The Brønnøysund Register Centre, a trade and industry body in Norway, has awarded Accenture a new contract to continue development and operation of Altinn, Norway’s citizen-centric online portal.

The new phase of development, known as Altinn II, includes a three-year contract valued at approximately $44.4 m (230 million Norwegian Kroner) covering application development and continued management of the e-government portal, with the option for three one-year extensions.

Under the new contract, Accenture will provide a new phase of application development and management of Altinn encompassing implementation of a simplified user interface, collaboration services, an advanced security solution, and operation of the company’s portal service.

The Altinn portal service was initiated by the Norwegian government in 2002 to simplify the interaction between government, businesses and citizens by providing a single electronic channel for written communications with the public sector, enabling businesses and citizens to communicate with multiple government agencies through a single point of submission.

Roy Grønli, managing director of Accenture’s Public Service practice in Norway, said: “The Altinn II solution adopts a business and citizen-centric, value driven approach that will continue to transform the way the Norwegian government interacts with both businesses and citizens. We look forward to building on our successful relationship with the Brønnøysund Register Centre with the development and implementation of Altinn II”.

The Altinn portal became fully operational in the spring of 2004.