Would you consider using open-source software, for example, Linux, in a critical project like this?
Certainly for the offline stuff we will look at Linux. For the real-time systems, there is talk of real-time Linux. It is a good question and I guess I don't know the answer but we'll know at the end of our design contract. Certainly I wouldn't rule out open-source for non-critical jobs. For safety-critical systems I would say no, but then again things change so fast in this industry I shouldn't be so adamant. Safety critical means you have to use certified components and I am not aware of any certified open-source systems but I could be wrong.
Are there any other Logica projects you can discuss?
These kind of projects are very popular with the staff. One thing we often say about projects is that they are not rocket science -- but this one is rocket science. The Skynet 5 satellite project is a £2.5bn contract we signed with the MoD in October. The aim is to provide a couple of communication satellites for the UK military so they can communicate with their troops. The MoD in its wisdom bought this under a PFI contract - it's the largest MoD PFI and we had a presentation today from the MoD saying it will remain the largest PFI for quite a while. The £2.5bn is to provide a service for 15 years.
Because it is PFI, the winner Paradigm had to set up a telephone company -- it had to deliver a telephone service to the MoD -- so we've supplied it with the complete ground infrastructure it needs for a telephony network. That's a big contract for us, something like £80 million. Galileo is also going to use PFI, so they have brought in the Skynet 5 man to teach the good and bad sides of PFI, as the UK government is seen as having more experience than anyone else in Europe with that.
The MOD was widely criticised for a recent report that seemed to favour technology at the expense of personnel and vehicles. Is this technological focus about keeping up with US investment in cutting-edge systems -- given that experts claim the UK will never go to war alone again?
I am not sure it is as simple as that. There was a presentation given by the US military a few months ago about satellites and their use in the Iraq war. They were comparing the Iraq war with the Gulf War in 1991, and they were saying they used pretty much the same weapons systems and satellites -- there hadn't been that much new equipment in that time. Nevertheless, they had spent billions in the intervening years on something, and that something was systems integration: gluing systems together, making the communications systems interoperatel; with the Marines, with the Navy, with the Airforce, with the Special Forces.
And that's what the MOD is doing now. It's not that they're trying to keep up with the Americans but it's just how you fight a modern war effectively. I interpret that most-recent MOD report as being along those lines. It's about less new, expensive tanks and aircraft, and more about trying to get systems to work together.
