Is it true that Czech programmers have created a site for free on which the government was going to spend € 16 million?

On social networks there is a story about Czech programmers who, having learned about the plans of the Czech Republic’s Ministry of Transport, spend € 16 million on the development of an online portal, created a site for free and presented it to the government for free. We decided to figure out how true this story is.

The news of Czech programmers caused a resonance in the media in 2020 (BBC Russia, Meduza, TJournal, "Present", "Radio Liberty"), and in fresh posts in social networks she Found And to this day. This is how the story sounded in Russian -speaking sources.

In January 2020, the Ministry of Transport of the Czech Republic announced the concluded state contract for the development of an online shopping store (Vignetok) for paid Czech Republic highways. Without announcing a public competition, the contract was concluded with the Polish private IT company Asseco Central Europe, and the project was supposed to cost the Budget of the Czech Republic in 401 million Czech crowns (about € 16 million). Then the team of programmers from the Czech Republic for free for two days developed the ordered portal and gave it to the government, retaining budget funds. After that, the Minister of Transport was dismissed with shame.

To understand how truthful such an exposition of events, we tried to find out what exactly the programmers were able to create for the weekend and how much this corresponded to the initial technical assignment (TK) of the Ministry of Transport.

On January 20, 2020, the owner of the Czech IT company Actum Digital Tomash Vondrake published on social networks video message: “I think a 400-million-million-in state order for the site is absurd, when a couple of talented guys are able to do this over the weekend.” He invited programmers to gather in the office of his company in Prague, write a site and give it to the state. More than 300 people responded to Vondrachek, of which 194 programmers were chosen, who realized this idea during a two -day hackathon*.

*The word "hacaton" was formed from the English words Hack and Marathon, literally it can be translated as a "marathon for hackers." In fact, Hakaton is an event in which participants need to develop a prototype of the product (for example, a web service or a mobile application) in a short time to solve a certain problem.

The day after the Hakaton site Ferznamka.cz And applications for Android and iOS earned in test mode. The Prime Minister of the Czech Republic said that the government is ready to terminate the old contract for € 16 million and use the site created free of charge if it is confirmed that it works without failures.

So, how much money did the 194th programmer save the Budget of the Czech Republic? To do this, evaluate what share of work from the original TK they completed in these two days.

What points did Czech programmers perform?

1. Demo version of the online store For the sale of vignett for travel on paid highways.
2. Related mobile applications For Android and iOS.

What points did not fulfill Czech programmers?

There is no definite answer, because in the published Contract It is not a detailed TK for IT developers, but only an approximate amount of work. Also Writtenthat the detailed TK is classified at the request of the state security service and special services. The fact is that the vignet recognition system was supposed to take into account the “special categories” of vehicles with the right to free travel through motorways: police, emergency, emergency services and special services. The Ministry of Transport could not publish a TK that reveals the criteria for establishing a car belonging to various special services.

If you rely on an open part contract, describing the total volume of work, the team of Vondrachek did not fulfill the following points:

1. Creation of a working online store. The demo version presented by Vondrachek, even in his own words, was far from the final product. When asked by journalists whether it is really possible to develop a similar online store over the weekend, the tundrak replied: “It was just a gesture. Of course, this is impossible. " He also noted that if, after two days of Hakaton, he really needed to start selling 7 billion of real vignet through the resulting site, he would not venture to do this. “The site still needs to be debugged. Of course, it was created in a hurry, and we had to sacrifice some things, ”he said;
2. Connecting an online store to state systems and registers. How said Vondrak, over the weekend, they did not have time to connect the site to state systems, and the government will have to develop additional functions for this on the existing site. Vondrake offered to declare another tender to solve this problem, but already for a smaller amount, about a quarter of the original. As a result, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic instructed the Ministry of Transport to hold an open competition to implement the service Ferznamka.cz to the stateist, allocating about € 4 million for this, or 25% of the initial value of the contract;
3. User portal;
4. Call center;
5. Payment system;
6. Accounting for the “special categories” of cars exempted from paying (one of the two classified points of the TK). How said Vondrachk: “We do not know the details of the secret part of the site, we cannot say what its volume is - more or less than what we did”;
7. Clearing;
8. Information security and data protection system. The team of programmers did not manage to work out this aspect carefully, and two hours after the publication of the site, the hackers hacked it, stole the personal data of 6,000 users (only 5% of which turned out to be real people, and the rest with test records). “On Sunday at 20:57, a leak occurred. The reason was that I set up big goals for the developers and gave little time, ”said Vondrak. Due to haste, the quality of the source code and security standards were affected, for which I turned it Attention IT-specialist Old Bart: “I am still rooting for you, guys, but who has been led by yours Pentestes? Most of the methods are not implemented, but what you mix in the code of English and Czech names suggests a complete inability to agree on the main style of coding. I understand that you had only one weekend for this, but this is a violation of the absolute foundations. ” Nevertheless, over the next few days, the site protection from hacker attacks was strengthened. Vondrake claimed that since then the online store has been attacked almost every day, but to no avail. “We are sure that in a few weeks Ferznamka.cz will become the most proven site in terms of stability and security, ”he said;
9. Operation and technical support of the site over the next four years (from 2020 to 2024). In addition to operation and technical support, the contractor should have training employees-system operators, the development and implementation of upgrades on the instructions of the Ministry of Transport, as well as client support through the created user portal and the call center. According to the calculation of the contractor, the volume of support for four years was supposed to be about 2000 man-days. The contract also Writtenthat if the Ministry of Transport asks the contractor to carry out work that goes beyond the contract (for example, in the implementation of technical support over 2000 man-days), then the contractor will be able to require compensation in the amount of 1,500 CZ kroons (€ 60) for each man. Based on this amount of wages, it can be calculated that the Ministry of Transport rated human labor for four years at about € 2.8 million, or 18% of the initial amount of the contract;
10. Preparation of project documentation, including specifications, a detailed schedule for the performance of work, a plan for operators, a risk management plan, a description of the procedures and criteria for taking the project, a plan for testing the site, determining the necessary proprietary software products of third parties, etc.

It is difficult to say what percentage of the tasks laid down in these € 16 million, programmers successfully implemented over the weekend. They did not have time, they could not do something for lack of precise TK, and they had to debug something for a long time after the completion of the Hakaton. It is also not known how much 194 the programmer would appreciate their work, they are an ordinary contractor company, and not a group of volunteers. Vondrake promised to compile and publish a detailed hypothetical estimate of the development of such a site, but did not do this.

So if you answer the initial question “Is it true that the team of programmers for the weekend created a site that the government wanted to spend € 16 million on, then the answer will be“ no ”. Over the weekend, they created only a demo version of one of the ordered services of the open part of the terms of technical assignment.

The action caused a wide resonance in society and among Czech politicians. After the video message published by Vondrachek, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Andrei Babish Fired Minister of Transport Vladimir Kremlik - he refused to annul the already concluded contract for € 16 million. “I spoke with the minister, he does not recognize the mistake. He is hardworking, but he simply lost this project, ”Andrei Babish explained the dismissal. And at the same weekend, the Prime Minister personally visited Hakaton along with the new Minister of Transport. All contracts and tenders related to this project were canceled, a millionth contract with the Polish IT companion- Disrupted. And although the site Ferznamka.cz It still works only in demo -resistance: it sells not real, but symbolic vignettes, the funds from which are treated for treatment of children with severe injuries - we can say that the programmers coped with the main task.

Just this nuance was missed by many Russian -speaking media. In replicated viral publications, the emphasis has shifted from counteracting corruption to how a couple of programmers for the weekend saved the state € 16 million and four years of work, which is not true.

Half truth

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. NASA's International Space Apps Challenge
2. Six interesting ideas that Hakatons gave us