Headquartered in Prague, Czechia, NEWPS.CZ has over 25 years of experience in delivering IT solutions to government institutions, the financial sector and other demanding industries. With expertise in identity management, cybersecurity and event management, NEWPS.CZ is the leading partner for government digitalization initiatives in Czechia.
At-a-Glance
To help ensure the highest levels of reliability, scalability, security and cost-effectiveness, NEWPS.CZ builds eGovernment projects on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. Two such projects, Czech POINT and Data Boxes, have been running with zero unplanned downtime for over 15 years, giving millions of citizens and residents accessible, flexible and efficient government services.
NEWPS.CZ's mission and key requirements
NEWPS.CZ’s mission is to help build a better eGovernment in Czechia, making services more efficient and accessible to citizens and residents. With decades of experience in designing, deploying and managing some of the biggest IT projects in the country, NEWPS.CZ has built a reputation as the go-to technology partner for any new government digitalization project.
To deliver convenient, high-quality services to millions of people, Czechia’s government IT systems must be reliable and available around the clock. Working with sensitive information means that the solutions provided by NEWPS.CZ must also meet stringent security requirements.
To support these requirements while also keeping projects cost-effective, NEWPS.CZ takes a holistic approach, looking for robust, scalable technologies with a high price-performance ratio.
“Smaller countries like Czechia don’t always have the infrastructure to achieve true digital sovereignty. Because SUSE Linux Enterprise Server is open source, the government can review the source code to help ensure national security and avoid vendor lock-in.”
Why SUSE Linux Enterprise Server?
When NEWPS.CZ won the tender to build the IT infrastructure for the Czech POINT system, the team selected SUSE Linux Enterprise Server as the foundation for the project. To support the government's focus on security and digital sovereignty, they also prioritized a partner with European roots, making SUSE a strong fit.
“Czech POINT was a greenfield project where we had a completely free choice of technology,” recalls Aleš Kučera, Beneficial Owner of NEWPS.CZ. “Knowing that unscheduled downtime and security issues were simply not an option for the state, we chose SUSE Linux Enterprise Server as the best and most reliable platform.”
Czech POINT allows residents in Czechia and citizens abroad to obtain information from any public administration system, or convert paper documents into digital ones, by visiting one of the more than 7,000 service points in government offices, post offices and embassies. Government employees or notaries use the Czech POINT IT system to process these requests, often to validate the identity of the citizen or resident.
Similarly, when NEWPS.CZ later designed and implemented Czechia’s Data Boxes system, it also deployed SUSE Linux Enterprise Server as the foundation of the technology stack. Data Boxes is a secure electronic registered delivery system, used for all communications with the government, from submitting tax returns to receiving court documents. The system is deployed across two data centers with active-passive replication to support high availability in case of disaster.
The impact of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
Enables 100% availability for critical government services
With SUSE Linux Enterprise Server providing long-term reliability, the Czech POINT and Data Boxes systems have now been running with zero unplanned downtime for 18 and 15 years respectively.
“You can rely on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server,” says Kučera. “We know that with SUSE, these critical eGovernment platforms will not fail.”
For residents and businesses in Czechia, and Czech citizens worldwide, the robust digital solutions enabled by SUSE simplify the often complex process of communicating with the government.
“Czech POINT bridges the divide between old paper-based administration and the new digital world, giving digital documents the same legal status as their paper counterparts,” explains Kučera. “It has become a ubiquitous service in Czechia, giving people much more flexibility.”
Supports millions of users across the world
With SUSE Linux Enterprise Server offering practically limitless scalability, the Czech government has grown the Czech POINT system to 250,000 users across over 100 countries. Meanwhile, the Data Boxes system supports six million users and growing, and helps people send around 150 million secure messages a year, with a total of over 1.5 billion messages sent to date.
Supports cost-efficient operations
NEWPS.CZ operates on a fixed-price model, allowing its customers to transform their IT infrastructure without sending costs spiraling out of control. The cost-effectiveness of the SUSE solution means that NEWPS.CZ can continue to offer competitive pricing, especially to government institutions with limited budgets for IT.
“Breaking the SLAs established by the government comes with hefty fines and a big reputational risk,” adds Kučera. “With SUSE Linux Enterprise Server supporting high availability for our projects, we save a lot of money on potential fines.”
Complies with strict national security requirements
The eGovernment services supported by NEWPS.CZ are frequently under cyberattack, as threat actors seek to access sensitive resident and business information. By using SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, NEWPS.CZ reinforces its security posture with an operating system that complies with international cybersecurity standards, validated by a Common Criteria EAL 4+ certification.
In parallel, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server will help NEWPS.CZ stay future-ready as digital sovereignty becomes a more pronounced issue and new regulations seeking to protect countries’ data in uncertain geopolitical times come into effect. SUSE’s solution is recognized as a Digital Public Good, ensuring transparency and freedom of choice.
“Smaller countries like Czechia don’t always have the infrastructure to achieve true digital sovereignty,” explains Kučera. “Because SUSE Linux Enterprise Server is open source, the government can review the source code to help ensure national security and avoid vendor lock-in.”
What’s next for NEWPS.CZ?
Building on the success of its eGovernment projects in Czechia, NEWPS.CZ is discussing the possibility of introducing similar systems in other countries where paper-based processes are limiting the efficiency of government services. At the same time, the company is supporting the Czech government as it looks to harness the power of AI to drive productivity and bring personalized services to every resident. NEWPS.CZ will continue to count on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server as the foundation of its technology stack for modernization, scalability, security and reliability.