ICT project CBR is millions of euros more expensive than budgeted

A major ICT project at the CBR costs millions of euros more than expected and is delayed for years. Due to project delays, the CBR stores sensitive information in highly outdated systems.

This is apparent from research by Zembla. The TV program received internal documents from the Central Bureau for Driving Licenses. According to Zembla, the CBR would withhold the real costs of the project from the Ministry of Infrastructure.

In 2014, the CBR started the ICT project ‘Fitness to drive’. With that project, medical examinations and certificates of fitness to drive had to be digitized. That should cost a total of seven million euros and should be completed in 2017. The project is not yet finished and will ultimately cost an estimated 34 million euros. Earlier it appeared that a delay in the system resulted in professional drivers often being unemployed at home because their driving license was not renewed in time.

Due to the delay, the CBR is still working internally with outdated systems. Those are computers with Windows XP. According to the CBR, those computers are air gapped and are not connected to the internet. Medical records of car drivers are also stored in an Oracle 9 database. Extended support for Oracle 9i Release 2 ended in 2010. It is unknown whether the CBR, like many government organizations, is still paying for additional security support. The Bureau was not immediately available for comment.

According to Zembla, the CBR was already aware of the rising costs in 2013. However, the minister was only informed of this from the beginning of 2017. According to a spokesman for the ministry, nothing was known about the rising costs before that time.