To support the reopening of economies and society, governments in many countries gradually are lifting restrictions imposed during the first phase of the pandemic crisis. As business owners prepare to restart or launch operations, they must navigate a new “business as usual”—one where creating a safe working environment that prevents the further spread of COVID-19 is top priority.
With the lockdown easing in the Czech Republic, Bureau Veritas, a global leader in testing, inspection and certification services (TIC), wanted to help local business owners resume operations and safeguard livelihoods. The starting point is to ensure businesses meet all the government-mandated health, safety and hygiene requirements to reopen their doors.
Bureau Veritas turned to CGI to help find a solution that enables businesses to assess their readiness to resume operations safely.
A relationship built on trust and an agile approach drives innovation and speed
CGI has been a trusted partner to Bureau Veritas for several years. In addition to developing a digital strategy for the holding group, CGI experts in the Czech Republic created an application to help Bureau Veritas’ customers evaluate their GDPR readiness and ability to manage potential cyber risks. The app was rolled out to five European countries and translated into as many languages.
The teams from Bureau Veritas and CGI set to work to reengineer this privacy and cybersecurity app to one that could help businesses assess their operational readiness to resume operations. Yet time was of the essence. The government announced the reopening of key sectors, including restaurants and hospitality businesses, in 10 days. This gave the team less than a week (which included a public holiday and a weekend) to “go live” with the new application.
Supported by CGI’s understanding of the client’s business, trusted in-person relationships and buy-in from Bureau Veritas’ leadership, CGI experts took an agile approach to accelerate the development and release to just six days. The entire project was executed remotely.
We faced many challenges during the project delivery. The most challenging factor was time. The rules to loosen the regulations evolve quickly, in leaps, and every single day can come a new decision. On top of that, we started with the project during public holidays and extended weekends. Despite the complications, and especially because of the commitment of CGI’s experts and their agile approach, we launched the application in time.
Simon Palupčík, Chief Executive Officer of Bureau Veritas, Czech Republic
Simple and quick way to assess operational readiness
The mobile app, iCheck, currently provides readiness assessments for some of the most impacted industries, such as food and beverage, hospitality, retail, and industrial and commercial real estate, and reflects all the government guidelines and regulations intended to minimize exposure to COVID-19.
Once users download the application and complete the industry-specific questionnaire, they receive a readiness score along with feedback and recommendations on how to proceed. The app also offers the option to contact Bureau Veritas to request related insights and inspection, certification and training services. To date, the app has been downloaded by 739 business users to assess their operational readiness.
It is available free-of-charge on Google Play Store and the App Store and can be used on any smart mobile device. CGI manages the application and is working on an English version for the UK and, in the near future, will help develop country-specific versions in local languages.
This project is part of Bureau Veritas’ global initiative, “Restart Your Business with BV,” intended to help organizations around the world resume operations after the COVID-19 pandemic.