OMG! But I remember Joe getting involved with the justice department, and discovering the same thing. You couldn’t maintain the system because nobody knew *how* to maintain it, the software was that old.
> On May 25, 2016, at 4:18 PM, Tom Johnson <[email protected]> wrote: > > 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 <http://www.jtjohnson.com/> > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > ============================================ > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Richard Lowenberg <[email protected] <mailto:[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] > <mailto:[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 > > <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 > <http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-16-696T> > > > --------------------------------------------------------------- > Richard Lowenberg, Executive Director > 1st-Mile Institute 505-603-5200 <tel:505-603-5200> > Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504, > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> www.1st-mile.org > <http://www.1st-mile.org/> > --------------------------------------------------------------- > > _______________________________________________ > 1st-mile-nm mailing list > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/1st-mile-nm > <http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/1st-mile-nm> > > > > > Sent with MailTrack > <https://mailtrack.io/install?source=signature&lang=en&[email protected]&idSignature=22>============================================================ > 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
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