Recommendation 19

Even if staff at posts start collecting estate data, FCDO faces a challenge collecting this data centrally so it can use it to manage its estate portfolio.50 FCDO uses a range of different IT systems to manage its estate. FCDO property data, for example, is stored on its Pyramid system, project data on its Pheonix system and finance data on a system named Hera.51 FCDO’s central IT systems have been developed separately and are not integrated with each other, or with systems at posts. FCDO also lacks the time series data necessary to support benchmarking or tracking of progress. FCDO told us that FCDO has been an organisation that holds data in individual spreadsheets, databases and paper files.52 This would imply that FCDO is using legacy IT systems which are more liable to cyber-attack. FCDO’s 2023–24 Annual Report and Accounts acknowledged risks around its data on the size and value of its estate and leases it holds, including problems collecting data from posts spread around the world.53