The Bank invested significant planning time and effort upfront to set out the detailed requirements for the new system before moving to design and implementation, which helped it avoid issues that we have seen cause problems in other public sector digital change projects. Between 2016 and 11 Q 1; C&AG’s Report, para 1.23 12 Q 23 13 C&AG’s Report, para 2.13 14 Q 1 15 Q 28 16 C&AG’s Report, paras 2.12-2.13 17 Q 3 18 Q 12 19 C&AG’s Report, paras 1.22-2.13 20 Introductory remarks from witnesses prior to questioning 9 2018, it ran an internal process drawing on payment system, technical and procurement specialists to understand what services the new RTGS needed to deliver. The Bank also consulted with industry, other central banks and critical national infrastructure projects and used independent external assessments. This early planning informed key strategic decisions including: to move away from a mainframe technology; to appoint an external partner to build the system rather than buy one off-the-shelf; and ultimately to maintain and operate the new system itself.21