'Flawed assumptions' behind Immigration NZ's bungling of tech upgrade
Immigration New Zealand has paused its 'Our Future Services' technology project after discovering that projected productivity savings were based on significantly flawed assumptions. The project, which was intended to modernize visa processing, is now expected to cost more than it saves.
Why it matters
This highlights the risks of government digital transformation projects and the potential for massive public fund mismanagement due to overly optimistic forecasting.
Immigration New Zealand overestimated the benefits from its newest transformation project by $134 million because of "significantly flawed assumptions".
The new head of INZ said it was virtually unheard of to get the productivity savings the project had forecast, and it had paused the programme.
The overestimate amounts to more than a quarter of the $453 million savings that Our Future Services (OFS) was forecast to save .
It means if the $336 million project goes ahead, it will now cost more than it saves - and its financial credentials had been a key drawcard when ministers chose it.
A report to Cabinet shows the project's productivity boosts and overhead savings from staffing cuts were both overstated.
New head of Immigration New Zealand Andy Milne was not pulling any punches when he spoke at the Association for Migration and Investment conference in Auckland.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in