Glossary
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| Abbreviation/Term | Expansion | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| 2MS | 2 Marsham Street | London HQ address |
| AA | Active Authentication | |
| A&E | Application and Enrolment | Original name of the programme that included the PASS replacement project, amongst others, and was part of CIO & Commercial and the NIS. The department is now Organisational Transformation (OT) |
| AbI | Authentication by Interview | Was introduced in 2007 requiring all those aged 16 or over applying for a passport for the first time to have an interview as part of the application process. The interview confirms that the passport application we have checked actually belongs to them and that they are the rightful owner of that identity |
| AbIOS | Authentication By Interview Operating System | The interview management system that provides capabilities used to manage interviews with applicants. It stores interview profiles; case notes and decisions |
| ABS | Appointment Booking System | System used by Interview Office Managers to manage the number of appointments |
| AD | Active Directory | An AD domain controller authenticates and authorizes all users and computers in a Windows domain type network—assigning and enforcing security policies for all computers and installing or updating software. For example, when a user logs into a computer that is part of a Windows domain, Active Directory checks the submitted password and determines whether the user is a system administrator or normal user |
| ADA | All Details Agree | Abbreviation used by examiners to denote details agree with records |
| ADC | Aylesford Data Centre | |
| ADD | Address | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| ADE | Authorised Dedicated Equipment | |
| Adelphi F & P | Adelphi Finance and Procurement | Adelphi finance and procurement will enable strategic alignment with other Home Office organisations and create one integrated system, replacing separate non-integrated systems |
| Adelphi HR | Adelphi Human Resources | Adelphi is the HR system used by HMPO and many other government departments. The Shared Service Centre provides the day-to-day administrative support services for HR transactions. These services are provided from a single location to support several different HMPO offices at the same time. |
| AES | Advanced Encryption Standard | |
| AF | Architectural Framework | |
| Agile | A project methodology that provides a more iterative, rapid approach to delivery where design, build and test are split into smaller, more frequent, releases of functionality. | |
| AI | Authority Instruction (leads on from a CCN) | |
| AMO | Architecture Management Office | |
| AMS | Application Management System. | Processes applications for passports |
| AMS Audit | Central store for AMS related audit data | |
| AMS WIP | Application Management System Work in Progress | TBC - internal HMPO application. |
| APACS | Association for Payment Clearing Services | UK trade association for payments now known as UK Payments Administration Ltd - see UKPA |
| APC | Application Processing Centres | 4 sites – examination and support functions |
| APDA | All personal details agree | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| APP | Applicant | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| APPN | Application | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| AppNo | Application Number | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| Application Store | A repository to enable application downloads and installation | |
| Appointment Booking | Provides a means of allowing the contact centre to make applicant appointment bookings that can be attended at Interview Offices | |
| APSS | Applications Processing and Support Systems | |
| ASC | AdminIT System Change | A form required by IT Ops to amend access to drives and folders |
| ASP | Active Server Pages | |
| ASTWG | Agency Supplier Technical Working Group | |
| ATDA | Automated Death Authentication (death records from CIS) | |
| ATDN | Access to Death Notification | |
| ATOB | At Time of Birth | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| B | Born | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| BAA | Business Analysis and Architecture (profession) | |
| BAC | Business Area Champions | HM Passport Office staff overseeing migration in their areas - DDS Project |
| BAC | Basic Access Control | |
| BAU | Business As Usual | |
| BC | British Citizen | Abbreviation used by examiners to denote a form of British nationality with automatic right of abode in the UK. A person with this status may be issued a British passport. The determination of this status is based on legislation and policy. |
| B/C | Birth certificate | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| BCDR | Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery | |
| BCM | Business Change Manager | |
| BCS | Background Checking Service | Automated check of details on a passport application using OGDs and other databases. Discontinued when NIS was closed. |
| BCS | Baseline Control Set | |
| BCS | Business Continuity System | |
| BCS | British Computer Society | |
| BD | By Descent | Abbreviation used by examiners to denote right of applicant to British citizenship |
| BDA | Business Design Authority. | Maintains the integrity of the current business and technical architectural baseline, in line with HMPO’ strategic priorities and provides the foundation documentation and analysis to turn strategic objectives into prioritised and deliverable packages of work. |
| BDL | Business Design Lab | Requirements workshop |
| BDTC | British Dependent Territories Citizen (now BOTC) | Abbreviation used by examiners to identify a citizen of a British Dependent Territory (now British Overseas Territory) |
| BEL | Belfast | |
| Benefits Realisation | A process concerned with the delivery of projected benefits as defined in the business case | |
| Benefits Review | Identifies which benefits have been achieved, or not (and why) and considers unanticipated benefits occuring as a result of the business change | |
| BEU | Business Expertise Unit | |
| BFC | Biographical Footprint Check | A means to ensure that a claimed identity has a history of social interaction |
| BHC | British High Commission | |
| BI | Biographic Identity Programme | |
| BIA | Business Impact Analysis | |
| BIB | Biometric Investigation Bureau | Part of the NBIS programme |
| BID | Biometric Immigration Documents | Documents issue by UKBA such as biometric resident permits |
| BIGS | Biographical Information Gathering Service | Precursor to BCS |
| BLOB | Binary Large Object | |
| BMD | Births Marriages and Deaths | |
| BMIS | Book Management Information System | This is the system that tracks book movement and status throughout the lifecycle of the passport |
| BMS | Biometric Matching and Storage (project) | |
| BNA | British Nationality Act | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| BNA48 | British Nationality Act 1948 | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| BNA81 | British Nationality Act 1981 | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| BNO | British National Overseas | Abbreviation used by examiners to denote a form of British nationality with no automatic right of abode in the UK. A person with this status may be issued a British passport. The determination of this status is based on legislation and policy. |
| BOC | British Overseas Citizen | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| BOE | Back office examiner | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| BOT | British Overseas Territories. | The 14 British Overseas Territories are territories under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United Kingdom but do not, however, form part of the United Kingdom. See Overseas Territories |
| BOTC | British Overseas Territories Citizen | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| BOXI | Business Objects version XI – | Object based management reporting system |
| BPEL | Business Process Execution Language | |
| BPO | Business Process Outsourcing | Services contracted to commercial organisations such as Steria or Equifax i.e. postal opening, scanning, passport application data verification, query and payment handling. |
| BPP | British Protected Person | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| BPSS | Baseline personnel security standard | |
| BRIT | Biometric Recognition Information Technology | The FCO’s equivalent of PASS |
| British Nationals | British nationals include a range of groups, including British Citizens, British Overseas Citizens, British Overseas Territories Citizens, British Nationals (Overseas), British Protected Persons and British Subjects. | |
| BRP | British Resident Permit | |
| BRP | Biometric Residency Permit | Replaced ICFN |
| BS | British Subject | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| BSUKC | British Subject Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| BT | British Telecom | |
| BTD | Biometric Travel Document | |
| Builds/Releases/Iterations | Interchangeable terms which are used to describe a collection of functionality that is compiled together into a single package of work. | |
| Bulk Scanning | Optical Character Recognition (OCR) capture and verification of paper application to digital applications, and of the declaration and Counter signatory forms printed and sent by applicants using the online channel as well as the supporting documents for the application. | |
| BUP | Bring Up | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| Business Case | A document that describes the findings from a business analysis and recommends a course of action | |
| Business Rule | Business rules describe how business activities are to be performed. There are two main types: one shows constraints that restrict how an activity is performed and the other gives operational guidance, describing the procedures for performing activities. | |
| BUSY | Bulk Scanning System | |
| CA | Chip Authentication (See EAC) | |
| CA | Certification Authority | Entity that issues Digital certificates |
| C&R | Cancelled and Returned | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| C/N | Change of Name | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| CAB | Change Advisory Board | |
| CAM | Change Assurance Meeting | |
| CHAMP | Counter Handling Appointment Management Project | |
| CAN | Change Authorisation Note | |
| CAN | Card Access Number | |
| CANC | Cancelled | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| CAND | Cancelled | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| CASE | Computer Aided Software Engineering. | For example, an automated tool that supports requirements engineering work. See DOORS |
| CAT | Change Assurance Team | |
| CBF | Clear but for | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| CCG | Change Control Group | |
| CCN | Contact Change Notes (updates to a contact) | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| CCP | Common Certificate Policy | |
| CCP | Change Control Process | |
| CCST | Central Customer Service Team | |
| CEC | Customer Enquiry Centre | |
| CERT | Certificate | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| CESG | Communications Electronics Security Group | |
| CFBC | Consular Full Birth Certificate | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| CFI | Counter Fraud Intelligence | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| CFIU | Central Fraud and Intelligence Unit | |
| CFP | Corporate File Plan | |
| CFP | Customer Facing Projects | |
| CFU | Counter Fraud Unit | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| CHX | Checks | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| CIAT | Central Intelligence and Analysis Team | |
| CIFAS | It is not C.I.F.A.S. It's just a name | CIFAS is a Fraud Prevention Service, covering the United Kingdom. It was created in 1988 by a group of retail credit companies |
| CIMS | Messenger service used by DLR to support passport production | |
| CIO | Chief Information Office | |
| CIP | Citizen Information Project (life events) | |
| CIS | Customer Information System | DWP database |
| CIT | Component Integration Test | |
| CL | Covering letter | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| Cloud | A phrase used to describe a variety of desktop machines connected through a real-time communicated network | |
| CLSP (Project) | Critical Legacy System Programme | |
| CND | Change of Name Deed | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| C/N | Change of Name | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| CO | Company | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| CoC | Change of Circumstances | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| CoCo | Code of Connection | |
| CONF | Confirmation | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| ContactPoint | Core demographic data on every child in England up to their 18th birthday held by DCSF including school and GP. Their data may be held on ContactPoint up to the age of 25 years if deemed necessary. | |
| CORR | Correspondence | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| Cost-Benefit Analysis | A technique to identify initial and ongoing costs and benefits associated with business change. | |
| COTS | Commercially Off the Shelf | Used to describe hardware and software that can be purchased from a retailer without requiring any modification |
| Counter Service | A public counter service available for urgent passport applications | |
| Counter-signature/signatory | A convenient way of confirming an applicant's identity is for a first time application and one photograph to be verified by a reliable person (but not a relative) of “some standing” who has personally known the applicant for more than two years. | |
| CP | Certificate Policy | |
| CPIA | Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act | AMS report used by FIU for court cases etc |
| CPP | Central Print and Production | EPA1 overprint service |
| CPPP (Project) | Centralised Production of Passports & Passport-type documents programme | |
| CPS | Central print service | |
| CR | Change Request (major and minor) | |
| CRB | Criminal Records Bureau. See DBS. | |
| CRB | Certificate of registry of birth | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| CRF | Change Request Form | |
| CRL | Certificate Revocation List | |
| CROW | Back office registration casework system | |
| Crown Dependencies (CD) | Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Although not strictly speaking a Crown Dependency Gibraltar is often included in this group. | |
| CSC | Customer Service Centre | Area Office incorporating Interview Offices. 7 sites - providing a public counter for urgent applications and carrying out passport interviews. |
| CSC | Computer Science Corporation | Supplier |
| CSCA | Country Signing Certifying Authority (ICAO 9303) | |
| C'SIG | Countersignatory | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| CSO | Customer Service Offices | 16 sites – providing passport interview service. |
| CSO | Central Support Office | |
| CSS | Cascading Style Sheets | |
| CSU | IPS Corporate Strategy Unit | |
| CTAS | CESG Tailored Assurance Service | |
| CTC | Counter Terrorist Check. | Basic level security check. See also DV and SC |
| Customer Enquiry Centres | Telephone enquiry service manned by HMPO staff | |
| CVCA | Country Verifying Certification Authority - EAC | |
| CVD | Consolidated View Database | The centralised store of applications that are current, are still being processed or have been dormant in PASS but not yet purged. It provides a single view of all applications being processed in all of the regional offices. CVD contains several schemas including Watch List data, Reference data and Letter templates |
| CVS | Certificate Verification Service | A service intended to confirm whether a registration or certificate that is claimed to have been issued by HMPO is valid or not |
| CWIC | Critical Workers Identity Card | |
| D/HAM | Durham | |
| DA | Design Authority | |
| DAC | Data Analytic Capability. | The analysis of data from a number of sources to identify potential identity fraud |
| Data Centre Consolidation | HMPO are currently consolidating down to two main data centres from the four that it now operates from | |
| DBA | Database Administrator | |
| DBIF | Data & Business Interfaces Forum | |
| DBN | Distressed British Nationals | |
| DBS | Disclosure Barring Service. | New name for CRB. This service enables organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors to make safer recruitment decisions by identifying candidates who may be unsuitable for certain work, especially that involving children or vulnerable adults. |
| DCSF | Department for Children, Schools and Families | The Department for Children Schools and Families website has now been decommissioned. Relevant content can be found on the DfE website |
| DCSOM | Deputy Customer Service Manager | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| DD | Dated | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| DDA | Disability Discrimination Act | |
| DDRI | Disclosure of Death Information | Deaths extracts provided to fee paying customers with relevant legislative gateways |
| DDS | Disaggregated Desktop Service | The project to implement CSC’s cloud based desktop service as a replacement for Admin IT |
| DEC | DeclarATION | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| DEC’d | Declared | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| DES | Data Encryption Standard | |
| DfE | Department for Education | |
| DfES | Department for Education and Skills | The Department for Education and Skills website has now been decommissioned. Relevant content can be found on the DfE website |
| DG | Data Group | DG1=MRZ:DG2=Face Image:DG3=Fingerprint Image:DG14= Public key |
| DHL | The Supplier responsible for delivering Passports and Supporting Documents Overseas on behalf of HMPO. | |
| Digital by Default | One of the objectives of the government's ICT strategy is to encourage more use of the internet to access government services and make this the default position | |
| Digital Signature | This is country specific. The country that signs the chip data must be the same as the county that is identified in the passport's MRZ as the “Issuing State or Organisation” | |
| DIP | Detailed Implementation Plan | |
| DIR ENQ | Directory Enquiries | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| DIV DOC | Divorce Document | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| DLD | Detailed Level Design | Sometimes referred to as Micro, Specification or Physical Design. Describes the detailed description which a developer will use to actually build an application. |
| DLBR | Detailed Level Business Requirements | A lower level statement that describes what those providing the solution (usually a commercial supplier) are required to do in order to deliver a system that in turn delivers the High Level Requirements. Detailed requirements trace back to high level requirements and are used to assure the proposed design is fit for purpose and to verify the correct solution has been delivered during testing. See also HLR - High Level Requirements |
| DLR | De La Rue | 3rd party used to print passports |
| DLR Central | Central facility for the manufacture and personalisation of passport books. Provided by De La Rue. | |
| DLR Local | Local facility for the manufacture and personalisation of passport books. Provided by De La Rue. | |
| DN | Drafting Note | Note inserted into draft document to denote something to be added at a later date |
| DOB | Date of Birth | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| DOCS | Documents | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| DoD | Date of Death | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| DOE | Date of Entry | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| DOM | Date of Marriage | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| DOORS | Dynamic Object Orientated Requirements System. | An IBM tool that helps develop and manage requirements throughout the project lifecycle. |
| DOT | Date of Travel | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| DP | Delivery Partner | |
| DPRC | Defence Passenger Reservation Centre | |
| DPA | Data Protection Act | |
| DR | Direct Report | Fortnightly report from each project for senior management |
| DS | Document Signing | |
| DUR | Durham | |
| DV | Document Verifier - See EAC, CVCA,SPOC & IS | |
| DV | Developed Vetting | Top level security clearance within HMPO. See CT and SC |
| DVA | Data Validation Application | Replacement for Omnibase |
| DVCA | Document Verification Certificate Authority | |
| DVLA | Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Agency | DVLA provides vehicle licensing and road tax services to drivers within the UK. In issuing a liscence to a driver DVLA asks for the passport number as proof of ID. This is verified using Omnibase to validate the UK passport details provided by the Applicant. The passport holders photograph is also provided to DVLA to include this on the photocard liscence. |
| DW | Dealt With | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| DWP | Department of Work and Pensions | |
| DX | DX Secure Delivery (previously SMS) | |
| E-Borders | TBC | TBC - External application interfacing to CVD. |
| EA | Enterprise Architecture | |
| EAC | Extended Access Control | |
| EAGLE | Electronic Access to GRO Life Events | Back office certificate production system) |
| EBP | Elementary Business Process | |
| EDAG | Equality and Diversity Action Group | |
| EDL | Electronic Document Library | |
| EDW | Enterprise Data Warehouse | |
| EEA | European Economic Area | |
| ELECT REG | Electoral Register | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| Eligibility | This refers to the testing of an Applicants’ Eligibility. E.g. “Does the Applicant have British Nationality?” “Are you eligible for the products and services that you are applying for?“ ” Do you meet the criteria that are set down for this product?“ | |
| EMB | Executive Management Board | |
| EMS | Enterprise Messaging Service | |
| Entitlement | This refers to the qualification of an eligible applicant to hold an ID Product. E.g. “Are you entitled to receive the products and services that you are eligible and applying for?” In essence there many reasons that despite meeting the Eligibility criteria an Applicant is not allowed to receive the product they applied for e.g. they have a Travel Restriction Order | |
| EO | Executive Officer | |
| EPA1/2 | Electronic Passport Application 1/2 | Online application form which HMPO prints and sends to applicant for signing. It is then returned with photos. |
| EPM | Enterprise Project Management | This is a server used to enable Microsoft project to collaboratively be used across multiple projects and Portfolios. Enables real time planning and reporting across different geographical locations |
| EPMO EDL (CSC) | Electronic Project Management Office Electronic Document Library, | Site used to store project related material. |
| EPP | Early Proposition Programme | |
| EQAF | Examiners Quality Assurance Framework/Personal Performance Reporting | A reporting system that uses feeds from applications processing into a data mart. |
| EQC | Examiner Quality Consultant | |
| ERD | Entity Relationship Diagram | |
| EFG | Efficiency reform group | A group working in partnership with HM Treasury and government departments to deliver efficiencies, savings and reforms on behalf of UK taxpayers |
| ESB | Enterprise Service Bus | Cross organisation messaging service |
| ETD | Emergency Travel Document. | The UK Emergency Travel Document (ETD) is an eight page travel identity document in a passport format |
| ETSI | European Telecommunications Standards Institute | Standard for managing PKI infrastructure |
| EU | European Union | |
| Evergreen | The system or service being kept up to date with the latest software, patches and fixes | |
| EX | Examiner | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| Exchange Service - Standard | Term used by DDS project | Fully managed email service - includes Mailbox, Calendaring, and Scheduling, Contacts and Task Management capability. Provides 5 GB of storage per user |
| Exchange Service- Premium | Term used by DDS project | As Exchange Service - Standard but with Archiving capability. Provides 15GB of storage per user |
| F | Father | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| F&A | Finance & Accommodation | |
| FABMT | Financial Analysis Business Modelling Team | |
| FAC | Full Adoption Certificate | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| FAP | For all purposes | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| Facial Recognition | Provides automated facial recognition using biometric algorithms | |
| FAQ | Frequently Asked Question | |
| FB | Father Born | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| FBC | Full Birth Certificate | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| FBC | Full Business Case | |
| FCO | Foreign and Commonwealth Office | |
| FCO Firecrest Wide Area Network | A global Wide Area network connecting FC0 posts to the mainland UK essentially an accredited gateway to uncleared staff | |
| FCOS | FCO Services | A Trading Fund of the FCO that acts as the supplier that supports Passport Applications for the Foreign Office |
| FDT | Flexible Delivery Teams | 12 sites – our staff deliver interviewing services from a 3rd party premises - provided either by another Government Department, a Local Authority or a Private commercial provider |
| FEAST | Fraud and Error Assessment Tool | Background checking system used by HMRC for screening tax credit applications - it applies a set of dynamic risk criteria to every tax credit claim |
| FEC | Full Economic Cost | |
| FEDIS | Front End Document Issuing System | Used by FCO to collect biographic data and biometrics. Sends application data to HMPO for processing. |
| FESP | Front End Service Provider | |
| FFBC | Forces Full Birth Certificate | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| File Holding | Storage facility within each UK APC managed by HMPO staff for Applications that have been processed by Steria and are awaiting examination. | |
| First Users | Term used by DDS project | The user sample who will receive the new desktop in advance of main rollout |
| FIU | Fraud Intelligence Unit | |
| Flexible Interview teams | Staff deliver interviewing services from a 3rd party premises - provided either by another Government Department, a Local Authority or a private commercial provider | |
| FM | Facilities Management | |
| FM | Finance Model | |
| FMI | Fraud Main Index | |
| FOG | Fraudulently Obtained Genuine | Genuine passport obtained falsely by fraudulent application |
| FOIA | Freedom of Information Act | |
| FOSB | Front Office and Second Biometric | |
| FOSP | Front Office Services Programme | |
| Fraud MI | A case management system used by the fraud teams to investigate suspicious applications | |
| FRE | Facial Recognition Engine | Part of Facial Recognition solution |
| FRS | Flexible Reporting System (aka BOXI) | |
| FRS Also known as FR | Facial Recognition System | |
| FRW | Facial Recognition Workflow | Part of Facial Recognition solution |
| FTA | First Time Adult (Application) | Abbreviation used by examiners to identify an adult's first application for a passport |
| FTC | First Time Child (Application) | Abbreviation used by examiners to identify a child's first application for a passport |
| FTE | Full Time Equivalent | |
| FTP | File Transfer Protocol | |
| Fujitsu Fraud Screen | A set of rules and analytics checks to assess application risk and error | |
| FURPS | Functionality Usability Reliability Performance Supportability | |
| FV | Fully Valid | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| FW | Framework | |
| FYI | For Your Information | |
| G/GOW | Glasgow | |
| GCF | GSI Convergence Framework | |
| GCHQ | Government Communications HQ | Intelligence and security organisation, working to keep Britain safe and secure in the challenging environment of modern communications. |
| GDS | Government Data Standard | |
| GDS | Government Digital Service | |
| GEN SECT | General Section | |
| GGPCDS | Government Gateway Payment Card Data Security | A facility offered by the Department of Work and Pensions to support central and local government bodies that wish to process payments from citizens using the Internet. Note that GGPCDS supersedes GGPE |
| GGPE | Government Gateway Payment Engine | A facility offered by the Department of Work and Pensions to support central and local government bodies that wish to process payments from citizens using the Internet. Superseded by GGPCDS |
| GIB | Group Investment Board | |
| GIPSY | Gibraltar and Islands Passport Issuing System | The passport application processing system used by the Crown Dependencies and Gibraltar |
| GLA | Glasgow | |
| Gov.uk | Website giving the public access to essential government services from one location | |
| GPE | Government Payment Engine | Provides the capability to allow Customers to make monetary payments in support of submitted Applications to the AMS |
| GRINSY | General Register Office Information System | Full information about registration districts, appointments and approved premises |
| GRO | General Register Office | There are 3 GROs in the United Kingdom - one for England & Wales, one for Scotland (GROS) and a third for Northern Ireland (GRONI). Each organisation is responsible for registering a record of and holding a central copy of all births, deaths, marriages, civil partnershHMPO or adoptions as well as approved amendments to birth records due to approved gender recognition cases in their respective areas. |
| GSI | Government Secure Intranet | A secure intranet that allows exchange of emails and data between government departments |
| HCFBC | High Commission Full Birth Certificate | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| HEO | Higher Executive Officer | |
| High Level Requirements | A high level statement which is derived from an organisation’s strategy or stakeholder need. These statements define the scope of the project. See also DLR - Detailed Level Requirements | |
| HLD | High Level Design | (Sometimes referred to as Macro or Logical Design) Describes the outline or overview design which gives an end to end view of what a project will deliver |
| HMF | Her Majesty's Forces | |
| HMPO | Her Majesty's Passport Office | |
| HO | Home Office | |
| HODSS | Home Office Digital Shared Services | |
| HOIB | Home Office Investment Board (previously GIB) | |
| HOIT | Home Office IT (obsolete, now HOT) | |
| HOM | Heads of Missions | |
| HOT | Home Office Technology | |
| HoP | Head of Profession | |
| HR | Human Resources | |
| HSM | Hardware Security Modules | |
| HTML | Hypertext Mark-Up Language | |
| IA | Impact Assessment | |
| IA | Information Assurance | |
| IA | Internal Audit | |
| IA71 | Immigration Act 1971 | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| IABS | Immigration and Asylum Biometric System | This is the replacement for IAFS and came out of what was initially the NBIS part of the NIS |
| IAD | Iterative Application Development | |
| IAFS | Immigration and Asylum Fingerprint System | Biometrics used by UKBA |
| IAM | Identity Access Management | Process used to manage access to HMPO systems |
| iBase | Intelligence database | Intelligence database used by Fraud Operations in Glasgow to find and match details on passport applications |
| ICAO | International Civil Aviation Organisation | |
| ICAO 9303 | The Internation Standard used for chipped passports or other documents | |
| ICD | Interface Control Document | |
| ICFN | ID Card Foreign National | Replaced by BRP |
| ICH | Integrated Call Handling | Used by the HMPO Customer Contact Centre to answer questions relating to application status |
| ID | Identity | |
| IDA | Identity Assurance | A service that is used to support enrolment, product issuing and verification, matching biographical information to confirm identity. |
| IDAF | Identity Authentication Framework | |
| IDAR | Identity Authentication Rating | |
| Identity | The collective set of characteristics (Biographics and Biometrics) by which a Product Holder/intended Product Holder is uniquely known. | |
| Identity Assurance Service Providers | Government and commercial organisations that hold personal information used to verify an identity | |
| Identity Management | Identity management is central to the Home Office purpose of protecting personal identity and encompasses a number of organisations. The Identity Management Standards Policy Group was set up to help establish trusted and efficient identity management services in the UK through the development and cross-government agreement of a comprehensive set of standards encompassing all aspects of identity management | |
| IDIS | The passport application processing system used by some of the BOTs | |
| IDSC | International Data Sharing Capability | |
| IEC | Interview and Enrolment Centre | |
| IGS | Information Gathering Service | |
| ILE | Indefinite Leave to Enter | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| ILR | Indefinite Leave to Remain | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| IND | Immigration & Nationality Directorate | |
| Integration Test | Bringing multoplie systems together to test they work in conjunction with each other and deliver end to end functionality | |
| Interview Offices | A network of offices across the UK set up to provide interview services for first time adult applications. Superseded by Customer Service Centres and Flexible Interview teams | |
| IOD | Interim Operational Developments | |
| IOM | International Organisation for Migration | |
| ION | Interview Office Network | |
| IP | Interview Process | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| IPR | Intellectual Property Rights | |
| IPS | Identity and Passport Service. Now HMPO | |
| IPT | Immigration Platform Technologies | |
| ISFT | Invitation to Submit Final Tender | |
| ISO | International Standards Organisation | |
| ISOP | Invitation to Submit Outline Proposal | |
| ISP | Internet Service Provider | |
| ISSD | Issued | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| ITCMP | IT Continuity Management Plan | |
| Iterations/Releases/Builds | Interchangeable terms which are used to describe a collection of functionality that is compiled together into a single package of work. | |
| ITIL | Information Technology Infrastructure Library. | Best Practice IT Management guidelines |
| ITMT | IT Crisis Management Team | |
| IT Ops | IT Operations | Replaced ITSG |
| ITPD | Invitation to Participate in Dialogue | |
| ITSCM | IT Service Continuity Management | |
| ITSG | IT Services Group | Now IT Ops = IT Operations |
| ITSHC | IT Security Health Check | |
| ITSM | IT Service Management | |
| itSMF | IT Service Management Forum | |
| IVR | Interactive Voice Response | |
| Java | A programming language | A computer language developed by Sun which can be run within a browser on any type of computer |
| JDK | Java Development Kit | |
| KEDB | Known Error Database | |
| KEK | Key Encryption Key | |
| KPI | Key Performance Indicator | |
| KPO | Key Performance Objective | |
| KSCMT | Key Supplier Contract Management Team | |
| L&D | Learning and Development | |
| LAB | Legal Advice Bureau | |
| LAN | Local Area Network | Short distance local network carrying traffic specific to a location |
| LDAP | Light-weight Directory Access Protocol | |
| LDAPS | Light-weight Directory Access Protocol over SSL | |
| LDIF | LDAP Data Interchange Format | |
| LDS | Logial Data Structure | |
| LDS | Local Data Service | |
| LET | Letter | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| LIS | Lost & Stolen Import System | The application used to import Lost and Stolen data to the HMPO systems and databases |
| LLD | Low Level Design | |
| LMIS | Laminate Management Information System | |
| LOS | Line of Service | |
| LPR | Local print room | |
| LPS | Local print service | |
| LRS | Local Registration Service (England & Wales) | |
| LSR | Lost, Stolen and Recovered (passports) | |
| LSTR | Lost and Stolen telephone reporting | |
| LTE | Leave to Enter the UK | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| LTM | Logical Technology Model | |
| LTR | Leave to Remain | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| LUN | Lost Unresolved | |
| M204 | Statistical database owned by ONS, used by GRO (provision for access expires early 2014) | |
| M | Mother | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| MAC | Media Access Control | The MAC address is used to identify the PC on a network, and is a unique number |
| M&CE | Maintenance & Customer Enquiry | |
| ManTech | US based supplier of support and maintenance services for RON | |
| MB | Mother Born | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| MC | Marriage Certificate | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| MCC | Main Computer Centre | MI and CVD storage location - Chadderton |
| MCE | Maintenance and Customer Enquiry | |
| MGF | Maternal Grandfather | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| MGM | Maternal Grandmother | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| MI | Main Index | The store of historical passport and application data. Main Index holds copies of images and scanned supporting documents for pasport applications |
| MI | Management Information | |
| MIDIS | Multiple Identity Document Issuing System | Operating system introduced to support the new Local Print service because the current ROPE cannot handle randomly numbered passports |
| MNA | Mergers and Acquisitions | |
| MoR | Management of Risk | |
| MOU | Memorandum of Understanding | |
| MPA | Major Projects Authority | |
| MPLS | Multi Protocol Label Switching | |
| MRP | Machine Readable Passport | |
| MRTD | Machine Readable Travel Document | |
| MRZ | Machine Readable Zone. | A machine readable zone is used by an optical scanning device to interpret data printed on a passport and the MRZ code is used to access the information stored electronically on the chip |
| MSP | Microsoft Project | A Microsoft tool which enable Project Managers to Plan estimate and forecast project delivery. HMPO currently use MSP2003 and MSP2007 |
| MTBF | Mean Time Between Failures | |
| MTBSI | Mean Time Between Service Incidents | |
| MTRS | Mean Time to Restore Service | |
| MTTR | Mean Time to Repair | |
| N/A | Not applicable | |
| NAO | National Audit Office | |
| NAT CERT | Naturalisation Certificate | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| Nationality | The Applicant meets the citizenship and Nationality criteria set out in legislation. | |
| Naturalisation | The acquisition of citizenship or nationality by someone who previously was not a citizen or national of that country. | |
| NBIS | National Biometric Identity Service | |
| NCMT | National Crisis Management Team | |
| NCST | National Customer Service Team | |
| NGCC | Next Generation Contact Centre | BT hosted Automated Call Distribution (ACD) platform |
| NGP | Next Generation Passport | |
| NGW | Next Generation Workplace | Used to describe the new solution e.g. NGW Desktop |
| NHS | National Health Service | |
| NIAS | National Identity Assurance Service | This was the transitional name for the NBIS programme after the change of government and reduction in scope of the NIS. It later became IABS |
| NINO | National Insurance Number | |
| NIR | National Identity Register | |
| NIRNO | National Identity Register Number | |
| NIS | National Identity Scheme | A programme to deliver identity cards for critical workers, non EU migrants and, voluntarily, UK citizens. It would also have supported the National Identity Register. |
| NISAM | National Identity Scheme Access Manager | Interface between 3rd parties and NIR |
| NIST | National Institute of Standards and Technology (US) | This is the body that defines many of the standards and procedures used worldwide, for example, in the context of biometric data, data exchange, and systems that handle such data. |
| NNCRB | No Name Certificate Registry of Birth | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| NO | Number | |
| Non Functional Test | Testing aspects of systems that are not directly related to the operational tasks they will use but are more generic such as performance, load, security, fallback testing. | |
| NPP | New Passport Production | |
| NPV | Net Present Value | |
| NT | No Trace | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| OAM | Oracle Access Manager | |
| OAT | Operational Acceptance Test | |
| OBS | Observation | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| OCF | Orchestration and Collation Function | Provides a single point for orchestrating and routing print personalisation requests to Passport printing services. It receives and translates passport data into a suitable format for encryption and decryption. |
| OCFN | Overseas Counter Fraud Network | |
| OCF PKI | Orchestration and Collation Function Public Key Infastructure | TBC - internal HMPO application. |
| OCM | Operational Change Manager | |
| OCR | Optical Character Recognition | Software that captures written/printed characters and converts them into digital format |
| ODC | Sevenoaks Data Centre | |
| ODS | Operational Data Store | The Operational Data Store records business events for the purposes of operational reporting |
| OGC | Office of Government Commerce | |
| OGD | Other Government Department | |
| OGD Data Sources | Other Government Department data sources | Used for verifying an individual's identity such as DWP and UKBA |
| OID | Oracle Internet Directory | |
| OIM | Oracle Identity Manager | |
| OIP | Outline Implementation Plan | |
| OJEU | Official Journal of the European Union | Used when giving notice of intention to re-tender a contract |
| OLA | Operational Level Agreement | |
| OLC | Online Channel. | A service to enable applicants to apply for a passport using the internet |
| OmniBase | OmniBase is a system that provides external access to restricted passport data, application data and some work-in-progress information held on Main Index and CVD. The Omnibase system is used by PVS and a number of external government agencies including FCO and DVLA to support their business operations. | |
| Online Portal | Provides capabilities for External Customers to access AMS services in order to create Applications and submit them to the AMS, and to check the status of current applications. The Online Portal will also provide application information required by the Call Centre | |
| ONS | Office for National Statistics | Passport applications are checked against data from ONS to identify fraud |
| OPEX | Operational Expenditure | |
| OPIP | Overseas Passport Integration Programme | |
| OPMU | Overseas Passport Management Unit | |
| OPSI | Office of Public Sector Information | |
| OPT | Operability and Performance Testing | |
| ORIG | Original | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| OT | Organisational Transformation | |
| OT Method | OT Method is a single integrated set of standards and guidance that enables OT Projects and OT Management activities to be performed in a consistent and efficient way while also enabling projects to be flexible by adapting the standard process in a structured way. | |
| OTBD | Otherwise Than By Descent | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| OVD | Oracle Virtual Directory | |
| Overseas Territories | 14 Commonwealth and other countries, with a connection to the UK, that used to be known as Dependent Territories. • Anguilla • Bermuda • British Antarctic Territory \\• British Indian Ocean Territory • British Virgin Islands • Cayman Islands • Falkland Islands • Gibraltar • Montserrat • Pitcairn Islands • South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands • St Helena and its dependencies • Ascension and Tristan da Cunha • the Turks and Caicos Islands. See BOT |
|
| P&D | Production & Delivery | |
| PA | Passive Authentication | Test by the reader using relevant public key to verifydigital signatures on chip |
| PACS | Passport Agency Complaints System | Used to support customer complaints and customer queries outside of the application process |
| PACE | Password Authentication Communication Establishment | More secure successor to BAC |
| PACE | Police and Criminal Evidence Act | |
| PAF | Passport Application Form | |
| PAF | Postal Address Finder/Post Office Address File | |
| PASS | Passport Application Support System | The legacy passport application processing system prior to AMS |
| PASSes | Passport Application Support System Electronic Support | |
| PBA | Pattern of Business Activity | |
| PC Service | Term used by DDS project | The device will run a full Windows 7 client operating system. This will be needed for users who use a laptop off line or exceptionally who use an application that cannot run on VDI Desktop |
| PCS | Public & Commercial Services | Union for Civil Servants PO1 to G6, see also FDA |
| PD | Programme Director. | Where the SRO does not have capacity or technical knowledge to undertake the day to day direction of the programme the Programme Director can share some of the responsibilities of the SRO role but accountability for the programme remains with the SRO. |
| PDD | Project Definition Document | |
| PDE | Portfolio Delivery Executive | |
| Portable Document Format | ||
| PDP | Policy Decision Point | |
| PEO | Public Enquiry Office (within BIA) | |
| PEP | Policy Enforcement Point | |
| PET | Peterborough | |
| PFI | Pass for Issue | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| PFS | Prerequisite for Success | |
| PGA | Pan Government Accreditor | |
| PGF | Parental Grandfather | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| PGM | Parental Grandmother | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| PH | Pigeon Hole | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| Photo QA | Provides quality verification of photographs accompanying passport applications | |
| PIA | Privacy Impact Assessment | |
| PIA | Passport Import Application | |
| PIC | Portfolio Investment Committee | A committee which approves major projects within the Home Office |
| PID | Project Initiation Document. | It defines the business context for a project and clarifies objectives, scope, deliverables, timescale, budget, authorities and available resources. |
| PIMIS | Passport Issuing Management Information System | Predecessor to PASS |
| PIN | Personal Identification Number | |
| PIN | Prior Information Notice | |
| PIP | Personal Identity Process | Provides information from a commercial credit checking data provider (Equifax) that can be used as part of the background checking service to confirm an applicant's identity |
| PIR | Post Implementation Review. | Focuses on the delivered product and looks at issues such as: have the requirements been met, how was the project conducted, were benefits realised and are there lessons to be learned? Normally takes place within six months after project closure. |
| PKD | Public Key Directory | Secure website managed by ICAO, Contries publish their signing keys, CRL's & ML's for open public access |
| PKI | Public Key Infrastructure | The infrastructure used to sign the data on the chip of passports, passport variants and other travel documents. The personal data placed on the chip of an ePassport is digitally signed. This is a cryptographic technique that is used to provide assurance that the data on the chip is authentic. By inspecting the digital signature, it is possible to determine with certainty that: - the personal data on the chip was placed there by the issuing state - the personal data has not been altered subsequently PKI is also a separate capability used for signing data to ensure the provenance and integrity of data. Technology used for digital signature on a passport. Security solution based on public key (Asymmetric) |
| Key Pair | Matching Private/Public keys generated together | |
| Private Key | In relation to public key encryption algorithm, one of the 2 keys in the key pair retained by the issuer | |
| Public Key | In the key pair, the key which is published openly to allow others to authenticate signed data | |
| Rollover | Country level key (CSCA or CVCA) is replaced by its successor | |
| Root Key | The Key that an issuer uses to establish that everything else he issues can be trusted | |
| PMO | Project Management Office | |
| PMR | Performance Management Report | |
| PNC | Police National Computer | |
| PO | Purchase Order | |
| PO1 | Passport Officer Grade 1 | Operational support staff grade, including local print operators, messengers and examination support. |
| PO2 | Passport Officer Grade 2 | Formerly a junior passport examination grade, dealing only with straightforward renewals. Only a handful remain in niche roles. |
| PO3 | Passport Officer Grade 3 | Primary operational staffing grade, including all passport examiners, counter examiners and customer contact staff. |
| POB | Place of Birth | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| POCL | Post Office Counters Ltd. | |
| POL | Post Office Limited | Formally POCL |
| POLDAT | Process Organisation Location Data Application Technology | |
| PP | Protection Profile | Properties of the Chip needed to ensure it's secure |
| PPC | Passport Production Centre | Also known as an Application Processing Centre (APC). Most common when referring to FCO facilities overseas before the passport application processing was repatriated to the UK in 2013. |
| PPM | Project Management Profession | |
| PPPP | Passport Processing and Production Portfolio | Department within OT |
| PPR | Personal Performance Reports | Also known as Performance & Development Report (PDR). |
| PPT | Passport | |
| PQ | Parliamentary Question | |
| PQQ | Pre-Qualification Questionnaire | A term from procurement. |
| PREV | Previous | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| PROF QUALS | Professional Qualifications | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| Protected Characteristics | Protected Characteristics | The Equality Act 2010 provides specific protection for people who have what are termed protected characteristics. These are: Age, Disability, Sex (previously referred to as gender), Race, Sexual Orientation, Gender Reassignment, Religion or Belief, Marriage and Civil Partnership, Pregnancy and Maternity |
| PRS | PIP Request System | Now defunct, collated data from equifax to aid with background checking for interview profiles. |
| PSA | Projected Service Availability | |
| PSN | Public Sector Network | Planned replacement for GSI, the Government Secure Intranet |
| PSNA | Public Services Network Authority | |
| PSNSP | Public Services Network Service Provider | |
| PSO | Project Support Office | |
| PST | Peterborough Searching Team | PST hold the microfilm and paper archives of passport applications, primarily records from FCO posts overseas. |
| PTM | Physical Technology Model | What computers and network infastructure do we have and where is it physically? |
| PTO | Please Take Over | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| PVS | Passport Validation Service | Allows approved organisations to contact HMPO to check the validity of a passport and the identity of the holder. This service provides assurance of the passport's validity and helps prevent the use of lost, stolen or counterfeit passports. Since its introduction in July 2006, PVS has been widely used across the financial and legal services industries. In 2007/2008 PVS saved its clients over £4m in prevented fraud. Initially run by a team in Peterborough the contact centre work was taken over by Teleperformance in 2008. |
| QA | Quality Assurance | |
| QAS | Quick Address Service | Provides validation of postal addresses |
| Q-Matic | Counter Booking & Queue Management system used by the Regional Offices to manage counter appointments and queue management. | |
| QMS | Quality Management System | |
| QREL | Quality Review Error List | A document used to formally review documents/products and list errors, comments etc prior to returning it to the author for further comment. |
| Quality Gate | Point of assessment, often between key stages of a project where progress, quality and readiness to move on are assessed. | |
| QUALS | Qualifications | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| R/W | Read With | |
| RAB | Release Authority Board | Now defunct, CAM process replaces this. |
| RAD | Rapid Application Development | Like Agile a project methodology providing a more rapid, customer focused release approach. |
| RAG | Red: Amber: Green | Type of report where traffic light colours are used to prioritise actions / risks. Can also use Black when things are really bad. |
| RAID | Risks, Assumptions, Issues and Dependencies | Each project will normally have a log to register these and mitigating actions |
| RALON | Risk and Liaison Network (UKBA) | overseas network of UK Border Force staff providing advice to carriers and others on whether travellers are likely to be accepted into the UK. |
| RAS | Remote Access System | Typically refers to the remote access for AdminIT in common use. Although can include that for other systems too. |
| RBAC | Role Based Access Control | An approach whereby access privileges on a system are grouped into roles and users are attached to roles. This provides a convenient mechanism to manage their privileges – as privileges are not directly linked with users but rather the roles assigned to them. |
| RBI | Risk Based Interview | |
| RCA | Root Cause Analysis | |
| RCF | Requirements Control Framework | |
| RD CHQS | Return to Drawer Cheques | |
| RECD | Received | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| Red Owl | A tool used by Steria the HMPO BPO provider to manage their activities | |
| REF | Reference | |
| REG CERT | Registration Certificate | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| REG POST | Registered Post | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| Releases/Iterations/Builds | Interchangeable terms which are used to describe a collection of functionality that is compiled together into a single package of work. | |
| REQD | Requested/Required | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| RETD | Retained | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| REV M/N | Reverted to Maiden Name | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| RF | Reserve Facility | |
| RFC | Request for Change | IT ops technical change request |
| RFW | Requests For Work | |
| RI | Restricted Identity | |
| RLAN | Restricted LAN | |
| RM | Royal Mail | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| RMADS | Risk Management and Accreditation Document Set | |
| RMP | Requirements Management Plan | |
| RNOL | Registration / Naturalisation Online | |
| ROA | Right of Abode | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| ROI | Return On Investment | |
| ROLO | Registration OnLine Ordering | |
| ROM | Rough Order of Magnitude | |
| RON | Registration Online | Database used by registrars in England and Wales to register life events |
| ROPE | Regional Office Printing Equipment | |
| RP | Replacement/Replaced | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| RPO | Recovery Point Objective | |
| RPPC | Regional Passport Production Centre | |
| RPSS | Registration Projects and Shared Services | |
| RQ | Return Query | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| RT | Regression Test | |
| RTD | Returned | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| RTM | Requirements Traceability Matrix | |
| RTO | Recovery Time Objective | |
| RTP | Request to Purchase | |
| RUK | Right of Re-admission to the UK | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| RV | Restricted Validity | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| RVP | Restricted Validity Passport | |
| S&LEA | Security & Law Enforcement Agency | |
| S/C | Subject to Control | |
| SAC | Supplementary Access Control | |
| SAC | Service Acceptance Criteria | |
| SACM | Service Asset and Configuration Management | |
| SAG | System Administration Guides | |
| SAG | Scheme Architecture Group | |
| SAML | Security Assertion Mark-up Language | |
| SAR | Subject Access Request. | Term used for requests from individuals to view any data pertaining to them (or those they are legally responsible for), which is held by the Agency, in accordance with the Data Protection Act. |
| SBA | Sovereign Base Area | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| SBC | Short Birth Certificate | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| SBDD | Software Boundary Definition Document | |
| SBS | Siemens Business Services | |
| SC | Security Check. | Second level of clearance allowing access to “Secret” files. See also CT and DV |
| SCD | Supplier and Contract Database | |
| Schengen Information System | A secure governmental database system used by several European countries for the purpose of maintaining and distributing information related to border security and law enforcement. | |
| SCM | Service Capacity Management | |
| SCR | Special Case Record | |
| SCS | Service Capability Statements | |
| SCS | Senior Civil Servant | |
| SDL | Solution Design Lab | |
| SECT | Section | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| Self Service | Term used by DDS project | A model where users utilise a portal to answer questions, request software and gain insights into their IT landscape. |
| SEO | Senior Executive Officer | |
| SF | Stop Files | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| SFA | Service Failure Analysis | |
| SIA | Security Industry Authority | Government Authority that manages the licensing of the private security industry as set out in the Private Security Industry Act 2001. The licence criteria includes specific training qualifications and criminality checks. The existing process allows applicants to provide passport as proof of ID. This is verified using PVS to validate the UK passport details provided by applicants. |
| SID | Service Interface Description | Defines the services provided by a in terms of the interfaces provided. |
| SIEM | Security Information & Event Management | |
| SIP | Service Improvement Plan | |
| SIS | Schengen Information System | |
| SIS | Siemens IT Solutions & Services | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| SIT | System Integration Test | |
| SKMS | Service Knowledge Management System | |
| SLA | Service Level Agreement | |
| SLC | Student Loans Company | SLC provides loans to students. To help verify the identity of applicants for loans the SLC connects to Omnibase to validate the UK passport details provided by applicants. The interface allows SLC to search IPS passport records from its own systems using the passport number. PVS returns the details of the identified passport including a notification of whether or not the passport has been reported lost or stolen and whether or not it appears on stop files. SLC access to Omnibase is via the DVLA autoresponse system-to-system interface via GSI. |
| SLM | Service Level Management | |
| SLO | Security Liaison Officer | |
| SLP | Service Level Package | |
| SLR | Service Level Requirement | |
| SMART | Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely (Time Framed). | A mnemonic used to ensure objectives are clearly defined. |
| SME | Subject Matter Expert | |
| SMO | Service Maintenance Objective | |
| SMS | Secure Mail Services | Manages and provides the secure delivery of passports to customers. It interfaces to the Contact Centre so that the delivery status of a passport can be ascertained. The company is now the DX group but the SMS name is still used internally to avoid confusion with another service used by HMPO |
| SMT | Senior Management Team | |
| SOA | Service Orientated Architecture | A modular approach to design where applications are broken down into a series of distinct functionality and developed separately |
| SOAP | Simple Object Access Protocol | A protocol specification for exchanging structured information in the implementation of Web Services in computer networks. |
| SoC | Separation of Concerns | |
| SOE | Standard Operating Environment | |
| SOP | Standard Operating Procedures | |
| SOR | Statement of requirements | |
| SOW | Statement of Work | |
| SPBM | Service Planning Business Modelling Team | Defunct. Re-named as the Operational Design Group (ODG) in 2008 and then the majority of the functions have been re-organized into the Business Design Authority (BDA) as of 2014. |
| SPEC DEV | Special Delivery | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| SPI | Service Provider Interface | |
| Split Send | Refers to new and renewal passport applications. FTAs dealt with by the local post, Renewals forwarded to the RPPC | |
| SPM | Service Portfolio Management | |
| SPO | Service Provisioning Optimisation | |
| SPOC | Single Point of Contact | |
| SPOF | Single Point of Failure | |
| SQL | Structured Query Language. | Generally pronounced “Sequel” and is a special-purpose programming language designed for managing data held in a relational database management system. |
| SRO | Senior Responsible Officer | The individual responsible for ensuring that a project or programme of change meets its objectives and delivers the projected benefits. |
| SSIT | Supplier System Integration Test | |
| SSL | Secure Socket Layer | A commonly-used protocol for managing the security of a message transmission on the Internet. SSL has recently been succeeded by Transport Layer Security (TLS), which is based on SSL. |
| SSO | Single Sign-On | An authentication process in a client/server relationship where the user, or client, can enter one of set of credentials and have access to more than one application or access to a number of resources within an enterprise. Single sign-on takes away the need for the user to enter further authentications when switching from one application to another or to other Service Providers. |
| SSS | Shared Signing Service | |
| SSU | Standalone System Upgrade | |
| STAT DEC | Statutory Declaration | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| Status Updates | Stores information about the status of applications to facilitate online status checks | |
| Stop File | File relating to an individual or identity against which passport applications are checked to detect fraud | |
| SUPP DOC | Supporting Document | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| SWOT Analysis | Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. | A technique used to summarise external pressures and internal capability to respond to them |
| SyOPS | Security Operating Procedures | |
| TA | Terminal Authentication | |
| TAS | Tiered Application System | |
| TCE | Transforming Customer Experience | The name given to the programme previously known as the A&E programme. This is now complete with the delivery of AMS. |
| TCO | Total Cost of Ownership | |
| TCP | Transmission Control Protocol | |
| TCU | Total Cost of Utilisation | |
| TDT | Transformation Deployment Tool | CSC’s tool for managing user requirement, solution, approval and migration scheduling on DDS project |
| TEB | Telephone Enquiry Bureau | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| TEL | Telephone | |
| Teleperformance | Call centre company that handles passport applications | |
| TFER | Transfer | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| TIART | There Is a Risk That | |
| TLS | Transport Layer Security | |
| TNA | Training Needs Analysis | |
| TO | Technical Observation | |
| TOE | Target of Evaluation | |
| TOGAF | The Open Group Architecture Framework | |
| TOM | Target Operating Model | |
| ToR | Terms of Reference | |
| TPCS | Third Party Counter Service | |
| TQM | Total Quality Management | |
| TUPE | Transfer of Undertakings, Protection of Employment | |
| UAT | User Acceptance Test | |
| UC | Underpinning Contract | |
| UCM | Universal Content Management | Oracle application to allow HMPO to update customer facing content on OLC. |
| UI | User Interface | |
| UKBA | United Kingdom Borders Agency | |
| UKPA | UK Payments Administration Ltd | UK Payments Administration Ltd is not itself a membership body but the service company providing people, facilities and expertise to the UK payments industry |
| UKV&I | UK Visas & Immigration | |
| Unit Test | Testing carried out by developers which tests only the specific pieces of code they've developed in isolation | |
| UP | User Profile | |
| Use Case | A use case is a list of steps, typically defining interactions between a role (known in Unified Modeling Language (UML) as an “actor”) and a system, to achieve a goal. The actor can be a human or an external system | |
| VAC | Visa Application Centre | |
| VBF | Vital Business Function | |
| VDI Premium | Virtual Desktop Interface Premium | The desktop is a hosted virtual image initially allocated from a shared pool and then assigned to a user and so can be customised. Profile settings and added applications persist at logoff. Users can install applications themselves |
| VDI Standard | Virtual Desktop Interface Standard | The desktop is a hosted virtual image allocated from a shared pool. When finished the resource returns to the pool. |
| VFM | Value for Money | |
| VIP | Very Important Person | |
| VIS | Video Interview Service | 29 sites – our staff deliver interviewing services from a Host office (Glasgow) via a video link provided on partner organisation premises |
| VIZ | Visible Zone | The data which is on the visible zone of the travel document |
| VOI | Value on Investment | |
| WAN | Wide Area Network | Long distance, high capacity network that carries traffic across the business |
| Watch List | Provides the capabilities to look up and maintain data sets that define individuals that warrant further investigation | |
| Watch List UI | Provides a user interface to enable Fraud staff to update and manage Watch Lists. | |
| Waterfall | A traditional, serial approach to Design, Build and Test. | |
| WDN | Withdrawn | Abbreviation used by examiners |
| Webgate | Oracle Policy Agent for web based systems | |
| WIP | Work In Progress | |
| WOR | Work Order Request | |
| XML | EXtensible Markup Language | XML was designed to transport and store data. HTML was designed to display data |
