Asseco enters into cooperation with the Chancellery of the Sejm – contract for a modern Vote Support System

Chancellery of the Sejm and Asseco signed a contract for the implementation of a modern electronic voting support system to be located in the Assembly Room. It consists of special software, hardware, and technical infrastructure. Majority of the work will be carried out in August during a break in the proceedings of the Sejm. The project value stands at PLN 4.7m.

Marek Panek, VP of Asseco Poland: Being a Polish company means we are proud to implement this project at the Sejm of the Republic of Poland. Asseco is the largest provider of software and a proven and trusted partner to the public sector. Andrzej Grzegrzółka, Director of the Press Office at the Chancellery of the Sejm: To paraphrase a line originally uttered by the Working Class Woman character from the TV series ‘Czterdziestolatek’, the 21st century made this decision for us by. Modern and innovative technological solutions will improve the professionalism and the security of the work done at the Lower Chamber.

The new Voting Support System comes with the right software, as well as dedicated devices, which form part of the equipment in each deputy’s work space in the Assembly Room. Acting as a management panel, these devices are used during the voting process held there. They were designed as to allow for a connection with the central Voting Support System, audio system, and a translation service, all via a local area network (LAN). These readers offer a variety of new features, such as. the possibility to use remote control for people with disabilities, who cannot sit in the deputies’ benches. They also have a color liquid crystal display (LCD) touchscreen, which, among other things, displays the status of a particular vote. Other functionalities include: voice transmission, live and direct from the deputy’s work space through an built-in microphone; and the ability to charge mobile devices through a built-in USB port. The security of the voting will be supervised by an authorization system checking the deputies’ personal ballot.

Andrzej Grzegrzółka: Nearly 2 500 voting sessions were held in the Lower Chamber of the Parliament in 2016 alone. This is the largest amount for quite some time. Deputies are working very hard and the current system is in place since 2001. Chancellery of the Sejm chose the best offer, in every respect. Andrzej Dopierała, President of the Board at Asseco Data Systems: It is worth noting that this project will require us to work under substantial time pressure. We will have to perform the entire implementation within a single month.

A consortium consisting of Asseco Data Systems (acting as consortium leader), Asseco Poland, and Asseco Lithuania will be responsible for the implementation of the new system. Marek Panek: This is an example of cooperation between Asseco Group member companies. We will take advantage of the experiences of our Lithuanian team, which has already completed a similar project at the Lithuanian Parliament.

The implementation will be carried out during a break in the proceedings of the Lower Chamber of Parliament. Removal and replacement of the existing equipment, conducting of all the necessary system tests and installation modifications, in case such a need arises, are scheduled for August 2017.