the American IBM and the French Atos.
Defense wants to become an “information-driven organization”. In a modern war, sharing and interpreting huge amounts of data is becoming increasingly important. For the time being, the Defense organization lacks a “digital highway”, a backbone that makes this exchange of information possible throughout the organization.
The armed forces have to wait even longer for the necessary renewal, which is called the “weapon of the future”. In fact, the continuity of the current system is only guaranteed until 2022. The new highway is also necessary because data from, for example, the expensive investments such as the Joint Strike Fighter with the outdated IT cannot be processed.