Inquiry launched into Guernsey IT outages

Failure of air conditioning and power units caused four data outages, a review found

An inquiry has been launched into a series of IT outages on the States of Guernsey's computer systems.

The inquiry by the Office of the Data Protection Authority (ODPA) follows a major incident review by PwC.

The inquiry "seeks to establish the manner and extent" to which legal requirements on data availability and resilience were complied with, said the ODPA.

PwC's review found the failure of air conditioning and power units caused four data outages between November 2022 and January 2023, making internal systems and the States' website unavailable.

It recommended the States made urgent changes to avoid further outages.

The ODPA team wants to hear from anyone with evidence of the specific impact of the outages by e-mail at [e-mail].

The ODPA added that the outcome of its inquiry "should not be speculated on, or its conclusion pre-judged".

In a statement, the States said: "The States of Guernsey will of course contribute as needed to the ODPA’s inquiry. Any questions on the inquiry should be directed to the ODPA."