The Belgian Court of Audit has released a scathing report regarding “i-Police,” a failed digital transformation project for the federal police force. The audit reveals that the initiative, initially designed to modernize fragmented IT infrastructure, ultimately cost taxpayers 139.4 million euros, significantly higher than previously reported figures, while delivering zero tangible results.
Financial and Operational Failures of i-Police
- Total project costs reached 139.4 million euros, nearly double the 75.8 million euros previously acknowledged.
- The police force remains excessively dependent on external consultants, with 453 unidentified contractors listed in official documentation.
- Unused software licenses account for 21.6 million euro in sunk costs, with 7.3 million euro of that inventory never deployed.
The project, initiated in 2016 under then-Minister of the Interior Jan Jambon, was intended to unify the police’s disparate IT systems. However, the endeavor stalled despite a 299 million euro contract signed in 2021 with the French IT firm Sopra Steria by then-Minister Annelies Verlinden. By the time current Minister of the Interior Bernard Quintin terminated the project in 2025, the lack of operational progress had become undeniable.
The Court of Audit identified severe deficiencies in budgetary oversight. At the project’s inception, there was a 21.5 million euro funding shortfall, and multi-year planning was completely decoupled from actual development requirements. The police organization accelerated spending simply to exhaust allocated budgets before they expired, a practice Koen Van Overtveldt, top executive of the federal police, attributed to directives from the November 2021 Council of Ministers.
Consultant Dependency and Contractual Disarray
A central pillar of the audit’s criticism is the reliance on external consultants. The report notes that 453 consultants from the service provider were utilized without clear role definitions or performance controls. This lack of oversight contributed to the failure of two pilot projects originally scheduled for completion within one year. These trials, intended to demonstrate the integration of standard software into the police IT environment, were repeatedly delayed from 2022 until 2024 without yielding functional results.
The disconnect between the government and the vendor became further apparent when the police opted to initiate crisis management in 2024 to reorient the program. While the police terminated certain sub-projects in February 2024, the formal notification to Sopra Steria did not occur until May 2025, under the tenure of Minister Quintin.
| Metric | Reported Value |
|---|---|
| Original Budgeted Spend (Reported) | 75.8 miljoen euro |
| Total Estimated Cost (Court of Audit) | 139.4 miljoen euro |
| Total License Costs (2021-2025) | 30,8 miljoen euro |
| Unused/Useless Licenses | 21,6 miljoen euro |
Legal Complications and Ministerial Scrutiny
The fallout extends beyond failed IT integration. The saga has entangled political cabinet staff. A spokesperson for Annelies Verlinden is under investigation for complicity in the breach of professional secrecy. The investigation involves allegations that confidential information regarding the i-Police dossier was leaked from the Brussels public prosecutor’s office to Verlinden’s cabinet.
Legal experts, including researcher Louize Hannah Knops, emphasize that the breach of professional secrecy carries significant penalties, including potential prison sentences of one to three years and fines up to 5,000 euros.
Future Market and Political Trajectory
The federal police have filed a 244 miljoen euro damage claim against Sopra Steria. As the political opposition, led by Groen and the PS, demands a parliamentary commission of inquiry, the case highlights the systemic risks associated with large-scale public sector digital procurement. The total expenditure of 139.4 million euros represents a significant capital loss, particularly given that the project was originally conceived in 2016 to resolve IT inefficiencies that remain largely unaddressed.
