Schengen: second generation information system SIS II, development. Initiative Belgium and Sweden

This is a progress report on the work carried out by the Commission in the first half of 2005 on the development of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II). It also sets out the timetable for future activities.

It is the sixth report presented by the Commission in accordance with Article 6 of Regulation 2424/2001/ECon the development of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II).

The Council has mandated responsibility for developing SIS II to the Commission, assisted by the SIS II Committeecomposed of representatives of the Member States.

Project Status: The report describes the achievements in the period under review (January to June 2005) and the results expected during the next reporting period (July to December 2005). It points out that on 18 November 2004, the Court of First Instance ordered, as an interim measure, the suspension of the contract until further notice and decided on an expedited procedure following the application from Capgemini (Nederland N.V.) for the annulment of the Commission services’ decision to award the SIS II/VIS contract to a consortium led by Steria, France, and Hewlett Packard, Belgium.

On 14 February 2005, Capgemini (Nederland NV) withdrew its application. The Court of First Instance therefore closed the entire procedure and ordered the applicant to pay the expenses.

During the suspension period, Commission Services have worked intensively on this Court case and on taking measures to minimise the risk of not delivering SIS II by the final date (March 2007). Commission services carried on working closely with Member State experts, but due to the suspension order could not have any contact with the contractor. A total of seven working sessions with Member State experts were organised between 9 February and 10 March on the definition of messages, transport protocols and security.

The SIS II Project is divided into three phases. Phase 1 - Detailed Design - will deliver all the documents necessary to fully describe the SIS II from a technical perspective. The system will be developed and deployed during phase 2 – Development. Finally, during phase 3 – Migration and Integration – Member States will connect their national systems to the new SIS II central database. The project was in phase 1 during the current reporting period.

As regards the next reporting period, phase 1 should be completed by December 2005. This means that all project deliverables for phase 1 will have reached their final completion stage. Phase 2, the development phase, will begin as soon as is technically and contractually possible and will lead to a three-month overlap of phases 1 and 2.

The project is currently within the original budget forecast. Budget appropriations for SIS II have been secured from 2005 until the end of the project.

Synergy between SIS II and VIS has been achieved by having both projects combined in the same call for tender and sharing the same technical infrastructure.

The report discusses the way in which risk analysis is carried out. The major risks for the moment are currently:

-significant changes to the functioning of the system due to amendments of the proposed legal instruments on SIS II requiring major revisions to the system design;

-a risk related to the migration and integration of national systems, as the unavailability of one national system would impact the entire project;

-that the current system would still undergo changes after the date of 15 October when the contractor has already started the development of the adaptor which is required to execute the migration plan;

-the lack of “time buffers” in the planning for the development of the central part.

The Commission concludes that the first six months of 2005 were characterised by unexpected contract suspension which significantly disrupted both work and planning, followed by a heavy work programme to kick-start the SIS II design phase. The next six months will also be crucial: upon completion of the key design deliverables, the central project should move into the system development

and deployment phases. In parallel with the central project, national preparations should have progressed substantially by the end of 2005.