'Millions' of pounds saved by replacing Palantir tech in refugee system

"Millions of pounds have been saved by replacing a Palantir IT system which helps to find homes for Ukrainian refugees with one built by its own experts, a government department has said. The Homes for Ukraine scheme matched people fleeing the conflict with offers of accommodation - a complex task Palantir initially supported for free but which grew to cost millions. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said its new system was "more flexible" and could meet "high standards" of security."

"In order to set this up quickly, then-Conservative government ministers accepted an offer from Palantir to build a system to administrate the scheme, based on its Foundry platform, for free for six months. In a 2023 blog post, Palantir described the challenge of combining data from multiple government systems containing tens of thousands of visa applications and hundreds of thousands of accommodation offers. The report notes the Government's chief commercial officer informed Palantir of his concern about the firm's practice of offering a zero- or nominal-cost initial offer to gain a commercial foothold."

"Palantir maintains government guidance suggests running pilots of systems and asking if they can be supplied for free. The NAO report also said there was a desire to replace the Palantir system. Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration Coco Chan, a senior digital leader of the Homes for Ukraine project, said in a blog a system built on an existing commercial platform had been replaced with one created in-house."

"Palantir said it was proud to have supported the scheme and "stood up a solution in just nine days, which enabled the safe resettlement of more than 157,000 refugees". Through a website, backed by an IT system, those who had a rent-free space in their home or a separate residence could to offer it to refugees."

The Homes for Ukraine scheme matched people fleeing conflict with accommodation offers, requiring complex administration and secure handling of large volumes of data. Palantir initially supported the scheme at no cost for six months, using its Foundry platform to build and run the system. Costs later grew to millions of pounds. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government replaced the Palantir system with one built by its own experts, describing it as more flexible and able to meet high security standards. Palantir stated it stood up a solution in nine days that enabled safe resettlement of more than 157,000 refugees. The Government’s commercial leadership raised concerns about Palantir’s zero- or nominal-cost initial offer and its alignment with public procurement principles. Palantir said guidance supported piloting systems and asking whether they could be supplied for free.

Read at www.bbc.com