Case Overview: Persona-project Onderwijsadministratie (Flemish Government)

Case Metadata

• Case ID: case-004-persona-onderwijsadministratie
• Status: Active Investigation
• Date Opened: 2026-01-28
• Last Updated: 2026-01-28
• Priority: High
• Lead Investigator: DOGE Europe Research Team

Executive Summary

The Persona-project (Personeel Onderwijs Administratie) is a failed IT modernization program of the Flemish government's education administration. Initiated in 2020 under Minister Ben Weyts (N-VA) and executed by AGODI (Agentschap voor Onderwijsdiensten), the project aimed to replace a legacy personnel and payroll system built in the 1990s — a system that was complex, poorly documented, and dependent on a small group of specialists.

After 5 years and €16 million in taxpayer money, only 8 to 10 percent of planned functionalities were delivered. The entire budget was exhausted. An audit by Moore, commissioned by current Education Minister Zuhal Demir (N-VA), revealed devastating failures: no clearly defined objectives, poor project management, no oversight of hired external experts, and absent financial controls and reporting.

On 26 January 2026, Minister Demir halted the project and refused an additional €10 million budget request. Two crisis managers were appointed to restore governance before any restart. The project is now on hold indefinitely.

Key Figures

Key Questions

Primary Investigation Questions

1. Financial Accountability: How was €16 million spent with only 8-10% of deliverables completed? Where did the money go?

2. Governance Failure: Why were there no clearly defined objectives, and how could a project of this scale run for 5 years without basic project governance?

3. Vendor Oversight: What oversight existed over the external IT consultants (Cronos, DXC-Cegeka, Atos, Proximus), and why did it fail?

4. Information Suppression: AGODI's annual reports presented the project as "complex but manageable" without disclosing budget overruns or structural problems. Was parliament deliberately misled?

5. Procurement Integrity: Was the mini-competition under the Flemish government's ICT framework contract (2022-2029) conducted properly?

Secondary Questions

1. What was the role and responsibility of former Minister Ben Weyts (N-VA, 2019-2024) who initiated the project?

2. What specific deliverables did each vendor (Cronos, DXC-Cegeka) produce, and at what cost?

3. Why did AGODI lack the internal capacity to manage this project?

4. How does this failure affect the 170,000+ education staff whose salaries depend on the legacy system?

5. What are the risks of continued reliance on the 30+ year old legacy payroll system?

Key Entities

Government Bodies

• AGODI (Agentschap voor Onderwijsdiensten) — Agency for Educational Services, project owner
• AHOVOKS (Agentschap voor Hoger Onderwijs, Volwassenenonderwijs, Kwalificaties en Studietoelagen) — Co-user of the personnel systems (higher education and adult education)
• Departement Onderwijs en Vorming — Department of Education and Training
• Digitaal Vlaanderen — Flemish government digital agency (framework contract owner)

Ministers

• Zuhal Demir (N-VA) — Current Flemish Minister of Education (halted the project, commissioned the audit)
• Ben Weyts (N-VA) — Former Flemish Minister of Education (2019-2024, initiated the project)

IT Vendors

• Cronos Group — General project management and ICT governance
• DXC Technology — System development (in consortium with Cegeka)
• Cegeka — System development (in consortium with DXC)
• Atos — Subcontracted for specific tasks
• Proximus — Subcontracted for specific tasks

IT Systems

• Persona — The new (failed) personnel management system
• EPD (Elektronisch Personeelsdossier) — Legacy electronic personnel file system
• VSS (Vernieuwd Salarissysteem) — Legacy renewed salary system
• Edison — Legacy data exchange system between schools and AGODI

Audit and Oversight

• Moore — External audit firm that produced the devastating audit report
• Rekenhof / Cour des comptes — Court of Audit (jurisdiction question raised in parliament)
• Audit Vlaanderen — Internal audit of Flemish government (stated they are not competent; Rekenhof is)
• Vlaams Parlement — Commissie Onderwijs — Flemish Parliament Education Committee

Political Critics

• Roosmarijn Beckers (Vlaams Belang) — MP demanding audit report and full transparency

Background

The Legacy System Problem

AGODI and AHOVOKS are responsible for paying the salaries of all education personnel in Flanders. The monthly payroll process relies on a legacy application more than 30 years old, built in the 1990s. This system is:

• Complex and poorly documented
• Dependent on a small group of specialists (key-person risk)
• Unable to meet modern requirements for data exchange and automation

The Persona Solution (2020)

The Flemish government decided in 2020 to build Persona — a modern platform to:

• Replace legacy personnel administration systems (EPD, VSS)
• Modernize data exchange between schools and government (replacing Edison)
• Reduce administrative burden for schools through automation
• Provide real-time feedback to school administrators

Procurement Structure

The project was awarded through a mini-competition under the Flemish government's ICT framework contract (raamcontract 2022-2029), valued at approximately €1 billion across all government IT projects. The framework contract includes Atos, Cegeka, DXC, Cronos, and Proximus as preferred suppliers for the applications domain.

Project Structure

• Deel 1 & 2 (Parts 1 & 2): Awarded to Cronos (project management, ICT governance, process analysis)
• Deel 3 (Part 3): Awarded to DXC-Cegeka (system development, with subcontracting to Atos and Proximus)
• Technical approach: Modular setup in Java with containerization

What Was Actually Delivered

Despite €16 million spent, only two partial components were delivered:

1. Personalia (Phase 1, 2024): Real-time personnel data processing with feedback to schools
2. Benefits/declarations module (Phase 2, April 2025): Modernized submissions via APIs, including Dimona declarations to Belgian Social Security

These represent only 8-10% of the total planned functionality.

Investigation Scope

In Scope

• Complete financial analysis (€16M spent, €10M additional requested)
• Moore audit report findings and recommendations
• Vendor contract details and deliverables per vendor
• AGODI's reporting to parliament (accuracy and completeness)
• Political responsibility (Weyts and Demir administrations)
• Impact on education administration and payroll continuity
• Framework contract procurement process
• Comparison with similar government IT failures (iPolice, JustSign)

Out of Scope

• Broader education policy
• Individual personnel cases
• Non-IT aspects of AGODI operations
• Classified or privacy-sensitive payroll data

Deliverables

1. Comprehensive financial forensics (where did €16M go?)
2. Vendor performance analysis (Cronos, DXC-Cegeka deliverables vs. payments)
3. Governance failure analysis (why no objectives, no oversight, no controls?)
4. Parliamentary information integrity assessment (was parliament misled?)
5. Risk assessment for legacy system continuity
6. Comparative analysis with other failed Flemish/Belgian government IT projects
7. Recommendations for structural reform of government IT procurement and governance