Annex A > Chapter 1 - The Background to and Conduct of the Public Inquiry > The information technology systems
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The information technology systems
Background
72 It was evident from the beginning that one of the greatest challenges that the Inquiry would face would be to manage the large volume of information that it would receive. Initially, the Chairman and Secretariat visited other public inquiries then in progress to become familiar with the technology in use. [26]
73 The DoH's IT systems were provided by ICL. Within the terms of the Department's contract with ICL it was possible to extend the service to include a bespoke IT system for the Inquiry. In October 1998 the Secretariat, with support from the Department's Information Services Division, drew up a specification of the IT requirements. However, a number of services that were required by the Inquiry could not be directly provided by ICL, namely, a document management system and a real-time transcription service, and an invitation to tender for these services was issued.
74 In November 1998 ICL appointed two partner organisations, Legal Technologies (a company which specialises in document management systems for large trials) and Smith Bernal (a company specialising in the provision of a real-time transcription service). Together these three organisations met the Inquiry's IT needs.
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Footnotes
[26] The `Inquiry into the Matters Arising from the Death of Stephen Lawrence', and the `BSE Inquiry'