Department gets the message with CGEY


4 Jun 2003

Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (CGEY) Ireland has won a major contract to provide a messaging system to the Department of Social and Family Affairs (DSFA) as part of the department’s e-government initiative. CGEY won the deal in conjunction with its partner, the Irish software house Propylon.

The project covers the design, development and deployment of a system that allows the DSFA to exchange structured information messages with outside agencies. Initially this will focus on the exchange of what are called “life event messages” and data registration on births, deaths, marriages and so on, with the Government Register Office (GRO). This will be achieved via an e-government intra-agency messaging hub technology.

The Inter Agency Messaging Service (IAMS) was developed by the government agency Reach, using Propylon’s eGovernment Messaging Hub technology. It allows government bodies to exchange general-purpose information with each other in accordance with the messaging standards developed by Reach.

“This is the DSFA building the capacity to exchange messages with other Government Departments and Agencies via the IAMS using open standards,” said Philip O’Donohoe, IT Manager from DSFA. “It can also build an internal messaging hub which would facilitate the notification of significant events between internal applications. An example would be that the notification of a birth event from GRO to DSFA will result in the allocation of a Personal Public Service Number (PPSN) in respect of a new born child. It also results in the notification of the birth to the Child Benefit system which will, where appropriate, initiate a Child Benefit claim.”

According to Nick Forbes, delivery director with Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, the system will also accommodate future infrastructure growth at a low cost, without the need for major re-engineering or replacement of internal systems.