The Office for National Statistics has selected Lockheed Martin UK to provide IT services for the 2011 Census for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.  The £150M contract was awarded after an extensive procurement process which required the Lockheed Martin UK-led team to demonstrate its ability to provide secure and accurate data capture and processing support services.

Working with the ONS and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) authorities, the team will design, install and support an innovative system using state-of-the-art character recognition and colour processing for paper census forms. The system will, for the first time, allow for census questionnaires to be completed via the Internet in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Ian Stopps, CEO of Lockheed Martin UK, commented: "We are proud to again support the Office for National Statistics in conducting its census. Together, with our industry team, we are committed to delivering a system that enables the government to efficiently and effectively perform the 2011 Census while ensuring that all information remains secure and confidential".Oracle Corporation UK, Polestar Group, Royal Mail, Steria Ltd, and UK Data Capture Ltd.

Lockheed Martin, who successfully provided the data capture elements of the 2001 UK Census, as well as previous censuses for Canada and the United States, has created a consortium of UK-based companies with proven experience. Team members are Broadcasting Support Services (bss), Cable & Wireless, Logica (UK) Ltd.