DFAT kicks off passport redevelopment

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has contracted Fujitsu to replace its ageing passport issuing system.

DFAT's CIO Tuan Dao with Fujitsu's ANZ CEO Mike Foster

DFAT was granted $100.8 million for the project three years ago. The 'Passport Redevelopment Program' will replace the department’s 14-year-old password application and issuing system, expected to reach end-of-life by 2015.

The new system will tap into a Microsoft customer relationship management (CRM) system for bulk scanning, case management, fraud control, workflow and passport printing.

It will enable Australians to apply for passports online and to be assessed against risk criteria in a rules engine, making fraud detection more efficient.

DFAT said its existing passport issuing system was nearing capacity, with demand for passports set to rise from 1.7 million in 2009-10 to more than 2 million by 2015.

DFAT approached the market for expressions of interest in the project in January 2010 and released a formal request for tender in September 2011.

Fujitsu will provide the system under an eight-year contract, inked today.

The vendor expected DFAT and the public to benefit from the “universal familiarity” of the Microsoft interface.