The project to build the case-processing network for the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency (SCIA), which launches in Oct., has been awarded to LG CNS after two failed bids. With less than four months left until the opening, the work to construct the core network to be used for case intake and dividends, records, and transfer is belatedly moving into full swing.
According to legal sources on the 9th, the SCIA launch task force signed a contract on the 1st with LG CNS for the Criminal Justice Information System (KICS) buildout. The contract amount is 4.13995 billion won.
KICS is the network used by criminal justice agencies such as the police, the Prosecution Service, the Korea Coast Guard, and the Ministry of Justice for case processing and records management. After its launch, the SCIA must also use KICS for key tasks, from case intake to dividends, investigation records management, and transfer.
The project was concluded by negotiated contract after two failed public tenders. The first bid on Apr. 30 failed due to no bidders. Only LG CNS participated in the reannouncement on the 12th of last month, but it failed again for not meeting the multiple-bidder requirement. The task force then switched to a negotiated process and contracted with LG CNS.
The task force plans to build the SCIA network by jointly utilizing the KICS system currently used by the Korean National Police Agency.
The plan is to base it on the Korean National Police Agency's KICS but separate the system so that only SCIA staff can access it. Within the SCIA, access rights will also be divided by position and rank, including investigators, investigation researchers, inspectors, Head of Team, and Director.
The problem is the timeline. The SCIA launches on Oct. 2. Immediately after launch, an estimated 3,000 personnel will need to use KICS. The number of cases the SCIA will handle annually is expected to reach 20,000 to 30,000. However, with the contractor selected late, the development schedule has been shortened from the original plan.
A developer with extensive experience in public network projects said, "Substantial time is needed for coordination with the client, analysis of the existing system, modification work tailored to the SCIA's operations, and testing," and added, "It is true the schedule is tight to carry out both development and verification before the Oct. launch."
The task force's original plan was to start the KICS buildout in May. After analyzing and designing the existing system, development would be completed by Aug., and performance and security checks, pilot operations, and user training would be conducted before the Oct. launch. But with successive failures of the public tenders, the contract signing was pushed to June.
The task force will first develop core functions before the opening and then sequentially supplement relatively lower-priority functions after the opening. In response to a question about whether the schedule is tight, the task force noted, "We will make every effort to ensure the KICS system is built before the opening."
The SCIA is the agency that will be solely responsible for investigating serious crimes after the abolition of the Prosecution Service. It will handle six major crime categories: economic, corruption, defense industry, narcotics, insurrection and foreign exchange, and cyber crimes.