A total of seven police forces have inked contracts for Project Athena, a framework agreement for IT systems to enable data sharing between the police. A further five forces are in the process of deliberation. The seven forces - Essex, Bedfordshire, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Kent and Suffolk – will pay a total of £32 million.

Athena supersedes local police systems that manage data on offenders, suspects, victims and incidents, with a single IT system that details police investigations, intelligence and defendants across all member forces.