> Govt digital passenger app only works a quarter of the time > Denham Sadler National Affairs Editor 4 May 2022
Sheesh some people are born grizzlers. The government set its standard with the COVIDsafe app. When something outperforms COVIDsafe by a factor of 25, you simply have to accept that that something is brilliant and earned the contractor a big bonus. ______________ On 4/5/22 6:53 pm, Stephen Loosley wrote: > Australian Digital Passenger Declaration app sucks > > The little paper slip you'd give to Customs at the airport as you leave and > arrive in the country has been replaced by an app and website - the Digital > Passenger Declaration. > > The Community and Public Sector Union says its members "have estimated that > up to 75% of passengers coming into Australia have been unable to properly > complete the declaration on the DPD" and is pissed off the app is only in > English, despite travellers from all over the world expected to use it. The > union blames poorly supervised outsourcing and a government that didn't even > bother to investigate if it could be done in-house .. (quoting Sizzle) > > > > Govt digital passenger app only works a quarter of the time > > Denham Sadler National Affairs Editor 4 May 2022 > https://www.innovationaus.com/govt-digital-passenger-app-only-works-a-quarter-of-the-time/ > > > The federal government’s $60 million Digital Passenger Declaration is “error > riddled” and only works a quarter of the time, according to the public sector > union. > > The Digital Passenger Declaration (DPD) launched in March, replacing the > Australia Travel Declaration. The smartphone app collects contact > information, vaccination status, passport information and travel history from > people arriving in Australia by air. > > Development of the service was outsourced to multinational tech and > consulting giant Accenture across a series of contracts worth about $60 > million. > > The app has received scathing reviews since it launched, with complaints over > issues in scanning passports and vaccination certification, signing into the > app and registering for it in the first place. > > The DPD has one star rating from 170 reviews on the Google App Store, with > users labelling it a “complete waste of time”, a “terribly implemented app” > and “hopelessly useless”. > > The poor performance of the DPD is the result of the outsourcing of the > crucial work, which could and should have been done in-house, Community and > Public Sector Union (CPSU) assistant national secretary Michael Tull said. > > “Outsourcing the digital passenger card was supposed to deliver a product > that made it easier for travelers and saved time and resources for Home > Affairs. But with millions of dollars already spent, what we are seeing is > the opposite,” Mr Tull told InnovationAus.com. > > “This outcome is not a surprise and exactly what CPSU members warned the > department and the government against outsourcing this crucial product. But > the government rushed to an external provider, did not even check if its own > staff could do the work, spent up big on an external contractor and the > result is a product that was months overdue, is error riddled and being > comprehensively panned by users,” he said. > > “This whole outsourced project should be put on hold. It is clear that the > way to get this work done properly is by building it in-house.” > > Mr Tull said it is also “astonishing” that the app, which is for people > coming to Australia from overseas, is only available in English. > > A Home Affairs spokesperson said the department was “actively monitoring” > feedback and working on making improvements to the app. > > If a traveler is unable to use the DPD to complete the declaration they are > referred to a Border Force officer for manual checking of their details. > > This was putting already understaffed airports under further strain, Mr Tull > said. > > “This is an app that travelers say is terrible, and which has so many errors > and problems that it has actually increased the workloads on Home Affairs > staff and is creating delays at airports,” he said. > > The CPSU said its members have estimated that up to 75 per cent of passengers > coming into Australia have been unable to properly complete the declaration > on the DPD. > > The DPD was delivered by Irish-domiciled tech giant Accenture on contracts > worth about $60 million. > > Accenture was awarded a $7.5 million contract for the Digital Passenger > Declaration in October last year, running until September 2024, and a number > of other contracts for the broader permissions capability work. > > The permissions capability will eventually digitise the incoming passenger > card and visa processing, and will then be used across a range of other > government services. > > It was launched closely following the federal government ditching its > previous attempt at outsourcing visa process following a protracted tender > process marred by conflicts of interest. > > “This is the third time over more than a decade that the Department has tried > to outsource or privatise visa processing and associated functions. It has > failed each time and wasted hundreds of millions of dollars in the process,” > Mr Tull said. > > “In all that time, the systems that have worked are the ones designed and > built in-house by the Department’s own staff. But we know from the > Department’s own evidence to Senate Estimates that they never even considered > doing it in-house.” > > The outsourcing of this work is also damaging the internal capability of the > APS, he said. > > “The Department also needs to keep in mind that there is a very tight and hot > market for talent ICT staff, and every time they go to externals and deny > their staff the opportunity to do new work they are sending negative signals > to staff while also missing an opportunity to strengthen their internal > capability – and that’s a risky approach in the current labour market,” Mr > Tull said. > > Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email. > > _______________________________________________ > Link mailing list > [email protected] > https://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link > -- Roger Clarke mailto:[email protected] T: +61 2 6288 6916 http://www.xamax.com.au http://www.rogerclarke.com Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd 78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law University of N.S.W. Visiting Professor in Computer Science Australian National University _______________________________________________ Link mailing list [email protected] https://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
