- Consortium led by Bell, BCE Emergis and CGI
- For Canadians, Government On-Line will mean faster, more efficient, secure and seamless service from the Government of Canada
Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE), heading a consortium of technology
leaders including Bell, BCE Emergis and CGI, has been awarded
a $57 million contract to build and manage a state-of-the-art
e-government infrastructure for the Government of Canada.
The solution, called the "Secure Channel", represents a major step in Government of Canada's plan to become a world leader in electronic service delivery. The Secure Channel is designed to allow Canadian citizens and businesses to access a wide range of different government services electronically. Key components of the solution include the IP network, security, authentication, directory services, application integration services and portal interfaces.
Bell's Data/IP company Bell Nexxia, in partnership with BCE Emergis and CGI, brought together a consortium of global players, including IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, Entrust, Canada Post, PricewaterhouseCoopers and JetForm. The consortium was assembled based on each member's proven track record for large technology projects, national reach, established brands, extensive business relationships and industry leadership.
"Our companies can deliver the complementary skills and expertise required to build a complex, highly advanced e-commerce solution such as Secure Channel designed to serve millions of Canadians," said Michael Sabia, President of BCE. "It's that breadth of expertise and the ability to partner with our customers that is driving our success in the emerging Internet Economy. Canada is viewed as a world leader in the area of e-commerce. We believe this initiative will build on that leadership and will become a catalyst for further e-commerce adoption in both the public and private sectors."
Bell Nexxia is the prime contractor, and in addition, will provide IP network facilities, virtual private network services, communications network management and operations, and call centres. CGI is the Systems Integrator (SI) and will provide architecture, design, project management, directory services, operations, as well as providing an interface to department legacy applications. BCE Emergis will provide E-Commerce services, including PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) security and the capability of financial settlement. BCE adopted the open consortium approach to ensure optimal access to leading-edge technology service and expertise.
For Canadians, e-government will mean faster, more efficient and secure service from the federal government, whether they are calling into a call centre, using the Internet, accessing services via a kiosk or visiting a government office in person.
About CGI
Founded in 1976, CGI is the largest independent information technology services firm in Canada, and the fifth largest in North America, based on its headcount of more than 10,000 professionals. CGI's order backlog totals approximately US$5.3 billion (CDN$8.2 billion) and its revenue run-rate is close to US$1 billion (CDN$1.5 billion). CGI provides end-to-end IT services and business solutions to 2,500 clients in the United States, Canada and more than 20 countries around the world. CGI's shares are listed on the NYSE (GIB), as well as on the TSE (GIB.A). They are included in the Toronto Stock Exchange's TSE 300 index as well as the S&P/TSE Canadian Information Technology index. Web site: www.cgi.ca.
About BCE Emergis
BCE Emergis is a premier B2B e-commerce infrastructure provider, strategically focusing on market leadership in the transaction-intensive eHealth and financial services sectors. By layering technologically advanced e-commerce services on existing Internet-based platforms, Emergis offers its customers increasing value in their e-commerce adoption and ever-increasing levels of sophisticated services. These scalable solutions electronically transform business processes, such as buying, selling, invoicing and payment, and enable companies to succeed in the web-centric, cost-driven, and highly competitive global Internet economy. BCE Emergis' customers include leading North American banks and insurance companies. The Company's shares are included in the TSE 100 composite index.
About Bell Nexxia
Bell Nexxia, a division of Bell Canada, provides total communications solutions to national business customers and operates a state-of-the-art coast-to-coast IP-Broadband network. Bell Canada, Canada's national leader for communications in the Internet world, provides connectivity to residential and business customers through wired and wireless voice and data communications, high speed and wireless Internet access, IP-broadband services, e-business solutions, local and long distance phone and directory services. Bell Canada is owned by BCE Inc. of Montréal (80%) and by SBC Communications Inc. of San Antonio, Texas (20%). For more information please visit www.bell.ca.
About BCE
BCE is Canada's largest communications company. It has more than 21 million customer connections through the wireline, wireless, data/Internet and satellite services it provides, largely under the Bell brand. BCE leverages those connections with extensive content creation capabilities through Bell Globemedia which features some of the strongest brands in the industry -- CTV, Canada's leading private broadcaster, The Globe and Mail, Canada's National Newspaper, and Sympatico-Lycos and Globe Interactive, leading Canadian Internet portals. As well, BCE has extensive e-commerce capabilities provided under the BCE Emergis brand and serves international customers through Teleglobe, a global connectivity, content distribution and Internet hosting company. BCE shares are listed in Canada, the United States and Europe.
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For more information:
CGI
Ronald White
Director, investor relations
Tel: (514) 841-3230
Eileen Murphy
Director, media relations
Tel: (514) 841-3430
