Thanks Tom. This is not a surprise. Racheal Maddow just had a piece on the state depts system, which would be funny unless it's our country.Cheers dan
On Wed, May 25, 2016 at 4:35 PM, Marcus Daniels <[email protected]> wrote: > While overpriced, these days aren’t they virtualized Power 7s? > > > > *From:* Friam [mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Tom > Johnson > *Sent:* Wednesday, May 25, 2016 4:18 PM > *Subject:* [FRIAM] Fwd: [1st-mile-nm] GAO report: Feds spend billions to > run ancient technology > > > > I guess I should stop complaining that the SFPD is still running an AS400. > > > > TJ > > > ============================================ > Tom Johnson > Institute for Analytic Journalism -- Santa Fe, NM USA > 505.577.6482(c) 505.473.9646(h) > Society of Professional Journalists <http://www.spj.org> - Region 9 > <http://www.spj.org/region9.asp> Director > *Check out It's The People's Data > <https://www.facebook.com/pages/Its-The-Peoples-Data/1599854626919671>* > > http://www.jtjohnson.com [email protected] > ============================================ > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: *Richard Lowenberg* <[email protected]> > Date: Wed, May 25, 2016 at 10:52 AM > Subject: [1st-mile-nm] GAO report: Feds spend billions to run ancient > technology > To: 1st-mile Nm <[email protected]> > > > Bridging the 'digital divide' is an increasingly expensive and wide-spread > proposition, impacting top-down as well as bottom-up. I'd be interested > in seeing a report on the state of government agencies' ISP contracted > connectivity across the U.S. > RL > > ---------- > > Gov't report: Feds spend billions to run ancient technology > > Ricardo Alonso-zaldivar, Associated Press > Wednesday, May 25, 2016 > > > http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/Gov-t-report-Feds-spend-billions-to-run-ancient-7943999.php > > WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is spending about three-fourths of its > technology budget maintaining aging computer systems, including platforms > more than 50 years old in vital areas from nuclear weapons to Social > Security. One still uses floppy disks. > > In a report to be released Wednesday, nonpartisan congressional > investigators say the increasing cost of maintaining museum-ready equipment > devours money better spent on modernization. > Despite a White House push to replace aging workhorse systems, the budget > for modernization has fallen, and will be $7 billion less in 2017 than in > 2010, said the Government Accountability Office. The report was provided to > The Associated Press ahead of a House oversight committee hearing. > > GAO said it found problems across the government, not just in a few > agencies. Among those highlighted in the report: > > — The Defense Department's Strategic Automated Command and Control System, > which is used to send and receive emergency action messages to U.S. nuclear > forces. The system is running on a 1970s IBM computing platform, and still > uses 8-inch floppy disks to store data. "Replacement parts for the system > are difficult to find because they are now obsolete," GAO said. The > Pentagon is initiating a full replacement and says the floppy disks should > be gone by the end of next year. The entire upgrade will take longer. > > — Treasury's individual and business master files, the authoritative data > sources for taxpayer information. The systems are about 56 years old, and > use an outdated computer language that is difficult to write and maintain. > Treasury plans to replace the systems, but has no firm dates. > > — Social Security systems that are used to determine eligibility and > estimate benefits, about 31 years old. Some use a programming language > called COBOL, dating to the late 1950s and early 1960s. "Most of the > employees who developed these systems are ready to retire and the agency > will lose their collective knowledge," the report said. "Training new > employees to maintain the older systems takes a lot of time." Social > Security has no plans to replace the entire system, but is eliminating and > upgrading older and costlier components. It is also rehiring retirees who > know the technology. > > — Medicare's Appeals System, which is only 11 years old, but facing > challenges keeping up with a growing number of appeals, as well as > questions from congressional offices following up on constituent concerns. > The report says the agency has general plans to keep updating the system, > depending on the availability of funds. > > — The Transportation Department's Hazardous Materials Information System, > used to track incidents and keep information relied on by regulators. The > system is about 41 years old, and some of its software is no longer > supported by vendors, which can create security risks. The department plans > to complete its modernization program in 2018. > > GAO estimates that the government spent at least $80 billion on > information technology, or IT, in 2015. However, the total could be > significantly higher. Not counted in the report are certain Pentagon > systems, as well as those run by independent agencies, among them the CIA. > Major systems are known as "IT investments" in government jargon. > > "Legacy federal IT investments are becoming obsolete," GAO concluded. "The > federal government runs the risk of continuing to maintain investments that > have outlived their effectiveness and are consuming resources that outweigh > their benefits." > > The report also profiled aging systems operated by the departments of > Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, Homeland Security, Justice, State, and > Veterans Affairs. > > The White House has been nudging agencies to identify obsolete systems and > start replacing them, but GAO said that clearer, more specific goals and > timetables are needed. A starting point could be recent legislation > supported by the White House to create a revolving fund of $3 billion for > replacing or upgrading older technology. It seems certain that President > Barack Obama's successor will have to grapple with the issue. > > "The federal government is years and in some cases decades behind the > private sector," Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman of the House > Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said in a statement. "Taxpayers > deserve a government that leverages technology to serve them, rather than > one that deploys insecure, decades-old technology that places their > sensitive and personal information at risk." > > Here’s the link to today’s GAO report: > http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-16-696T > > > --------------------------------------------------------------- > Richard Lowenberg, Executive Director > 1st-Mile Institute 505-603-5200 > Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504, > [email protected] www.1st-mile.org > --------------------------------------------------------------- > > _______________________________________________ > 1st-mile-nm mailing list > [email protected] > http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/1st-mile-nm > > > > > Sent with MailTrack > <https://mailtrack.io/install?source=signature&lang=en&[email protected]&idSignature=22> > > [image: Image removed by sender.] > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > -- Dan Marks, VMD 59 Winding Rd Santa Fe, NM 87505 Home Phone (505) 983-6735 Business Phone, cell (505) 670-85770 [email protected]
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