Accenture wins State Department pilot

The State Department has chosen Accenture Ltd. to perform a pilot program that may be implemented as an information sharing and collaboration system, known as the Overseas Presence Interagency Collaboration and Knowledge Management System.

The pilot program involves approximately 2,400 users at the embassies and consulates of India and Mexico and at participating agency locations in Washington.

Under the program, Accenture, based in Hamilton, Bermuda, and team members General Dynamics Corp., Falls Church, Va., and Booz-Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Va., will link 43 U.S. agencies that have offices in these countries, deploying a suite of commercial applications to facilitate information sharing and knowledge management and provide access to agencies' intranets and the Internet.

A contract for worldwide implementation of the system could be worth up to $400 million. There would be 40,000 to 50,000 users in about 280 embassies and consulates.

Congress provided $17 million for the prototype and pilot stages. The three prime contractors competing in this phase were Accenture, Science Applications International Corp., San Diego, and SRA International Inc., Fairfax, Va.

Meg McLaughlin, Accenture's client partner for the State Department, said change management, helping employees in all participating agencies adapt to new procedures and processes, will take the most work.

"There are a lot of parts to coordinate and get aligned ? in particular the 43 agencies ? to make sure they're all heard and have bought into this whole program," McLaughlin said.

The pilot program is slated to run for five months. The State Department then will make a decision regarding full implementation.