1.10 The systems underpinning Airwave are IT dependent. Many IT projects in the public sector have encountered problems that resulted in failures to deliver in terms of cost, timeliness or quality of service. The risks are particularly high where the technology itself is new and estimates of the development time needed are very subjective. PITO understood from an early stage that the size of this deal, the number of stakeholders involved and the risks associated with implementing new technology would require careful management.
1.11 In the case of the Airwave project, the intention was always to upgrade to a superior but not fully tried and tested level of technology. There were also two deadlines putting additional pressure on PITO and the project. First, Greater Manchester Police needed the new radio communications service in time for the Commonwealth Games in July 2002. Second, police forces had accepted the need to vacate that part of the radio spectrum in which their systems operated. PITO identified risks inherent in the project as well as the risks of not meeting these deadlines at the start of the project and adopted a structured approach which included the use of a pilot (see section 3.1), a focus on meeting objectives and on ensuring that issues such as training had been properly planned.