Queensland Transport stands up new platform for microservices push

Queensland’s Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) has stood up a new platform from global software firm Thoughtworks to adopt a microservices architecture.

The microservices and event driven architecture (MEDA) platform was established over the past six months under a new strategic digital partnership between the pair.

TMR’s IT branch selected Thoughtworks as a partner under its digital and technology partner standing offer arrangement in December 2020.

Thoughtworks said the MEDA platform is a collection of tools and practices that will allow TMR to “rapidly build flexible business solutions following standard patterns”.

“Microservies enables TMR to continue to develop and invest in customer-orientated solutions faster and more cost effectively,” it said.

TMR executive director of business Lance Oswald said the benefits of the partnership are twofold, allowing for both the delivery of a new platform and the transfer of knowledge.

“What worked well for us during this process was not only the ability to deliver a technical outcome but also the ability to transfer knowledge from a vendor partner to our internal teams,” he said.

Oswald added that this comes at a time when TMR is beginning to “transition to new ways of working”.

Thoughtworks ANZ managing director Kristan Vingrys said the partnership is “a true testament to how crucial it is for business across all industries to have a strong platform for innovation”.

“We look forward to building on our success with TMR’s MEDA platform, harnessing this partnership and working with our experienced teams to help move the department towards a more agile and transformational digital framework,” he said