IT companies await $600 million in military tenders

The first private sector bids related to adapting the Polish army to NATO standards will be announced as early as the first quarter of this year, say sources in the Ministry of National Defence. Modernization of the whole army will be financed to 80% by NATO, with airports, harbors, and fuel bases first on the list of priorities. Expenditures connected to this are expected to reach $500 million to $600 million over the next seven years. According to Prawo i Gospodarka, a large part of that amount will be designated for information technology systems. Current military expenditures on IT technologies reach zl. 200 million annually. Among the companies planning to participate in the bids will be Ster-Projekt, ComputerLand, Prokom and Softbank. The bids will be directed to domestic as well as international companies, depending on the demands of specific projects. (Parkiet, p. 4) P.W.