https://tech.newstatesman.com/coronavirus/nhsx-tracing-app-3-9m-biggest-spend-so-far-on-contract-testing-google-apple-model

The UK’s coronavirus contact tracing app is in the process of being piloted on the Isle of Wight, but there are signs that the government’s confidence in its homegrown digital solution is wavering. The British government has contracted Swiss company Zuhlke Engineering to test out how easily it could integrate Apple and Google’s decentralised contact tracing framework.

The six-month £3.9m contract is the meatiest awarded for the tracing app so far, potentially indicating how seriously the government is considering a potential shift away from its centralised approach. The value is likely to reflect the ‘two week technical spike’ in which time the team must “investigate the complexity, performance and feasibility of implementing native Apple and Google contact tracing APIs within the existing proximity mobile application and platform” (as per the contract). However, it likely also reflects that the contract represents the provision of a managed service, rather than a one-off project.