A prototype application for Web-enabling legacy systems has resulted in an online renewal service for vehicle registrations and driving licences in the Northern Territory.
The MVR (motor vehicle registry) Quick Pay, based on .Net and J2EE architecture and developed by Fujitsu, provides the front-end to the mainframe which manages all vehicle and driver registration in the Northern Territory.
The project began last year and involves academics and students from Charles Darwin University as well as staff from the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and the Environment (DIPE) and the Department of Corporate and Information Services (DCIS).
The launch of MVR Quick Pay concludes the second stage of the project which started as a proof-of-concept a year ago, and took nearly four months to complete.
Fujitsu Australia NT manager, Maryann Jamieson, said the MVR Quick Pay project is an example of bringing new life to legacy applications.
"The driver for the project was the issue that the MVR did not want to loose its mainframe systems as it is an investment, but the registry needed a nice front-end for the public as it considered it already had an adequate back-end," Jamieson said.
"By linking the Motor Vehicle Registry's core business systems to the Internet, we have delivered a solution that benefits all Territorians."
Project developer Sam McKay said the three-tiered architecture to access the mainframe allows the MVR to have multiple systems accessing Web services.
"The MVR now has the ability to run Java on a WebSphere machine - its environment was based on Java and we were able to connect a kit with a Java wrapper," McKay said.