IBM chosen as ESN user services supplier

The UK Home Office has announced that IBM has been awarded the contract to supply software for the Emergency Services Network.

Photo credit: Adobe Stock/Brian Jackson

The software will provide user devices with what the government calls “data-sharing functions and real-time video features.” Crucially, it will also include a “push-to-talk protocol for instant communications.” 

IBM will lead the design, build and system integration of the ESN platform, integral to which is the provision of IT infrastructure. In the parlance of the programme, this is known as the 'user services' piece.

Discussing the move, a spokesperson for the UK government said: “After several delays to the rollout of ESN over recent years, the government is [committed] to delivering the project as quickly as possible. 

“Providing the emergency services with improved technology is a key part of the government’s drive to make the nation’s streets safer, which is a crucial part of the prime minister’s Plan for Change.”

The spokesperson continued that going forward, policing minister Dame Diana Johnson will chair “regular meetings to ensure the project is running to time and cost.”

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