Land-records upgrade to cost far more than initial $42m quote
Another costly state computer project, this time worth tens of millions of dollars, is in the wings.
Land Information New Zealand said the replacement of its Landonline computer system would cost substantially more than the $42 million estimate it provided to ministers in 2013.
Deputy chief executive Russell Turner would not say whether the bill for the new Advanced Survey and Title Services (ASaTS) system might be more than the original cost of Landonline, which was completed in 2003 at a cost of $141m after a $46m blowout.
Land Information said it was now time to start planning for a replacement. A Cabinet paper quoted the likely cost at $42m in 2013, when it was envisaged some parts of Landonline would be used.
But Turner said that original estimate had been ‘‘very indicative’’. A tender had since revealed that, because few other countries had developed similar systems, few ‘‘off the shelf’’ components were available and ‘‘a high level of customisation’’ would be needed.
Turner said ASaTS was expected to take about five years, to complete.
‘‘As we are still at a relatively early stage in the development . . . and preparing a detailed business case for Cabinet, we are not able to discuss the likely budget at this stage,’’ he said.
A parliamentary select committee reported the business case was likely to be ready in ‘‘a couple of months’’.
Other large technology-related projects that are under way or up for approval include Inland Revenue Department’s $1 billion-plus Business Transformation project and a far-reaching overhaul of ACC that is tipped to cost severalhundred million dollars.
Landonline, described as a ‘‘world first’’ when completed in 2003, digitised paper land records, allowing surveyors and conveyancers to file land title and survey documents electronically.
Turner said it remained ahead of most other systems. Few countries integrated the land-title system to the degree New Zealand did.
The move from paper to digital records enabled the department to close many of its regional offices and cut its fulltime staff from 821 staff in 1997 to 447 today.
New Zealand had maintained a top-three ranking from the World Bank for the ease of registering property because of its success, Turner said. But some components of Landonline were ‘‘reaching the end of their life’’ and software suppliers would stop supporting them within 10 years.
The new system would add extra features that would make conveyancers and surveyors’ jobs easier, he said.
Advances in technology made Landonline obsolete. ‘‘It does not integrate with all modern desktops, virtual and mobile environments or the software our customers use, leading to duplication of work, and making improvements to the system can be difficult.’’